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painting-warhammer · 1 month

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C’Tan Shard of the Deceiver in the style of Sonichu (CWC)

I lied. This is my favorite figure. Commentary under cut.

#1: Rule Number One Is That You Gotta Have Fun

The other two figures I painted had ups and downs--days genuinely ruined and many frustrated moments where I just hated everything about this hobby and everything I was making. I'm sure this is no strange feeling to any artist, but since I kinda gave up on art over a decade ago only to pick this up after that decade, it really felt like that heartbreaking moment of making something that you know was bad and not improving fast enough.

I never had that for one second while painting Sonichu. I honestly giggled to myself a lot when I worked on him. When something fucked up (note how I didn't make as good of a glowing effect on the eyes) I just took that as "Well, that's just me being accurate to the original art." When something went well, I learned something that I would be able to apply in the future. If you look closely at the quills and the chest, you'll see that this was the first time I tried edge highlighting to get more of a good lighting effect. On top of that, I just used Baharroth Blue without a base paint, but rather as a base paint that I later darkened with a Tyran Blue shade wash for the creases in the sash. I did the same for the skin near on his abs and arms. (I should have made them blue. Damn.)

I also didn't get so bogged down in being accurate to the inspiration, or became better at knowing what to pick and choose. For example: Sonichu doesn't have a sash, of course. Instead, I decided to go with the color of the banner in Issue #0.

There was a point I briefly considered learning how to actually make a decal, then taking the title to be plastered on the front of the model, but I decided against it. I even considered some yellow streaks to give him a bit of a glow, but if you look at the base you'll see some of the experimental wetblending I tried (and would hypothetically cover later) and it just didn't look good.

Also the feet. Sonichu does have a distinct color for his shoes, but I just shrugged and figured it was more correct to just keep it in line with his hands on the model. I made the hands in the hideous style of the Bad Trailer Sonic, and figured the feet would probably follow the same principle. Besides, the sash had enough blue as it is.

#2: Rule Number Two - Just Don't Get Attached, Too

I said I had fun at all stages painting Sonic'hu, and I meant that. The painting part, that is. Gluing was a disaster.

If you're new to the hobby, understand this: Older models, things from the 90's or earlier, are produced using a plastic resin. It's very light gray (left) while the newer stuff has a dark gray tint and is made with a different kind of plastic.

Now Citadel sells ONE (1) glue, pictured to the left. It's a very good glue for the DARK GRAY plastic. It looks like this. Some people use the one on the right, but the listing on Amazon is apparently sketchy as hell and comes empty because they can scam you out of your money since you can't return or refund liquids. So I never fw it; if I encounter it in a hardware store or hobby shop, I'll pick it up and give it a shot.

This is all to ultimately say that in spite of Citadel selling only ONE KIND OF GLUE, that ONE GLUE cannot hold light gray resin figures together AT ALL.

I don't have pictures, but God was it frustrating. Sonic'hu would CONSTANTLY fall apart while drying. I would be holding his arm in place; the head would fall off. His spines would fall off. He'd flop over on his base. Even after priming him, his arm fell off again, and you can see his face is a mess of when my fingers were just covered and glue and I was just holding him in place frustratedly. I tried like three different glues (not including Tamiya, but Krazy Glue was one) and I don't remember which one worked.

However, whether Tamiya works or not, I actually did have to go back to resin on a different figure recently. I went through my old man's drawer and found this.

It's unreal how good this is. Put this on resin, and the plastic itself comes apart easier than the glue does. It also works okay on the dark gray figures, but I've had the odd part come undone and I went back to the Citadel Glue.

Fair warning though--I'm praising this version of Loctite specifically. There are a few varieties, and I can't say much as far as their quality, but I read online that the ones with an extra long cap tend to dry out and be unopenable later. This Gel Control version doesn't give me any problems like that, though.

#3: Rule Number Three - Wear Your Heart On Your Cheek

My only regret is not going harder with this.

There were some gemstones at the bottom of this model and I literally don't remember what happened to them. I was going to paint them like Chaos Emeralds, originally. Then I saw a paint job of the model that had stones encircling the C'tan Shard like he was making them rise up Dragonball style, and the thought came to mind to get little Chaos Emerald replicas to look as though they were orbiting him. (Unfortunately, Etsy pretty much only had them in a set size, and though Sonic'hu was the largest figure I'd worked on, he was too small to have those orbiting around him.)

I also wanted to learn how to model with Green Stuff using this model; there was a point where I considered making the actual sneakers, but more importantly the Pikachu ears and the one additional spine to bring it up to six total. I didn't not want to do that when I bought it, actually, but after the glue had settled after so much effort I was utterly sick of the prep phase and just went straight to painting.

There's also a little Necron that is at the base of the C'Tan that I also haven't painted, but the reason for that is that I am considering how to do the CWC's "The Classic" shirt on his rib cage. I keep waiting for the inspiration to strike.

So that's Sonic'hu. Honestly, having a shitpost figure was something that helped me be a little less afraid of failure and take chances, make mistakes, and get messy. I would resume tryharding by the next figure, and ultimately paint, in my opinion, my best figure yet.

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nayialovecat · 8 months

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The Ink Demonth 2023 - Day 19. Ghost

Day 19. Ghost Crossover: Don't Starve Together Wait, what does Bendy do in the Constant when neither his name nor even his nicknames start with W?

If anyone is curious about Bendy's character in DST, I also give you an additional sketch...

A very rough sketch of playable character for DST. I will think about it... I would definitely like him to have trouble satisfying his hunger. Maybe he will only be able to eat nightmare fuel, but he will be able to attack hallucinations at 50% sanity? To consider...

I used here Wooden Flooring from original game :3

If someone doesn't know the game Don't Starve Together, I will say this: both this game and Don't Starve belong to the "either you love it or you hate it" genre - it is a survival game in a charming, cartoonish, slightly "sketchy" style, where our task is to survive in a completely alien, generally hostile world, where almost everything tries to kill us. When you start the game, you don't know anything, so you die quite often (unless you use the DST-wiki, but believe me, half the fun is discovering the world - one of my more epic deaths was when I was chained in the evening on the first day in a new world with a pickaxe a rock from under which bats flew out and killed me in a few seconds... I sat in front of the screen for a few moments after my death, staring at the text informing me that I had survived 0 days with the words "what the fuck" on my lips - beautiful times of ignorance...) Overall, the game is about surviving, first of all, by getting food, but also by fending off attacks from various types of monsters, enduring bad weather conditions, avoiding darkness, and, above all, not giving in to your own mind, which is gradually becoming crazy. Cute.

Wilson, as this is the name of the character who is the ghost in the picture, apparently made food in the camp without having anything to add to the fire. It went out - and Grue attacked him, killing him in 2-3 attacks. Someone will tell me: wait a minute, there is hay right next to! Let me remind you that in order to collect anything, we have to be able to see it, and when the fire starts to go out, you can only see it a few steps away from it :] Wilson had no chance... Bendy, who was supposed to keep the fire going, screwed it up so badly...

I considered whether there should be a skeleton or even Wilson's corpse among the things, but I decided not... I always treated Grue's attack as not leaving any traces, not even a corpse (in the game, every death leaves a skeleton, which doesn't always make sense). I took the background, of course, from ready-made turf patterns, in this case Forest Turf and Deciduous Turf (i.e. the deciduous forest biome I hate the most - although I like it for Catcoons).

PS. DST is often draw by me :)

Bendy and the Ink Machine (c) Joey Drew Studios Inc. Don't Starve Together (c) Klei Entertainment Sammy and the Ink Machine (c) Nayia Lovecat

#The Ink Demonth #Bendy and the Ink Machine #Sammy and the Ink Machine #BATIM #SATIM #DST #Don't Starve Together #Bendy #Ink Bendy #Ink Demon #Wilson #Willow #ghost #I wanna play now #The Ink Demonth 2023 #crossover

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clowningaroundmars · 11 months

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Fuck it

Burners hcs

Chuck my beloved 🩵

-Chuck’s anxiety spikes out of control sometimes and so he’s often up and at ‘em even at like 4am just mechanically coding well into the morning just bc he can’t sleep. Other Burners have TRIED to help him fall asleep and they’ve had varying levels of success but no one really knows how to combat Chuck’s insomnia for sure

-Older Chuck smokes weed like a chimney and you cannot convince me otherwise, that boi self medicates like his life depends on it. His whole room be dank as hell

-Messy af room btw, but there is def a method to his madness. Wires and car parts EVERYWHERE tho and also scraps of cloth that he cuts and sews shittily for his LARPing stuff. He still loves it tho

-I love the hcs floating around that he can be very assertive when he wants to be, and likes to take control every now and then :) I’ll leave it at that for now :)

-Chuck tried making a racing game for the Burners, and he got so far as figuring out how to model everyone’s cars but eventually gave up on that passion project after the race in Blonde Thunder. Even just being behind a virtual wheel was too distressing for him LOL

-He’s canonically a cyborg and spends time looking up, downloading, modifying random codes for his own internal wiring. He “mods” himself sometimes and as anxious as he can be, he’s very confident in his programming skills and trying out sketchy codes on himself

-That being said, he’s kinda insecure about being part-robot. No one but him and maybe Mike knows exactly how much of him is metal, and how much of him is organic. He keeps that info to himself bc of self-doubt. Who knows how the rest of the Burners will treat him if they knew? It’s bad enough that he doesn’t know how to drive!

-Besides programming, Chuck actually does try to take up a bunch of other hobbies like learning to play a guitar, a keyboard, trying to improve his sewing skills so he doesn’t just make messy stitches on LARPing costumes, painting, doodling etc etc but like Mike always says “sometimes being a Burner can get in the way of personal stuff”

-PIERCED CHUCK PROPAGANDA!!! I definitely buy into it!! Chuck may hate getting tattoos but this dude gets pierced up later on, I JUST KNOW IT. He has a cool collection of piercings on his ears (daith, triple helix, industrial, orbital etc etc) as well as tongue piercings and… other piercings 😏

-I truly believe that Chuck ran away to MC first— before Mike— and then they met up again there when Chuck heard about a “cadet who saved an apartment full of ppl”

-He ran away in the 1st place after believing that he “lost” Mike when Mike got promoted from being a jr cadet to a full cadet. They hung out together a lot less after that and Chuck couldn’t ignore the evil he was finding as he was training to be part of R&D… so he dipped, terrified and lonely

-Jacob “adopted” Chuck immediately after taking pity on him. One could only watch a scrawny blonde kid stumble around Motorcity and get picked on for so long lol

-That makes Chuck Thee Original Burner!! Fight me about it

-Chris P. confirmed that Chuck knew about cars even while living up in Deluxe, often bragging about how well he’d drive if he ever got in one. It was Chuck who introduced the concept of cars and driving to Mike in the 1st place when they were younger

-Chuck is JUST AS protective of Mike as Mike is of the Burners, that’s his childhood friend!

Mike 💚

-Has his cadet days drilled into his bones unfortunately, this poor guy always does his bed up military style, wakes up at 6am SHARP every single day and works out first thing in the morning. Still, the routine helps a lot and it’s one of the only habits he appreciates from his past

-Has nightmares not too often but… when they hit, they hit bad. Sometimes he just decides not to sleep at all and just joins Chuck on a couch somewhere

-I truly believe he has ADHD!! I’m integrating that into my belief system fuck it

-Bc of that, he often forgets to take care of himself. And not even in the bad I’m-gonna-do-this-dangerous-thing-that-might-kill-me kinda way (well most of the time) but the oops-I-forgot-to-eat-and-it’s-been-8-hrs-since-my-last-meal kinda way. Chuck definitely helps remind him to eat and take breaks, otherwise Mike’s gonna jump into another hours-long errand run across Motorcity without even eating a peanut

-Mike’s super grateful for Chuck, they’re opposites in the way where they complete each other. Chuck eats CONSTANTLY and likes to nap often, Mike basically paces himself on Chuck’s schedule when he’s feeling all out of wack and can’t take care of himself. Chuck happily bosses Mike around and makes him do some self care when this happens

-Older Mike might have some reservations about drugs n shit (good ol Deluxe conditioning in his skull) but he’s not an asshole to other ppl about it. That being said, this mf smokes cigs like a chimney and loves them. Cigarettes are the only thing he smokes, he doesn’t like being not-sober bc it makes him feel like he’s out of control (and the Terras drugging him in “Mayhem Night” didn’t help with that either lol)

-Where Chuck’s room is messy and chaotic, Mike’s room is scarily perfect. He stress cleans so ofc his room is gonna look pristine! Neatly folded sheets and shoes all in a straight line near the door, clothes all hung up perfectly in his closet just like in his cadet days. Not a wrinkle or a spot to be seen anywhere

-Likes to garden as a stress-reliever as well. Mike’s gotta use his hands and get his body moving or else he’ll Explode. He joins Jacob in his supermarket or just does chores around the garage whenever he can

-Burners know that the neater the hideout looks, the worse Mike’s mental health is tho. It sucks, they’re still figuring out how to help calm him down sometimes

-Funny, but for a guy who’s so sunny and upbeat all the time, Mike fuckin LOVES scary dark music. Grindcore and black metal are his top fave genres, much to Chuck’s chagrin. Chuck doesn’t hate metal, it’s just that listening to terrifying hardcore music while Mike’s doing donuts mid-air in Mutt after going 325mph absolutely doesn’t help calm his nerves

-Mike is… not very good with emotional stuff. He’s also shown in the show to be a lil short-sighted and DUMB as hell when it comes to taking social cues (the employee at the refinery acting weird and CLEARLY reading from a cue card in “The Duke of Detroit Presents…”, Chuck’s personality doing a total 180 IMMEDIATELY after Julie brings in the Kaneco booster… like Mike why in gods name would you miss those obvious signs) and it’s probably bc he was trained to be emotionally stunted as a military boy. He still tries his best tho <3

Dutch 💜

-Chuck and Dutch are the bestest buds aside from Chuck n Mike, don’t @ me. They work on the Burners’ cars all the time, how could they not be! Dutch is always giving Chuck props on wiring and upgrading the cars and Chuck thinks that Dutch’s designs and mechanical skills are godly

-Dutch eventually takes their art off the paper and walls and moves onto tattooing after seeing so many Motorcitizens rocking cool art on their arms. They start just like any other teen tho: shitty stick n pokes

-Eventually, the other Burners want tattoos on themselves too (well not Chuck cuz he’s a weenie LOL) and Dutch is more than happy to provide. Even Mike asks for one, much to everyone’s surprise. Julie gets a couple tiny ones where she can easily hide it from her dad. And everyone gets a Burner tat, absolutely

-Ok yeah I also integrate “Dutch is an enby” into my belief system. Sue me. He doesn’t believe in the concept of gender, just goes by he/they for convenience but I really think he doesn’t give a single fuck about it all otherwise

-They start learning from Tennie after going steady in their relationship, and they bring back all the sweet Cabler’s knowledge into the Burners’ car upgrades

-Claire and Dutch start chatting about fashion one day while Julie runs off and leaves them to hang out. After that, Dutch is much more mindful of his wardrobe and even hits her up sometimes to swap fashion ideas and tips

-They love customizing like, everything ever that they can get their hands on. Dutch’s room is for sure the most tricked-out one in the hideout, complete with custom furniture, decked out wall of lights (that Chuck helped program to feature Dutch’s art on it) and more art on the walls than anywhere else in the garage. It’s Dutch’s own slice of heaven

-Older Dutch also partakes in the smoking of the zaza, so him and Chuck just chill out in their lil weed corner outside (bc Mike and Julie hate the smell so no smoking indoors!) just puffing on blunts and showing off new bowls and bongs that they recently bought

-Dutch goes to Chuck to figure out how to establish a private non-traceable line so he can call his family every now and then without alerting Kane grunts. He updates them about stuff (and privately tells Dar about Tennie lol)

-Dutch picked up ROTH’s body after a battle against the Kane bots, intending on studying the metal polymer stuff Kaneco makes to use on the Burners’ cars. But then ROTH woke up, the battle completely wiping his intended functional coding and shocking the hell out of Dutch. But ROTH didn’t attack, and then slowly but surely everyone got used to having a floating Kanebot cluelessly wandering around the base. Dutch decided to paint the bot so he doesn’t keep surprising everyone LOL

Julie 💛

-She’s a weeb idgaf if everyone else thinks so too, it’s my hc now. She pirates and downloads shitty old anime onto drives with Chuck’s help and brings them up to Deluxe so she can watch them in secrecy

-Julie has a room in Deluxe ofc but she also has one built for her down in Motorcity as well. She thinks that the room that she has freedom to decorate and customize is way more “her”. She’s got anime figurines, posters that Dutch painted for her (featuring her fave anime characters ofc), plushies practically spilling out from the shelves, and she’s so happy that she gets to have a room where she can really be free!

-Julie pops the collar of her vest, inspired by Mike

-Idk what kinda music is allowed in Deluxe (probably nOT MUCH) but anyways Julie discovers pop and techno in Motorcity and literally cannot shut up about it afterwards. The other Burners do not really share her enthusiasm for Kpop but they try to be supportive nonetheless

-Jules is oddly enthusiastic about music in general. How could she not be, after hearing only pleasant elevator music all her life? She obsesses over playlists and makes ALL the playlists for the Burners

-She’s the sentimental one for sure. She hoards more stuff in her room in MC than in Deluxe but either way, wherever she makes a space for herself, it’ll always be filled with photos and doodles and lil gifts she receives from other ppl. Even 9Lives has a couple toy charms dangling from mirrors and compartments lol

-Julie loves makeup and painting nails, something she got from Claire. She tried to hide it away from the Burners to “fit in” and then immediately blew that cover once Dutch broke out the nail polish and started to paint their nails one day. After that, she teams up with them to paint everyone’s nails and does cute designs

-She DID know about Mike before formally meeting him after he defected. Ofc, she’s always been observant even tho Kane always tried to hide her away from the public. After Mike ran away to MC, Julie watched it all go down from her dad’s security cams and followed him down there. She has to pretend she doesn’t even know much about Mike, despite having access to his files

-Mike and Julie are The Shippers and wingmen of the group FOR SURE. I know this is kinda canon but idc, you can’t convince me they don’t get together and gossip about other ppl’s relationships all the time. Mike only knows about other ppl having crushes just bc of how observant Jules is

-Julie’s stolen cop car isn’t from Deluxe, it’s from a junkyard in Motorcity. Cops were disbanded in MC a while ago— courtesy of the gangs lol— so that meant easy pickings for Julie

Texas ❤️

-Born and raised in Motorcity (confirmed by creator), Texas helped run his family’s automotive business fixing up cars from junkyards and selling them/their parts (mostly to the Duke lbr). He was the only Burner who had a car even before the Burners formed

-He was The Ride before Mike and Chuck finally built up Mutt and got her running properly, but his car wasn’t Stronghorn just yet, just a custom car cobbled up from various other car parts that he borrowed from his dad

-I truly do believe Texas has a huge family with like a million siblings and that’s why he’s able to get away for long periods of time and do crazy stuff with the Burners all the time

-Potential angst right there… maybe. Cuz he doesn’t get enough attention at home being one of like… 7 or 8 kids or something 😅

-Chris P. said Texas’ parents are the total opposite of him and are intellectuals. Maybe they’re also from Deluxe (R&D even) and couldn’t see themselves having children safely there after Kane went crazy with power, so they ran away to MC and gave birth to their kids there. For as long as Texas can remember, his dad ran the auto shop and his mother headed the Motorcity development council. His parents are VERY involved in the community but… not very involved with the family

-I LOVE the idea that Texas and his siblings are all named after the states. I feel like Alaska, Iowa, Delaware, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Dakota, Nebraska… even Maine are cute names!

-Yknow what… those all sound like girl names lowkey. What if Texas is the ONLY brother in his family which is why he hams up his masculinity so much? Hc accepted. Texas and his 7 sisters, I dig it

-Hear me out. Texas initially taught Dutch the basics of constructing a car, transferring and modifying engines, etc etc but Dutch is a smart cookie and eventually their knowledge surpassed Texas’

-Texas is the movie buff of the group and fucken loves sci-fi, old westerns, martial arts, noir and thriller movies. His room is overflowing with movie memorabilia, posters, and shitty crayon doodles of his movie heroes. Any time he’s got downtime he’s always on his lil VR movie headset goggles rewatching something called “5 Dragons of the West: Journey to the Gold Snake” or something

-Texas, like Julie, doesn’t live in the Burners Hideout since he always just goes home after the end of the day. Only Mike, Dutch, and Chuck live there full-time. Julie has the room she stays in sometimes, Texas crashes on a couch (probably where his workout gear is) if he’s too tired to drive back home

-Mike got his adrenaline junkie habits from riding in Texas’ car before building Mutt

-Older Texas absolutely gets tatted up. AND he starts wearing more muscle shirts to show them off ofc!

-Texas is ridiculously emotionally intelligent, even tho he’s a knucklehead most of the time and I believe it’s bc he’s got a ton of siblings. He’s also one of the middle children too, so he’s capable around lil kids as well

-Texas can’t spell bc he’s dyslexic

-Junior and Texas absolutely have SOME history together. Maybe they even grew up together, as that’s not so far-fetched since ppl might buy cars from Texas’ dad’s shop to enter the competitions in the Mama’s Boys Arena

Jacob 💙

-Obviously The Dad of the group of ragtag kids. Mike and Chuck aren’t the only kids that Jacob’s helped out of the rubble of MC, but they are the only ones who stuck around. Yes, Jacob’s an old crazy coot but he has endless patience and plenty of seaweed casseroles for everyone :)

-Motorcitizens know him as The One Who Helps Orphans, specifically ex-Deluxians since he’s one of the only elders who’s been up in Deluxe and didn’t disappear amongst the Motorcity population yet. In “Off the Rack” there’s a split-second where Jacob’s shown greeting the recent Deluxian defectors at Antonio’s, I feel like he takes responsibility over helping Deluxians integrate into MC

-Bc of that, he’s got some p sweet connects across the city. Jacob’s got doctors and nurses, librarians with info, and resources all on speed dial just for the kiddos

-Jacob was the 1st person to show Mike what a car was irl and showed him how to drive in Sasquatch. It was Mike and Chuck who figured out how to build Mutt in the 1st place tho, and they took lots of inspo from the old car magazines lying around Jacob’s office in the supermarket

-The lil haunted house the Burners built for Halloween for the kids of MC was Jacob’s idea :)

-Doc Hudson and Jacob absolutely hook up after Hudson gets settled in MC, sue me. If you cringe at the idea of two old men bumping uglies, you are weak and will not survive the winter

-MC basically celebrates every holiday with a parade or a giant block party somehow, and the city’s first Pride Parade did not disappoint. Jacob made sure to sign the kids up for a spot in the parade and helped them build the float. It got crashed by Kanebots (of course) but the Burners saved the day (again!)

-Jacob stays away from the Burners’ main living space but still lives close by to check in on them every now and then. But he gives the boys their privacy for the most part

-Jacob DOES have Texas’ parents on speed dial as well. Which he uses to threaten Texas into behaving every now and then, but it’s no use. Everyone knows he never calls anyone’s parents unless it’s an emergency lol

#motorcity #mine #we ballin like it’s 2012 tumblr baybeeeee #is this fandom even still alive? doesn’t matter cuz I’m sliding in with these hcs idgaf!!!!!#thx for reading this novel if you did idk #if you didn’t and just skipped to your fave character that’s also valid #understandable have a nice day!#also #long post #REALLY LONG POST #enjoy :)#mike chilton #julie kane #dutch gordy #chuck motorcity #texas motorcity #jacob motorcity

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astramyrhere · 11 months

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does any other artist struggle with wanting that pretty "rendering" art style that a lot of people have been talking about recently, while also wanting to keep the more unique parts of their style?

i honestly love the way that "rendering" looks. all of the pieces i've seen using that technique always end up looking GORGEOUS. but a lot of the time, even if the original lineart is quite sketchy (as in, looking like a pencil sketch), the final piece ends up being very... smooth.

and, while that "smooth" look works well for other artists, i personally don't like it for my style. i like having a rougher texture to my art.

either way, i'd be unsatisfied with my work. if i tried "rendering," i'd miss that grainy and sketchy texture to my art. if i keep my style the way it is, i'll continue envying the artists who can make it work for their art.

atp i just want to know if other artists have this issue. of course, some advice on how to incorporate both would be greatly appreciated, but knowing that other people also struggle with this would help a ton, too. it would be nice to know that im not alone, and that others are also stuck in between the pretty art they see everywhere or the elements of their style they'd like to keep.

#art #artists on tumblr #long post #looking for advice #misc #mr drawing for almost his whole life yet can't figure out his art style strikes again!

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devilmaykawaii · 1 year

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I posted 7,569 times in 2022

That's 6,016 more posts than 2021!

760 posts created (10%)

6,809 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@hotvampireadjacent

@iloveyoubecauseyouarelove

@echoelbo

@drusoona

@kenzakikazuma

I tagged 3,465 of my posts in 2022

#devil may cry - 1,787 posts

#vergil - 939 posts

#dante - 683 posts

#dmc5 - 561 posts

#nero - 388 posts

#birdocado draws - 337 posts

#resident evil - 294 posts

#final fantasy - 258 posts

#v - 225 posts

#rdr2 - 168 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#the freedom to draw things like crossovers only i would want because they make me happy has by itself improved my art even if anatomy and

My Top Posts in 2022:

i had no direction for this i just wanted to draw them

236 notes - Posted October 30, 2022

I am asking for more chibis to draw to keep practicing this style and @2dsnarkygentlemencollector suggested I make Noct :3

i couldn't not make Noct sparkly like i did Nero

263 notes - Posted March 27, 2022

that post of the dog judging people reminded me of Vergil so I did what I had to do

original:

303 notes - Posted February 7, 2022

Id help him but its funnier this way

310 notes - Posted July 26, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I really wanted to do this meme with Vergil so here it is :D

It's so sketchy because it felt so stiff when i tried to make it look nice.

Original:

See the full post

336 notes - Posted March 15, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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renee-5419074 · 2 years

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Week 5 : Sketching

Warm up exercise :

For this weeks exercise, we practiced our sketching abilities. I was unable to attend class for this week, but still thoroughly enjoyed the class whilst being online. We started by drawing straight lines horizontally and vertically, creating a grid, and this helped to improve our stability while drawing free handed. To further improve our straight lines, we also drew around 20 random points across an A4 page, and essentially did connect the dot, with lines spreading across the sheet, almost resulting in a way to look like a network. We also drew circles across the page, and this practiced our rotational skills of the arm and wrist. These skills I believe are very beneficial, and they are often used when designing.

Task :

For this week, we were told to redesign the lotion bottle, without changing its length width or lid shape. I very much so enjoyed this lesson, as it required more creativity and patience with the designing part. I liked that we had to keep some certain controls, just so that we don't stray off too much with designs as well.

Firstly, I drew the twelve rectangular boxes that would keep our lotion bottles contained so that I don't draw them incorrectly and stay within the guide lines of what Olay has requested. I drew them at 1:2 scale and included a line to represent where the lid ends and where the actual body starts. Since the we were also meant to keep the lids the same shape, I drew all the lids first as well, just to make it more efficient and take less time overall.

Next I started to draw different designs that could represent the Olay brand perfectly, and I think most of their designs are very elegant and calm, so I tried to include that while I was designing ideas. The original sketches were a bit sketchy, so I placed tracing paper on top of it afterwards, and outlined them using different pens. There isn't a huge difference, but I tried to outline some with an 08 ink pen, and others with a black texter. I ended up preferring the black texter and used that for most of the perfume bottles. Since I had outlined the bottles on another sheet of paper, I didn't need to worry about smudging the led pencil I had used previously, resulting in a very nice and pretty finish. I also experimented with different shading techniques, including using a pen and hatching, and just using copic markers. I preferred using the copic markers as I think they made the entire drawing just look better, and it matched with the elegant design like style I was trying.

For the final step of this task, we had to again use our skills from out last lesson to create a two point perspective block, and draw a lotion bottle within that rectangle. It followed the same steps as last time, in which we had to draw the three lines, picture plane, horizon line, ground level and the center of vision, placing both LVP and RVP and then drawing the rectangle. After drawing the rectangle , I picked on of the designs I had drawn and drew it in a two point perspective view. I very much so enjoyed this weeks work, as it challenged me to practice my drawing skills, and showed me the areas in which I could improve on.

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bvannn · 21 hours

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Weekly Update May 24, 2024

I tried being productive this week, and got some things done but not as much as I would’ve liked. I’m still super tired and work starts next week, but I’m hoping things will get better. Some personal things may come up so I might also be in a bad mood or busy helping family next week, but there’s also a chance we get a pet. I’m hoping I can convince my mom for a dog, since I don’t care for cats, but a cat is more likely. Anyway art stuff.

I didn’t make straightforward progress on the OEB video but I did some stuff. I redid boards for the first chorus twice, ran it past a friend for peer review. Friend has also offered to help with boards, and I gave him a general description of what I wanted, but I’m not going to hold him to it since I don’t currently have a way of repaying him. It’s more of a fun thing for him to do if he wants, and if he does it helps me, but if he doesn’t then I’ll still get it done on my own. I did write up what I want the boards to look like through the second chorus, and I got started on building the puppet of the main character. I don’t expect full puppets for all the characters, but I think the main at least makes sense, since there’s a good chance I’ll reuse him in other animations, or at least I can reuse his parts. Also looked into a certain feature of adobe’s and i should be able to skip the entire sketch line step I was doing before, and just do it in the program, which will be a great way to save time while still giving it that sketchy lineart style I love so much.

Comic: pitch comic is officially 20% done, and I figured out how to get Microsoft word back on my computer so I can get to writing the next stuff. I got about half an outline for an episode 2 of O’Malley, and I’m starting structuring Backstage’s overall plot, since time is a much more important factor there. I’m not sure if I still have the outline I did for episode 3 of O’Malley or not, but I remember the general chorus of events so I can redo it if I don’t. Sorry I don’t have much to say on the current comic other than I just need to keep working on it. Which I will, I’ll try to get page 7 sketched tomorrow. That’s Anastasia’s introduction, so hopefully I’ll be able to post something from it.

Music: I got impulsive and outlined another song. And started throwing instrumentals together. I’ll abbreviate it as RR, it’s an original, vocal, not sure what voice to use but it’s fine. I’m going to try for getting the lyrics done before writing the melody this time, shouldn’t be too bad as long as I have time and motivation. I’m still going to aim to finish up lyrics for BATB first, but those are slow because I keep second guessing myself about it. I started another draft of the first verse last night, I’ll try to get that done tonight if I have time.

I’m trying to get one general drawing done a night, but I’m falling behind. Right now I’m watching a movie with my mom since she’s had a rough day (Beetlejuice is still a good movie btw, better than the cartoon) but I’m hoping I’ll have time to get another one done once the movie is over. I did get an account on that sheezy.art site through luck, haven’t had enough time to tell whether it’s worth the exclusivity yet. Also heard about a site called unvale, haven’t poked it at all yet, maybe I’ll do that soon. Anyway point is I’m trying to get more general drawings done on days I have free. Those are going to be more sparse with work but I’ll try to still get some done on the weekends.

All things considered I did a bunch this week but it isn’t a lot that I can really show. I’m still trying. In the next few weeks I’ll finish up some more general drawings and try to get on redoing some of the Artfight refs that need it. I’ll definitely have more to show during July because I want to go ham with that, although again time will be a bit constrictive. This next month I’m going to try finishing up some projects I want to get done before then, but I’ll try to see how much of that I can multitask with other big projects. It’ll be fine!

#weekly update

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theclo4ked1 · 6 months

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I feel like I've been stepping up my art game up a bit in these last few fortnights. Ever since that one pencil crayon drawing, my art has become so much different and I've been liking what I've been making, which is a plus since I'd be creating things I'd ideally want to keep and not throw away or sell. At this rate, I'm afraid I'll suffer another burnout, by Winter no less. I can feel it, too.

One of my last projects was a study of abstraction. Five drawings, each one after the first are to become increasingly abstract, but I took it one step further to try to do bizarre things and made the final drawing what I thought was unrecognizable entropic mess, but peers saw remnants of objects from the past drawings, so I guess I did an unconscious artistic action.

Charcoal has been a go-to recently, for good reason. It's been lots of fun to just go to town, absolutely scratching and smudging and smearing all over my paper. It's also faster than a pencil on my usual 18" x 24" papers. These drawings are approximately 9" x 12"; sizes which do not fit the scanner tray of my printer, so a few centimeters of the bottom of each image is cut off, but I don't think you're missing much.

The base objects, from left to right, are some tin flower pot, a ceramic container that reminded me of Greece, an old tea kettle, a glass bottle, and part of one of the trees and plants in the back of the room I was working in. My intention was a slow start and then quickly melt into the insanity, which was kinda hard to gauge with five drawings. By the third, things began to pick up. The tea kettle turned into an apple with two fingers, the tin flower pot became an unidentified cephalopod, and the background tree becomes a slime/ooze or acid tidal wave (I can't remember which substance).

I remember working and spending, admittingly, not a lot of time on this project. I made the first two drawings in an evening, and the final three in an afternoon. To me, the abstraction didn't just mean breaking things down into "just lines", it meant warping reality and going beyond the guidelines; breaking rules has become somewhat of a mantra in my works. That's how I add my own twist. Originally, my take on this project was "ol'right, i can break things down into geometric shapes". You can see the results differ than the initial plan.

Since I didn't deconstruct my composition into "just lines", it hindered my time. My workflow, or how long I spent on one drawing, could have exponentially (or logarithmically?) accelerated had I went into "just lines", but because of how I end up going, each drawing took a larger fraction of time that I could have evaluated. The best as I can explain is "every drawing is made 30 minutes faster than the last". Inaccurate, but that's how I'll put it into perspective. I even tried being more explorative in the sense that I gave every drawing a different style as the abstraction went on.

ZERO: It's the original still life, it was drawn as one-to-one as I could. It looks pretty good coming back to it and digitizing the final image.

ONE: The "sketchy" or "cartoon" style, where the objects have black outlines and a lack of detail in the lighting and shadows.

TWO: For this one, I challenged myself to make one without smudging to create value, opting to crosshatch and few solid black areas or lines that are just pure darkness, like on the ring.

THREE: What I called the "One Detailed Object", in this case, the open eye that gazes into you, I hope. Not much to say about this one.

FOUR: Finally, the chaos. On the back of the paper, I labelled it "The Mess" as my style guideline, so here I just went nuts, but not just blindly putting lines anywhere, no I had some intention, but again, I didn't notice that I had aligned a few objects from the past drawings until my peers pointed this out.

And unlike my painting series, I did NOT make an extra one because I was too tired. Heh. Thanks for reading!

#illustration #charcoal #charcoal art #charcoal drawing

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flewelex · 3 years

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Since origins is coming back I wanted to redraw my very first origins art :D I tried to keep some semblance of sketchy style to match the original

#tubbo fanart #tubbo #mcyt fanart #osmp

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bakapandy · 2 years

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Hello hello!

I come to you with an artistic existential crisis (feel free to ignore). So, I'm still kinda new to art, and I love drawing but the thing is, there so much stuff on social media, different people that I find absolutely amazing and I'm an easily influenced person and always come back to doubting myself on the path I'm currently taking. For exemple I do lineart but there are so many incredible lineless pieces of art that I question myself about this (I tried, it didn't feel right for me but I still feel like maybe I should try harder?) And then there are those who use thick lines while I do mine thin, muted colours versus bright colours or simply black and white...

So I guess what I want to ask is: how do you differentiate the art you simply admire and the element you actually want to put in your own art? How do you know what kind of stuff you want to make? Or I guess how you figured it out since you've been doing this for a really long time.

Anyway, thank you for gracing the world with your amazing art and have a nice rest of your day!

Oh it’s a daily struggle lmao, I see art I love and I’m like THIS WHAT I WANT TO DO and when I first started out, my style varied widely bc of that. But in general, my art is always influenced by whatever I’m currently interested in haha. Since I’m back on my Naruto BS, I take heavy influence from Kishimoto’s work, but I’ve added my own flair and stylistic choices based on my own experiences and personal taste. So it really is up to you on what you want to incorporate into your artwork.

I usually just keep a couple things in mind:

1. It takes time to incorporate new elements into your art style. Of course your style is going to be different from the original work, so whatever element you want to add has to be fitted to YOUR work, as it was fitted to the inspiration’s work. It may not work the first few times, it may not work the first dozen times, it may not work at all, but it never hurts to try it out. And Hey, you may even develop something new and better suits your style, which is what often happens to me haha.

Honestly there is nothing stopping you from trying out ALL of those different elements you mentioned, I certainly have before and I’m sure all artists have at some point. That’s the point of practicing and producing art! Go wild, especially since you said you’re just starting out

2. Keep in mind what your art goals are. Are you trying to achieve an aesthetic for professional purposes? Are you trying to match a style to tell a certain story?

For me, my goal is to be as LAZY AND FAST AS POSSIBLE. I don’t have much time to spent drawing so when I do want to draw something or make a comic, I want it to be done FAST. That’s why I rarely color. I simply don’t have the time to spend 8 billion hours thinking of a color palette and lighting and rendering artwork. Otherwise I’d never produce any content or finish any of the stories I want to write.

The same goes for linework, rarely do more than 2 passes of refining lines bc that would take too much time. That’s why my line work is squiggly and sketchy at times and that has somehow turn into a stylistic detail for me along the way. Of course, with practice, I’ve developed more confidence in line placement so I don’t have to do more than a couple passes anyway.

But this is just me, I don’t draw professionally and really only draw to satisfy my own interests, so this works for me. I am fully aware my work is not professional quality nor do I intend it to be, and I’m totally ok with that.

#ask pandy

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j-minte08 · 3 years

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Why do I award BalanWonderworld as a masterpiece?

Introduction

⚠️I'm using a translator, so I apologize if any parts are difficult to read.

In this article, I will write about why I award Balan Wonderworld as a masterpiece, with answers to criticisms.

When I played the demo version, I thought this game was SO BAD. But I believed Yuji Naka and bought the full version. (Before I knew it, I had bought four of them...) I'm not raving blindly about it.

At first, I was hopelessly disappointed because nothing had changed from the demo version. However, in chapters 2 and 3, I was impressed by the three-dimensionality and beauty of the stages, and in chapter 4, I realized the comfort of gaining freedom through the acquisition of costumes.

By the time I was completely finished, I was convinced that this game was a great piece of work.

This is an article that I wrote after spending nearly 100 hours on this game.

I hope you will read it.

Main part

First of all, this game is not a game with flashy action as its primary objective. (Flashy battle action is possible in some scenes.)

【Puzzle】　【RPG】　【Exploration】

It is structured around these three main components.

The game also features a "Balance AI" that senses the player's movements and makes changes to the difficulty and world. There is also a presentation of my own work, so please take a look!

Please read with the above in mind.

■ One button action is stressful.

▶︎ As mentioned earlier, this game is not intended for flashy action. At its root, it is an RPG and does not require multiple buttons. The reason it's a simple operation is because it doesn't need to be.

There is only one button, but instead the player is given the freedom to select up to three actions of their choice. The way to play Balan is to find your own strategy within these constraints.

Some people point out that you can't jump, but only a few outfits limit jumping. Most of them are attack-oriented outfits. It's up to you to decide whether you want more attack power or more movement power.

If you're still not convinced, this game just isn't to your liking.(If that's you, I recommend the Wii version of Rodea.)

NiGHTS and Sonic are also action games with simple controls, but the concept is different from Baran, as explained below.

From the very beginning, NiGHTS and Sonic are one-button games that allow for exhilarating action. The action feels good and allows for improvement through trial and error.

However, Balan begins in a state of helplessness. One of his goals is to use his wits and eventually gain the power to run freely around the three-dimensional stage.

Freedom from discomfort. This catharsis is the best part of Balan.

It is also linked to the story's theme of opening closed minds.

■ The structure of the puzzle is sketchy.

▶︎ There is an intention behind this. By making the puzzle structure more flexible, the player is given more choices.

Therefore, each player will have a completely different solution to obtaining a single statue.

Also, each time you play the game, you will find new strategies, making it a game that can be played repeatedly.

This is the reason why Yuji Naka was so confident about this game.

Personally, I think that this action with a puzzle concept has a similar point of view to card games and rock-paper-scissors.

The Mega Man series is a typical example of a game that requires you to observe the situation and your opponent's movements to find the right technique and move. In fact, there is a famous episode where it was derived from rock-paper-scissors. This is also a game where you can enjoy improving through trial and error, but I think the structure of the rules is similar to that of Balan.

■ It's a pain to stock up on costumes.

▶︎ There is no need to overstock costumes. The minimum number of costumes needed to clear the course will naturally be available. Dependence on certain costumes can make the game monotonous. Also, the BalanceAI can sense your movements and take countermeasures.

As the difficulty level increases, you will have a hard time because the costumes will not come back.

The game is made more interesting by the style of play that allows you to use all the costumes to their fullest extent and bring out the true value of each one.

If you run out, explore the stage while collecting costumes. It may lead to new discoveries.

Even if you don't have a specific costume, there are many situations you can get through by applying other costumes.

This degree of freedom is what makes Balan so interesting. The strategy is left to your imagination.

■ The stage is curved. Isn't this a useless design?

▶︎ The curvature of the map allows you to see every corner of the stage. You may be confused because there is no other game that tries to do something like this. However, this is an ideal map for exploration games.

The basics of this gimmick are used as of chapter 1. Chapter 7, which has particularly large differences in elevation, makes good use of this gimmick.

■ The difficulty level is too low.

▶︎ Basics → Application → Review (Boss battle)

This game is designed to follow the above flow thoroughly. As a result, the difficulty level in the early stages is kept low, but the endgame is quite difficult. I almost lost my mind in chapter 12.

The bosses are easy to defeat. However, it is difficult to conquer all three strategy patterns.

Also, if you keep defeating enemies quickly without taking damage, the difficulty level will increase.Stronger and faster enemies will appear in large numbers.I found the difficulty level increased at chapter 3.

In other words, the difficulty of the game depends on how good you are.

■ I want to have a HP separate from my costume.

▶︎ This system prompts the player to use a different costume in case of failure.

Depending on the situation, you can either sacrifice valuable costumes, or use inconvenient but well-stocked costumes... The game throws a variety of choices at the player. This gameplay becomes more apparent as the difficulty level increases.

If you separate the HP from the costume, this tense gameplay will be lost.

The system of choosing outfits based on what will happen next fosters the ability to think and survive on one's own. It will also help the child's ego independence.

■ I need more explanations and hints. It's designed in an unfriendly way.

▶︎ It's not a game that requires you to do anything difficult, so if you think about it, you should be able to understand it to some extent. All you have to do is immerse yourself in collecting statues by any route you can think of.

Some people criticize Balan for being old-fashioned, but they are missing the point.

Games are essentially content that teaches you to think and act for yourself. This is a posting of what games should be, and a refreshing return to the basics.

However, I don't mean to criticize modern games. The immersive feeling of being in a movie, and the friendly design of the UI that shows you where you are going so you don't get lost. I think it's a beautiful evolution for today's hectic world where it's hard to find time to be alone.

However, to be honest, it is abnormal to say that only works that follow the latest trends are evaluated, and it is difficult to say that there is creativity in such works. Evolving technology and the presence or absence of originality have completely different meanings.

I would like to say that games like Balan, which have their own rules and think for themselves, are what we need today.

■ I don't understand the story. I want subtitles.

▶︎ With both video and dubbing, the amount of information is extremely high. By not using real words, all the people in the world have the exact same experience. Very romantic, don't you think?

It's not to dismiss the unspoken parts as non-existent, but to let your imagination run wild and have fun with it.

Since ancient times, there has been an aesthetic in Asia that finds meaning in blank spaces.

If you want a more substantial story, I recommend the novel version, which probably has what you want. It is available for Kindle.

At the end

Balan Wonderworld is a game designed to grow with the player the more time they spend playing.

Despite its gorgeous visuals, the reality of the story is deep and Yuji Naka's philosophy shines through, making it a masterpiece that can be called a compilation of his work.

At first, you may find some scenes difficult or the system annoying. However, they all have a meaning and will make sense as you continue to play.

Balan is built on a very complete system.

EVERY MOMENT IS AN ADVENTURE... This tagline is true.

But the fact is that Balan is a very peaky game. But that's also true for Sonic and NiGHTS.

If you have enjoyed Yuji Naka's past works, you will surely understand the quality of Balan. I recommend that you take the time to face this game first without any preconceived notions.

Now that I've spoken highly of Balan, I'd like to offer some criticism of the official advertising.

I think the main reason for this failure was the poor choice of stages included in the demo version, which made it difficult to convey the fun of expanding the degree of freedom by acquiring costumes, the sense of freedom, and the fun of being able to create a number of unique strategies.

As for the official SNS, rather than introducing the costumes and the storyline by themselves, the official should have done a better job of showing how they are all connected to make this game interesting.

That's how it looked from my personal point of view, but I believe that the current situation is the result of continuous failures in the area of advertising.

I'm so disappointed that this masterpiece is being buried, and I hope that the officials will have the guts to turn its reputation upside down even now.

Hopefully, this game will get the recognition it deserves. I love Balan Wonderworld.

#balan wonderworld #game #square enix #game review #yuji naka #naoto oshima #バランワンダーワールド #playstation #bww #nights #nights into dreams #sonic #sonic the hedgehog

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alyona11 · 2 years

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I posted 3 428 times in 2021

969 posts created (28%)

2459 posts reblogged (72%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 2.5 posts.

I added 2 527 tags in 2021

#me being me - 725 posts

#hadestown - 512 posts

#hadestown fanart - 237 posts

#hades - 213 posts

#my art - 195 posts

#hades x persephone - 151 posts

#gallifrey - 132 posts

#persephone - 130 posts

#hadestown shitpost - 119 posts

#hadestown broadway - 113 posts

Longest Tag: 100 characters

#олсо инглиш спикеры очень часто игнорят гугл транслейт под постами на чужом языке и требую перевести

My Top Posts in 2021

Look, I'm really happy how this background with Hadestown in all of its glory turned out! Also I'm figuring out how to use 2D camera, so I made this quick shot and added Hades and Persephone moving in the background.

329 notes • Posted 2021-07-06 13:37:30 GMT

*terrible storm outside starting*

Hermes in the bar: *throwing his chair out of the window* CAN’T YOU TWO GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER?!

343 notes • Posted 2021-02-10 20:17:51 GMT

I have a soft spot for NYTW Orpheus and Eurydice actually. Wanted to draw smg with them for a while. Got you two versions: rendered and sketchy cos I kinda love both. Used a photo from the production as a reference, also recorded a timelapse for the coloring part (because I forgot to turn on the recording for the sketch huh). Both ref and a timelapse are under the cut.

Look at them!!!

And the timelapse:

youtube

350 notes • Posted 2021-02-24 21:18:47 GMT

From baby to bastard: evolution. So here we have: 1) Baby. Eaten by his dad. 2) Young man. Less eaten by his dad. 3) Warrior during Titanomachy. 4) Wedding man! 5) Guy who got himself a train 6) The bastard we know and love

Lmk who’s your favourite!

Also please appreciate Hades’ belly in the 5h one, thank you

364 notes • Posted 2021-03-14 20:39:14 GMT

I loved Luca so much I wanted to draw a fanart. The movie so touching and cute and it has these summer vibes, check it out!

Made this a little challenge for myself, so I tried to keep the style true to the original movie.

P.S. I don't have a constant way of coloring stuff, so today I went with no texture and sharp shadows. Tomorrow? Who knows.

642 notes • Posted 2021-06-23 16:12:28 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #My year is literally ranting and ht #Youtube

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gamer-logic · 3 years

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Since my state, Georgia, is having the annual Peaches to Beaches event which is two days of statewide yard sales, I thought it would be interesting to show how America, the states, and any other countries wanting to participate both 1p and 2p would be during this event. So here you go!

Georgia is happily selling fresh produce like boiled peanuts and Vidalia onions and peach-based deserts. Her homemade peach cobbler and ice cream are to die for!

Antonio (Spain) also sells many fresh tomatoes, olives, and other vegetables. He doesn't understand why no one wants his Olive Juice though.

Hawaii and Alaska make a killing selling lemonade at their stand with a free complimentary handmade flower crown with every purchase. While using their sheer cuteness to attract everyone including one of those sweet biker gangs. It's really surreal to see a huge gang of buff, tattooed, tough-looking guys in leather wearing flower crowns and drinking lemonade. Allen's also there to supervise and ward of creep. Also, to provide people more 'incentive' to buy their lemonade.

Texas breaks out the Texas BBQ and is in a Barbecuing turf war with Jett (Australia). They draw huge crowds for the five-alarm chili as well and hold a competition who can eat the most without burning out their tongues and/or passing out.

Florida sells some of the weirdest stuff you'll ever see. "Want a full-scale model of a gator made entirely out of bottle caps? Only ten bucks! Want a portrait of Florida Man painted with orange juice? 15 bucks!"

Nevada also tries to sell weird and sketchy stuff to scam everyone. "This piece is the genuine article folks! One napkin gently used by Elvis Presley himself! Just 500 bucks! Also, gets into a haggling war with Lars (Netherlands). Somewhere Alfred's dad instincts go off and he reminds himself to ground Nevada.

California, Oregon, and Washington collaborate and California sells anything vegan or made with avocadoes and the autographs of Hollywood stars, Oregon sells his old tye-dyed shirts and records, they also made him sell his old groovy hippy bus from the sixties he'd never got rid of no one knew they had. Oregon can be a bit of a hoarder, so they had to tie him to a chair and gag him because he wouldn't surrender the bus without a fight. Washington also tries to sell and drink cups of coffee, but in the hot Southern heat, this doesn't end well.

Louisiana sells anything Cajun-style from frog legs to fresh gumbo, to beignets. Also has a full collection of Mardi Gras masks and shrunken voodoo heads on sale for two bucks a pop.

Gilbert (Prussia) gets tricked by Nevada and gets a ton of stupid things he doesn't need. Ludwig (Germany) tries unsuccessfully to keep him on a metaphorical leash.

Ludwig always checks the quality of things he sees and buys dog toys and supplies for Blackie, Berlitz, and Astor. Later, he actually buys a kiddie leash for Gilbert.

All the while Lutz (2p! Germany) is asleep in a lawn chair with his hat on his face after drinking like six cold beers from this really good booth. All the while, Klaus (2p! Prussia) finds an antique Teutonic Knights flag from a vendor whose family was from Germany.

Vash (Switzerland) buys antique guns from Alabama and Roderich (Austria) also checks out some of Tennessee's guitars. He's horrified upon seeing Alabama's banjo and washboard.

Mathew (Canada) and Emma (Belgium) combine their powers and tag team to sell the best pancakes and waffles on earth with genuine Canadian maple syrup.

New York sells tons of baseball memorabilia and collectibles. Allen, trying to save his bad-boy image, tries to be discreet when buying some while taking Hawaii and Alaska around to get something with their lemonade money. James also gets some hockey memorabilia with Michigan and Minnesota who also got snow cones.

Alaska and Hawaii see a giant deluxe dollhouse but are almost in tears when they don't have enough money. But they end up getting it for free because no one can resist their weaponized puppy dog eyes. Also, no one can resist a growling Allen. Using the leftover money, they buy cute little rainbow umbrella hats for everyone and have Allen wear one who begrudgingly accepts it.

James, walking by with an armful hockey gear and flannel shirts, bursts out laughing when he sees this. In revenge, Allen forces him to wear one too and help him carry the dollhouse, much to Hawaii and Alaska's delight! "I said go my way puck head!" "No, it's my way, you vegan loving hoser!" A passing Francis (France)' is in stylish horror when they also make him and a nonchalant Luis (2p! France), holding a case of vintage wines, wear them too. Hawaii and Alaska go around giving umbrella hats to everyone including a sleeping Lutz they pass by.

Loving (Romano) practically has to supervise Feliciano (Italy) and keep him from buying anything too stupid on impulse or get scammed. They still end up with stacks upon stacks of cookbooks, kitchen wear, and a Mona Lisa made entirely out of Macaroni. They also get umbrella hats.

Flavio (2p! Romano) browses through clothing racks to get ideas for his vintage line. Also checks out the handmade fabrics like quilts. "Such craftsmanship! This pattern is so unique and chic! I simply must have it! What's your price Bella?" The nice old woman selling the quilt just smiles, "Oh just about five dollars young man." "Perfect!" Flavio hands the quilts off to Andreas (2p! Spain) who's practically buried underneath the fabric. Luciano (2p! Italy) facepalms while holding a new knife set in its case. "Oooh! Look at those adorable hats I just have to have one." Cue three more umbrella hats and a humiliated Luciano. "Just kill me now..."

Katyusha (Ukraine), Elizaveta (Hungary), Lillie (Liechtenstein), Natalya, (Belarus), Katya( 2p! Ukraine) and Anastasia (2p! Belarus), and Michelle (Seychelles) explore with armfuls of clothes, new ribbons, and a gun case for Switzerland (Lillie), cast iron frying pans (Elizaveta, watch out Prussia!), farm tools (Katyusha), Jewelry and unmentionables (Katya), dresses (Anastasia), an assortment of switchblades (Natalya), and one of those singing fish on a plague (Michelle). It's definitely an interesting group.

Kiku (Japan) and Kuro (2p! Japan) find a nerd booth selling comics, manga, and Japanese weapons like katanas. Kuro test swings a blade and tries to slice the table so hard it breaks the blade, "Hmmm, not sharp enough for me, got anything else?" He throws it on the pile of broken blades he's already tested. Kiku stockpiles on limited-edition manga and he and the vendor end up getting into a huge, heated by Kiku standards, debate on who's waifu is best. Further down, Alfred reads every Marvel/DC comic while keeping an ear out on every state's location. He checks on Texas via his glasses and notices he's beating Australia in the chili contest. "That's my boy!"

Wisconsin wearing a cheese head sells anything cheese-based. He's got cheddar, goat cheese, string cheese, cheese spray, gorgonzola, grilled cheese, cheese curds, Mac n' Cheese, cheese sculptures of all world monuments, you name it he's got it! He also starts a war with Iowa's corn dishes and Idaho's potato dishes. They eventually end up flinging cheese, potatoes, and corn after they start dissing each other's foods. "Take this cheese brain!" "Nice aim, I-da-ho!" "I told you not to call me that!" "I'm gonna go children of the corn on y'all's behinds!" Poor Nebraska is stuck in the middle.

Alfred (America) hears the commotion and using his parent radar, immediately knows who it is and reminds himself to ground Iowa, Wisconsin, and Idaho later along with Nevada who, though still grounded for sure, makes him feel a little proud of since he managed to out haggle Netherlands.

New Mexico and Arizona also sell Native American handicrafts along with things like dreamcatchers and giant inflatable aliens. While Delaware, being the boring stick in the mud that he is, walks by with a framed and complete U.S. quarter collection from a vendor.

Kansas sells out of every sunflower she had courtesy of Ivan (Russia). Ivan and her the team up to buy out every sunflower seed from here to kingdom come. Viktor (2p! Russia) buys all the vodka he can find and a new shovel while Xiao (2p! China) tries giving people tattoos for 10 bucks a pop.

He tries to convince Yao (China) to get a hello kitty one to match the giant plushie he's holding, with the encouragement of Leon (Hong Kong) and Yong Soo (South Korea) who all collectively agree he needs to quit being such a grandpa. They also like calling him an antique-like the items on sale. " Aiyah! I'm not that old, aru!" "Yeah, you are Sensei." "Don't deny it! Da Ze!" Respect your elders!" "Tattoos originated in Korea da ze!" He totally is that old.

Oliver (2p! England) holds a bake sale and has people lined up for blocks to get some. Arthur (England), after having his scones shut down after it poisoned some unlucky squirrels, fries selling authentic magical items like unicorn hair or pixie dust. Everyone thinks he's a little crazy but he did sell a good bit of old magic books he needed to get out of his house, after making sure no one could actually use them of course.

The Nordics also went perusing for antique and handmade furniture when Mathias (Denmark) spots two full sets of Viking costumes and tries to get Lukas (Norway) to try them on with him. Lukas wasn't amused.

Berwald (Sweden) and Tino (Finland) also find a great handmade table to get after inspecting the workmanship and a full Lego set for Peter (Sealand), now if only Mathias would stop squealing like a little kid at the full piece lego death star. Emil (Iceland) keeps thinking he's the mature one until he spots a mini top hat and cane for Mr. Puffin.

In the end, everyone ends up wearing umbrella hats courtesy of Hawaii and Alaska, loving all the strange things they bought or counting the profits they made. Alfred (America) is proud of his kids and visits everyone one of their stands. He ends up looking pretty funny with an umbrella hat (HW, AK), a washboard, (AL),a picture of Florida Man, (FL), a balloon alien (NM, AZ), a tye dye shirt (CA, WA, OR), hockey stick shaped glasses (MN, MI), a giant stack of comics with a replica Thor hammer and Captain America shield on his back, all in a shopping cart (NV), and a giant turkey leg in his hand (Tx). Unsurprisingly, it was a tie between Oliver, Texas, and Australia for who earned the most with their food. Georgia just smiled as this was another great year for her state and people!

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handweavers · 3 years

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Are there any red flags or signs to look out for that an Etsy shop might be a drop shipper? I use Etsy a lot & had no idea drop shipping was a thing.

there isn't a tried and true way and most of these aren't inherently proof on their own but when combined the picture can become pretty clear. in my experience these are usually the tells:

- they usually won't outright say they're an artist or craftsperson or maker for plausible deniability, and they tend to keep their shops very impersonal and anonymous, ie. very neutral basic descriptions in bio and no names or anything. most craftspeople and genuine makers want themselves connected to their art in some capacity.

- they say that its unique or handmade or something but like 30 other shops are selling something that looks the exact same and i don't mean in a plagiarized way i mean that its the exact. same. product. if multiple ppl are selling the exact same thing it means they're likely using the same wholesaler, and often will steal each other's photos.

- huge variation in picture quality and location and lighting, some pictures are very crisp and high quality and others are very grainy and look stretched, etc. a lack of consistency could indicate they're getting their pictures elsewhere and aren't taking them themself. also check the models, see if they use the same models when taking photos of wearables or if the items are all shown on random people. not inherently indicative of something sketchy but it contributes to the overall picture.

- this one is a bit contentious but as an artist, if someone is handmaking all their work with quality materials and putting the time and effort into doing it well there's no way they're going to be able to have a huge catalogue of items for sale. things take a lot of time and effort and skill to be made by hand which is why buying handmade things are more expensive, especially if textiles are involved because they are very time consuming. unless they have a massive operation and many employees it's just not feasible. this depends on the item of course, but if someone has 200+ listings of various intricate jewellery or beautifully painted mugs or something and there are many in stock per style it's extremely unlikely that person actually made the product

- check the reviews if anyone has mentioned issues with quality or noted that stuff gets shipped from a country other than the one listed in the shop's location section; the location thing is a big tell

- look at similar products being sold that are also handmade or artisan items and compare prices. if it's a lot cheaper than others theres no way that person could be making a profit unless it was made with worse materials by underpaid workers elsewhere

- reverse image search the photos in their listings to see if they pop up on the usual wholesaler websites on google. if you can't download the image then you can take a screenshot and 'find similar looking images' and there's a 50/50 chance of it working. he careful with this one because there is also a chance that they are the original creator + these wholesalers and others are copying their work and undercutting them, think critically about what might be going on

#long post /

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anheliotrope-old · 4 years

Text

much ado about munch replacements

I really really don’t like people who hate soylent and meal squares et al.

I don’t mean that they don’t like how it tastes. I mean that they don’t like these things on an almost philosophical basis.

There’s people who constantly hint at the idea that getting calories from something so divorced from the original food source is bad and degrading to the person, as if the meal square was actually a square of yummy Marxist-style alienation from the means of production, rotting the soul of the Consumer, or perhaps more cryptodruidistic reasoning.

Let’s quickly skip past the category of people who basically hate soylent simply because they think “techbros” are simply the worst thing since the Third Reich -- you can generally spot those by seeing if they hate the naming of the product or not.

The other category of criticism comes from people who just seem to have a high amount of undue skepticism as to whether these companies are being nutritionally responsible. I am saying its undue because they generally do not show this kind of skepticism to regular food companies or the absolute bogus that has come out of nutrition science in the past. No no no, that has to be reserved for these companies because they’re trying to make money off of a weird thing, how dare they.

Maybe these kinds of people are good in some sense, trying to keep companies accountable, but so far they’ve done more harm than good.

These busybodies who go on the internet to complain about how this product might be unhealthy and therefore must be really bad are ideological foot soldiers -- a sign that there is continued endorsement among the public for government agencies such as the CFIA in Canada to ban soylent.

The soylent ban can be mostly correctly summarized as a ban over mere issues with regulatory compliance -- the government wants certain things to be categorized as meal replacements and then wants meal replacements to fit certain, frankly, arbitrary standards.

The part where the ideology comes in is that most people think it is perfectly okay for an entire consumer base to lose access to a food they like. There must be some valid health reason, after all, right? And it’s more important for our government to keep us safe from techbros trying to feed us unsafe things.

But the techbros aren’t the people being hurt here, it’s the people who needed meal replacements and were benefiting from them that are hurt. People who the previously mentioned ideological foot soldiers like to pretend don’t exist.

You may think I’m making some of these people up, but just today I saw someone on HN describing the mere existence of mealsquares as “profoundly depressing”. Of course they were probably hinting at the fact that people should have enough time to feed themselves and that there’s something wrong with modern society that we feel we don’t have time for ourselves.

Okay, but have you considered that whatever is wrong with society is kind of independent of how fucking cool meal replacements are conceptually?

Maintaining human bodies when you don’t feel like it actually really really sucks. That’s one thing that’s actually degrading and alienating. To have to keep your meatsack self-copying rube goldberg machine of a mortal coil going when you’d rather do literally anything else.

Any project that tries to make that easier is good in my book. The only metric should be whether it succeeds or not at the low-level task, not whether it is philosophically sanctioned as being Good Living (TM).

And most of the time when I see people talking about this, I rarely see any mention about people who have trouble feeding themselves. From the “classically” disabled, to people with chronic fatigue, to people with bad executive function, a lot of people can have their lives be made easier by a well engineered meal replacement. Instead of that, I see articles framing soylent as being an out of touch product made by techbros for techbros. Which might be true of its marketing maybe? But the article writers almost always completely fail to separate soylent from the overall idea of meal replacement because they’re just looking for another article topic for this week, so they end up hitting indiscriminately.

So far, I’m not aware of any ban other than the one in Canada, so I don’t want to overblow the issue. And some of these products probably genuinely have some issues or tradeoffs, depending also on who’s consuming them. But also stay in your fucking lane and keep to doing productive things instead of throwing shade at a type of product because it doesn’t vibe with your political or lifestyle aesthetics. The world didn’t need so many articles about how you find meal replacements weirdly sketchy.

#rant #anpost #meal replacement #soylent

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