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amadeusgame · 1 month

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The World's Longest And Most Sentimental Development Log (Marketing Retrospective)

It's been a month since the demo release, and Amadeus: A Riddle for Thee ~ Episode 1 ~ Waltz has just reached 100 wishlists on Steam. I'm incredibly grateful for the support and interest.

Because this has been the month following a major release, most of my efforts have been focused on communications as opposed to development. I still want to discuss these efforts, both as a retrospective for my own reference, and in case anyone else finds it enlightening. This was meant to be a short and to-the-point marketing discussion, but it accidentally... and inevitably... transformed into something incredibly long and sentimental.

The long and short of it is that I've had an overwhelmingly successful month by my standards. Discussing marketing means I have been analyzing why that is. In doing so, I slowly became aware of just how much of my entire life has been building up to this.

I originally planned to mention other things in this update... discuss the recent demo livestream, announce an upcoming "100 wishlists" celebration... but those no longer really suit the tone of this update. I will post about them another time. I wasn't prepared to celebrate 100 wishlists this quickly, anyway! I had no idea I would get that much in the first month! I'm not ready to make that announcement! I would like to do something appropriate for this milestone, so please give me some more time to put proper thought into it.

You can reference here for the livestream video and other resources: https://linktr.ee/amadeusgame

I don't expect very many people to read the rest of this. But I am writing it anyway because it's important for me to express. And if you got anything out of the Amadeus demo, you probably got the fact that I am a bit of a long-winded and sentimental person. Bearing that in mind...

On Marketing Amadeus

Overall, I tried a lot of different things—many of which flopped—based on the question "what kind of communications would I like to see, as an audience?" Some combination of all of these somehow worked. I don't think it is particularly useful to try and pinpoint what specific individual things made Number Go Up the most, because the real takeaway was that I put enough messages out in enough places that over 100 real actual human beings came across them and were interested in what I am making. That number is probably tiny to people trying to earn a living in games, but as someone just hoping to get my art out there... the number 100 is significant and motivating.

I am happy to share the things that I've tried, and my impressions of how well they worked for my situation and purposes. Before that, though, I must stress that having assets to share in these communications in the first place was an invaluable step, especially since visuals and aesthetics are a very core part of my game.

Creating Marketing Assets

(When uploading a game to Steam, there are approximately 8 million different aspect ratios and dimensions you need to create branding assets for, so I chopped that source poster up into different pieces and spent about a week just making different combinations of them to suit various needs.)

Again: I was not thinking ahead to the Steam page when I drew this in October, not really. I was just drawing something that I wanted to draw, inspired by art that inspired me. If I hadn't indulged that desire and "procrastinated" a bit, I wouldn't have the assets to advertise the game when it came time for launch! This is something that I've experienced again and again throughout the process of development: making things for fun, doing things on impulse, taking breaks and indulging whims... many of these activities somehow end up being essential for the game. If I had refused that self-indulgence to focus on Important Development Stuff, I wouldn't have the cool piece of art I needed to successfully advertise the finished game on launch. Moreover, the final art in the game would not be as good, because I wouldn't have gotten ideas about art direction from making this poster.

(Also... I wouldn't have had as much fun making the game. Since this game's budget is $0 and all of my free time, it REALLY matters that I am having fun while making it.)

Even more important than these visual assets, though, was the trailer. How many games have I checked out just based on the trailer? I recently purchased Raging Loop on Steam, a game I have been considering for months, because I finally watched the trailer and realized "okay, this game is me-core." The trailer is so important. It's not about how pretty the trailer is; it's about whether the trailer shows me a game that I, in particular, want to play. I don't know who my audience is, but considering my goals and inspirations, I think it is something along the lines of "hipsters who love some combination of Umineko, werewolves, and unique aesthetics." So I needed a trailer that would connect with those people. A trailer that, if I watched it, would make me realize hey, this game is me-core.

Making a trailer is its own skillset, though! Completely separate from game development. Communicating something in video form is different than communicating it in another medium.

Fortunately... I have actually done a lot of just-for-fun video editing projects very recently! I edited together a "trilogy" out of roadtrip camcorder footage I took, and also put together the video for an audio-visual collab album. I already have tools and a workflow that I like to use.

I am developing a game, but it has helped me so much to have experience making a stupid trilogy of camcorder footage roadtrip videos.

I worked on those video editing projects because they were fun. I had absolutely no ulterior motive. In doing so, I still gained an important skill that transferred directly to marketing Amadeus. As someone who has always struggled to focus on just One Thing, it's incredibly affirming to realize that having done a lot of random stuff is actually really helping me as a solo game developer. I feel like I've finally found an art form where this is an important skill, and not a hindrance or distraction.

So... well, I suppose this means that I have no useful advice for other developers. I want to be honest about my experiences, and my experiences are that I only was able to prepare good marketing assets for Amadeus because I did a lot of for-fun art projects outside of game development. From my perspective, this is amazing news: it tells me that allowing myself space to be an artist and a person outside of this project has actually helped make the project itself better. It tells me that there are no downsides to being experimental and giving time to other projects too. But to anyone reading this hoping for some advice on putting together marketing assets, I'm sure it's the least helpful or relatable thing in the world. I'm sorry about that.

Getting the Word Out

Once the demo released, it became a matter of presenting the materials I had in the right ways, and in the right places. This is what I have been spending most of my waking hours doing this month. A non-exhaustive list of everything I've tried:

E-mailed all of my professors from grad school whose courses influenced my compositions for the game in some way. (This wasn't so much about the numbers, it was just motivating to get nice comments back. :D)

Joined a few Discord servers for communities dedicated to indie game developent; tried to engage in meaningful conversations there and check out other games while also sharing my own work. (I'm asking others for a favor, to take a look at my work, so I try to check out theirs too in return.)

Posted the trailer on the Visual Novels subreddit. (This flopped.)

Posted weekly* on Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and a few other places. (This has been the bulk of my ongoing communications; see below!)

Posted on a forum I joined last year to discuss music composition.

Found and followed a lot of other indie game devs making things that interested or excited me.

Shared it in a Discord server I moderate** as a "creative mod." (I host monthly art-focused events, curate spaces for sharing art, etc.; see below.)

Shared it with basically all of my friends! Especially friends who are also artists and creators!

To sum, I used every single available avenue to talk about it. But I really need to expand on the two points bolded and asterisked above. I have something additional to say about them, and I cannot overstate how much it matters.

*Weekly Posts

As indicated, ongoing weekly posts on various platforms are the meat of my marketing. I post regularly, but it's really important to me to not just post the same stuff all the time and annoy everybody. I try to highlight different aspects of the game each time, use different framing, and do a variety of weird and silly stuff. Some things perform unexpectedly well and others are complete flops. But I think it's been key to not be afraid of failure and just try things. That way it's still interesting to the people who already checked out the game, while hopefully reaching new eyes too!

(Full disclosure, however: sometimes I will do something that has 0 chance of doing numbers, just because I think it would be a fun thing to post. Since I am completely self-motivating on this project, I have to do things that are self-indulgent, or I will burn out. So, hypothetically, I might be compelled to, say, post a photo taken on an Instax analog camera of the game hooked up to a CRT TV.)

(Step 1 of marketing is to have fun and be yourself?)

BUT ALSO!

AND THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS POST!!

I only have any sort of audience on these platforms because of other, unrelated things I've been doing for years. I met a LOT of people on Twitter and Instagram through cosplay and Tales of Symphonia speedrunning, who stuck around somehow. I met some people on Tumblr from recent Ghost Trick ROMhacking, and others from Homestuck meetups in 2012. I met people on Discord from a forum about video games I joined in 2006. I was already connected with a lot of like-minded people to share my game with! I know—I KNOW—that this is something that is only easy to say in retrospect, but: doing stuff and meeting people over the course of a lifetime has added up. I hope that this will continue to be true, and maybe some people who find me through Amadeus will stick around for whatever comes after, once I've fully completed the 5-episode story I have to tell here. And I will see it through.

So, please bear this in mind when reading about how I promote my self-indulgent game every week on Instagram. I did not attend Anime Expo 2015 in order to build an audience for the visual novel I would make 9 years later. I was just meeting and connecting with other cosplayers, because I thought I would still be doing cosplay indefinitely. But many of those connections have persisted over the years, and some of those people are interested in my game. None of this seemingly-unrelated life experience is wasted. In the words of one of my teachers from grad school, "it's an accumulated life." I have ended up somewhere unexpected, and I did not plan to end up here, but all of those past experiences were still a part of getting me to where I currently am.

**Discord Server Mod

I want to highlight this particular place where I've promoted my game, because it's important in a way that connects with basically all of my rambling above. I want to make it clear that absolutely everything that went well this past month started so much longer ago than that.

In this point, I am not saying "step 1 of indie game promotion: simply have been a creative events moderator on a Discord server for years first!" as this is incredibly useless advice. Hear me out for a moment.

About 2 years ago, there was no "creative events" moderator on this particular Discord server. It was mostly a space to talk about video games with friends. You could also post art there if you wanted, and you might have gleaned a react or two.

Also about 2 years ago, I began to think very deeply about my relationship with art and the internet. When I was a tweenager, there was this video game forum—a forum that migrated to the Discord server in question recently—where you could post your art (usually video game fanart, but could be anything), and the moderator would always engage with it and provide meaningful, thoughtful feedback. That space is one of the biggest reasons I drew so much when I was younger, and worked so hard trying to learn how to draw and shade and color better, because I wanted to have my efforts praised, and I knew they would be.

2 years ago, I desperately needed a space like that again. Lacking one, I decided to pick up the torch left behind by the moderator from my tweenage years, and become the person who would always, always provide thoughtful engaging feedback when people posted their work there. Literally some "be the change you want to see in the world" shit. I knew that someone else doing that for me fundamentally altered the course of my life, so I wanted to try and be that for others if possible. More selfishly, I hoped that this would also create the much-needed space for me to share my work and get feedback and responses, too.

Now, about 2 years later, that channel is pretty active. People regularly share their creative works, and it is one of my favorite places to post my own stuff because people are really good about engaging with each other's stuff there. It's been one of the most important places for me to share progress on Amadeus, because that external motivation helps a lot. And once the demo came out, I have absolutely no doubt that this server was a significant proportion of the initial support and momentum it received on launch.

I did not even have so much as a delusion of being a game developer when I made these changes in the Discord server. I was working in IT and considering applying to music school. I just wanted to build a community around art.

So, why am I writing about my 2-year journey as a Discord mod in my development update about marketing? Hopefully it makes a bit more sense now. I'm really trying to emphasize that the marketing I did this past month didn't start last month. It started 2 years ago on this Discord server, it started in 2006 when I joined that video game forum. Really, my marketing efforts have gone as well as they have because—whoops, I am tearing up writing this—I have made a lot of incredible connections in a lot of communities over the years, and now that I have something very important to me that I want to share, they have really helped support it. I've had some friends go so far above and beyond what I would ever ask them to do in sharing my game, and that kind of support just... I can't put a number on it; it's invaluable.

In Conclusion

Go to conventions and meet cosplayers. Speedrun a 6-and-a-half-hour-long JRPG from 2003 on Twitch. Join a forum and when it migrates to Discord, organize art events and comment on other people's work. Draw self-indulgent stuff and make silly roadtrip videos scored with Logic Loops. Make 90% of a ROMhack of a Nintendo DS game. Get completely obsessed with other visual novels on itch.io and write essays in their comments.

My name is Leo, and my marketing advice is You Only Live Once. I hope this helps. Have a wonderful evening and I look forward to presenting you with a more coherent update next month.

#amadeus: a riddle for thee #indie game marketing #devlog #indie game dev #visual novel

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nebulous-rain · 3 months

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Hello! My name is Moriah and I am a junior in high school. I was wondering if I might be able to get your insight on a few questions I have?

I am in my final years of high school and am starting to think about college but I have no idea what I want to pursue. I know I love art, so for a long time I have been thinking about getting an art major or going to an art school.

I’m reaching out because I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR ART and I think you are a very talented artist! I have been in love with your art for so long and I am curious and wondering how you are able to fit drawing into your life?

1.) If you are going to college for art, or went to college for art, what is it like? Do you think going to school for art or having an art major is worth it?

2.) how can I fit art into my everyday life? I’m sure you have work and other things to do in your life so how do you balance it out? (I just want to know how you can draw as much as you do!)

3.) do you do art as a hobby or a career? If it is a hobby how to you balance art, work/school, and home life? If it is a career or part-time career is it an alright source of income?

Thank you so much! And sorry if these questions might seem personal. I just want to know how other artist manage to draw and create their work and still have an adult life. Thanks again, and thank you for being a huge inspiration in my life to create the art I love! Your art means so much to me!❤️❤️ ❤️

i am going to CRY this is the sweetest message ever. i'm happy you found your niche and i'm even happier that i could help inspire that!!! i'm not sure if i'm gonna be able to answer all your questions, but i'll try to squeeze in some possibilities where i fall short:

1) growing up i definitely figured i was going to end up in art school because that's what everyone told me i should go into. but as i got older in high school i was kind of panicking cuz i really didn't want to turn my hobby into a job, and i figured out that i wanted to go into education!

but that's just me- my wife is actually going to college for graphic design sometime soon because she loves what she does. if it's something you really enjoy, and that you think you can monetize while still enjoying it, then it's definitely worth it! money is important but you need to put you and your happiness first.

2) to be honest, i haven't had the time or energy to do much art lately (if you look at my post dates you can see how spread out they've been the past year)- but this entirely depends on how you manage your time and your workload. i'm horrific at time management! so that's my problem. BUT, i think sneaking in drawing time in little ways helps a lot, as i tend to sketch small panels of a potential comic or animatic on notebooks and papers while i'm listening to lectures. i've even posted ms paint doodles i've drawn during class

i always have plans for what i'd like to draw once i have the time. it's kind of motivating, but also frustrating, and it's hard to efficiently empty my brain of ideas while still keeping up with everything else. this might be something you'll have to wiggle around once you get settled into a routine each semester!

3) i really wanted art to stay as a hobby for me. the idea of drawing and creating art every day for things i wasn't inspired to do made me really nervous, because what i really wanted was to make fanart and draw my little guys all day lol

if you take anything away from this, i think the most important thing is that if you want to keep art in your life, you will. if you desire having time to make art just for yourself, you'll find time to work that into your life, one way or another- but in order to do that you absolutely need to have a positive mindset about what you're going into, and if you can't find that positivity, maybe it isn't for you

thank you for asking!!! i'm not sure if this'll be any help, but i appreciate the questions <:')

#ask #moriah-doodles #me and my wife are just meesly 19 y/o's #so neither of us have experience working in the art field unfortunately #i wish you luck on your journey though!!!!#art can be so rewarding

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gamedevhellhole · 1 year

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okay, okay now what if I ACTUALLY make a Nitrome Must Die fan comic???

the ms paint esque medium mix about shady business and distant dreams, all achieved in the coldest ways possible???

well except some elements of mechanically produced magic... but uhhh we might wanna leave it to the still developing worldbuilding???

okay fine but what's with the hustle? well it's a little passion project of mine that will revolve around made up postcanon events of NMD because that open ending can be interpreted in so many ways

yeah that emo 100th game anniversary Nitrome game uh huh

here's de synopsis: our two (2) protags are angsty fellow kids (sorta) planning on opening up a game studio of their own. why did they decide to do this – only the true OGs know /hj???

the main characters are very stupid! unemployed mfs from cheap apartments! except their supposed net worths are definitely not cheap. A and J do have quite a dark story behind of course, but nah, nah they are not traumatised by bit, quite the opposite here they're the ones that traumatize.

and so they try to start their ways out of spite! here's the catch: their puny souls can be fueled by anger and hate only, so they have to pick up some unhealthy hobbies to keep their inspiration afloat. (spoiler: cartoonish violence. exclusively. maybe mafia ca-chings)

they have no talent, they have no sheer will and any actual goals in life, but one specific thing to do, like again, out of spite.

however eventually this will quickly shift solve into a maniacal production phase which pushes them forward in game-making industry. (idk much about further stuff tbh... it's the synopsis)

the perfect result would be achieved if we make it really REALLY really close to the original source. while the source itself really doesn't show the characters' true personality enough... well I sorta strive to make all the style the writing and everything both as canon and as adapted to modern stuff as pozbl.

and yeah the artstyle?? like emo 00s cartoons sort of? you know the ones? i'm having a crisis in this field it's either making it funky as heck or not making it at all kind of stance.

ohh the world they live in is a quite an interesting place. but actually not really. generic edgy big city that has a charm I've yet to practice my writing and drawing skills for.

08 Mar 2024 update:

making it public so any fellow tumblr nitromians get another dose of nmd fan content

(because to be honest i can't get rid of the terrible hyperfixation i got on NMD alone until i do something big for it, then i'll do awesome stuff for other nitrome masterpieces after that)

this post here is not a teaser; maybe just a prompt, and so far it's a little reminder (for me it's been a prompt for a year... argh help)

the style picking is still ongoing, the script is planned yet not properly written, like for example idk what other characters to add if they're not canon to the original universe

the designs might just might get released here in a few months or so

aaand the planned page amount?? idunnow... prob 50-55 by default it needs to have a finished plot.

with this being a FAN project i take inspos from other comics that use canon characters for one's own plot (this exact genre of resurrecting the unused characters) and honestly they drove me to this haha

along with one comment under that nmd trailer vid on youtube with the same idea that got 8 likes by now.

oh it got 10 already!!! (i couldn't get in contact with the OP sadly)

so yep... now it's a semi public post xd. wait not or wait wait wait cause I still try. btw happy women's day <3

#nitrome must die #nitrome #fan comic #rant post #brainstorming #mostly #like #oh dear #that's a big post here oh boy #im hyperfixating so hard rn

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picnokinesis · 2 years

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I HAVE NO TUMBLR BUT TREE ART GOOD. It has this feral nine year old girl energy that I am HERE FOR, that energy moves mountains. It's an energy that I forgot I always wished they had given her in the actual show. It's a crying shame they didn't, but your art brings that rage-joy back at whistling speeds. Thank you.

AHH thank you so much!! I'm so glad you liked it!

Although I will say, I have to respectfully disagree because I really think they DO give her that in the show! Thirteen has so much energy, but also so much anger - she just doesn't show it in front of her companions in s11 because she's desperately clinging to that mask of being this friendly, perfect hero who can show them all the good things in the universe, but she's just not that - and s12 and s13 are just showing the rather rapid progression of that mask cracking, until it falls apart completely. She's got such feral energy I swear, especially in every single scene with the Master - like I mean, there's that moment in the Timeless Children when she just

And then THIS BIT in Ascension which I use as my icon on ao3 because I love it so much HAHA

AND THEN there's that moment in Revolution of the Daleks which I'm still obsessed over where she taunts the daleks

(this gif isn't the best part of this scene, I can't find the one I want, but I'm sure everyone else has 'obedient little pets' permanently etched into their brains just like me so you know what I'm on about)

But also don't forget that like - that one scene when she opened up in this episode? When she spoke to Ryan and she ACTUALLY said how she was feeling...what did she say?

I'm angry.

And then of course @sapphichymns made that incredible gifset of every time thirteen snarls in s11 and s12 which is absolutely glorious and you should DEFINITELY check it out if you haven't seen it already.

BUT THEN IN S13 it continues!! Like just look at her FACE, and the way she MOVES - there's so much energy there!

Like I genuinely think Thirteen has so much anger, so much rage - and we know that Jodie Whittaker is intentionally putting that rage into her performance because she's spoken about it before, saying that rage comes from a really deep place...and hot damn I think you can really see it. This is the fury of an extremely dangerous, extremely ancient being who has been given so many terrifying names over the course of their many lives. Like I look at these scenes, these moments...and I can see the person who fought in the Time War, who can get completely consumed by their anger and do some really awful, messed up stuff. I can see the person who earned the title The Beast of Trenzalore...The Oncoming Storm...The Butcher of Skull Moon...

I don't really have much more to say...other than I have a lot of feelings about angry thirteen apparently HAHA (hence the art haha)

Also, as a side note, I don't think you were intentionally doing this, or even that you meant this (it's just how you came over to me - and I've had a lot of comments similar in the past so it bugged me haha) but you don't have to put down the show in order to compliment my work. There's a culture of 'comparative compliments' in fandom spaces, I think, where people feel the need to say negative things about one thing in order to compliment another (whether that be the source material or other fanwork)...which isn't necessary! The reason I draw fanart, after all, is because I really love the show, and I really love creating stuff with and for other people who love the show. Which is not to say we shouldn't criticise or critically analyse the show, or even that the show is perfect - I know it definitely isn't perfect. But I do love it a lot, and I get a lot of people trying to compliment my writing or my art by saying 'oh this is SO much better than the show' - and it actually really tires me out because my art and my writing comes from a place of a lot of joy and love - and so to say the thing that inspired me isn't any good, but my work is...feels like a backhanded compliment, to be honest. Please don't feel bad - I'm so happy you liked my artwork, and that you wanted to tell me so, it's lovely! But it's something that has been bugging me for a while, so this was just a good opportunity to talk about it. So please just bear that in mind <3

#taka replies #long post #anon #doctor who #doctor who spoilers #doctor who series 13 #the doctor #thirteen #she's SO feral in this incarnation SKSKS #which is part of why i love her so much #anon ily you're great #thank you for the ask #it's just a bug bear of mine RIP #also please look at elika's gif set it is a thing of BEAUTY #elika do the same set for flux challenge

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boxofbadaddiction · 4 years

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Not According to Plan

George Weasley x Reader

This story is inspired from a request of my F.R.I.E.N.D.S Themed Prompt List.

Prompts: 4 & 11

"Hi I'm [Y/N or Character] I make jokes when I'm uncomfortable."

"Ah, Humour based on my pain. Aha-ha-ha."

Warnings: Swearing

If you thought about it, had the teachers really cared about students roaming the castle at night, they'd certainly have worked harder to ensure breaking curfew wasn't so easy.

Night was when the castle was most fun, after all.

Running from Filch. Stealing food from the kitchens. Star gazing from the balcony of the North Tower. All far too tantalising to resist.

For [Y/N] in particular.

Exploring the ancient building in the late hours of the night had become somewhat of a habit for her. Sneaking out of her dormitory while her room-mates slept peacefully in their beds she relished in the feeling of freedom which enveloped her every sense in the cool night air.

Her favourite activity by far had to be antagonising Peeves in the Dungeons before stargazing with a hot chocolate held firm between her freezing palms.

Tonight however didn't quite go to plan.

Screwing with the prankster Poltergeist took an unforeseen turn resulting in her currently hauling ass from the doom and gloom of the Dungeons.

Apparently her weekly routine had become far too predictable as Peeves had been waiting for her tonight. Hell bent on revenge he was accompanied by none other than one Severus Snape. Not what she was expecting as she casually rounded the corner, safe to say her feet had never changed direction so fast. Nearly falling over herself as she ran.

"THERE!" Peeves bellowed seeing her sprinting form disappear from the corridor.

The sound of Snape shouting, hot on her heels willed her legs to carry her faster. To pump her arms harder as she bounded up a flight of stairs in a hidden passage which led directly to the third floor.

She fell against a large stone pillar, hand on her side trying to dull the aching cramp that'd formed in her ribs and swallowing thickly to ease the burning of her now dry throat.

Content that she had put enough distance between herself and the fuming Head of Slytherin House, [Y/N] composed herself. Strolling leisurely down the hall with a relieved chuckle coming from her throbbing throat, heading toward the kitchens, she could really use that drink now.

But tonights surprises didn't end there.

Mind too fixed on her narrow escape [Y/N] failed to register the rapidly approaching sound of footsteps barrelling down the adjoining hallway. Next thing she knew she had collided with someone and fell hard to the floor.

"Ah, fuck" a pained voice groaned near her.

[Y/N]s body had never felt as heavy as it did in that moment. Laying face down on the ground her arms moved to lift herself. Shaking her head to clear her blurred vision and dull the ringing in her ears that echoed in her mind from the sudden collision.

[Y/N] squinted toward the source of her injury but could only just make out a figure.

A boy laid sprawled on his back, one knee in the air with an arm slung across his abdomen. Given the difficulty in which he tried to pull himself upright and the way his other hand massaged the back of his head [Y/N] gathered he was in an equal amount of pain.

The flaming red hair was a dead give away, although she already had her suspicions in who the likely culprit was. Only two other people in this school seemed to share her affinity for breaking curfew. The Weasley Twins. Until now however she never had the pleasure of making either pranksters acquaintance. She was, after all, a year below the pair and from another House.

"Are you alright?" The boy asked. He had managed to roll himself onto his side propped up by his elbow he eyed the girl concernedly. She was now resting on her knees, hands supporting her while her body hung heavy like dead weight making her arms quake under the pressure.

"Peachy" her voice sounded as if she'd been winded during the fall, "I've always wondered what the Castle floors taste like. Now I know...they taste like shit."

The redhead laughed at her sarcasm, "Glad I could help clear that up for you then." With a groan he rose to his feet, quickly peering back around the corner from which he came before holding his hand out for the stranger to take. Accepting gladly she used his strength to pull herself from the cold ground.

"Talk about ways to take a girls breath away." She muttered to herself but given the cocked expression on his face the boy had heard. She wasn't sure if he were amused or not.

Taking her hand from his [Y/N] placed both of hers on her lower back and stretched her aching muscles while the joints in her spine cracked in several places. Moaning lightly at the tension it relieved.

"If I were to hazzard a guess, I'd say you were running from Filch."

"That'd be a pretty good guess" he smiled shyly as if unsure how she were about to react.

Lifting her gaze to meet his she found the expression to be one of unease and awkwardness. It looked out of place on the face of one half of the notorious Weasley Twins.

"The rumours are true, Weasley's really do know how to knock a girl off their feet."

His face contorted into a mixture of confusion and amusement. Given the circumstances he'd been awaiting a lecture or to be scolded for his recklessness which ended up rather painful for the both of them. Humour was not something he expected to come from her. An impressed grin snuck it's way onto his lips, the Twins always admired a person who could make light of a tense situation.

The silence and look on his face spoke differently to [Y/N], she felt she must have said the wrong thing. The whole encounter was far too awkward for her liking. Bouncing on the balls of her feet she let out a long breath through mostly closed lips as she gently punched her palm contemplating her next words. She had to think of something...anything to say that could recover.

"Hi, I'm [Y/N] I make jokes when I'm uncomfortable." She reached her hand out to shake his. To her great relief he laughed while taking it. "George" he answered simply.

"What's a girl like you doing out at a time like this?" Raising his brow with a cheeky grin he placed his hands in his pockets.

"Same as you it'd appear."

"Running from Filch?"

"Snape actually." George's eyes went wide at the words.

"You dare tempt to best the Devil?" Silent laughter radiated through his body as he smiled in shock.

"Well to be totally honest, he wasn't in my plans. But Peeves got the better of me."

"Peeves?"

"Annoying him has become somewhat of a hobby of mine", [Y/N] shrugged, "guess he finally had enough. He had Snape waiting for me."

"The little snitch." The two laughed.

For two people who had just met, in a rather abrupt and unpleasant manner, they were surprised at how easily conversation flowed between them.

Leaning casually against the corridor wall they spoke a little back and forth while George relayed his evenings events and how he suddenly found himself unaccompanied by his brother. It wouldn't have stopped there, had it not been for the arrival of Mrs Norris and the sound of Filchs voice carrying down the hall putting a stopper in their laughter.

Staring wide eyes from the cat back to one another they took off in a sprint. George made to turn down the passage [Y/N] ascended previously before she grabbed his hand "Not there. That's where I ditched Snape he'll be down there for sure!"

Thinking quickly George took the lead, hand still clasped firmly in hers. Dragging [Y/N] close behind him they ran through the courtyard to the Trophy room.

Hiding beside an old cabinet [Y/N] and George fought hard to recapture their breaths dropping each others hand, [Y/N]s clutched her chest as George steadied himself against the wall.

"That's...the second time" [Y/N] strained to speak through burning breaths, "second time you've left me breathless tonight." She chuckled swallowing hard afterwards. "That's so corny" George coughed feeling like his lungs were full of sand.

When their ability to speak without pain finally returned the two soon found they had a lot in common. George was in awe of how [Y/N] could make light of any situation. She seemed to ooze positively and, much like he and his brother, always tried to make people laugh because, in her words, "What's life without laughter? Fucking boring." He could feel himself falling as he hung from her every word. Every giggle. Every smile. He couldn't take his eyes off her, till a blinding light from over her shoulder appeared pulling his attention. A teacher. He couldn't stand to see her end up in detention so, panicking, he did the only thing he could think of. Cutting [Y/N] off mid sentence he shoved her into the hidden compartment he knew lay behind the cabinet. He and Fred had used it many times before, though it wasn't exactly spacious it served it's purpose as a temporary refuge from angry teachers or prefects.

Eliciting a sudden squeal from [Y/N] as she had remained blissfully unaware of the approaching punishment he closed the cabinet behind her, leaning against it in a casual way just as the teacher turned into the hall.

"WEASLEY!" They yelled. Snape. Of course it'd be Snape he thought.

"PROFESSOR!" he mockingly yelled back with an innocent smile he straightened himself off the cabinet.

"Mind explaining as to why you are roaming the castle well past curfew?"

"Just fancied paying the trophies a visit sir." The familiar creak of wood sounded through the space as [Y/N] had obviously pressed against the other size of the cupboard, turning both men's attention. Georges eyes were wide as Snapes brows furrowed in confusion.

"Haven't seen them in so long you see. Thought they must have been missing me." He shouted slightly leaning all his weight back against the wood to stop it moving and to draw Snapes attention back to him.

"Mhmm. Where's your brother?" The Slytherin asked with a stern expression.

"Bed I imagine." a light tapping noise began to sound coming from the direction of the cabinet once again. George shifted his position so as to strum his fingertips against the old wood to compensate.

"A likely story."

"Sir, it is quite late you realise?"

"I'm aware." Snape was growing tired of the redheads cheek "50 points will be taken from Gryffindor and, seeing as you're so taken by them, detention this weekend shall be served polishing every last trophy in this room. Should give you plenty of time to be...reacquainted." the greasy haired man smirked triumphantly.

"You're too kind, sir" George forced a smile.

"Return to your house immediately and, should you run into him, before I do, drag your dimwitted other half with you." With a nod and two finger saltue George glared at his potions teacher, watching him stride away dramatically.

He was still glaring when he heard a loud knock come from the hiding place.

"Oh right" he fumbled upright opening the way slowly. He peered in to see [Y/N] leant back against the wall with arms folded and a much more playful glare than the one George was sporting moments ago. "Ah, come to let me out have you?" She jested.

"I'm sorry, Severus came waltzing by and-"

"Oh, I know."

"You know?"

"He always patrols the trophy room at 12pm Thursday nights."

"Well why the bloody hell didn't you tell me!?"

"Same reason I kept tapping on the back of the cabinet...I wanted to make things difficult for you." The girl grinned wickedly.

Georges mouth fell open. "To think, I was trying to save you from detention." He laughed.

"Yes I did hear that part actually. Be sure to put your elbows into it, some of these old cups are quite tarnished." She ran her finger over the glass of the neighbour display as she walked out past him.

"Ah, humour based on my pain. Aha-ha-ha."

[Y/N]s head dropped as she laughed at his sarcasm before turning to him while he leant back against the cabinet to close it's hiding place. Looking down at her [Y/N] blushed under the weight of his stare, biting her lip to restrain the giddy smile trying to break through.

"Want to go to Hogsmead with me this weekend?"

The question took her by surprise. The butterflies in her stomach making her uncomfortable.

"Ah, You have detention." She reminded him.

"So?"

"How do you plan on getting out of the Castle?"

"I have my ways." He shrugged with a smug look on his face.

[Y/N]s tongues traced her lips before pulling her bottom one through her teeth, the experience was calling to her like breaking curfew. She did love to break the rules.

"Okay."

"Okay?" He seemed astonished by her answer, and brought himself off the cabinet.

"Yeah, okay. I'd love too." [Y/N] was smiling brightly now at the prospect of spending more time with George.

"Great! Meet me here at 10 on Saturday?"

She nodded the only reply she seemed capable of giving as the butterflies in her stomach took over her whole body.

"Great. Well I better go find my 'dimwitted other half' let him know that Snapes after us." He joked "I'll see you then." He placed a quick kiss to her cheek.

Her hand came to the place where his lips had met her skin as the familiar warmth of a blush spread over her face. She turned to watch him leave, he must have expected her to as he looked over his shoulder shooting her a wink before leaving around the corner.

Tonight was surprising to say the least. And not a thing had gone to plan. But [Y/N] wouldn't have changed a second of it for the world.

#george weasley #george weasley x reader #harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #hp imagine #writing prompts #george weasley fluff #george weasley imagine #george weasley/reader #prompt fics

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vincentbriggs · 4 years

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Hello Vince! I've been researching these questions for a while to no avail and was wondering if you had advice, as a fellow trans person into historical fashion. The first, is that as a nonbinary person I'd like to make clothes with an androgynous/genderfuck silhouette but am not sure how to achieve that, if you have any tips.(1/2)

The second, larger problem, is that as a nonbinary person, I have a “nonstandard” body. I’m dfab and have had top surgery but am not on T. I am quite short (5'2") with wide hips. My attempts at drafting patterns and making mockups from men’s patterns have gone atrociously (I was attempting some 1908 breeches.) How have you found success in making/drafting historical clothing with a trans body™? (2/2)

Hello! Ok. First thing you need to know is that there’s no such thing as a “standard body”. It’s not a thing, and it never has been.

Clothing companies may try to pretend it is, but all they’re doing is making stuff that kind-of-sort-of fits a lot of people, but hardly fits well on anybody at all. (The same is true of commercial sewing patterns, although there is much more potential to change stuff with those.) Look around and you’ll see that people come in an infinite variety of shapes and sizes. Different heights, different weights, different proportions, and varying degrees of asymmetry.

Mass produced garments are going by statistical averages, and people just come in too many shapes to make that work. It’s why I have a job doing alterations for a suit store. It’s probably why unstructured, loosely fitted, and/or stretch knit garments are so common nowadays. (That, and it’s easier to wash them. And easier to make them cheaply in sweatshops. I want to punch the fast fashion industry in the face, but I digress.)

People have always come in a huge variety of shapes, all throughout history, but up until whenever mass production became the norm (late 19th and early 20th century I think? It happened gradually.) they had the advantage of having their clothes made specifically to fit them. Unless they could only afford secondhand clothes, but even then they’d probably alter them to fit.

And trans people existed back then too, and people cross dressed for various reasons. “Breeches roles” for actresses were hugely common in theatre, so I think it’s safe to say that breeches can be made to go over wide hips just fine.

I haven’t seen any of your pattern attempts and I don’t know how many you’ve done, but I can say with some degree of confidence that you’re having trouble because it’s your first attempt at a rather difficult thing that takes some time and practice to get good at. We all start out by sewing and drafting horrible stuff! Do not despair! Pattern drafting is a wonderful skill to have, and after enough bad patterns you will get to good ones! It’s a whole entire human you’re putting fabric around, and it takes some practice to develop an eye for what shapes work best on you, and how to correct various fit issues.

Here’s my pattern drafting method:

I usually use pattern diagrams from The Cut of Men’s Clothes, Costume Close Up, or the LACMA pattern project. All 3 of these sources have nice little scaled down diagrams of pieces traced from extant historical garments, and I start by tracing those onto a small sheet of printer paper. I get a reference picture or several of a similar garment. Preferably a portrait of someone wearing it, or the garment displayed well on a mannequin. I then stand in front of the biggest mirror in the house (wearing everything I’d be wearing under that garment) and imagine that garment on me, and where all the edges and seams are. I get my measuring tape and I measure various bits of the imaginary pattern pieces, and mark these measurements down on my little diagram. Here’s what the one for my yellow striped waistcoat looks like.

Once I’ve got a satisfactory amount of measurements marked down, I go to my big roll of stiff brown butcher paper and I draw out the pattern pieces full size according to these measurements. It’s ok if the measurements don’t all line up perfectly, because it’s awkward to measure yourself in front of a mirror, so they aren’t all exact.

The important thing is to get the lines nice and smooth, and approximately where they should be, and to get the overall shapes similar to the diagram pattern pieces in a way that fits your proportions. They won’t be exactly the same as the diagram in the book because nobody is shaped exactly the same as whoever wore the original garment. For the above waistcoat I had to flare the hips out waay more than on the inspiration pattern, but when it’s on me that’s not really noticeable because it fits. (Mostly. I still need to work on the shoulders..) I then mock it up in crappy thrift store fabric or old bedsheets, and the past few times I’ve done patterns this way I’ve found them to fit surprisingly well, needing only a few small alterations. I’m very visual, so this method works for me, but other people may prefer different methods.

In college we learned to draft modern patterns with math formulas, but I don’t like doing that, and the basic blocks we did then aren’t super helpful for historical cuts anyways. I know that for the 19th and 20th centuries there are lots and lots of tailoring books available that have drafting instructions, but as I have not yet dipped my toes into the 19th century I can’t really comment on them.

However you’re drafting, be sure to look at lots and lots and lots of reference pictures from the era so that you get a good picture in your head of what the fit and cut is supposed to be like. Things fit differently in different eras. For example, 18th century coat sleeves are cut much tighter than modern ones, and with a considerably smaller armhole. (Which actually gives you a far better range of motion.) They don’t have any shoulder padding either. And 18th century breeches have wrinkles at the crotch, it’s just part of how they fit.

Alright, I think that’s all I’ve got to say on patterning for now. And now to address the question of androgynous silhouettes! I really don’t want to fall into the trap of equating “androgynous” with “masculine”, but most of the things that immediately come to mind are historical menswear because they’ve got drastically different silhouettes that don’t read as very masculine to the average modern onlooker. One of the things that made me start on a 1730′s project was the early 18th century silhouette. (That, and the lure of Huge Coat Cuffs) Just look at those adorably poofy coat skirts!

Antoine Hérisset, 1729, Rijksmuseum.

The early-to-mid 19th century is another great period for men’s silhouettes. Tiny waists and softly rounded chests (you see padding in a lot of the waistcoats) were in, and the men in the fashion plates are drawn with doll faces, dainty little feet, and pretty substantial hips. Behold:

(1834) I’d like to do an 1830′s outfit someday, and to make a pair of mens stays for it.

Here’s another one so you can see The Hips. The darn source link isn’t working, but this is from Costume Parisien, 1823.

Young man’s cotton summer jacket, c. late 1840′s.

Depending on how concerned you are about foolish comments from random strangers, there’s also the second half of the 17th century to consider. What could be more androgynous than a vaguely human shaped wad of fabric and frills?

I Cannot find the source for this but it’s a French engraving c. 1660.

Now, I am less educated on historical women’s fashion, but I know that those shapeless little 1920′s dresses were going for a more androgynous look. Flat chests and short hair for girls was fashionable, and you can see the beginnings of that boxier silhouette in the 1910′s.

1910′s women’s suits are magnificent.

Walking suit, c. 1912, V&A.

And riding habits! From the 17th to the 19th century (and maybe beyond, I don’t know) women’s riding habits had the same style lines as mens suits, but were made with the silhouette of a dress, and it looks very sharp. (Especially the 18th century ones, but I’m biased.) They usually consist of a jacket and matching skirt.

Wow that is a much longer answer than I expected to write. I must make an FAQ page so people can find these more easily.

I hope this was helpful, and I wish you all possible success in future pattern drafting endeavours!

#echojar #ask #sewing #transgender #pattern drafting #long post

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millennialincantations · 4 years

Text

Hexing the Moon is Not a Thing

I have been hesitant to weigh in on the on the controversy surrounding the rumors that witches are out there hexing the Fae and the moon, but as this story is making its way into national news media, I feel that silence is no longer appropriate. I am aware that people reading this are likely to disagree with me, or perhaps even become offended by my take on the situation, but I am willing to take that risk in an attempt to be a voice of reason.

The gist of this story is that allegedly groups of neophyte witches are organizing on the social media platform TikTok and attempting to cast harmful spells on the Fae and the moon, the actual moon orbiting the Earth, and allegedly the sun is next. I was very deliberate in calling this a rumor in my opening statement. After a lot of research, I have been unable to find a lot of evidence that this is really going on. I've managed to find two TikTok users claiming to be hexing the moon, both with only around 1000 followers, and both of them have posted videos that are very clearly jokes and/or trolling. And I'll be honest, they were kind of funny.

I'm open to any contradicting evidence anyone is willing to provide me, but at this point I believe that this alleged group of witches hexing the Fae and the moon is nothing more than a rumor, a prank, or an internet troll scheme that has been blown completely out of proportion. I have seen so many angry reactions to the idea that this may be happening and simply not enough proof to believe it is actually happening. Did the rumor originate from an actual event? Probably. Is there a kernel of truth here? Maybe. Is there a widespread conspiracy of witches hexing mythological creatures and celestial bodies? Doubt it.

The story seemed to explode when a Twitter user claimed that these hexes were occurring and their tweet went viral. I've read the entire tweet, and while it was heavily laden with definitions and dire consequences, what it lacked was a shred of evidence, a single source, or any clue as to where someone might look to see proof of these hexes and this community of young maleficars. However in spite of this, it created a wave of anger and panic that has spread across all social media platforms and inspired many witches to create some very emotional responses.

Here is why I have a problem with all of this. Reactionary emotional responses, especially ones of anger, based on baseless rumors, have a tendency to make us all look foolish. And I sincerely feel that the global witch community is being made to look foolish right now. I will now thoroughly explain why.

I am going to begin with the obvious ageist and anti-novice dialogue this has inspired. I have purposefully avoided using the term “baby witch” until now, because I find it pretty offensive. I probably don't need to tell you that every story about this starts with a headline similar to “baby witches hex the moon.” “Baby witches” are the ones to blame, and “baby witches” are being vilified right now. In general, putting the word “baby” in front of another title serves to be diminutive, to express that while you and this person may share an identity, you are clearly superior to them. Using titles this way is infantilizing and demeaning. It suggests that while this person may be an adult, they are helpless, irrational, naive, stupid, and so on. There is nothing wrong with being a younger witch or a person who is new to the spiritual path of witchcraft. There is absolutely something wrong with taking a rumor as an excuse to release prejudicial venom against young and/or inexperienced people all across the internet.

Few of us were lucky enough to be born into witchcraft families. Many of us found witchcraft as a spiritual solace after escaping religious systems that oppressed us. Engaging in any kind of dialogue that makes witchcraft seem hostile to the young or new people who need it is simply not good form, and in my opinion, unethical. And let me remind any witches reading this that you most likely did or thought some pretty stupid things when you were new to witchcraft. I know I did.

Calling the subjects of this rumor “TikTok witches” serves nearly the same purpose as calling them “baby witches.” It's well known that as a newer and more complicated platform, TikTok is most popular with younger and more tech savvy users. Referring to someone as a “TikTok witch” not only makes an assumption about their age and level of experience, but also serves to denigrate their practice into an aesthetic rather than an identity. I am very active in the Facebook witch community, but I would never describe myself as a “Facebook witch,” because the sum of my spiritual path is much more than what I post and comment. My life as a witch is so much more than anything I do on the internet, and the same is true for most people, period.

Now I'd like to move on the statements I keep seeing regarding the supposed victims of the alleged hex. The Fae are not a large part of my practice, so I will not speak on them as much. My sister used to claim as a teenager that faeries would hide her things and that's why she could never find them. I thought this was just a dumb excuse until one day she dropped her camera memory card on the floor right in front of me, and it just disappeared. We tore her room apart looking for that thing, and I found it days later hidden between the pages of my journal. Let's just say, I've been socially distancing from the Fae ever since.

Hexing the entire Fae is kind of a ridiculous notion because that word has so many different connotations and denotations to so many different people that depending on who you ask you couldn't even really nail down a concrete definition of who and what they are, and some witches don't believe they're real at all. And if I were a Fae, I imagine I'd like it that way. It's a more common belief among witches that casting a spell requires knowledge and focus, and that doesn't really compute with attempting to target an ambiguous crowd of whatever the hell they are who might be, well, somewhere. As Willow Rosenberg (Buffy) would have said, “It's like trying to hit a puppy by throwing a live bee at it.” Anyway, I think the Fae are probably fine.

Now let's talk about the moon. So the moon is real, definitely. I've seen it. And the moon is gonna be fine. I'm less concerned with explaining why the moon will be fine and more concerned with unpacking some of the things I've heard about the moon being in peril. In the case of both the Fae and the moon, I've seen many impassioned pleas for witches to join together and combat this hex by using the magick to bless the Fae and the moon instead. Now, like I've said, I'm not super worried about the Fae, but I'm really really really not worried about the moon. Witches often leave water and objects under moonlight to bless and purify them, but now we're expected to believe that a hex can travel 238,900 miles through that same moonlight and still have the juice to do some damage. Really, its gonna be fine.

What this amounts to is a cry for an online holy war, witches versus witches, duking it out on their altars and cell phones for the fate of the moon. And while that might make for a pretty bitchin D&D campaign, it is an absolutely ludicrous waste of energy given the real world problems we are facing right now. Witches please, if you are feeling compelled to do a spell to help the world right now, hex the secret police in Portland, hex the fascist elements in government, hex the damn coronavirus, bless the protesters, bless election security, BLESS RUTH BADER GINSBURG! But please reconsider spending your effort playing tug of war with a celestial body that is most definitely totally going to be fine.

The three most concerning claims I have seen about how this hex against the moon will affect us are as follows:

1.) “The moon rules emotions, so hexing the moon will have a negative effect on all our emotions.” Yeah, um, that's probably got more to do with the horror survival game that is 2020, which I think we can all agree has not been anyone's year. Placing the state of our emotions under the control of strangers on the internet is a classic case of blame avoidance, in which we feel justified in our reckless actions and emotional outbursts by claiming it is not our fault or out of our control. Contrarily, a common tenet of much of witchcraft is control of the self. Such behavior is very unbecoming of anyone bearing the mantle of the witch.

2.) “Hexing the moon has angered the moon goddess Artemis, and this has angered her brother Apollo—who rules over medicine—and now we will never recover from the coronavirus.” Wow, that's a lot to unpack. First of all, are Artemis and Apollo really that close? Because he totally tricked her into killing her BF Orion that one time. Second, not everyone believes in the same deities, and not everyone believes in gods at all. Telling someone we're all gonna die of COVID-19 because of a god they don't believe in does not make anyone look smart. Third, this argument places the outcome of the pandemic in the hands of religion instead of where it belongs, which is in the hands of science. Witches, please, you can believe in science and faith and magick all at the same time, and it's something we all really need to start doing. Fourth, and most definitely worst, blaming sickness and plague on the spells of witches is something witch hunters did back when it was commonplace to murder people for witchcraft, and now we are actually seeing this claim come from other witches! Gah! I can't even. Please stop.

3.) “This or that moon goddess is mad and is going to retaliate by taking magick away from all witches.” I really just want to drop that GIF of Krysten Ritter rolling her eyes right here. Let's revisit the part where not all witches believe in the same deities and some don't believe in them at all. Now let's remind ourselves that magick comes from within, and while we may draw strength from outside sources, we don't need anything other than ourselves to perform witchcraft. I could never possibly believe that an action taken by another person I've never met could make me less of a witch. That smacks of fundamental insecurity in one's beliefs.

At this point, this story has been picked up by several major media companies, including Buzzfeed, NPR, Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, and several others. While I do think it's important for stories about real life witches to be covered in the media, I am not proud of this moment of exposure. Every story I read seems to go back to the original Twitter thread as their primary source, which as I've explained, is not sufficient evidence. This story has become more about the global visceral reactions witches are having online, and while those feelings and interactions are certainly real, it disturbs me that the witch community is making huge news by essentially throwing tantrums based on what is probably a lie.

Witches are not featured in major media very often, and when we are it is typically characterized by gross misinformation. I fear that we are currently fueling a fire that will only serve to make witches look ridiculous to a large number of people outside our community. And while I think we all have a healthy touch of “I don't care what you think about me,” it would be irresponsible to say that this will not have actual consequences for real people. As witchcraft is a practice and not necessarily a religion, it has little in the way anti-discrimination protections for anyone anywhere, and witches are still very much minorities. People who are brave enough to live openly as witches may face discrimination in employment, housing, service, and various other things if this story sways public opinion in a negative way, which would be a real shame considering the story is basically a sham.

This story has unique potential to damage the way witches are perceived in society because, while the story is fueled by backlash from witches are most certainly not hexing the moon, the witches doing the hexing are the headline. In this era, it is more common for people to assume a story from a headline rather than read an entire article, and so I fear the general impression people are getting is that witches are unfathomable children who really want the moon to fall out of the sky. And for those who actually read the articles, their first impression of witches very well may be the frustrated rantings of those of us who are not at our best right now.

In addition, this story subverts the historical meaning of the practice of hexing into a petty malicious act done out of boredom. The actual history of hexing stems from one common theme: the powerless trying to find a way to fight back against the powerful. This is why so many hexes have to do with women seeking revenge on abusive men. This is why witches have recently been discussed in the media for doing mass binding spells on President Trump and a mass hex on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh—which, controversial as they may be, these are stories I am actually proud of. So witches reading this, if you really wanna put a hex on something, let's target someone who really deserves it.

And if you think I'm referring to Betsy DeVos, well, I can't stop you from coming to that conclusion.

I do have one final remark, which is somewhat unrelated, but still important. If you are a witch who has found yourself deeply offended by the notion of hexing the moon (which you have every right to feel), I would invite you to please consider the feelings of indigenous people who have long been offended by the misappropriations of their culture, by their sacred acts being used and portrayed in ways they do not like or approve of. I think many of them have often felt the same way that you do now, except in their case, there's a lot more evidence the transgression actually occurred.

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same-side · 5 years

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Are there any specific resources you used while you were learning how to draw? I see your art and I get super inspired, but then I remember how far behind I am when it comes to progress, and I get discouraged. I've been drawing for a year and I still can't do proper anatomy and lineart, yet you've been drawing since August and you're wonderful at it. I really want to improve. Help a fellow artist out?

Hey there!!I’m really glad I can inspire you!! Please don’t give up!! If it’s any consolation, I get discouraged, too. I see the incredible art of this fandom (or just in general!) and it makes me feel like why even bother. It happens to everyone, and not just with drawing, but with everything in life! But I work through those feelings! I have faith in you and I believe in you!

I’m sorry, I don’t really have any resources I can point you towards! I never really watch tutorials or things like that, I don’t have one of those pose-able models or anything. I don’t know of any like. reference databases or anything. I also dont use any external brush packs and I’ve got a baseline non-display tablet. I think the biggest advice I can give is to use references and to do studies! Studies can teach you so, so much. When I first started I absolutely hated doing fabric. I felt like I wasn’t good at it. So instead of just giving up or avoiding it I sat down and did fabric studies until I felt comfortable with it. Most of my paintings are honestly just me practicing on something I feel like I’m not good enough at yet, whether its dual lighting sources, anatomy, fabric folds, hair... Don’t avoid the things that make you afraid, practice them until you’re comfortable with it!

In regards to lineart, some things I’ve learned- foremost, canvas size is really important. find which one works for you. Most artists I know work on somewhere around 3500 x 3500px . personally, my canvasses for portraits are usually in the 500 x 500px range, and sketch dumps are 1650 x 1650 px. Too small of a canvas, and you won’t be able to fit the detail you want - sometimes I post something with a wonky face and its because the canvas was really small so i couldnt properly draw! If the canvas is too big, it may be difficult to fill the space. Another thing - some programmes (I think SAI for sure) have a line stabilizer and a curve editor. my photoshop doesnt have this, so i cant really say much aside from that, but it can really help you get smooth lines without the wonky bumps. One last thing I learned recently - vary your line sizes. I usually work between 3px and 8px, with 4px as my standard. It provides contrast and makes the focus points more clear.For anatomy - reference reference reference!! Do studies!! And remember that your own body is your best reference!! I have a folder that’s just got different pictures of my own hand under different lighting sources that I’ve used in paintings. Don’t try to do something from memory if you don’t actually know what it looks like! I know a lot of artists use that “block” method. There’s real logic behind it; i think a common mistake is thinking “oh i just draw circles or blocks as a placeholder for body parts!” But the blocks actually mimic muscles and joints. Look at an anatomical model, break it into pieces. Then use those pieces to compose a body. not just random circles at random distances!A final note - I’m not sure how old you are, anon, but for the teens out there. please don’t compare yourself to adults as the end-all-be-all. Its fine to compare to others to see what things you could improve on or how to draw something differently, but don’t let it consume you. you still have so much time to learn and to grow. Even if there isn’t practical experience, someone older will have more life experience and a different perception, and it really does make a difference. Someone older has seen and experienced more, unconsciously learned more about the way bodies move and lights play out on things, what colours they like and dont like paired. And they may even have other life experiences that affect things. For example, I’m an engineer. I literally have a degree that trained me to be detail oriented and be able to understand proportions, perspectives, and breaking things down into basic shapes. it definitely helps with drawing, to have that sense. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help, but I hope at least something in here is valuable to you! I believe in you, anon!!

#t talks #long post #Anonymous #asks for ts #art reference

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