#so I’m gonna be using these redraws as kind of studies for that

[kayspaceprinceart]

Another redraw! I’m really happy with how this one came out - only the best for my girl Vivi

[dtupdates-archive]

♡—DREAM was active on Dream__Fanart! He liked:

Day nine: dogboy dream! <3

💚He's so 🥺💚

Even when you’re far away, next to me is where you’ll stay .. 🌊

a quick #dreamfanart 🧡🍑🏵️

💌We all know that evey time he🧍‍♂️its so puppy🥺💕

To whoever wants to hear

Drawberry shortcake and his blueberry bestie🍓🫐

peek

Stream Everest❄️

okay this was quick

Art studies with Dreamie :)

Bloop🐕

dream winning escondite en francia like 🤒

puppy eyes

Blob blob blobs everywhere!! 💚💚

Dream the Man that you are

Manhunt drm :)!

redraw!

Blob hug !

I was rewatching all the manhunts so

dreamie goes thrifting

🤠

shishishi!!

love you 💚🌷

LOVED this outfit and had so much fun drawing it!!!

it’s gonna be alright 🫂

He has no clue what's going on

sunshine boyy☀️🫶

don't you ever grow up, just stay this little

So high like I’m on Everest🏔

Day six: spiderman dream! <3

look what you made me do (taylor's version) will have dream as a feature trust me

drowning

DAY 6: SPIDER DREAM

eh why not post the rizzlers

real i guess

Kind of love ✨💚

I AM A 🟩🟦🟧🟪 STAN

this is so minion of him

“You drew stars around my scars but now I'm bleeding” Dream in Taylor Swift’s Cardigan music video

At least in my art I can give you a gift :D

drawberry picking droodle 🍓

I finally did a real dream drawing!! I gave him a dteam cat hat :)

I missed u <3

doodles and a dream 💫

dreamie sketch on my phone from work <3

uhmm....

druit

dream concert !!!!!!!! ⭐️⭐️

Dream to cleanse your tl ❤️❤️❤️

minecraft boys !! (^○^)

dreamie sketches ft my fav outfits of his

love ya

two bros sharing a milkshake

wolflyn's mermaid dream🪼🐠

tying you to me - folklore!george x evermore!dream

I'm very excited for the Everest mv :) ❤️

Do what he says 🔫

drater tot

DAY 6 !!!! He’s here !!!!!

Day four: geoguesser dream! <3

they fight.

Day two: dsmp/c!dream <3

Tackle hug🧡🏔

Dream you are SO LOVED and I hope you know that <3

(BLOOD + GLITCHING) // prison arc on top

dreamie !! 💖🧃

JOIN US!

i heard something about the dreamverse, idk

Style practice with some doodles

he’s just a silly little guy

free him!!!!!

here’s the full portrait for the drupdates poster 🥸 v fun thank u drupdates !! DRIRTHDAY 🥳🥳

[sleepis4theweak]

Hiya! I’m kind of a small creator on here and trying to get my rottmnt fic an audience but no matter what I do as promo material (art, skits, rambles) nothing ever works to get more than like 2 notes max. I’m confident in my story’s quality so I’m fairly sure that’s not the issue. I was wondering if you have any advice or anything like that? Your stuff is lovely and get a lot of community engagement so I’m curious if there was anything you actively did that helped you grow! I hope this doesn’t come off as rude or desperate, I just wanted to know if I was missing something since I’m pretty new to Tumblr. Enjoy your day ^^

Don't worry! You don't come off as rude or desperate at all!! <3

But tbh... you are asking the wrong person here...

I'm going into marketing, and I spent a full school year in high school doing an independent study on social media algorithms. So I know a LOT about how to grow social media followings- specifically instagram accounts.

But I never actually studied tumblr. I used to use instagram as a platform, but knowing how the algorithm worked was too stressful for me... I'd post stuff and be like "the algorithm won't like this because blah blah blah." Eventually I was drawing for the algorithm and not for me, and so I quit because it just wasn't fun anymore...

Which is why I have very specifically not studied Tumblr's algorithm, because I don't want it to turn into the same situation as with instagram. So I don't know a ton about how to grow a following... and also I've only been on tumblr for 5 months...

THAT BEING SAID: I can walk you through my tumblr and how it's grown!

My very first post was of a meme redraw with the 2012 turtles. I think it got around 1,600 likes?

I posted a couple more things, with varying amounts of likes and such. My first comic (which I never actually completed past the first part) got a total of 7 likes within the first months of posting it. Only when I got more followers did the like amount change.

When I posted my first chapter of the Flashbacks AU, I had 33 or so followers. I think I got to like... 300 followers from that first chapter alone. From there it was just... a steady growth of followers I guess. And with followers comes more reblogs, and with more reblogs comes more followers.

I have around 1,600 followers now. Not everyone is gonna like my posts, I think I get around 20 for responded asks and 100-300 for random pieces of art. Comics get closers to 600 or so. It depends on the content.

I think there are a couple of universal things that help grow an account:

1- Making sure your content is reaching the right people. Put the right tags in. Go crazy with them in fact. If I'm posting a piece with Rise Mikey in it, Im gonna tag: Mikey, Mikey tmnt, Mikey 2018, ROTTMNT, Rise Mikey, etc etc. On instagram they are currently trying to get people to limit their use of tags, but I don't think the same thing applies here. Even tho tags don't help as much here, they are still a good tool!

2- Consistency. Idk how it works on this platform, but consistency is generally a good thing! With instagram theres an actual method to it (1 post a day= good, but the more posts you do a day the less people it shows it to), it might be worth it to look up if tumblr has something similar.

3- Have fun with it! I know this is kinda lame to say... but don't change your content for views. Just... do what you like and eventually your target audience will find you :)

4- Engage with what audience you do have! It's fun to bond with people online, and it helps that "community engagement" piece you talked about!

5-... stalk people hehe. (By which I mean: Look at what other artists post! What tags do they use, do they reblog their own posts a lot, etc etc. Also look at artists with similar followings to your own. For example, studying Cass might not be very helpful, because Cass has a large amount of followers and I'm convinced they could post a picture of a blank canvas and still get 1,000 likes hehe... BUT- I mean you could scroll down to Cass' (or other artist's) first posts and see what they were doing then! Just... observe others I suppose!)

Id love to tell you likes don’t matter, that what matters is having fun and loving what you are drawing. But also I do know how it feels to post something you are really proud of and then have no one like it- it sucks.

But just keep on going :) You'll find your people eventually I'm sure.

OH ALSO: IF ANYONE ELSE HAS ANY TIPS FEEL FREE TO REBLOG AND ADD STUFF IN!!! <3

[fisherrprince]

Hi yes hello I’m gonna ask before I chicken out: how do you get. Faster. At drawing? I draw and I’m always frustrated by how long it takes….I love seeing your style and how loose and lively it is! I imagine it just takes practice, I’m sure, but are there any particular exercises you would recommend or do?

Yes and no!!! I have a real answer to this! here is, legitimately, how I got faster at drawing without hating the drawings that came out that fast.

i had a class in high school I had to take at 6 in the morning that lasted 45 minutes. I got up at 5:30, flopped downstairs like a wet paper towel, and drove to school (WHICH WAS IN HINDSIGHT NOT A GOOD IDEA?). I didn’t have to pay… that much attention in that class, and they gave us a ton of handouts and a pen every morning, so to keep myself awake, I covered. Every single handout. in pen drawings. I have folders upon folders of papers and half sheets FILLED with doodles. They were lazy and so imperfect and just happened as I thought of ideas, squashed into 45 minutes, which was great in the long run because I straight up was only thinking half the time. And I did this for fooouurrr yeeears!!! Of JUST pages and pages of mistake-riddled, janky (but fun because I had funny ideas at 6 am) doodles.

half of the reason people draw slowly is because they don’t like making mistakes, or they don’t want to have a drawing they worked hard on that looks bad. But if you don’t spend time on it….. it’s fine that it looks bad! And it’s cool if it looks good. Try taking a small lined notebook and a pen (NO PENCILS. NO ERASING.) and just filling it. this is the garbage notebook, and you don’t have to show it to anyone. It’s already full of lines, it’ll make everything look weird, your job is NOT to make good drawings your job is to fill the notebook. With time, as you just draw and make stupid things and become more comfortable with the things you like to draw often, you’ll naturally get a little faster at drawing things that you think are kinda good! You can draw slow and thoughtfully when you’re doing studies, or illustrating. and if you draw something in the garbage notebook that you like, you can always redraw it better.

the other half is rly varied. It can come from not knowing the subject, not having drawn as much, the aforementioned don’t wanna make bad art, carefully plotting where your image is going to be, orrr like maybe not knowing where your line is going to go before you put it down! You kind of have to pin what that comes from yourself. When I got into college they really stressed gesture drawing — of course the 5 minute and 8 minute ones, but we always warmed up with like twenty 15- and 30-second ones. You GOTTA draw fast, so you kinda learn to prioritize longer, confident lines and which parts of the figure you really need to focus on instead of getting super caught up in One Fold. Gestures will also help with getting looser in that way ^

(when you gesture draw, try not to outline the figure or over-construct. what I mean by this is there’sa couple ways to go about understanding form and shape and such, when you practice, liiike drawing the general supersimplified shape before filling in where the head and torso and limbs are, drawing a flour sack as a torso and sticking arms and legs on it, drawing the line of action first, or drawing the torso/head, hands, feet, and then connecting them with arms and such. They will look kind of wonky, the legs will sometimes be uneven, but that’s supposed to happen)

so basically what it comes down to is practice, but the right kind of practice. Buy a garbage notebook, do gesture drawing in public so your subject moves before you’re ready, and make one billion bad art. And lastly this is all stuff that I learned that helped me, but you might find something else works for you better!

[faerynova]

Hello! I love your art and writing ^^ I’m currently developing a story of mine and you inspired me to include illustrations in my fics! Do you have any art/writing tips?

Pls have a good day!! ^-^

i do! this got a bit long so it's under the cut. good luck with your story!!

1.) STOP CARING

This is the main advice I’ve been giving out for over a decade, and I stand by it. You will never match the perfect image you have in your head. It’s not a failing, it’s fact.

Scribble down hair instead of drawing perfect ringlets. Let the shadow be incorrect. Don’t be bothered about the lineart not perfectly connecting. Stop trying to redraw that other eye twenty times. Let it rest.

I’m most happy with my art when I stop trying to make it perfect and crisp. Nowadays I usually go directly from sketch to finished color because I hated how my lineart never measured up to my sketches. So I eliminated it! That means there are stray sketch lines among the colors, the lineart is choppy (if it exists at all), it’s not always colored perfectly inside the lines, and sometimes the proportions aren’t correct. But I don't care.

In writing, it means I write in short chunks and snappy sentences instead of long fantastical descriptions and smooth transitions from scene to scene. I love that kind of writing, but I wasn’t enjoying writing when I tried to do it like that. When I stop caring about the “image” in my head, I can speed through thousands of words in a DAY because I’m not worrying about it.

Don’t get so wound up in perfection. No one else can see the image you have in your head except you. No one else cares about the image in your head! No one is beating you up for it, and you shouldn’t beat yourself up for it either. Just let art happen.

2.) USE REFERENCES / STUDY

It’s not cheating I promise!! Use that stock photo, ask your friend to check your work, google “hand pointing” and “person sitting cross-legged” and “kitchen chair” as many times as you want or need.

Find a photo or drawing you like and recreate it. See how the light bounces in the photos, learn the curves of the lineart or paint strokes to better understand why it looks how it does. Use the color picker and experiment with pens and brushes and get messy and dissect it piece by piece-- proportions, composition, colors, everything.

In writing, I’m not sure if you can do the same thing, but imitating a writing style is still going to stretch your brain in ways you probably wouldn’t have thought of before.

(If you recreate art then don’t claim it as your own obviously, but it’s one of the best ways to learn!)

3.) NEVER HIGHER THAN BEAUTIFUL

Okay, stick with me on this one because it’s a metaphor. It’s actually a sentence I’ve borrowed from my choir director.

Every voice is different, and different people sound good in places other people wouldn’t. The full saying is: Never higher than beautiful, never lower than beautiful. Never louder than beautiful, never softer than beautiful.

An alto (low ranged) singer isn’t gonna sound good trying to stretch their voice up to high notes that they don’t have the range for.

Someone who can only sing high notes softly shouldn’t try to belt them out and make their voice crack just for the sake of volume.

Pushing yourself is good! Maybe that alto can learn to sing higher notes, maybe that soprano can learn to sing louder without cracking.

But that kind of stuff takes TRAINING and TIME. You cannot force it out, the product isn’t going to be beautiful.

This applies to all kinds of art!

Challenge yourself, learn more, stretch your limits, but NEVER SACRIFICE YOURSELF FOR BEAUTY AND PERFECTION.

If you’re stressed because you can’t imitate that one style you saw, if you’re breaking your wrist to churn out art, if you’re erasing sketch after sketch because you can’t make the drawing on the paper match the image in your head, if you force yourself to write longer chapters because you think they’re too short, if you keep trying to cut your paragraphs because you think they’re too obnoxiously flowy and flowery, you’re going to hurt yourself, whether it’s physically or mentally.

You’re good at certain things, and other people are good at other things. Don’t compare yourself to other people, and take your time learning the skills you don’t have without burning yourself out.

Which, of course, circles back around because it’s a reiteration of the first and most important rule:

Stop caring so much.

Wanting to be perfect is a hard habit to break. It’ll take time to unlearn, and that’s okay. Learning and unlearning both take time. But you will do so much better for yourself if you look at art as a vessel for creativity and fun rather than an obligation.

TL;DR: Art is work, but art shouldn’t be so much work that you hate it or yourself.

[just-like-playing-tag]

A totally self indulgent compilation of my favorite works on this blog of the year June 13, 2019 - June 13, 2020

I wanted to do this for the blog's first anniversary but then completely forgot about it lol.

The following lists are all in chronological order according to the date each post was first published.

Top 10 panel edits:

#1: Don and Gilda - Chapter 138: Demon serch (1)

Date: Jun 14th, 2019

Time: ~ 1:30 h

My very first redraw from my very first edit posted here, so it deserves an honorable mention. Back then I was young and inexperienced, I didn't even apply a gray filter (lmao I was so unskilled I even unintentionally scratched the picture, I hadn't realized until today). I'm actually very happy my first redraw was of Don, boy deserves all the love.

#2: Emma and Ray - Chapter 140: I’m Here!

Date: Jun 28th, 2019

Time: ~ 1 h

Back then this looked like so much work to me!!! And to this day, I think it turned out pretty well. I'm particularly proud of how the bow turned out. This is one I was really proud of right after having finished it; it gave me the confidence to try redrawing bigger areas. Also, the edit were I first applied the opacity of layer / opacity of brush for the gray filter that would have stuck with me.

#3: Krone's birthday edit

Date: Jul 15th, 2019

Time: 15 mins

I don't know I just really like how Krone's hair vanish to a more sketch-like style here– and consequently, how I managed to replicate such effect. I think Krone's beautiful.

#4: Emma, Norman and Ray - Chapter 153: Coward

Date: Oct 4th, 2019

Time: 4:07 h (and 67 layers lmao)

Probably the single panel redraw I'm the most proud of. That Norman panel was beautiful and very poignant at the end of a chapter I adored, so I believe it deserved all the time I've spent working on it. It's far from being perfect - the back of his head is too plain, and the difference between my brushes and the original brushes is pretty visible - but I still like it very much and am extremely attached to it. The horn looks kinda big but I honestly believe it to be more of an issue with the original than with what I had redrawn lol. Funny enough, the whole picture didn't make it to the final edit and had to be trimmed.

#5: Full Score Trio - Chapter 154: A Breakthrough

Date: Oct 11th, 2019

Time: 29 mins

I don't have a particular reason for this I just think Emma's hair turned out amazing. It took just half an hour and I didn't even use references like. Wow. @Redrawing skills where did you go please come back

#6: Mujika and Queen Legravalima - Chapter 158: The Reason I Was Born

Date: Nov 17th, 2019

Time: 2:09 h

Sis I love this so freaking much. The shift from redrawing almost exclusively people and clothes to redrawing this mess was so fun and refreshing. Even though it's a mess I think it turned out very clean and overall it looks beautiful? I remember after finishing this I felt so powerful, like now that I had redrawn this thing I would have been able to redraw anything I set my mind on lol.

#7: Emma - Chapter 161: Never Be Alone

Date: Dec 13th, 2019

Time: 57 mins

Again no particular reason except this is a very cute Emma and I think the redraw turned out pretty well. There's this big lock on the left that doesn't make a lot of sense but overall I really like it. Cute Emma is cute, and I love her determination.

#8: Emma - Chapter 166: Going Back Home

Date: Mar 9th, 2020

Time: 3:45 h

I'M SO FREAKING PROUD OF THAT RIFFLE I have not the slightlest idea why this took so damn long BUT I'M SO PROUD OF IT

#9: Norman's birthday edit

Date: Mar 21st, 2020

Time: 1:04 h

This is cool! I didn't know I could manage to draw this, but I did it! The feathers were particularly hard to clean but I think they turned out fine.

#10: Full Score Trio - Chapter 174: A New World (part 1)

Date: Apr 6th, 2020

Time: 2:11 h

I just think they're very pretty? I can't understand if I like Ray's face a lot, or not at all, but I think overall there was a lot to redraw and it turned out pretty cute! Sorry Gillian.

(Also insert pretty much every panel from the chapter 177 Isabella edit– I've spent so many hours on basically every panel there's no way I could choose only one).

Top 5 edits as whole:

#1: Emma and Ray - Chapter 140: I’m Here!

Date: Jun 29th, 2019

Complessive time: 2:57+ h

The very first edit I'm actually proud of; I'm really attached to it. It's the first edit I had put all of my effort into, and I remember feeling anxious people would have left it without notes. It kinda feels weird to think about it now, because I really don't care about notes anymore; yet, it somehow makes me happy to think that past-me wasn't let down. Thank you @neverlandstrio for your support, you may not remember but it really meant a lot to me back then! And it still makes me smile. You're the best!!!!!!

#2: Mujika and Queen Legravalima - Chapter 158: The Reason I Was Born

Date: Nov 20th, 2019

Complessive time: 7:12+ hours

This whole edit was an hella wild ride. It's midnight before a school day, when I think: "Mh, it's been a while since I last made an edit, why not make one about Musica and the queen from the last chapter?" And seven hours after this was born. I'm particularly proud of the queen's redraws on the 3rd, 7th and 9th picture (ofc), the areas which have been redrawn are pretty huge yet I think the difference with the original is almost impossible to notice?? @Redrawing skills where did you go please come back (part 2)

#3: Emma - Chapter 174: A New World (part 1)

Date: Apr 12th, 2020

Complessive time: 6:53+ h

I think the panels that were selected work very well together, especially considering the close-up / full body alternation. I love Emma, and I've always been kinda sad noticing that edits that focus one her take the less notes... She deserves all the love. Also, fun fact: for the last but one panel, I had redrawn Emma's whole left ear before remembering she doesn't have one, so I had to redraw the panel from the start. Besides from the error with the ear, the reason why this (and all the others after) took so long is because official panel take way longer to clean.

#4: Isabella and her children - Chapter 177: Mother

Date: May 22nd, 2020

Complessive time: 13:41+ h (ahah.)

Lmao tbh I can't understand how this has so few notes it's like. Technically speaking, probably the best edit I've ever done. I don't even like Isabella that much, I haven't got the slightlest idea why I decided to spend so many hours on this. Anyway, I find the composition (full body on the left / headshots on the right) really good looking in this as well! And I think the redraws turned out fine, especially Isabella's.

#5: The Promised Neverland manga ending countdown→ 1/7 chapters: chapter 1 - Grace Field House

Date: Jun 9th, 2020

Complessive time: 1:59+ h

I don't know how I came up with that idea for the composition but I find it really beautiful??? I think it does a pretty good job conveying the sudden, terrific shift of atmosphere from the first chapter, and I think that sharp bridge is very nice. I'm very, very proud of this.

Honorable mention #1: Full Score Trio - Chapter 154: A Breakthrough

Date: Oct 13th, 2019

Complessive time: 3:44+ h (+ 1:13 h of working on a panel that ultimately didn't make it to the final edit)

A very good chapter, and the edit turned out surprisingly amazing??? All the redraws look great and make it almost impossible to distinguish them from the original; honestly I feel like I'll never be able to redraw so neatly again lol.

Honorable mention #2: Don and Gilda (+ Norman) - Chapter 160: Shackles

Date: Dec 11th, 2019

Complessive time: 3:14+ h

That one is really one of my favorite scenes; I'm telling you peoples, Gilda and Don are a blessing to the earth. I think I've never mentioned it, but Gilda's hair is a nightmare to redraw??? More specifically, it takes me h o u r s to fill the texture without making it look too weird, it's the worst.

Honorable mention #3: Norman and Ray - Chapter 179: Compensation

Date: Jun 6th, 2020

Complessive time: 4:16+ h

I was so glad to finally be able to make a Norman / Ray edit, and it turned out it was just in time before the series' finale. I like how it turned out and I'm pretty satisfied with the redraws (even though my sister helped me with the lineart of some panels - it was exams time and I really couldn't afford to spend more time on it), too bad we didn't have more chapters that focused on the boys. Ray sweetie one day I'll fix your ear it's just today's not that day.

Btw, I justed realized I have never done an Emma / Norman centered edit? I'll have to make one eventually. I remember considering focusing on them alone for the chapter 154 one, but then I thought "even if the manga is gonna ignore Ray, I will chose to do not" lol.

Top 5 long posts:

#1: Reconstruction of how the Grace Field children were settled in the three bedrooms

Date: Aug 28th, 2019

I just had really a lot of fun doing it. I love putting all the little things to their own place, it's so calming to do and that's why I love making this kind of things. Also, loved how @temporoom contributed to the post! It was so nice of them to add what they had noticed to come up with more exact conclusions, that's one of the things I love the most about the internet.

#2: A study of how many times the characters of The Promised Neverland call each other through the first season of the anime

Date: Sep 10th, 2019

I REALLY LOVE IT! I mean it *was* kinda stressing to note everything, but it was very also very satisfying to see everything methodically divided and organized! And it's not just that– it's also the fact that it looks good. That's one post I have fun rereading because it's actually pretty! Also, even though it can be very stressing to learn to use new programs and sites, it's always very satisfying to look at the final result. Again, I really adore compiling these tiny little details! I would love to make more posts of that kind if i had the time.

#3: The Promised Neverland musicals headcanons

Date: Oct 27th, 2019

I mean it's literally. Putting my two favorite fandoms together how could I not love it. This is another one I really enjoy rereading, I find all the musical / character associations so fitting! I really want to make a second part, I hope to find some time to do it.

#4: Considerations on the reward / eventual series' finales (and Emma's sacrifice)

Date: May 7th, 2020

It's always nice to put down all your thoughts regarding a particular matter. It can take a lot of time (at least for me it does because... I need time to think about things), but it's so satisfying to see all of them there once you're done. Bonus points when, like in this case, it was something asked by someone else because “Wow! Somebody wants to hear my opinion on this subject! I'm flattered (◍•ᴗ•◍)”

#5: Some other considerations on the series' finale and Emma sacrificing herself

Date: Jun 13th, 2020

Pretty much the same as above. It's like some kind of clarity when the post is done and signed. Another fun fact, I had to censore the post a lot; the first version was extremely sharp and harsh, but I believe it's right to express your opinions calmly and politely.

Bonus: A thread of what the tpn characters would wear at the Oscars

Date: Feb 9th, 2020

Imagining all the children in those pretty dresses makes me so incredibly happy (╥﹏╥) I go back to look at that post a lot. I really love red carpets, I love looking at pretty dresses!!!!!

Lmao it's so funny how the post of mine I like the most are also the ones with the less notes

Anyway this was just a personal report! You don't have to read it all (or any of it actually). But it was indeed fun making it! Here's to many more months in the fandom!!!

[toonstarterz]

BECAUSE I’M NOT POPULAR, I’LL READ WATAMOTE: CHAPTER #165

Summer shenanigans are a staple of the manga and anime work, though how much you can expect the clichés to actually happen depends on how much effort you’re willing to put into making it a reality. Fact is, summer is never as fantastical or memorable as we’d like to dream. You only get three(in Japan) high school summers in one lifetime. But as they say, it’s who you spend it with, not what, that will stick around with you. 

Chapter 165: Because I’m Not Popular, I’ll Enjoy My Last High School Summer Break 

Hey, if Futaki wants to be a professional gamer girl (minus the bathwater), she’s gotta stay on top of the new releases. 

Mother always knows. Always.

There’s a fine line between persuading and threatening, Katou. Just saying.

I can already see the (not totally implausible) jokes about Mako and Yoshida secretly meeting to hook up. Even though that’s 99% not what will happen, Mako’s vagueness is something to note. The way I see it, Mako doesn’t want Yuri to feel left out, so she’s downplaying the “fun” she’ll be having with Yoshida.

Or Nico Tanigawa are blatantly ship-teasing. Either or.

Nemo’s got a pretty sweet LINE avatar.

Even through her messages, Nemo is still passive-aggressive, like she expects Tomoko won’t listen to her unless she’s demanding in her tone, exclamation points and all. She still gots a way to go to meet Katou’s level of intimidation, however.

Summer school?

Oh, the beach.

The greyscale nature of the manga medium makes this beach look a lot prettier than it probably is. Those delightful memories involving washed-up stingrays sure doesn’t help. 

I’m not entirely certain just how studious Yuri is as a student, but I imagine she’s playing up the “all work, no play” angle just to free herself from Nemo.

Nemo makes a fair point. Getting too cooped up indoors where it’s comfortable can make it difficult to study, especially when you're surrounded by distractions. A change of scenery can clear your head and make it easier to retain information. 

Of course, that sort of environmental shift doesn’t work for everyone. Someone like Nemo may appreciate the summery atmosphere, but a girl like Yuri would get agitated by the heat and humidity. Having external stimuli is ideal if you’re the type who operates better when your attention is dispersed. But for those that need to be focused on a single task to complete, it can be quite difficult.

Next time on Mythbusters...

But in all seriousness, I would like to see if there have been any real-life studies on certain sounds–waves in this case–improving one’s ability to concentrate and overall performance. My amateurish theory is that a lot of that “improvement” is a result of the placebo effect, or that there are otherwise too many extraneous factors to make a clear correlation.

In that respect, I think Yuri and Nemo’s arguments are both valid.  

A recent trend I’ve been noticing with Yuri is that she looks to Tomoko for validation. She acknowledges that they’re not the same, but having Tomoko back her up probably makes her feel more confident in her opinions, if for nothing more than having an equal-to-majority rule.

Of course, when Tomoko does disagree with her, that’s when Yuri has to either stubbornly stick to her guns, or honestly reassess herself. And thanks to the beauty of character development, the latter’s been happening more at a healthy pace.

OUCH.

It pains me to see Okada call out Yuri like that.

It pains me even more that you can’t really call out Okada for it, either.

Introverts are generally self-conscious about the very traits they embody, even when it’s that’s their comfort zone. Much like how an otaku will get uncomfortable when non-otakus hype them up. Sure, Okada probably meant it as a compliment when she called Yuri talkative, but it’s based on the idea that Yuri’s quiet nature was an incorrect assumption, which can feel kind of demoralizing.

It’s not an easy thing to address, and I’m curious to see how they’ll work through it going forward. 

Quick, someone go update their Wiki pages!. 

Reality ensues. All those amazing anime-esque summer plans can be deterred by something as simple as unreliable weather.  

Although, having to make your own wave sounds kind of defeats the purpose of being there, doesn’t it, Nemo?

Now playing...”Eroge BGM” Playlist.

Set on autoplay.

I’m glad that no one’s complaining about translating this text, cause let’s get real. The amount of redraws that would take is ridiculous, especially for an unofficial translation. 

If you think that I’m going to screencap every image of Yuri smiling just so we can bask in her cuteness...

You’d be absolutely correct.

Oooh man, this is arguably worse than calling out the quiet kid as “talkative”. At least during that time, it could pass as just an innocent observation. But being able to smile is one of those things they supposedly instill in you during primary school. Bringing it up like that suggests that Yuri is a child who purposely tries to hide her smiles. Again, Okada meant no harm, obviously, but if they’re going to push for an OkadaxYuri friendship, there’s going to be a lot of hoops to go through.

Tomoko may have opened her mind up more about the negative stereotypes about “normies”, but the positive stereotypes still persist. In this case, it’s the idea that her more sociable peers would enjoy school simply because they can hang out with their friends. Little did she know, that’s often not the case...

PINEAPPLE-CHAN DEVELOPMENT, BABY!

Ahem, pardon my outburst, but I’ve got a lot to say about this. We’ve known for a long time now that Okada is part of the “semi-in-crowd”, and it was easy to assume that all her socializing–going to karaoke for example–were just things she always enjoyed.

But what if it wasn’t. From what Okada’s implying, she sometimes ends up hanging out with people that she would rather not. Perhaps its a friend-of-a-friend type of struggle, where she hangs with people she doesn’t really like out of politeness for a mutual friend. And even if Okada is harboring a few dark thoughts, there’s plenty of reasons to not like going to school, as she said. As someone who’s relatively extroverted, having to work through the more solitary parts of school like studying can be especially difficult.

In short, hidden depths are great.

I can’t really blame you, Tomoko. When you secretly put people on a pedestal like that, it’s hard to acknowledge their human sides that show how they struggle with everyday problems just like anyone else. Even the most well-adjusted of people have their share of frustrations. 

This was totally Nemo’s plan all along.

All these panel shots of Yuri off to the side while everyone else gallivants fills me with those paternal feelings of a father wanting their daughter to make friends. It goes against everything I know about Yuri’s character, but I guess you shouldn’t underestimate the power of moe.    

This is a pretty good example of the line that separates Tomoko and Yuri. They have very similar perspectives, but it’s Tomoko’s status as an introverted extrovert that allows her to go in the ocean, while Yuri’s extroverted introvert personality lets her stay on the sidelines. 

Poor Beach-kun is not having a good day.

So even the others are noticing how Tomoko is like Yuri’s social floatation device.

Another person probably would’ve taken the sentimental route, going on about “saving these precious memories” or “I want you to experience this with us”. The kind of things Yuu-chan would say.

Thing is, Tomoko would get too embarrassed saying that touching crap, so she has to go the indirect route instead. Using pseudo-logic so she doesn’t have to exaggerate her emotions (which are there, just more reserved). 

Either way, it still sounds vaguely creepy coming from her.

Thankfully, it actually works here because Yuri has trouble articulating her emotions, too. Tomoko probably knows subconsciously that touching crap doesn’t work on Yuri, so it makes a great deal of sense that Yuri would be more responsive to dumb logic. Especially if it’s from her loveably dumb friend.

I can get used to Tomoko and Yuri unknowingly showing Nemo up.

Off in the distance...

“Getting tangled up in gross seaweed so you can spread your own grossness to other girls? Gross!”

Okay, so I know Tomoko is probably just genuinely startled by what's happening here, but you can’t tell me that her face doesn’t scream, “NOW’S MY CHANCE FOR A GROPIN’!”

lewd.

Okay, let’s be honest. I’ve watched enough anime to know that shots like this are easy fodder for fanservice. Conveniently transparent wet uniforms, amirite? And to be frank, I don’t think the mangakas are totally playing the innocent game. Sure, it’s not as blatantly objectifying as a lot of other series tend to do in scenes like this, but the posing of the girls and angle of the camera just seems too opportune to be anything but deliberate. Be careful when walking that fine line, Nico Tanigawa.

On a more positive note, I’m glad Tomoko’s first instinct was just to help them up. Though heaven knows she’s gonna milk this for all it’s worth back home.

Oh, Yuri and your accountability issues.

When life gives you lemons...you know the rest.

The best part about watching the crazy shenanigans you see in anime is that you can omit all the boring and troublesome real-life consequences. So yeah, accidentally getting splashed by beach water may seem fun in the moment, but the annoyance of having to wash your clothes afterward just isn’t worth it.

Sometimes, summer just won’t give you a break. 

Yes. Yes, you did.

Ignoring Tomoko’s embarrassed (or lewd–it’s kind of interchangeable) expression, this is probably the most wholesome summer chapter is the series’ run. That’s not to say that the chapter is “unrealistic” in any way. Sure, the end shot of all four of them reeks of 4-girl slice-of-life moe, but it actually deconstructs it a little. Instead of a fun memory, the memory itself is decidedly bothersome and more trouble than it’s worth, but there’s a sense of enjoyment to be gained from that. As Tomoko once implied, doing stupid, embarrassing things isn’t so bad when you can share in the experience. There’s a reason for the saying, “A few years from now, we’re gonna laugh at this,” after all.  

It may be Tomoko’s final summer in high school, but it will most certainly be her fondest.

[shock777archive]

I got this question on deviantart, and I felt like reposting my answer here, in case anyone is interested :P 

THIS IS GONNA BE A LONG REPLY BUT BEAR WITH ME LOL When I first started drawing/am I self taught : I've been drawing since kindergarten. Anime specifically, since I was about 8 years old. so that's been uh...18 years since I've started drawing in the anime-esque style? I am self taught on these areas. I picked up a digital artist tablet at the age of 13 or so, (it was a wacom Graphire 4 4x5 in) so it's been 13 years of digital art practice i've gotten in. I have picked up several how to draw books over the years until i surpassed some of them. But even now i'm constantly referencing tutorials and poses, looking for ideas and color palettes, etc. I have taken some schooling in college for art. I took beginner's drawing and color theory and maybe a little of art history but that's about it before i quit lmao What inspired me to draw in the first place/what I first drew: The thing that inspired me to draw in the first place was my favorite cartoons. from a very young age i knew that cartoons weren't real, but it fascinated me that actual people could create almost living people. I related to cartoons, and even though they were fake characters, I just loved the idea of creating a whole world of my own. So I took up drawing in kindergarten. First things I drew were flowers, rainbows, trees, etc. But My first biggest undertaking was powerpuffgirls. lol This was the series that started it all. Began drawing tons of powerpuffgirls stories and oc's. For the next few years I would watch different things like all the standard cartoon network shows. But I watched yugioh and dbz and other anime things too. What also got me into anime art style was the online game neopets lol Their faeries designs ( http://images.neopets.com/games/pages/icons/screenshots/586/4.jpg ) kind of had an anime resemblance, so I started drawing those for a while. When I was 8 or 9 years old my father bought me my first how to draw manga book (this one in particular: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Drawing-Manga-Ben-Krefta/dp/1841931713  ) looking back on it, this book is terrible and the anime in it is so ugly looking lol. However, i used that thing religiously and began making my own characters like a blue elf girl and a human friend of hers. ( in fact, here's the post. i tried redrawing them recently lol: https://shock777.tumblr.com/post/145898896143/finding-old-art-is-the-best-cause-you-can-redraw ) ...Then the real transformation began once I started watching Teen Titans when it aired in 2003. I was 10 at the time. That show started my love for japan. The language interested me and I began researching Japanese songs and trying to sing along to them. I didn't know what the words meant, but the artistic style and meshing of western cartoons and anime of the show really piqued my interest. My earliest drawings of them suckedddd XD; As Teen Titans drew to a close near 2006-2007 ish, I picked up Naruto and then it was all over since then lol my anime style and weeb days really came into full force lol I thank naruto though. I learned how to draw more realistic anatomy as opposed to cartoony anatomy. It was a very wild ride, but it's all documented here on my deviantart page as I got this exact account around the same time! I started posting my work in 2008, so you can go back far enough into my gallery and see the progress XD; I keep the old cringe up because it just motivates me and hopefully others, to keep drawing and keep going farther! :) PHEW lol long history there XD I do have some of my old art!!! If you wanna see some, I've posted a little here: https://shock777.tumblr.com/tagged/old-art plus I already said there's a few still on my dA gallery haha Tips I can give to you: 1. And I think this is most important, JUST KEEP GOING. It's soooo tempting to quit drawing when things aren't going right and when you're not happy with how your art looks. Trust me, every artist I've ever known including myself have gone through this. It's so easy to compare your work to someone else's. The thing is, we're all in this together. No one expects a newborn to be able to file taxes or drive a car lol. We all have to evolve and change, and that change comes from consistent work. Art isn't an inherent talent, it is hard work that is honed over several years of blood, sweat and tears lmao JUST KEEP GOING. as I've mentioned, my old cringe art is still on my dA page. Back then when I was younger I was less concerned with things being perfect and I spam posted almost every doodle. And I began a "fanbase" i guess because of those days and my consistent posting. I've had this freaking deviantart page for 11 freakin years. If I had stopped drawing whenever I felt my art was imperfect or not good enough, I would have stopped posting around 2009. so...just keep going. And I'd even dare you to post your "shitty doodles" that you think aren't that great. Because you never know what someone else will see in it that you don't. Be confident, and never give up! 2. Soak up any tutorial and really focus on studying your favorite artist's styles. If there's something you want to replicate in your art that someone else is drawing, try to see how they do it. sometimes artists have tutorials posted and sometimes they don't. I have a few posted on my youtube channel ( https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRB9xQBsGpfetNJbmXWZ1fL9d5IlqQs1w ) and some in my gallery. Don't exactly copy some things stroke for stroke, but try to add your little spin to something. Like sometimes I will see art senpai drawing a specific eye style I wanna replicate, but I don't like one part of the process. So sometimes I'll just add my own little addition, or just omit that process completely. Usually though, if the art style isn't necessarily super unique, you can copy a lot of mainstream styles without anyone really griping saying "oh you're just copying so and so's art style". It's important to look up to art senpais i think. They make me want to try harder lol 3. Take an art class if you're able. Color theory really helped me grasp things that I never had before. LIKE REFLECTIVE LIGHT FOR INSTANCE. I never drew that shit but now I do because DUH it's so freaking obvious lol It also helps to learn what colors neutralize others, complementary colors, analogous ones, etc. It's nice to have an eye for what matches together and to know the principles of art. I still have a lot of work to do when it comes to perspective, which we did cover a little in class lol but work on your own pace. If your college near you offers a class for beginners, take it if you're able. it will help you view things differently. 4. Copy realistically. Like, I'm talking look at a freaking object in your room and try to draw it. Once you can draw it semi realistically, you can then add your own little stylistic choices to it. Like so many artists who draw chibis or cartoony things, they more than likely know the proper proportions of people and anatomy. But they draw the proportions all whacky and it creates their own style. However it does help to know how they work in reality lol 5. TRACE OVER POSES. Sometimes I do this. I'm not saying to trace someone's art, but if you see some kind of pose on say a google image, or a stock photo, try sketching over it to get a feel for where the joints connect if you're working on anatomy. It reaaaallly helps you memorize where the arm would end, or where the torso connects to the hips. 6. Take advice and criticism well. If someone sees something you don't about your art, they may be on to something. It's not wrong if someone gives you a heads up that a proportion seems lacking or something seems too big or out of place. It will actually help you to see what others see. Sometimes we get in the habit of drawing something a certain way and it's hard to break that habit especially if you've drawn the same thing several hundred times. It will help you in the long run to just accept that you're always going to be improving. You'll never be perfect at drawing, so what do you have to lose? Just keep walking forward and learn what you can. 7. Flip the canvas. This is more or less a digital art tip, but please flip the canvas to make sure the proportions are not off. lol A lot of professionals have to flip the canvas until they get a feel for where things are placed. Another good tip is to use a stabilizer of some kind to draw straight lines. Paint tool sai has one at the very top of the window. It helps tremendously. 8. Draw what you like and don't feel bad for not drawing everything everyone else likes. Don't sacrifice your morals or your personal desires for something everyone else likes. If you're paid to draw something you don't like, thats another thing. but don't let people pressure you to draw stuff that you don't want to. You'll be much happier, and build an audience that is much like-minded to you. Be considerate of what your audience likes, sure, but remember at the end of the day, art is something to express one's self. Art is not and should not be a job. Even if you get paid money to draw or design things, it's important to take a break and draw something for yourself every once in a while. Be self indulgent, and treat yo self from time to time :) And uhhh...that's all I can think of for the time being. :') let me know if you have any further questions or if I need to clarify anything :) Thanks again!

[ubercharge]

How do you draw paws so well? They're always so cute and round and the toes look great. I can't seem to master it. ;w;

ok so i drew this for you but it’s a fucking mess (i’m sorry) so i’ll try to put it into text form...

if you’re studying anatomy sometimes you get too caught up in exactly how something looks. but when it comes to natural stuff sometimes you wanna force yourself to look at it less rigidly (unless rigid works for you), you can do this by drawing faster and thinking sketch > rendering

keeping things loose + organic help sell the natural look

use curves and round lines. to prevent shapes from turning to mush, know where things angle off like the arc of each toe, it’s not a perfect curve all the time (some cats got round af toes though)

also along the lines of ‘don’t be too rigid’: paws are squishy like a lot of natural forms. boobs aren’t perfect spheres at every angle and position, you gotta think of them more like water balloons or whatever. teardrop shape. same with paws, they’re not gonna be perfect circles/squares. it can help to think of organic forms as broken down shapes, just remember they squash and bend so use non-standard shapes

unless you’re doing super stylized chibi paws it’s easier to stylize after you learn how the irl anatomy works. then you can fuck it up all you want

don’t force all the toes, sometimes you don’t see them all based on the angle

middle toes are bigger/taller with larger beans

different animals have different paw shapes, paw pads, etc. you know which artists have done their homework when you see people put paw pads on rabbits

check out tutorials, you never know when an artist’s tips/tricks work for you. i learned how to draw paws and wings off of devart tutorials way fuckin back as a kid

use and study from photo references. practice. if you don’t like what you’re churning out from memory, go back to studying refs. build up your brain library then you’ll have more material to use to tackle your next drawing and it’ll get easier to do stuff from memory

it’s ok to go back to studies no matter how experienced an artist you are. focus on learning + improvement. don’t ever beat yourself up over this shit. as an artist you WANT to constantly be learning and that entails sometimes just straight up not being satisfied with what you put out cuz you know you can do better, just gotta help your brain and/or hands catch up with each other.

if you’re trying to focus on one area (like paws, or maybe you’re studying a certain kind of animal, etc.) i think it helps to check out what works for other people (tutorials) and do studies where i redraw what i see in a photo. it’s ok to trace off stuff if you’re learning, just don’t post it. it can help you understand the curvature/angles of something as you work on studying it, but it’s a good practice to keep those studies private. unless maybe you own the photo then do whatever

he he squishy beans

[cosmosogler]

today i got an anon message on the comic. they’d been reading it at midnight and it made them cry.

it kind of made my day even though i felt bad about it haha. i thought about the comics i read, the fan fictions and games and tv shows, that make me cry, and i appreciated that i had given someone else that experience. there’s something really raw and honest about crying over a story.

i got up on time! and i biked all the way over to the psychiatrist’s office! we are not changing anything about my meds. i don’t see her again until after my test.

i biked over to the office and studied for an hour. my office is still unusable so i moved next door. and i sorted out my medical drop petition. it’s just gonna take 6 to 8 weeks to process and finish and there’s nothing i can do about that. i had lunch with harrison and then biked over to the drc. i also made it to that appointment on time! i told the counselor there that i would prefer to use my appointment time to study instead as the test draws closer. she said that was fine. i fumbled through some plans for the future and then i got quiet and then she stared at me for several minutes and i stared back. 

i might need to find a new counselor if i start going to the drc weekly again...

anyway now i am just seeing my individual therapist again starting next week and going to group therapy (two more times, then the week of the test i have off). hopefully that will be less overwhelming and time-consuming with travel time and energy and all that.

on the way home from the drc i stopped at the bike shop and got my bike tuned up. it works much better now. i forgot that the last time i put air in the tires was like four months ago. the owner of the bike shop and i goofed about how long it’s been since i got my bike fixed up. he also told me about a dive bar that’s starting up... somewhere on the main road in town. he didn’t give me an address and i was like “well jeez i don’t know all the defunct frat houses around here.” i didn’t say that out loud. i probably should have.

i got home at like 2:30 and got my mail and studied just a little more and worked on the comic for a while. it took me ALL evening but i finally finished the last two panels of that redrawn scene. i think... i’m going to have to wait a little bit before i tackle that final redraw i need to do. i expanded it to two pages so we could get a look at the outside of blue’s castle but then i realized i was going to have to actually draw a building if i wanted to do that. i don’t have any clipboard paper to draw it on but i guess i could sneak the scene into my dhura sketch book since i’m not using it for much right now.

i’d prefer to keep them all in order... i don’t think that’s going to be feasible for this one single comic scene.

at 11 i had a snack and then parked myself at my desk and watched two more episodes of fma. i just finished episode 47 and man things are intense. i hope al is ok. i kind of love this show.

ok anyway it’s late and i’m very tired. been half asleep all day... i woke up a little after dinner but i’m still dragging my feet.

[atcostmag]

Melis Soyaslanová on her Czech-Turkish heritage, Literary Influences and Going Back to the Basics

Formerly of IYES fame, the Czech-born but Berlin-based Melis Soyaslanová certainly had an eventful 2017 with the release of her debut EP “Parallels” and a number of Hype Machine number ones under her belt. Eschewing the shiny electro pop production and instead making personal stories and songwriting the focus, it’s this redrawing of self that is so evident on her latest record. Proving less is more, “Parallels” takes a minimalist approach through her gimmick-free delivery of simple piano chords alongside a great voice. Ever-so-curious to see what inspired these changes, we probed a little deeper and asked how she’s handling her logistics of going solo and her newfound internet fame amongst music insiders.

Read our review of Melis’ "Parallels" HERE

Words: Peter Quincy Ng

Hey Melis! Hope you're doing well! I can see Hype Machine thinks so too! You're famous now I suppose aren't you?

(Laughs) Definitely not but thank you! I am only just starting out. I still have a ton of stuff to achieve; this is the beginning.

So Melis is a new project, but you still chose collaborate with producer Josh Christopher from your previous project IYES. What did you want to do differently this time?

We work with a very different sound palette than what we used in IYES. Josh understands me and the sound I’m after; it’s much more organic and live.

You've lived in studied music in Brighton, formed IYES in Prague and you go under Melis in Berlin. How have the experiences of each city shaped you as a musician? 

Each city helped me grow in different ways. In Brighton I met Josh and learned a lot of things about the music industry. Berlin gave me the opportunity to be creatively-free and get my solo project started. I think it’s easy to get stuck in life if you’re in one place for a long time. I’m so grateful to be born in this time when we are able to travel anywhere. My grandparents grew up in a communist era so things weren’t as easy for them. I think I’m lucky to have the opportunity. Establishing yourself someplace new is a hugely enriching experience.

Your Czech-Turkish heritage is often highlighted in written pieces. Lately you've been getting recognized in the Turkish press with your latest release. What is your reaction to that as a person from the Turkish diaspora?

I am totally overwhelmed by the amount of support I am receiving from Turkey lately. It’s amazing! As I’m maturing, I really embrace both cultures and realize that my heritage makes me unique. Growing up was confusing at times. I think all kids of mixed heritage can relate to the feeling of not fitting in or belonging somewhere. Maybe that’s why I have the urge to travel.

And I hear your music is inspired by Milan Kundera as well?

He’s one of the best writers in the world! I read all his books. “Immortality” is my favorite.

You mentioned you didn't want a "shiny" pop record. What surprises me about the record is the simplicity of it. Was cutting down on excess and making a more organic record a hard thing to do?

The aim was to focus on my songwriting and tell these stories. Thankfully we didn’t get distracted with creating weird sounds and obscure interludes! In the final stage of production, we actually ended up taking out instrumentation that wasn’t needed. We were cautious because we knew that this EP would establish the foundations for everything else I will make in the future.

I remember reading once that your music is inspired from being pissed off? What type of record would you call “Parallels”? I remember your debut single "Love Song Idea” was salvaged from a wiped hard-drive. That must be a pretty frustrating experience I suppose!  

I guess you could say that! “Parallels” came together because there was a lot of things going on in my life. It’s a really personal storybook. Usually there is some kind of emotional imbalance in me when I write a song. But through the writing process I clarify my thoughts and express how I feel. I love this quote from Victor Hugo: 'Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.'

The record feels like it is ultimately about love. I recall Shakira being quoted with the following words: "It is impossible to not write about love. It's the great mystery of life. It makes me ask myself new questions every day". Do you agree with those words?  

I agree. One of my favorite books is ‘The Art of Loving’ by Erich Fromm. There are many different forms of love and ways to love. Although it has been cliched and generalized in pop music, there are still creative ways to write songs about love. For example, “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” by Paul Simon. The creative potential of writing love songs is practically limitless.

You recently performed your first show as Melis in Prague. Is it difficult conveying those personal feelings on stage?

My first concert was amazing actually. I felt really comfortable on stage and I loved performing my songs live. It’s an exchange of energy that you don’t get from the writing or recording process. I got so many messages afterwards from people who connected with me. It’s the best feeling and a reason to keep me going.

"Holding Hands" was really great by the way but did nerves ever get to you doing your first little acting role in your first music video?

I was really nervous when I had to do the driving scene. It was the director’s car with an expensive camera attached, and I’m not a very confident driver! But overall, it was an incredible experience. I’m very proud of the video.

If "Parallels" is any indication, it can only seem you're on to bigger things. How have you been passing the days and what sort expectations do you have for the future?

I’ve been pretty busy rehearsing the live shows and also writing a lot. I’m about to start recording “EP2″ actually. Next year I’m gonna do some live shows and just focus on getting better and releasing new music. I’m super excited!

Thanks Melis, hopefully we'll get to meet in Berlin, I see you're quite the tour guide (see Melis’ guides to Berlin with Billboard and Notion) maybe we can get kicked out of Berghain together one day?

I’ve lived in Berlin for a few years now and still haven’t even been to Berghain. Waiting on you!

[kit-kat-draws2798-blog]

Just gonna put this here since I haven't really done much else tbh Lack of inspiration hit me like a brick. Love him pls he's precious- ✦General Information✦ Name: Oliver King Nickname(s): Oli, Ovie, etc Age: 19 years old Gender: Male Species: Otter kemonomimi Preference: Homosexual Height: 5’0 ft (Very smol) ✦Reside✦ Living Location: In a studio apartment near the college he attends ✦RELATIONS✦ (Name): Colleen King (mother) Oliver is pretty close to his mother and likes to hang out her when he has the time. They do puzzles, card games,etc and chat. (Name):Samuel King (Father) Oli has a close relationship with his father, doing some kinds of sports together. They like to swim and go on short hikes. (Name):Livvy King (Little sister) Oli's relationship with his sister is pretty decent, but is a bit hard. They have about a 14 year age gap, so it honestly depends on the situation. They do generally get along though. (Name):Akuma Akuma is Oli's bf and he loves him to pieces despite how dangerous he is. Would do almost anything for him~ (Name):Ace Wellingstone Ace has been Oli’s best friend for a while now, ever since they were children. They have always been very close, and Oli feels like he can tell him anything. However, Oli is completely unaware of Ace’s romantic feelings towards him. Poor bby, he’ll never really be able to be with Oli since he’s in love with Akuma :’D (Name):Dawn Will be added later once this character is more developed (Name):Finian Will be added later once this character is more developed (Name):Raiden Labs Oli and Raiden get along pretty well despite a 5 year age difference. They hang out sometimes at the hideout whenever Raiden isn’t too busy. They like to talk and listen to music together. (Name):Ryan Prescod Oli’s abusive ex boyfriend. He used to mentally and verbally abuse him in the time they were together. This resulted with Oli having some insecurities from his belittling, and has grown to fear him. Just the sight of his face scares Oli. ✦PERSONALITY✦ -Caring: He has a soft spot for helping people, will go out of his way to assist others. -Cheerful: Oliver is a huge optimist and tends to see the good in everything and everyone. -Neat: Loves to keep everything tidy and organized! He gets a bit stressed when things aren’t in order.. -Considerate: He tries his best to be conscious of other people’s feelings/needs, and gets sad when others are upset. -Energetic: Seemingly has unlimited amounts of energy, even after doing a strenuous activity. He doesn’t get tired easily. -Gentle:Hates hurting anyone, tries to be as soft as possible. -Loyal: Is like a dog in this aspect. -Playful: Loves messing around and having some goofy fun. -Sweet: He’s like sugar dear god. -Quiet: Usually like this around strangers or people he doesn’t know very well. He likes to make sure they’re comfortable with something before bringing it up. -Pure: Doesn’t really get adult humor somehow even though he’s 19-- also doesn’t really swear. -Clumsy: He’s not super clumsy, but tends to trip on the stupidest objects all the time (Ex: Falls up the stairs a lot) -Gets distracted pretty easily. Makes him a tad forgetful as well sometimes. -Excitable: Goes for anything he likes-from tv shows to friends- he gets hyped easily. -Insecure: The main reason being because of his Ex, who mentally/emotionally abused him. -Naive: Ties in with him being pure, he’s a bit too trusting and caring. -Soft hearted: Being the overly kind and trusting boy he is, he often gets taken advantage because of it. -Sensitive: Not hugely so, but he does take mean words a bit more to heart than others. -Weak: He’s not very strong and can’t fend for himself very well. ✦LIKES/DISLIKES✦ Likes: -Anything that has to do with water. Particularly swimming. -Cute things/people -Hugs -Animals. Pretty much any of them. -Outdoors -Flowers and plants in general -Bees. They help the plants grow :3 -Pastels -Sweet and salty foods -Soft clothes and items -Watching tv with people he likes -Doodling -Autumn -Hot Chocolate -Baggy clothes and scarves -Rain -Etc Dislikes: -When it’s overly hot or cold -Anything even a little spicy -People getting hurt or upset -Lack of inspiration -Loud noises -BUGS (Especially moths) -Rude or hurtful behavior -etc (He’s pretty positive, so not a lot of things actually bother him) ✦Skills✦ -2D artist (Draws traditionally and digitally. He specializes in a cute cartoony like style, and often paints with watercolor) -Is a really good swimmer. Could’ve gone professional if he wasn’t so into his art. ✦BACKGROUND✦ Childhood: Oliver was born and raised in a city called *insert name*. He lived with his family that consists of his mother, father, and little sister. He had a very normal and happy childhood and has a strong relationship with his family. He was one of those kids you’d probably call a goody two shoes. He didn’t really do anything wrong and spent most of his time either with his family, friends, or finishing up his schoolwork. Despite Oli being a naive child, he was pretty smart and had good grades. Adolescence: Middle school was pretty much all around the same for Oli, nothing really changed for him until freshman year of high school. That time was the one that really shaped him, and not really in a good way. That year he met this boy named Ryan Prescod. He was the captain of the football team, tall, handsome, charismatic. Oli couldn’t help but to completely fall for him. Ryan however, saw an opportunity in this. Oli is the kind of kid that you could manipulate into doing most anything and Ryan liked that. He used warm and loving words to get Oli in the palm of his hands. He saw him as a means to get what he wants, not for a loving relationship. Ryan was really sweet and caring at first, but shortly after they got together, he began to show his true colors. When Ryan didn’t get his way, he’d insult and belittle Oli, to the point it made him actually believe that what he said was true. It was definitely a mentally/emotionally abusive relationship. Hell, he would sometimes beat him a little, but only in spots where the bruises and cuts could be covered up. Ryan even tried to control who he was hanging out with and for how long. This went on for about four months, until others intervened and broke it off. That left Oliver broken for a while, with insecurities that Ryan instilled into him. Oli still acted like he usually did, keeping these things to himself. The last thing he likes to do is worry the people around him. He silently suffered with these fears and insecurities. After all, this happened, Oli got anxious when he started developing even a slight crush. Fearing it might end up like the last relationship, or that he just wouldn’t be good enough. About two years later, in junior year, in his English class, he was paired up with this boy named Akuma. He was infamous around the school for getting into violent fights with other kids and other horrible rumors that liked to float around. Of course, Oli was intimidated at first but was curious to see if he was truly as bad as everyone painted Akuma to be. The two boys would butt heads a little during the time they worked together, but after some time, they got along for the most part. Despite Akuma’s bad reputation, Oli got attached to him and wanted to get to know him more. Akuma was reluctant at first, but let him stick around anyway. They became pretty close after a while, and to Oli’s surprise, started to really like him. He began to panic as soon as he realized this, old memories of his last relationship flooding back onto him like a tidal wave. It took him a bit to calm down and come to terms with his feelings. He realized, based on what he knew of Akuma, that he would most likely never do that. He actually became really sensitive and agitated whenever Oli was even the slight bit injured or when he just looked upset. When Oliver eventually built up the courage, he confessed to Akuma when they were alone. Akuma eventually accepted his feelings and they started dating. They decided to keep it to themselves for a while, eventually gradually telling the people close to them. It was mostly due to the nature of their relationship and their vastly different lifestyles. Adulthood: Currently, Oliver is a nineteen-year-old college student studying art (specifically illustration, a little bit of animation). He lives in a studio apartment near the school but often likes to stay at his bf’s place. Although it is kind of far away from his apartment. He's pretty content on how his life is going so far. ✦ Other Info✦ He has a sun tattoo on the left side of his chest. (I’ll add more as I develop him <3) Note: I will be adding more outfits for him because he needs all the outfits All feminine ofc Also I don't mind adding more relationships for him, I'd prefer kemonomimis tho, as that's the kinda universe he's set in. Also I might redraw this later as I'm not really too happy with it--- ;;v;; Character and art(c) Kit-Kat-Draws Design by @/BurntUniverse Some of the other characters mentioned belong to KoKo-The-Rabbit

[yuramoonbow]

how do you make good art bc all I can make is bad art?

well, that’s an interesting question so lemme use some bullet points here…

• i do bad art, lots of it! actually, 80% of the stuff i do is probably bad or rather what i consider bad (it’s not the same thing). i erase, redraw, or just delete some of my drawings. i’m very critical of every piece i produce, i see mistakes and imperfections and things that could have been better so i’m often not very satisfied with my drawings. hovewer, are they really bad? they might not be what i expect from myself, but there are people who will love it and who will be moved by that piece, who will feel something and cherish that feeling. so what is bad for me might be a pretty nice drawing for another person.. being critical of yourself is fine, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that all you make is bad bc it’s bs and you definitely have something going for you!

• okay, but sometimes there are drawings that suck, we all have them. they just don’t look good and even your supportive friends will be like ‘ehhh’… so what do you do? you look at it, you say to yourself ‘MAN THIS SUCKED’ and then move on. with art you have to accept that not every drawing will be good. not every tumblr post will get you lots of notes, not every hand will look like an actual human hand. sometimes it will just suck. accept it, let yourself fail and find strength and drive to move on and make more art while being aware that it might not turn out as good as you want it to be. you’re learning and you’re imrpoving and with each drawing, even a bad one, you’re getting better at what you’re doing. so fail, we all do

• alright, you accepted it, what’s next? you can try figuring out what you didn’t like about it. once you figure it out, you should start learning about that thing. next time you draw it’s gonna be so much better  but you wouldn’t have improve if you hadn’t known you sucked at drawing that particular thing! i also recommend looking for inspiration from other artists, examining their works, trying to understand what makes you love their art, what makes you think it’s good? find it and make it part of your work. don’t copy - study, dissect, learn, make it your own.

• i know i’m talking here all confident about it like i have it all figured out so it’s easy for me to just tell you to accept the bad drawings that happen and not worry about them. dude, i worry about my bad drawings, i get discouraged, i often feel like everything i do is not good enough. however, i persist. i draw and i find happiness in the process. i look at my old art and i’m able to find beauty in it and think to myself ‘this was good’ even if it’s not anatomically correct and has weird colours. 

so please remember:

-no, not all drawings that you do are bad drawings - lots of your work is probably good. -yes, bad drawings happen - accept them, they deserve their place in your history.

-you’re learning and you can only get better from now. so please don’t stop even if you feel like what you do isn’t good enough. it is

-be kind to yourelf, you deserve it

[rithsu-chan]

Because We’re Friends

Title: Because We’re Friends Fandom: Natsume Yuujinchou Characters: Natori Shuuichi, Natsume Takashi, other mentioned characters Relationship: Natori Shuuichi & Natsume Takashi Prompt: Favorite chapter/episode/arc (for May 17) Word Count: 2263 (not including the additional scene in italics below) Summary: Shuuichi isn’t stupid. He suspects– knows that Natsume has always been carrying something important with him. He doesn’t know what it is exactly, but he just knows it’s something dangerous. And so Shuuichi’s worry grows. And grows. 

And grows.

Warning: Contains content from manga chapters 14, 60-62, and 72-73, so if you haven’t read up until those chapters then don’t read this yet

Notes: This isn’t actually a single chapter/arc; it’s just that my favorite part/s is/are scattered throughout the manga, as seen in the warning above. 

I just love Natori’s relationship with Natsume and he’s honestly so protective of him, which is why Natori knowing about the Book of Friends really hit it home with me. This is basically just the scenes in the manga written in Natori’s perspective along with my own headcanons. Some of the dialogue were copied directly from the ones in the manga, so, yeah. Disclaimer.

Also, I crammed writing this so I’m sorry if it’s a bit messy and inconsistent. And b o i, I did not expect for this to exceed 2,000 words at all. I thought it was just gonna be a drabble with about 1k or so words, but then this happened. :’))

Anyway. On to the story.

The first time Shuuichi realized Natsume was carrying something important with him, it was at their trip to the hot springs. He had caught the tail end of Natsume’s conversation with the Youkai – Sumie, was it? – and even the part where he had a piece of paper tucked in between his lips.

Shuuichi thought odd of it, but he didn’t have time to think into it further as the Youkai was gearing up to attack Natsume, and he couldn’t have that, so he threw away everything but the thought and the instinct to protect him.

And then everything, his true purpose as to why he was in that inn as well as his motives in bringing Natsume along with him, kind of just unfolded from there.

Needless to say, he felt a little bit guilty about deceiving Natsume to go with him on this trip, when all he could have done was ask, but he couldn’t quite find it in himself to do anything but lie at that time because he was so used to doing so. It was hypocritical of him to say to Natsume that he wouldn’t need to lie when he was with him when he himself did so. But, well… he’d say that old habits die hard, but he feels himself letting up a little bit when Natsume admits that he’d been keeping things from Shuuichi himself, and that statement brings Shuuichi back to what he was doing with the Ayakashi before.

However, that was something that could be done at a later date, and right now what’s more important is to seal that Youkai properly.

Shuuichi could admit to himself that he panicked just a little bit when his paper dolls failed to subdue the Ayakashi, but then he proceeded to feel relieved and amazed at the fact that a Youkai that Natsume had saved prior to their trip had been the one to save them when the exorcism failed. Huh, maybe helping Youkai isn’t so bad after all…?

He’ll... entertain that thought another time.

The next time the matter comes up, a few months, close to a year, had passed. Tsukiko-san had called and he’d sent a paper doll containing the details of their meet up, only to find out that that doll had fallen to the ground due to the rain and was picked up by none other than Natsume.

It was funny how fate decided to let them meet again, and under this circumstance no less, but it was even more frustrating because Shuuichi didn’t want Natsume to be involved in his exorcism business. The various times he was involved, Shuuichi had been infected by his compassion and kindness and recklessness, three things that the people in his line of work usually lacked – and for good reason, because those three things entail weakness, and Ayakashi leech onto that.

But… when Shuuichi looks at Natsume and all his compassionate glory, he can’t associate him with the word. Natsume is anything but weak; he’s brave and determined, and he’s also just a tad bit fragile, but that doesn’t make him weak. He knows that anyone who’s had a childhood dealing with Youkai couldn’t have grown up being fully accepted, and it shows with Natsume’s actions because, just like himself, he’s grown accustomed to lying, he finds certain acts of kindness directed toward him surprising, he has a hard time trusting people, and he…

He keeps secrets, no matter how dangerous, just so he could protect other people.

“Are you the Natsume of the Book of Friends that I’ve heard so much about?”

And that brings Shuuichi back into the present, because there it is. There it is again. The... recognition that Youkai have of Natsume’s name.

“Natori-san…”

“Tsk, so the exorcist brat is here. Did you overhear us?” the Ayakashi asked.

“...No,” Shuuichi answered, choosing his words carefully. “But it sounded intriguing. Care to fill me in?”

The Ayakashi snorted. “Who would tell a halfwit exorcist like you?”

Shuuichi paused. The way the Ayakashi said it… it seemed more than just an insult. He’d have lapsed into a thoughtful state right then and there, but alas, the Ayakashi has fled, effectively stopping his thoughts and putting him back into reality.

Later on, after the affair has ended and he’s told Natsume that whatever he had to say, he can say when he’s ready, Shuuichi thought. The amount of recognition Natsume holds over various Ayakashi is downright alarming, if only because it means that Natsume is so deep into Ayakashi business that he’s well-known by them across the land. Originally, Shuuichi had thought that that recognition was brought about by Natsume’s big heart for all the beings around him, but maybe there’s more to it than that.

Maybe… maybe he was well-known because of something he has, something that holds importance and– and power over the Youkai. Something powerful and terrifying and dangerous.

Something that the kind Natsume maybe shouldn’t have in his possession.

The Book of Friends, huh…?

Shuuichi had just exorcised an Ayakashi when he heard two small ones fretting over being exorcised themselves.

“Hey, isn’t that an exorcist?”

“Eh?! How scary… we might be exorcised if he finds us.”

Shuuichi finds himself amused, and he butts in, telling them that if he kept exorcising the small fry, it would be bad for his health. The low-level Ayakashi, fearing for their lives, blurt out that they’d do anything he demanded while also asking for forgiveness. Shuuichi, not one to pass up the opportunity, asks.

“Have you heard of the Book of Friends?”

The small Ayakashi are quaking and are weak-willed but they say nothing helpful about it and quickly run off. Shuuichi purses his lips.

Hm, so it appears that the Book of Friends is a well-kept secret among the Ayakashi that, for some reason or the other, should not be known by exorcists.

Now the question is: why?   

What power could the Book of Friends possibly have that would threaten the Ayakashi greatly should an exorcist get his hands on it?

Shuuichi thinks.

Youkai are generally afraid of exorcists because they do not want to be exterminated. So, if an exorcist in possession of the Book would be much more dangerous and fearsome for the Ayakashi, then Shuuichi could safely assume that the Book is fairly powerful.

Now then, Shuuichi mulls over what possible use a book could be to an exorcist. A book contains writings, and Shuuichi could think of a few things that require writing for exorcists.

It could be a book of spells, for example, spells that could effectively and efficiently exorcise Youkai. However, Shuuichi could not see the wisdom in simply carrying a book of spells around so he scratches that thought away.

A collection of circles, perhaps? That could serve some purpose for exorcists, having a ready-made stash of different types of circles made for different purposes. It may be convenient in some way for some people, however, for Shuuichi, it would only limit the sizes of the circles and he’d have to redraw them on the ground anyway if he needed a bigger one.

The last thing Shuuichi could think of that would need writing in an exorcist’s job would be forming a contract.

That… is not a pleasant possibility.

Shuuichi has caught only a glimpse of the Book, and from what he remembered, it was thick. If that thing contained contracts, then it means that a lot of Youkai were involved, and for such a thing to be in Natsume’s hands… he didn’t want to think of the possibility. Not yet. Shuuichi lowered his hat.

He best be going back. Natsume’s coming soon.

When Shuuichi had gone back to his condo with Natsume after picking him up, he was surprised to see one of his acquaintances – Aimiya-san – hanging around by the entrance of the building. And because fate just liked to screw with him, said acquaintance had also invited Shuuichi to an event in the Hakozaki house and managed to drag Natsume along.

Shuuichi had been careless. He should have never paraded around with Natsume, and now some weird rumor had spread about him.

He managed to suppress a sigh as they entered the premises of the Hakozaki house and quickly put on his business smile, listening attentively to Hakozaki-san’s request to find the elder Hakozaki’s study and seriously considering it.

It was a great opportunity, Shuuichi thought. His only regret was having Natsume be in the presence of other exorcists, especially since the Matobas are most probably elbow-deep into this matter as well.

But really, it was an opportunity that Shuuichi could not pass up, and he’d just have to take the risk. Natsume could defend himself fairly well enough anyway, and he had his cat bodyguard too, but just to ease his own conscience a little bit, he asked Hiiragi to go with Natsume as well, and also made Natsume dress as a shiki for good measure.

With that done, he set out to do some searching on his own. Urihime and Sasago had reported back to him after a while with a non-affirmative of the study’s location, but they both promised to search harder and Shuuichi only nodded. He’d thought as much anyway. There was no way his shiki could find it that quick if the people that came here before him hadn’t found it yet by now.

He continued searching on his own but no such luck turned up on his end as well. He sighed forlornly, thinking if it was impossible after all.

Ah, but if it’s Natsume…

Shuuichi found himself thinking. Natsume is different after all; he might just be able to find it.

He might have mused on it more, but then he was interrupted by the presence of another exorcist.

Nanase-san.

“Natori!” the elder pleasantly exclaimed. “As usual, you pick up on interesting stories very quickly.”

Shuuichi blurts out his greeting and they proceed on chatting. When asked about Natsume, Shuuichi simply waves it off and states that he hasn’t seen him.

He doesn’t want Natsume doing anything with the Matoba clan, not after he read Matoba’s letter to Natsume.

Nanase-san finally leaves and he takes the opportunity to look for Natsume and warn him about her. When Shuuichi does find him though, he was being attacked by a Youkai, and he tries so hard, his hardest, to pretend that he didn’t hear about the Book of Friends from the Youkai, only telling it to stay away from Natsume and attempting to rescue the younger male only for the fat cat to jump in and save him instead, but he knew Natsume knew that he heard it, so he tried placating him, telling him he’d just pretend he didn’t hear anything.

Natsume surprised him with his response.

“Natori-san… I won’t say it now because there are Ayakashi around, but after everything is done, will you hear me out?”

The statement gave Shuuichi pause, but he smiled and replied, “Of course.”

“My grandmother was called Natsume Reiko. It seems she had strong spiritual power.”

Shuuichi perked up at that, slightly surprised at Natsume’s straightforwardness and not expecting him to open up immediately after they’d finished, but he listened closely nevertheless.

“She was bad at dealing with humans so she was always involved with Ayakashi.” A pause. “She would challenge some, and when the Ayakashi lost, she made them write their names on a piece of paper. It seems she collected these.”

As Shuuichi heard the words, he was overcome with a grim disposition.

Natsume had said that she’d made them write their names. Shuuichi isn’t stupid; he’d deliberately told Natsume a while back that contracts formed with Youkai would require a name other than their real one, so the younger male’s lack of elaboration meant only one thing: the real names of the Ayakashi had been written.

It was a forbidden act.

Shuuichi listened on mirthlessly as Natsume continued to tell him about his grandmother, about how she’d made the Book of Friends out of loneliness, about how he’d inherited it and…

And about how, since he’s the only living blood relative of Reiko, he’s the only one able to return the names to their respective owners, which was why he’s now made it his life’s mission.

It was all… very difficult to accept for Shuuichi, because he knew, even if Natsume didn’t say so, that it was dangerous, risky, unsafe, and– and life-threatening. And he knew Natsume knew that as well, yet the younger still persists in doing so, if only to free the Youkai. Such a heavy burden for someone so... young and innocent. Shuuichi resists a shuddering breath.

Natsume was kind.

Natsume was too kind.

“It would be better if… such a dangerous thing was burned,” Shuuichi breathed out amidst the crackle of fire. Natsume, not having heard it because of the noise from the fire, asked what he had said, but Shuuichi merely brushed it off.

When Natsume had gone and the whole Hakozaki affair had been left behind, Shuuichi contemplated. He didn’t want the Book of Friends to stay in Natsume’s hands any longer, but Shuuichi had a feeling that nothing he’d say would persuade Natsume into giving it up, because Natsume’s just like that. Shuuichi can’t see him willingly throwing away the book; if anything, he’d probably fight tooth and nail just to protect it and to not let it fall into the wrong hands.

Shuuichi sighed exasperatedly, looking at the sky.

What was he going to do with Natsume?

End Notes: And yeah, that’s it. That’s the story. I now realize it’s more of a character study actually...? Of Natori, that is. 

Okay, uhm, I lied. That’s not the whole story yet. There’s still a scene I haven’t included in here ‘cuz I’m not yet done writing it, and is2g if I don’t get what I have done out right now, my brain is going to explode. 

The additional scene I’ll add tomorrow, but it’s going to be in a reblog sooo yeah. Y’all better read that additional scene because that’s where the title of this one-shot came from.

Thanks for reading and good night. 

...

On second thought, I’m gonna add here what I’ve written of the additional scene bc gahhhd I really need to get it out of my system/drafts and if I don’t my frustration would only grow and grow and grow.

So. Here you go.

“Natori-san! Natori-san, wait! The Book– it’s reacting!” Natsume shouted, stopping Shuuichi’s assault on it and momentarily distracting him from the Youkai.

“Watch out–!” Hiiragi warned, and Shuuichi turned to the Youkai, expecting to be hit, but that was prevented by the fat cat turning into his beast form and grabbing the Ayakashi in between his teeth.

“Natsume, now!” The white-furred beast looked to Natsume, his deep voice carrying across the land to where Natsume was, the Book suddenly out and opened.

“One who would protect me...” Natsume chanted, and Shuuichi looked on, confused and at the same time enchanted. “...show me your name.”

As the words were pronounced, the pages of the Book started flipping on its own and then abruptly stopped, a single page left standing. Shuuichi watched, enamored. He saw as the younger male ripped the page from the book and held it between his lips, a sight which he has seen only once before, at the inn with the hot springs.

And then, Natsume clapped, and blew.

The characters from the paper flew towards the captive Ayakashi in Madara’s mouth, and then a bright and soft light filled the air as the ink sank into the Youkai’s forehead, symbolically indicating that its name has been returned.

Yeah, just take it. And don’t give it back. Ugh.

Okay bye, for real now. See you tomorrow. 

[tenitchyfingers]

i mostly agree with what you said except the use of the word 'discover' which is a bit of unfortunate wording in view of everything that happend and very western-centric (the continent wasnt discovered, it was already there). the hatred of colombo is dumb as fuck & should stop though, but ppl will never actually study history so it's a moot point

Well, pretty much all discoveries are about things that were already there. I didn’t say “invented” because now, THAT means coming up with something that wasn’t there before. You discover new animal species because they were already there and you find them first and give them a name and that’s a discovery. You discover new planets because you didn’t know about them, and nobody objects to calling it a discovery. Any kind of new knowledge people encounter that they weren’t aware of before is a discovery. And I mean, how else am I gonna have to address an event that was a huge deal for the continent I live in? Like, we didn’t know America existed, and after Columbus we did. Obviously those who already lived there didn’t see it as a discovery, but we brought home knowledge we didn’t have before if that’s a more politically correct way to word it. And a quick way to say that is “discovery”. Like, if we’ll ever happen to find life on another planet and interact with it, it’s gonna be a discovery for us since maybe other life forms will have already interacted with that population. I never said we invented America, I never said we invented Native people, I never said we invented Native cultures and I never said the conquering phase was in any way right. I fully support changing the name of the continent back to how it was named before, if such a thing was ever to be proposed (which I don’t know if it was and given the current situation I don’t think it’s going to happen any time soon), because the land belongs to the Native populations and white people have no business acting like they own it, but historically the fact that Columbus got there was a huge deal for a lot of people, and it was a breakthrough for us, we had to redraw world maps because we simply didn’t know there was another entire continent. And Columbus was Italian (yes, at the time Italy wasn’t even a thing but he was from the kingdom of Pisa and Pisa is now in Italy). So I’m gonna keep calling it a discovery, because I’m a western person, but I’m not saying others can’t use other words including “calamity” because contrarily to most people on tungle dot com I have no interest in banning other people from using words, and I do not accept to change my language if I have reasons to use it exactly as it is. I have changed my vocabulary once it was explained to me how the words I used were offensive and dehumanizing, so I do change the way I use words if I believe is called for, but this is not the case. And I’m fully and well aware that the event started an avalanche of shit that brought only death and disgrace to Native people, but Columbus isn’t to blame for it and we aren’t to blame for it. But “discovery” is quite correct. 

(At best, we are to blame for the Fascists in Africa, and that is on us, and that is something we’re ashamed of. Besides, we were mostly invaded and colonized by others, so if anything we were victims many, many times but nobody seems to care, do they? Because if they did they’d have to look at Arabic populations as invaders both in Italy and Spain, and that goes against The Narrative™, doesn’t it? Not that I hate them, because it was long ago and I don’t believe in blaming current generations for what their ancestors did in the past, it just doesn’t make sense.)

so tl;dr: I use the word “discovery” because to us it was a discovery, and yeah, I’m Western-centric because I’m Western, exactly like other narratives center around their own perspective. Simple as that. I never even pretended to speak for everyone in the world and I’m not gonna apologize for using words that apply to my point of view and to my ingroup. But that would require acknowledging that reality and people are a lot more complex than binaries of truth and lies or bad and evil and that social groups are never gonna go away and each group is gonna have its own point of view. Wanna call Columbus landing in Central America a disgrace? Do it. I’m not stopping you and I have no interest in doing it. Wanna call it any other way? Do it. For me it’s “discovery”, which doesn’t justify anything other people aside of Columbus did. 

[smashdraws]

The things I’ve learned from art school: part 1/?

I’m a second year illustration student, and I’m here to share with you pearls of wisdom from what I’ve experienced and learned in college (so far), from the actual drawing process to attitudes about art/drawing. Most of these things I’ve learned the hard way, and some are from things I’ve seen others struggle with. 

The most work you should be doing in your drawing process is thumbnails/sketching stage.

“There’s no point in finishing a drawing if it’s flawed from the beginning”. That’s what my Composition & Transparent Media professor constantly told us. During our first piece of the semester, he had us stay on the sketching and redrawing stage for a little over a month in order to perfect them. He wanted to make sure the perspective was right, composition was pushed to its fullest, details were added to make every space interesting, the whole shebang. Obviously you’re probably not going to spend a whole month redrawing a piece over and over every time you draw, especially if it’s a time-sensitive project or just a personal piece you’re doing for funsies. However, the sketching stage is where most of the creativity happens. You have to decide on composition, scale, design elements, characters and how they’re positioned in the space, environment, and so much more. And I’d be willing to bet that you won’t get it right the first time.

Give yourself projects when you aren’t in school.

It helps with artist block. The summer between freshman and sophomore year of school I could probably count the number of drawings I did on one hand. To be fair, I was working two jobs 6 days a week so i didn’t exactly have a lot of time, but I found that once I got out of school I had zero drive or ideas. Without assignments from class to draw for, I had nothing to draw, and when I got back to school for sophomore year I had a lot of trouble getting inspired again. It made the beginning of the year really hard for me. Find something, ANYTHING, to draw while you’re out of school, even if you draw fanart for one thing all summer, at least you’re still drawing. 

If a character in your drawing is reminiscent of another character/too generic, think about altering it- especially if it’s a work that focuses on said character.

This really only applies for artists who’s focus/career is character design, but it’s still relevant to others. As painful as it is to hear, it means you might not be pushing your concepts enough. I took a class on Concept Art, and the first assignment was character design. A few of mine were deemed too generic looking, and one was too reminiscent of an existing character. It really hurt to hear, especially since I pride myself on character design and they were for a story I’ve had in development for over 6 years. It really made me feel like shit and made me not want to develop the characters further. But I needed to hear it, and I had to continue developing them for the class, so I ended up overhauling and redesigning the characters until they didn’t seem like the same ones anymore in order to make them more interesting. I hated it, but it’s what I had to do. 

That being said, things like this really make you think about distinguishing your characters and art from others out there. It’s essentially impossible to be 100% original, but that doesn’t mean you cant try your damnedest to make your ideas as close to original as they can get without getting overcomplicated.

When designing characters, mix up the body shape and facial features.

This one is kind of specific, but still important since character design is an important element of illustration. If you don’t vary things up you’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’ from your professors and peers. And frankly, its boring as hell when someone’s characters all look the same. This is something I see a lot, and I can never get attached to an individual character cause they all looked the same! I found that it happens a lot with male characters, they all have defined abs to some degree and perfectly toned arms and honestly, it gets boring when all of someone’s male characters have the same body type. As for face, there is literally no excuse. There are SO MANY KINDS OF FACES MAN. Round, rectangular, circular, heart-shaped, squared. People can have hooked noses, upturned noses, tiny cute noses. Even eyebrows- arched, flat, thick, waxed, faint, or bold. You’re allowed to have preferences for what kind of bodies you like to draw, but don’t be afraid to branch out!

Develop your own style.

As an artist, you need your own style. Imitating other artist’s styles isn’t going to get you far in school or the real world, and chances are, your peers will call you out if your style looks too much like another established artist’s. In order to make a living and gain clients you need a style that you make unique, taking inspirations and aspects from other styles and squishing them together to make one amazing art style baby. Your art style will probably be the deciding factor in whether or not your client hires you! 

Tracing references is OK when appropriate.

As long as it isn’t for a published or commissioned piece, there is absolutely no harm in tracing references. In your down time take some pictures of yourself or find some online and go ahead and trace ‘em. Really pay attention to how the body actually is, how the perspective on legs work, how that hand is foreshortened. Do this enough and you’ll find yourself thinking about all that when you’re drawing normally!

There will always be students better than you, you just gotta accept it.

It’s just a fact of life, unfortunately. When you’re a freshman, you’re in classes with only freshman for your foundation year. You and your peers are all on the relatively same level. What had affected me starting my second year (and I didn’t realize it until much later) was that now that I was in classes with upperclassmen, who had a year or two’s worth of experience on me, I felt as id my art was not up to par. It’s easy to forget your classmates are not just from your grade anymore, especially in electives. All of the electives I took had mostly Juniors and a few Sophomores, and my work always didn’t quite have that polish and finesse to it yet that the upperclassmen’s did have. It’s just a fact of life that you’ll always be up against artists who are more skilled than you , but thats because they have more or different experiences. You have to keep in mind that you can’t compare yourself to them, since it isn’t fair to you that you’re comparing yourself to someone who may have 3+ years on you. 

Learn realism to some extent- figures, animals, everything.

You don’t have to like it, but you can always tell when an artist never learned it because their figures are always off. There is a difference between stylizing and not knowing, and it’s almost always evident. You can see it in the way hands are drawn, noses are rendered, and how they shape and place breasts. Do pages of body studies focusing on hands, feet, leg muscles, back arches, faces, all kinds of stuff. You’ll thank yourself later. 

Your professors and peers will know when you don’t put in your best effort.

They’ll know when you aren’t pushing yourself because you’ll make fundamental mistakes. Slightly imperfect coloring, wiggly linework that wasn’t done quite carefully enough, not bothering to fix those damn feet in the finish. They always know, somehow...even if you’re careful with your laziness.

Buying expensive materials is usually worth it.

It may cost more but your work will benefit from it, and they last so, so much longer. I had to buy 3 brushes when my techniques class was doing watercolor, and in total they costed over $100. I found as I used them that since they were hair brushes and not synthetic, they held so much more pigment and water, and I could get a much finer tip. I was incredibly lucky that my professor provided the paint, which could go up to $20 a tube for some colors with the brand he had. Paper is also something worth splurging on, because let me tell you I have had disastrous effects when using shitty (coughCANSONcough) watercolor paper. The 9x12 paper block I bought for class was $30, and it was the best paper i’ve ever worked on. Absolutely worth the money and I will be buying that brand for projects from now on. And the best thing about all these is that they’ll last forever! 

You NEED to find ways to get excited about a project you hate, because you’re gonna have to do a lot of them.

If you don’t find ways to get excited about projects you’re not too thrilled to do, you’ll never succeed. I learned this in my freshman year very fast, because man oh man were there some projects I couldn’t have cared less about. If you can, gear the project towards one of your interests without compromising the purpose or assigned subject. 

I hope this advice can help some folks! Art school is a lot of tough love, and a lot of stepping 300 yards out of your comfort zone (sometimes by force). But they key is to not be afraid of trying new things! You’ll find things you absolutely hate doing, and will never want to do ever again if you can help it, and you’ll find things that you’ll love to do. It’s all about keeping an open mind!

Keep drawing, keep learning, keep creating.