#...or does it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

doomhole · 6 months

Text

So... I get the reasons why artists are so vehement about being seen as skilled rather than talented.

Art IS a skill.

You can't become a highly proficient artist without practice in the same way that you can't get those rock-hard washboard abs without exercise.

But here's the thing about that.

Practice is to art improvement as exercise is to weight loss.

As in:

It seems sensible to most that there would be a correlation between having an athletic lifestyle and having a lean body. Our media actively reinforces that seemingly-sensible assumption, too. And yet... serious scientific research keeps showing that exercise does not actually lead to weight loss in the vast majority of cases and populations.

Not to mention that we all know people who are stick thin and never get off the couch. They won't be sporting that trained physique for sure... but they're not fat either. And some of us may know or even be people who are actually incredibly fit and well-exercised... while being and remaining fat by any metric.

Getting exercise is healthy! It comes with countless measurable physical and mental benefits, both immediate and long-term, and is altogether really worth it. Even doing a little is good for you.

But the odds that exercise will make you skinny? Well. They are bad. Really bad, actually.

Did I mention exercise is great for you regardless of your weight and body type?

….

This is what actively trying to build art skills through practice is like too.

Getting good at art through practice is about as likely as getting thin through exercise. In other words: it's definitely not impossible, but results can and very much will vary.

Art skill is not some innate magical gift the artist had to do nothing for, and that should be said. Practicing art is hard work. But an artist isn't good at art *because they practiced*. They are good at art because they practiced AND happened to be someone for whom practice actually worked in the desired way. Which is significantly more rare.

Messages like "Everyone can be good at art! (If they practice enough/in the right way)" are as disingenuous and toxic as "Everyone can be skinny! (If they exercise enough/in the right way)". It's just not true. We all know it's not true.

But more importantly,

Being good at art is about as much the point of art practice as being skinny is the point of exercise.

It's normal to want to be good. Like thinness, skill mastery is centered and celebrated in a variety of ways in our society. Of course it's desirable. But it is at the very most a lucky bonus drop on top of everything else art practice gives you.

Much like exercising, practicing a creative skill has a ton of benefits. It helps with emotional regulation, lowers blood pressure, improves spatial awareness, motor skills, memory, and focus, and is linked to greater life satisfaction and reduced depression symptoms. It is great for you, mind and body. And none of those things are even *related* to actually being good at it.

So I just want to say...

It's OK if you are bad at art, and practice doesn't help.

It doesn't mean you're doing art the wrong way (especially if you find your current practice enjoyable and/or easily maintainable as it is).

It doesn't mean you're lesser than others whose art does improve with practice.

It doesn't mean you lack dedication/grit/spine/discipline/whatever.

It doesn't mean there's no point in making art.

The point of making art is that creative expression is a human need. So... make art as an act of self-care rather than a mission of self-improvement. You are already good enough. You are already deserving.

#making art #art is hard #art improvement #talent versus skill #about making art #skill improvement #bad art #creative expression #art practice #practice #practice makes perfect #...or does it #fatphobia #exercise

20 notes · View notes

augustdementhe · 1 year

Text

I gotta say, dealing with my period on Juneteenth AND Halloween, AND Christmas this year seems a little unfair.

#Mint's Dear Diary #My uterus doesn't know whether or not I'm considering converting back to the Nazarene's teachings #...OR DOES IT

3 notes · View notes

corpish · 2 months

Text

in recognition of World Down Syndrome Day on March 21

#please watch!!#imo this ad does a really good job of storytelling from start to finish #tiktok #down syndrome #1k #5k #10k #15k #20k #30k #40k #50k #75k

100K notes · View notes

sunbentshadows · 2 months

Text

Hey all, you know how internet searches suck now? When the results are awful, full-of-AI, death-of-the-internet levels of bad?

Start appending date constraints to your searches - "before:2023".

My results have gone from 90% AI bullshit to ~60% usable - which frankly at this point is a huge improvement.

#information death of the internet etc #legit this has been SO SO helpful #shout out to mastodon infosec server for this one #before 2022 we did not really have the AI-content-farms because. the tech did not exist to the public.#and you can knock back the date if need be #obviously this does not FIX the problem but #me.txt

79K notes · View notes

lotrmusical · 2 months

Text

never let anyone tell you that trawling through mediocre victorian poetry isn't worth it. we just happened upon an absolute BANGER of a worm poem. go read it or else 🪱🪱🪱

#was calling beckett and scouring the works of eliza cook looking for lesbianism #good amounts of lesbianism in evidence but unfortunately very little in the way of good poetry #APART from this worm one which DOES NOT MISS #eliza cook #is there a thriving eliza cook tag on tumblr. somehow i doubt it #the hand of the giant and the heart of the brave / must turn weak and submit to the worm and the grave!#not an original theme ofc but GOD the treatment is delightful. so fresh so gleeful some rlly nice use of sound. rlly solidly constructed #words #gay belligerence

64K notes · View notes

theboxfort · 4 months

Text

Peace and love

#pink posts #i saw a tweet that was like “i see other people's art” --> i get discouraged #i understand that seeing art that is prettier than yours can be discouraging but why not twist that a bit?#why does it look prettier to you? is it the colors #is it the textures they used? the brushes?#study them and try to put your spin on it #and maybe you'll find your art beautiful as well

81K notes · View notes

sylvies-kablooie · 3 months

Text

i do unironically think the best artists of our generation are posting to get 20 notes and 3 reblogs btw. that fanfic with like 45 kudos is some of the best stuff ever written. those OCs you carry around have some of the richest backstories and worldbuilding someone has ever seen. please do not think that reaching only a few people when you post means your art isn't worth celebrating.

#i often wonder about how many things would be considered classic or high art had they only received the marketing #how many short films that were made for class could have been the most powerful thing you'd ever seen? if you'd seen them?#“you know the greatest films of all time were never made” etc etc #but like. these works of art ARE being made. it's just enjoyed by a smaller audience with equal impact though #i think about this one furry i used to follow on insta who had the coolest worldbuilding ever. it's been years.#thought prompted by that sketch of nimona from ten years ago that was just for a character design #posted to the creator's tumblr and now it's nominated for best animated feature film at the oscars #and by the genuine emotional reaction a fan comic made me feel. how much work had gone into it. how beautiful it was to me.#idk what to tag this but i hope whoever needs to hear it does #writing #writer #fandom #fandom culture #artist

59K notes · View notes

inkskinned · 4 months

Text

i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".

it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.

do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.

but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.

do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).

you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.

walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.

no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.

do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."

you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.

there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.

i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.

he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."

#spilled ink #warm up #“why did u tag it warm up” bc i wrote it off the cuff while drinkin coffee lol #btw the 30 dollar buy in for the dog walking is bc they pay the organizer a small pittance so she can #run fb ads and stuff and like she does put in a lot of work i don't mind paying her #but that's exactly what im fucking talking about like.#ppl can't afford to volunteer their time anymore and we all understand it!!! everything costs money for everyone!#like we didn't have to use to say ''do you mind paying me back for the stuff we ate''#we used to be able to afford to feed our friends once in a while!!!

47K notes · View notes

wildbasil · 1 month

Text

things haven't been great but i think they will be. eventually 🌻🌼🩷

#personal #comics #tw abuse #digital art #personal comic #for the record no i don't think my mother loves me #but the idea that she did kept me in an awful situation for a very long time #the number of times people said “she's your mother. she's trying her best. of course she loves you” etc etc #but i don't think “love” and abuse are mutually exclusive #like even if someone DOES love you it doesn't mean it's not abuse and it doesn't mean it's ok #art tag

26K notes · View notes

m3djed · 4 months

Text

"he would not fucking say that" but you ever be looking at fanart and suddenly its "he would not fucking have abs"

#txt #guys. guys this is not about hcs. do you hear me this is about when a guy with no logical reason to have abs is drawn like a hollister model #like when a guy who does nothing but go to coffee shops and read books is drawn with abs like hes been hiking mountains and climbing trees #do you hear me are you hearing me

50K notes · View notes

kelocitta · 16 days

Text

Small artists you need to understand that when you see an artist who you think has 'made it' tells you not to worry about the numbers and to not fret about getting more likes than reblogs they are not telling you it because they think you are stupid for caring or because they dont need to network to survive they are very likely telling you that because they have witnessed first hand the way the numbers game tears people to shreds in terms of mental health and motivation

#t.extpost #everyone benefits from more spread. even big artists #but that does not mean youre immune to the lasting effects of hyperfocusing on it and it is Very Much A Warning

23K notes · View notes

soranatus · 11 months

Text

#spiderverse #atsv #Across The Spiderverse #Across The Spider-Verse #spiderman #Spider-Punk #Spider Punk #hobie brown #Peter B Parker #miles morales #this person gets it #WHY THE FUCK DOES THIS HAVE 100K?!?!

107K notes · View notes

emilnikos · 4 months

Text

I need non autistic people to realise meltdowns are a real debilitating thing that has a serious effect on your mental and physical health NOWWWWW!!! The way its been trivialized and lessened pisses me the fuck off. It's not a tantrum and it doesn't come from "being too weak-willed" it's painful and it's embarrassing AND MOST OF ALL IT'S INVOLUNTARY!! Don't claim to be an ally to autistic or disabled people and then make fun of people who have meltdowns. Literally get the hell out of my sight

#i can't believe i have to day it but autism /is/ a disablity. its disabling. meltdowns are part of that.#'oh this is a lukewarm take' you dumbshit fucks have been throwing the word neurodivergent and meltdown around so #casually they have both been said at me with the same disdain as a swear word. you guys will accept making fun of autistic people #if someone jn your circle who is 'cool' does it first. at your big ages. shut the hell up

40K notes · View notes

captainsaltypear · 3 months

Text