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egophiliac · 8 months

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Hello! Sorry to bother but do you have any digital art tips? I’m quite new to it and any tips, tricks or advice would be helpful! Your coloring style is very beautiful and I love it a lot!

thank you! 💚💚💚 sorry this is a bit late, hopefully there's still something helpful in it!

(also, it got pretty long, sorry!)

I think the biggest thing is to just take things slow -- digital art feels different than drawing traditionally, and it's SUPER easy to get overwhelmed by the billions of cool features that the digital world offers. (I say, as someone who spends a lot of time downloading cool brushes and textures...and then never using them ever.) there is a ton of really cool stuff you can do digitally, but because there's so much, I think it's really important to take time to figure out what is and isn't working for you. spend some time doodling without any intent to do a finished piece, figure out how you like to hold (or not hold) your tablet, what keyboard shortcuts you end up using a lot (and therefore might want to map to your pen/tablet buttons for quicker use)...that kind of thing!

everyone's workflow and preferred program and style are different, so it's hard to give hard-and-fast general advice. but the things that I think of as the essentials for learning digital art programs, and what I think of as a good order to focus on learning them in (although YMMV, especially depending on what kind of art you're doing):

brush customization (e.g. flow, opacity, softness)

layers and layer masks

selections and transformations (e.g. scale, rotate, flip horizontal/vertical, skew) (skew is underrated and I will die on that hill)

blending modes (e.g. multiply, screen)

adjustments/adjustment layers (e.g. hue/saturation, curves)

and I think most stuff after that is gravy! often very good gravy though! but yeah, as overall advice I recommend just taking things one little bit at a time, spending some time just drawing and messing around with each feature and what you can do with it. whether or not you end up incorporating any of it into your workflow, it's always good to try things out and just see how they feel! :D

and just so there is at least a little more concrete helpfulness in here, here's a few more specific things that I think are super important to keep in mind!

use! your! tablet/pen buttons! I mentioned this earlier, but they are extremely useful for keyboard shortcuts that you use often! most programs will also let you create new shortcuts for other things -- personally, I use the magic wand tool to fill in big color blocks a lot, so I made shortcuts for 'expand selection' and 'fill' and then mapped them to my tablet buttons.

flop your work horizontally often! when you're working on something, you get used to the way it looks, so seeing it mirrored is a quick way to see it with fresh eyes! in my experience, it often feels like this:

(a common thing is to find that everything is sort of 'leaning' too much one way, which is where skew really comes in handy!) (seriously, I love skew, it is my savior)

if you're working with color, keep a hue/saturation adjustment layer (or a layer filled with black or white and set to Color) on top and toggle it on occasionally to check your values! a lot of people who know a lot more about color than me (and are better at putting it into words) have written about why values are so important, so all I'll say is that the rule of thumb is that your image should still be readable in greyscale:

there are some exceptions and grey areas (do ho ho), but it's a good general rule to keep in mind! (some programs also have a colorblind mode, so you can check to see how your work will look to someone with colorblindness!)

and finally, here's some digital art programs I recommend, if you're still looking for a good one!

free: krita, FireAlpaca

paid: ClipStudio, Procreate (iOS/iPad only)

#art #...sort of #horizontally flipped mal isn't my favorite drawing i've ever done of him #but it's up there #anyway i do personally use photoshop #but i absolutely do not recommend it when there are better and free-er art programs out there #it is the equivalent of texting with a giant 90s-block phone that has been jury-rigged to somehow install whatsapp #because i don't NEED a new phone i KNOW how to use this one it's FINE #(oh god i've become my dad)#someday i will have to actually switch to clipstudio and learn new keyboard shortcuts :(

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ego-osbourne · 4 months

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Blood Practice

As stated in the title, this was one big blood practice piece! I’d been flip-flopping on how I drew blood for a while and never really settled into a good practice for it, so this was me sitting down and just doing it until I liked it. I used to do gradient coloring for different shades, but now I’ve adopted a kind of “cell” colored way of adding depth and darkness to blood. It takes a lot longer than the former gradient style, but it does feel a lot better. Plus, I’ve been slowly accepting that spending a longer time than I’m used to on my art isn’t a bad thing!

Some things that I learned:

I could probably get away with some gradient effects on cloth to show more of a soaked look, but by the time I thought of that it was too late to go back and change things

Blood is lightest to darkest on these surfaces: skin, metal, armor, hair, cloth

For darker shades of blood on surfaces, stick with a lesser variation in shades (note that the blood on the sleeve, hair, and armor only has two shades of red, while the blood on the hand and face have three shades [ignoring lighting])

Blood absorbs light, so make their shadows darker

The red of the blood warps the color of light, so change the light layer directly to accommodate for it

Blood will block the shine of metal

I still need to practice blood on darker skin, so I might try that out at some point later. I. I don’t even know what I’m going to do with someone like Dagon, who just has blood-colored skin (which is what kickstarted this adventure, when I tried and failed to draw him bloody), but I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Closeup below! (Haven’t done this in a while!) + an alternative version without the lighting or blur effects (apart from the lightning)

#ego #tes #tesblr #tes art #dovahkiin #last dragonborn #ldb #breton #tdi #the dez illusion #my art #head trauma #<<implied #cw blood

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snowbellewells · 8 months

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MY CSSNS23 MC: "Carolina Moon" {prologue}

**Thank you SO MUCH to my event artist @eastwesthomeisbest for the absolutely amazing cover art she created (in much less time than I should have afforded her). I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it, and am thrilled to be able to put it with each update of my story. Also, I'm so grateful to have @xarandomdreamx as my beta for this fic as well, though I did not give her this prologue, so any mistakes here are absolutely and unfortunately mine! And thank you too to the @cssns as a whole for once again providing such a great event of which to be a part!!***

Here is my second submission to the @cssns23 event!! This one is a modern au of the Nora Roberts novel and subsequent tv movie Carolina Moon. The main female character in the movie is psychic/clairvoyant (I’ll admit, I’m not too sure about the distinction between the two) and I thought her visions and what she goes through in connection to them made a nice real-world parallel to Emma’s magic. (There’s also a scene in here where the male lead says something that I could so perfectly see Killian saying to Emma… I just cannot wait to get to that point!)

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy this romantic thriller with some murder mystery elements. There are some instances of abuse and violence in here though - which I feel like I should mention, since that’s a little darker than my typical style. Most of them are in flashbacks of Emma’s past, or in visions she has of victims, more than in the actual present day plot; still I wanted to make people aware before we got too far.

Please enjoy! (I’d love to hear what you think.)

Prologue

July 1993

The water at their hideaway always feels so good. She could sink into it until her head slips below the surface and never, ever want to come up for air. It’s cooler, more luxurious than even the rich, satiny sheets on the trundle bed those rare nights when she gets to sleep over at Rose’s. Emma Swan’s gangly, 13-year-old limbs slice through the murky water as if the constant humidity and sultry air of Storybrooke, South Carolina can’t penetrate here in their little forest haven. She knows, of course, logically, that the real world isn’t all that far away. The shaded pond she and Rose discovered two summers ago is just a short trek into the woods at the furthest edge of Rose’s family’s boundless acreage. Still, it feels removed enough to bring Emma a sense of peace and contentment she gains nowhere else.

Looking over her shoulder to the large, smooth boulder jutting out of the pond at the bank where they left their flip flops and cutoff denim shorts, she can see her best friend stretched out with her new book where they had spread their towels on the rock’s surface, just in the wash of warming sunlight that streams through the tree branches overhead. Rose’s flawlessly creamy pale skin is prone to burning, but at the moment her friend seems willing to take the risk for the benefit of lazing cozily to read as she dries in the sun after taking a quick dip. Shaking her head, Emma plunges back under, happy to stay in the chilly water a bit longer herself. She knew as soon as they’d met outside Rose’s house that afternoon, and she had seen that Rose held a new Boxcar Children book in her hand, that her friend would not be able to resist burrowing into those pages for long.

It’s funny, Emma supposes, but that’s exactly what bonded she and Rose Jones in the first place. They might seem different on the surface, but in the end, neither of them quite fit with everyone else, and so they gravitate to each other, and have ever since Emma first arrived in Storybrooke as an eight-year-old orphan. They are each willing to give the other at least one person who takes them as they are and with whom they won’t have to pretend. Emma doesn’t care if Rose wants to read quietly and tell her about the stories she’s already finished instead of picking out dresses for the next cotillion class or preening in front of the mirror, practicing batting her eyelashes to charm boys or bragging to Emma about which ones she intends to kiss. Her sister Ruby, who shares the same thickly shining, burnished mahogany hair and pretty pink lips but little of her fraternal twin’s calming, gentle personality, does enough of that for the both of them. Their mother, a former debutante and southern belle, delights in the one daughter’s traditional coquettishness, and despairs of the other’s shyness. Cora Jones is a true throwback to another time who wants nothing more than to see both her daughters marry well and retain their places atop the social ladder. Emma could not care any less about such details; she is already clinging to the very bottom rung of such a social structure - if she and the so-called guardians with whom she lives are on the ladder at all. In turn, Rose doesn’t mock Emma for her thick, dark-framed glasses or secondhand clothes, nor does she cringe away from the “fits” that sometimes take hold of her friend, making strange, disturbing scenes Emma can’t understand flash across her mind with such intensity they sometimes knock her off her feet. Emma knows Rose’s mother and sister find her an unsuitable and embarrassing companion for Rose, but she is eternally grateful her friend seems able to see the best in anyone - even a lost girl nobody else wants - and so blithely acts as though she has no idea about the rest of her family’s opinions.

Cringing even while still submerged in the pond’s depths and practically invisible, Emma tries not to think of her unwanted visions. Her strict, hypocritical, and more than a bit deranged, foster father claims she’s possessed - and more than once has taken her episodes out of her hide. The man swears he’s beating the devil out of her and putting the fear of God in Satan’s place when he takes the thick leather strap to her shoulders, back and legs until she bleeds, but Emma has already lived long enough in a cruel and unfair world to know that his violence and “discipline” have less to do with parenting and concern for her soul, and more to show for his own twisted mind and overindulgence in the bottle. She wants to hide her spells from him, but when they come on her so abruptly and with such power, they are impossible to miss. She can’t fathom how a person like him was deemed fit to take in and care for a child, but mistreatment and injustice seem to be her lot in life thus far, and so she simply grits her teeth and survives.

It’s different though when the spells happen around Rose; the slight brunette merely rests a cool, steadying hand on Emma’s forehead or her arm until they pass, then she helps Emma stand until she feels in control again, listens as she attempts to make sense of whatever she’s seen, and most importantly… believes her. If only she could stay in the huge house Rose’s family calls home. She’d cook, clean, do chores, even stay in the servant’s quarters; Emma isn’t picky. It would still be a far sight safer than the situation she has in the rundown shack with the monster who’d been deemed her caretaker. Barring that, she would honestly rather live wild in these woods and survive off the land. She knew which plants and berries were safe to eat; Graham, her first friend, once a fellow orphan now happily adopted, had shown her ages ago, as well as taught her how to fish. It wouldn’t be easy, but she’d get by, and at least no one would lay a hand on her again.

This afternoon, those eerie images she sometimes has seem far away as she splashes up out of the water, trying to arc playfully like a mermaid as she breaks the surface. Drawing in a big gulp of air after staying underwater so long, Emma startles at the sound of teasing laughter, and whirls to see three figures on the bank where she and Rose left their shoes and shorts.

“Well, look here,” calls out a taunting voice that never fails to set Emma’s nerves on edge. “It’s the baby beached librarian and her drowned rat friend!” None other than Emma’s nemesis, Killian Jones, crows from his vantage point on dry land.

Rose sits up ramrod straight, book still in hand and annoyed scowl on her face at Killian and his friends’ interruption to the quiet peace of their sanctuary. She isn’t genuinely angry, though; for all that she and her sister share little in common, she and her two-years-older brother are affectionately close. “Shut up, Killy!” she shoots back, throwing in the childhood nickname they all know he hates. “Who asked you to come looking anyway?”

The boy standing next to Killian speaks up next, making Emma scowl just as playfully as Rose had moments before. Graham Hunter might as well be her big brother; he’s the closest thing she’s had to family since her parents were lost in a car crash and she was thrown into the foster care system. Be that as it may, he and Killian Jones are thick as thieves, and he’ll give her a hard time for all he’s worth while in the presence of his buddy. “We just wanted to swim,” he calls across the water to the two girls, smirking at Emma, who now stands in the water with one hip jutting out and hands planted on her waist. “How were we supposed to know you two were infesting it?”

“Ha!” Emma jeers back, the affront plain in her voice; despite the fact that the entire routine is like a practiced girls-versus-boys exchange they’ve all engaged in countless times. There isn’t much else to do for entertainment in their sleepy little one-horse town. “You idiots know this is Rose’s and my hideaway, fair and square!”

“Well, Rose’s anyway,” a third voice cuts in snidely.

The cruel jab reminds Emma once more that to most folks she is just a charity case, quite possibly only included in anything at all because of her friend’s kind heart, and at the intentional slight, cuts her gaze to the third member of the boys’ little crew, skulking a step back in the shadows behind where Killian and Graham stand, as he always does. Her green eyes narrow to slits in genuine dislike and suspicion. Where before her animosity was largely for show, when they land on Walsh Ozman, it is all too real.

She has never understood why the other two boys - jokers and annoyances though they may be, but good guys when it comes right down to it - hang out with Walsh at all. Where Graham and Killian are much more cut from the same cloth - athletic, outgoing, well-liked and pleasant - Walsh is a splindy, sniveling character, complaining and whining whatever their little trio gets up to. He lives not far from Emma’s foster father’s cabin with his single mother - a bushy-haired redhead who seems strangely overprotective and attached to her only child. Most people give the property a wide berth, except when high schoolers teepee it the whole month of October, and the general town consensus is that Zelena Ozman might be a witch and to steer clear. Still, beyond all of that, Emma might have been able to look past the boy’s circumstances and see him for himself - she of all people knew the gift it was not to be judged by where a person came from - if Walsh hadn’t simply given her “the willies”. Even standing too close to him made the fine hairs at the nape of her neck stand on end - and not in the way that nearness to Killian sometimes did; an altogether much more pleasant tingle, even if she was just as unable to explain one as the other.

“We could take their things,” Walsh suggests, holding up the threadbare, faded jeans Emma had left on the bank. “Make them walk back in their skivvies.” The wicked smile on his face makes Emma’s stomach turn over sickly.

Something sharp flashes in Jones’ eyes, his nostrils flaring slightly and his head giving a subtle shake of dissent that Emma can see even at the distance she stands away from him. Protectiveness, chivalry, or maybe the honor of a southern gentleman passed down to him through generations of his impressive family line; whatever it is, it sparks to life in his eyes at that moment as he quashes Walsh’s mean-spirited suggestion in no uncertain terms. “That’s my little sister you’re talking about Oz,” he growls, smacking the worn material from the smaller’s boy’s hands, even if the article of clothing isn’t Rose’s at all.

Emma feels her breath rush back into her lungs, though she continues to watch the guys warily for whatever they might do or say next. Before long, they grow bored of standing around and move on, hollering out age old taunts of “Bye, losers” and “Hey, smell ya later” to Emma’s derisive snort and Rose completely ignoring them to flip open her book again.

However, even with the intruders gone, it seems as if the perfect comfort of their retreat has been shattered by the unsettling interruption. Soon, Emma wades to the shore and Rose clambers down from her perch, to dress once more and return to the world outside. For a moment, as she refastens her jeans around her skinny waist, Emma feels a strange prickling along the fine hairs on her arms… like they’re being watched. She jerks around, searching the surrounding trees and brush, but can’t see or hear a thing.

Rose’s small hand takes hers, snapping Emma out of the moment. “What is it?” she whispers, only true caring in her voice. “Did you sense something?”

Emma nods, but can’t give her suspicions voice. Usually her visions are clearer than that - this had just been heavy breathing and like looking at herself and Rose through another person’s eyes, outside her own body.

Rose stooped to grab the little canvas bag she’d bought along with water bottles, towels, and a second book in it. “Hey, don’t worry, okay?” she offers, hopeful and kind as always. “You’ll figure it out. Wanna meet back out here tonight? Secret Sister bonfire?” she winks mischeivously. “I have to get to dinner now. You know how Mama hates it if I’m not washed up and properly attired for the evening meal - or a second late. But we can talk some more then, maybe you’ll remember more and it will be clearer.”

Emma nods gamely. “The stars’ll be beautiful by midnight,” she suggests. “And we’ll definitely have the place all to ourselves.”

“Since we were so rudely interrupted,” Rose chimes in with a giggle and roll of her eyes.

“Shake on it, pinkie swear,” they say together in practiced unison, executing a complex handshake that ends with their pinkies hooked together and wide, matching grins on both their faces.

“Thanks Rose,” Emma whispers sincerely, trying to speak around the lump in her throat as if it’s no big deal. “I’ll be out here as soon as I can sneak away.”

Rose, for her part, wraps her taller, golden-haired friend into a tight, momentary hug. “Hey, we’re Secret Sisters! You can count on me. I’ll see you then!”

They part ways at the edge of the forest; Emma heading to the rundown cabin that serves as her nightmarish version of a home, and Rose to the pristine Jones family mansion standing tall over all the surrounding land. Rose looks back over her shoulder with a smile and wave that bolsters Emma, and the memory fades back into the haze of the past…

Eighteen years later….

September 2011

The blaring of the horn as a sports car whizzed by, barely missing the nose of Emma’s beat-up yellow VW where it had begun to edge out into the country intersection, jarred her back to the present with a gasp and painful jolt to her chest. Panting for a moment as she gripped the steering wheel, Emma tried to clear her head and calm the pounding of her heart at the near-miss.

‘Get it together,’ she berated herself. It might have seemed like only yesterday as she remembered that sunny afternoon at the swimming hole, but that day had been nearly two decades ago. She was a grown woman, had made a way for herself, fighting tooth and nail for every step forward, and she answered to no one. She had learned to stand up for her rights and her needs, to control her visions and use them for good, and had even served a special consultant for the Boston PD. But, more than all of that, she had come back to this place to find peace, to lay to rest the ghosts that had followed her everywhere else she’d gone in the years between, once and for all. If she expected others to leave the past in the past, she would first have to manage to do the same.

She’d had no way to know as she and Rose parted that afternoon with promises and plans for later that it would be the last time she would ever see her friend. Emma had harbored the pain and the guilt and the unanswered questions ever since. Finally, it was time to meet the gazes of all of those who had stared at her in suspicion before she’d been packed up and moved away once more, and it was time she found answers. She wasn’t the scared, whipped, mistreated adolescent she had been at 13. What she had lived through then was not her fault, nor was what had happened to Rose that muggy July midnight.

And if she had to return to Storybrooke, South Carolina to lay that burden down… well, it was long past time she did.

Tagging a few who might enjoy: @cssns @searchingwardrobes @jennjenn615 @kmomof4 @laschatzi @whimsicallyenchantedrose @teamhook @revanmeetra87 @stahlop @jrob64 @apiratewhopines @wefoundloveunderthelight @eastwesthomeisbest @xarandomdreamx @sotangledupinit @justanother-unluckysoul @booksteaandtoomuchtv @kazoosandfannypacks @anmylica @motherkatereloyshipper @jonesfandomfanatic @elizabeethan @the-darkdragonfly @donteattheappleshook @xsajx @lfh1226-linda @winterbaby89 @hollyethecurious @darkcolinodonorgasm @resident-of-storybrooke @drowned-dreamer @optomisticgirl @tiganasummertree @spartanguard @therooksshiningknight @gingerchangeling @gingerpolyglot @blackwidownat2814 @blowmiakisscolin @let-it-raines

#cs ff #cs fanart #cssns23 #carolina mooon #prologue #nora roberts au #cs modern au mc

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chaifootsteps · 3 months

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Stargazer anon! The Totoro plushie looks so cute and well-loved ^^

I'm genuinely concerned for Raph. It's understandable to get attached to a character, but when it looks like Raph is actually trying to emulate Angel irl, it doesn't... well, seem really healthy. Especially since he ships Valangel unironically. Wasn't there one time in HB S1 where there was a bg character who looked like Angel but it turned out to be someone's persona? I can't remember if it was Raph or another staff member. I keep flip-flopping between concern and disgust for them.

Same concern is also extended to the DonttrustChai account. Again, getting attached to something is understandable, but the way they're behaving is unsettling.

Viv, however, gets no pity points from me for invalidating SA victims, and lying about Raph being one. I like reading non-con stories, but am not an SA survivor, and I would never tell my friends about it since I know it isn't for everyone. Most of the time, it's also clear whether the writer is intending the fic to be fetish fuel or tactful about the topic. Raph's work is definitely the former and it bleeds into the episode. I guess Viv is in denial of having a non-con fetish after seeing all that art of Addison. Also, that other anon made me wonder how she actually thinks of Raph as a trans man considering her track record. Honestly? The one thing I can learn from Viv is how to be a better writer, and that style doesn't matter without substance.

He's extremely well-loved! Been with me through plane rides and hard family times and a couple of surgeries.

Agreed on Raph and even on DontTrustChai. They're shitty people, but something about Viv's just sent these people off the deep end. It's alarming as hell.

#Anonymous #Stargazer Anon #viv stuff #actual blog post

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distant--shadow · 6 months

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There is something so utterly soul-ripping and mending at the same time about your art, like idk its like you just leave a piece of you on a lil digital canva for all of us to see and delight and revel in and it has a visceral grip on my mind, both from an aspiring artist’s point of view where I’m like Wow this is My Renaissance, this is My Studying the Masters, but also from a person’s point of view who sees something wonderful. Women, beautiful women in their imperfections and monstruosity and horror and tether to each other!! The gay effect?

I do not know but your art smells like the sounds a campfire make

hey there - thank you, feels nice to be appreciated and seen. i will always enjoy the drawing because if I don't then it doesn't happen, but i do beat myself up on sharing and all of that often, flip-flop on it real hard. oftentimes I think creating in a void would be for the best in many aspects. I would say my style or skillset is not much to aspire to, but i am real flattered it makes you feel that way, and making anyone wanna make stuff themselves will always matter the most, maybe you can build a more efficient and cozier camp than my attempt made from a stash of 70's porno mags someone set on fire with a bic lighter and the fumes from an aerosol paint can and circled off with London red bricks and shards of cement with the rebar sticking out.

#on that note I'm on a(another) break (again) lol #you know where to find me

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existslikepristin · 8 months

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Okay, so I had someone send me an ask last night and now I've been thinking about it all day. It wasn't anonymous, which I appreciate, but I'm not responding to it directly for because

I reached out already to say I'd do some editing, and I've let them know the rest of what I'm about to rant on below, but I want to make sure at least a few more people see this

I flip flop around on how to say this shit all the time. Like, do I say that everyone's a good writer in their own special way? Do I say that you don't need likes and reblogs for validation? I don't fucking know what to say except for maybe one more thing that I'll reiterate until the day I die with various embellishments that will fade in and out

You. Yes you, the person who's reading this who is also a writer/aspiring writer. Come closer. We share a bond, you and I, so really get in physically close

Art can't be contained, you scrunge

If you don't think whatever you're creating is art, go to a damn museum. Or do a virtual tour. Or google the phrase "modern art". It doesn't matter. You're going to see some shit in there that, I would hope, makes you think the artist was a dipwad

I'm ranting more than I thought I would. Here's a keep reading line

You know who fucking sucks at art? Pablo Picasso.

Look at this absolute pile of bullshit, then look me in the eye, and tell me this isn't the colorized manifestation of an elementary school dropout's Wattpad account

"But ELP, Picasso demonstrated actual working knowledge of anatomy. This is just his AbstRACt sTyLe"

SHUT UP. Nobody asked you, Barbara

Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Andy Warhol. Their artworks are money laundering schemes. Their fame doesn't come from their talent. It comes from obscenely rich people trading blood diamond money for crisp, clean, still-fake money by claiming that poor people "don't get it"

And yet, despite popular opinions being developed because of ridiculous sums of money being pegged up these guys' assholes, artists today still find meaning in their works, tunneling straight through their cognitive dissonance to tell themselves that, no, I actually enjoy staring at blocks of washed out color until my retinas have burnt in just the right spots that I can see an actual human face because an art teacher once told me that these pictures got the most likes on the pre-internet Tumblr

Does that mean people don't actually like this art? Am I trying to tell you you shouldn't like this art? Maybe, but then you'd be obligated to remind me that Churchgirleum Yawjinius is a disgusting assault on your imagination and yet has as many likes as Definitely Real Medicine, which you wouldn't believe was actually written with all the earnestness my void of a chest cavity could muster

Take it from someone who willingly threw away the opportunity for automatic dozens of reblogs and hundreds of likes per post by telling people to fuck themselves (and still gets a bunch for some reason):

The validation is cool, but it's not worth it

The validation does not define what is good or not

What is good or not doesn't even matter

You're not going to make money off this shit

Someone who is genuinely terrible is going to get more validation than you, and is going to flaunt it in your face, and their writing is still somehow going to mean something to way too many people, and it doesn't matter because their soul is just as unfulfilled by the validation as yours is unfulfilled by the lack of it

What is fulfilling is doing something because you can

You are your only source of real validation, no matter what fuzzy dopamines you get from the vapid click of a like button

Oh, and if you do get the validation of Tumblr notes, that doesn't mean your work is shit or you don't deserve love or whatever. Accept it graciously because it's definitely not uncool that people like your shit, but recognize that it's not going to cure your depression

Art is art. We can look at Roman columns and marvel at how their art built modern civilization (though the Romans can fuck themselves IMO (oh wait they literally did haha)), but did it really? Art makes otherwise brutalist architecture tolerable, but the curly Qs at the bases and tops of columns isn't what kept the coliseum from collapsing on thousands of people watching live murder

If you have a story that has overstayed its welcome in your head and needs to be on paper or on a screen, then write the fucking story. Nobody actually cares about the qUaLiTy of your spelling or grammar. They care about being given permission to think about Karina's tits. Do you think their opinion matters?! I mean, they may have great contributions to make on their own, and they should have voting rights, and it's chill if they have something nice to say to you, but the point is that they're already thinking about Karina's tits regardless of your writing. They're just your thralls to manipulate into thinking about Karina's tits in the way that you, the all-powerful artist, want them to think about Karina's tits. If they try to tell you "Karina's tits would have tan lines" then write a whole fic about how Karina is a nudist and has a perfectly even tan, and who's going to argue about it? The idiot who wrote a pedantic comment? No! It's YOU. THE ALL-FUCKING-POWERFUL ARTIST WHO ACTUALLY MADE SOMETHING TO PROVE YOUR POINT WHETHER OR NOT IT IS CORRECT

If you're an artist, then fucking act like one. Embrace the chaos inherent in creativity. Maybe gentleman is vampire. The poison contains joy. We exist in these devastating, beautiful worlds of contradiction in which we hate people and how lonely we are, we crave kindness and embody violence, and we beg the universe to give us direction despite knowing full well that we're going to zigzag between paths. Maybe you relate. Maybe you don't. THAT'S THE POINT. You're not right. I'm not right. We both write (wow, bars)

I keep saying that everyone should just write, and it's not because I think everyone is secretly a good writer. It's because someone out there needs permission to write after being told their entire lives that their value lies in A, or they're not good if B by all the non-artists in who genuinely don't understand why someone needs to make something impractical to begin the infinitely long road to completion

The dumb fucks who don't understand want to contain you because it's in their nature to desire order. They like to come up with metrics to categorize what counts as art and what doesn't so they can change the rules on you. Chaos always wins though

So WRITE. The world doesn't need your artistry. YOU DO. If you write a bunch of shit and people like it but you quit anyway or nobody likes it and you quit, then idk. Maybe you weren't an artist in the first place, which is perfectly fine, or maybe you're giving your corporate overlords too much control over your mind. If you're an artist, you'll burn with the need to create, no matter how much you create. If you feel that, keep writing

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justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms · 7 months

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Hii can I ask for a romantic matchup if they’re still open?

Fandom(s): Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail

Age: 19 y.o. college student

Pronouns: He/they

Sexuality: Asexual homoromantic (so matched with male characters plz)

Zodiac/MBTI: Libra, INTJ / INFJ

Appearance: 5’5”, very dark brown, messy hair, and hazel eyes. My clothing style flip flops between baggy to preppy. I have a nose stud and small ear gauges. I also wear clear glasses.

Personality: I am very studious and love learning. I always have questions but often keep them to myself because of fear of being viewed as stupid. I have anxiety problems I've slowly gotten better at coping with. I tend to be a leader in groups because of how easy it is for me to get along with others. I’m funny, I find humor to be very important in my relationships. I’m quiet most of the time, but once I’m comfortable I’m pretty talkative. I try to return favors because people helping me means a lot to me. I’m very creative, like to see things in multiple different perspectives and make new ones. I'm dyslexic and am very insecure about it ;;w;;

Likes: Learning, teaching (I’m majoring in education!), my pet birds, fantasy, history, art, sleeping

Dislikes: Excessive noise, blood (i’m very squeamish), aggressiveness, not understanding things, being judged by I can't control

Hobbies: Reading, making art (digital mainly), playing the sims 4,

Thank you in advance! ^ ^

Hi Anon! Thank you for your request! Sorry it took a while. I hope you like your matchups!

In Genshin Impact, I match you with...

Alhaitham is a good person to go to when you have questions. He knows a lot of things and, contrary to what many think, won’t tease you for now knowing things. There’s a lot of information in the world and since he doesn’t know it all, he doesn’t expect you to either.

He’s glad you have a fondness for history. That’s one of his fields of experience so he’s happy to talk to you about whatever you want regarding history.

Helps you out with your dyslexia. He knows quite a few books in the library that have been specifically designed for people with dyslexia.

And if there’s something you’d like to read but are struggling with, he’ll read it out to you. He’s got a really nice reading voice but very few people have heard it so make the most of that rare experience.

Alhaitham’s not a huge fan of excessive noise either since he’s always reading or thinking over a problem. He’s happy to take you to his favourite quiet spots to spend time together in comfortable silence.

In Honkai Star Rail, I match you with...

This was a close call between Caelus and Dan Heng. But I think you get along a bit better with Caelus.

Enjoys reading with you. Whether he’s listening to you read or reading to you, he just likes the atmosphere it creates. Those moments are some of his favourites.

Caelus loves listening to you talk about anything and everything. He’s not super talkative himself so he’s content to just listen and occasionally make a comment. He especially likes listening to you talk about history since that’s something he finds interesting as well.

He doesn’t remember anything before Kafka so he enjoys filling in the gaps by listening to you talk about history. Part of him hopes learning about history will help him figure out his own past.

Please make a phone wallpaper for him using your digital art skills. He’ll smile every time he looks at it since it reminds him of you.

#writing #fanfic #matchup #matchup request #request #genshin impact #alhaitham #honkai star rail #caelus

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foreverrunningfree · 7 months

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@czigonas wanted to see me answer those artist questions and I did them all so it’ll be under the cut

1. Art programs you have but don’t use?

As of rn I cannot draw on my laptop/tablet so technically paint tool SAI and photoshop(idk what version). But I guess I hadn’t used photoshop for /years/ back before my drawing hiatus. Sorry but SAI is so much nicer to look at and to use, for me personally.

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left,right, or forward?

I flip flop my canvas a ton to a) look at it for wonkiness and b) to get specific lines in a direction that feels good, but the actual act of drawing I typically like to have them looking left cause most the the lines flow from top right to bottom left which is nicer to do since I use my right hand to draw even tho I am ambidextrous.

3. What ideas come from when you were little?

This question confuses me on what it’s actually asking soooo? When I was like 12 I had to write a story for school so I did a story about a plane crash in which the survivor came face to face to a rat/bat/cat/dog creature thing? I’ve always wanted to redraw the creature, idk if I have the original drawing I did and I don’t feel up to digging to see if I kept it during all my moves.

4. Fave character/subject that’s a bitch to draw?

My favorite animal color patterns aka brindle, merle ,roan, spots/stripes. So time consuming. In terms of shape, human faces for sure.

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself?

Before hiatus, probably 90% /shared/. Currently, probably 75% /posted/cause I can’t post the porn to tumblr lmaoooo but I have shared them with like half a dozen friends.

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously?

I’m sure there’s a ton but if it’s subconsciously then how would I consciously know?🤔 ok serious answer, probably every single 2D animated movie or show I’ve ever seen, and all the various artists I follow. I mean, there’s parts of my style I can pinpoint you to what it’s inspired by.

7. A medium of art you don’t work in but appreciate?

I’ve never /seriously/ tried oil paint, acrylic paint, or pastels but that shit always looks so good. Also watercolor even though i have tried and enjoyed using watercolors but I am far far faaarrr from being proficient in them. Non drawing wise, I fucking love dioramas, especially those that are then filled in(?) with acrylic(?). I watch a lot of those videos on YouTube.

8. What’s an old project idea you’ve lost interest in?

Most of my old animal ocs I had in the same universe in my mind and had a comic planned that I never got around to. I still love and wanna revisit those ocs. But also my dragon age ocs who I’ve SERIOUSLY BEEN CONSIDERING drawing in @soaps-hoe-141 universe 👀

9. What are your file name conventions?

Before hiatus/ on my laptop, subject or character and whatever was happening in the pic. Now using procreate on my iPad? I don’t think I’ve named a single one lol.

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw?

Nothing, no clothes, nude, nakedness please and thank you. lol but I guess I do sorta enjoy figuring out clothing in general, folds and shit, getting that practice in. Like how it hangs and creases in poses since I’m not used to drawing it.

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing?

I don’t usually listen to /only/ music while drawing, I much prefer having a favorite movie playing in the background and/or a show I enjoy rewatching/am actively watching. I also watch a lot of gamer YouTubers I put on as background noise/short watch breaks that their voice is just soothing to me even if I’m not /watching/.

12. Easiest part of the body to draw?

I’m not sure… maybe boobs/pecs for humanoids. General body shape for animals?

13. A creator you admire but whose work isn’t your thing?

Honestly can’t think of a single one. I mean, plenty of artists do work(or with a medium) that I can’t or don’t want to do/use personally but I read the question of “isn’t your thing” as “subject you don’t enjoy”. If that’s correct, then idk what to tell you. I don’t follow or remember people who majority does things I can’t enjoy on some level.

14. Any fave motifs?

Quite a lot of religious imagery I guess ex. Circles around a persons head. Less serious answer is drawing characters in meme formats lol

15. Where do you draw?

Please don’t tell any physical therapists I live like this… on my back on my couch with my head on the arm rest while holding my iPad propped up on my chest like 8 inches away from my face lmao

16. Something you are good at but don’t really have fun doing?

Idk???? I do shit for my own enjoyment so I’m not sure? Maybe perhaps backgrounds? Like I could do something decent if i wanted to but I’m not into it so I usually just don’t?

17. Do you eat or drink while drawing?

I take breaks… but while actively drawing? I often drink aka let the horny demons out while I enjoy whiskey lol.

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you’ve broken?

Broken broken? Next to fucking none? some charcoal sticks but otherwise…. None… I majority do digital art so really nothing to break there lol

19. Fave inanimate objects to draw?

Idk? I like doing life charcoal drawings? Of whatever, but particularly statues if that counts? I usually have living beings as my subjects.

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy?

Ok, I hate this question, cause we are all good at different things. Maybe it’s just most of those I follow have different strengths than me???? But I guess if I had to pick, recreating from life(or picture) is a lot easier for me than some others(like making it life like/very accurate).

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways?

Yooo, anything I’ve reblogged honestly. Love everyone.

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing?

Absolutely none, again don’t let the pros know cause damn. But I will do stretches or take breaks as needed.

23. Do you use different layer modes?

Absolutely. Mostly for lighting and shading but yes, if I’m doing digital imma take advantage of it.

24. Do your references include stock images?

Yes? I don’t really understand what it’s asking?

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were not inspired by?

Idk? I don’t usually get feedback of that sort.

26. What’s a piece that’s viewed a wildly different interpretation from what you intended?

Again idk? I guess my shit is straight forward?

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff?

Almost never, again don’t let the pros know lol I do sometimes jump between pieces or start a new sketch before going to something farther along.

28. Any art events you have participated in, like zines?

Nope, wanted to and have tried before but I tend to NOT do something if I feel pressured to do it.

29. Media you love but doesn’t inspire you artistically?

Again I feel like this is a weird question or maybe it’s just my understanding of it but I can feel inspiration from all sort of artist shit even if it’s something I’ll never do(ex making a crochet animal or dioramas). I guess I can feel inspired to create from other creators even if it’s not direct inspiration/subject/medium.

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated?

Underrated as in no one has seen aside from a few people irl would be my colored pencil pieces I did during afternoon naps when I worked at a daycare a few years ago.

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abimee · 10 months

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sorry if this is sappy but i follow your twitter from a private account and have done for a while because i thoroughly enjoy your art and what you make. the piece thats always stood out the most to me is the one you did of hyth and the caterpillar and digestive tract, i have it saved to my phone so i can look at it when im experiencing emotions. your art feels so well lived in and loved (and i hope its not weird to say but it reminds me of l ike. a very hearty stew. like with potatoes and carrots), your anatomy feels so impactful and has a physicality and weight that i just adore it's like. (explosion sfx). have a lovely evening

i really like this ask cause whenever people describe my art in like positive and Warm tones i get this tingle in my arms cause i think for the lonest time my art used to not be considered these kind words, people often would tell me my art had a rather sad and upsetting feeling to it and nowadays I can see where they came from because both I Was Really Sad when making it, and i think even when i was trying to draw something Sweet it felt lacking in a way i didnt know how to bring forth. Because at that point in time I was just barely branching out into the idea of altering character's appearances and maybe going for something with thinner lines, but i'd flip flop between high and low effort art because being Sad and being told your art made other people Sad was sort of not very good for the productivity of your art and often made me put in as little effort as i could, since i didnt see a reason to really Do A Lot if people were just going to react negatively to it

amnd while i dont personally think my art is like, where it Could be for how long ive been drawing (12+ years now. ACK) whenever I hear that people actually like my art now and they see nice things in it and that it gives them positive funny emotions instead of negative ones, it really like makes me recognize that maybe I have developed and maybe whats best isn't to have the most like, ''developed'' style in terms of like, doing all the Cool Artist tricks like rendering and cool color palettes and these epic emotional comics with paneling that rival professional comic makers.

I think i can be happy with where I am now simply by knowing that i no longer have to hear the words ''your art is depressing'' as the highest compliment I can get, and instead hear things like this where my art has a positive influence on another person in some way. It's very small, but words like this really do mean above and beyond for me, and this response sort of rambled away from the topic but im saying all of this to say a big thank you anon for enjoying my work and for being very kind about it, your words will stick with me for a very long time

#i especially like when people seem to enjoy how i do anatomy and stuff cause that was always like #the thing i always tried my own approach about #i never studied anatomy and it Is obvious but i did also like. i spent a lot of time looking at phoros of people and esp like #dynamic photos. memes on the internet and style magazine covers and etc #and learning to branch out and not fear a weirdly angled pose instead of learning bone structure and muscle #so i think while what i draw would Not fly to at like a professional level im very happy that it has weight and meaning to it #that people draw from. mostly because i think everyone is fun to draw and i like drawing bodies #might seem strange to say but the way peoples fat rolls or skin stretches or scars mar over brings a peace to me #being able to like. create this vision from my head and seeit on the screen and feel as if i could reach out and feel a warmth #in my characters body. and i hope that comes off to others as it does to me #i draw everyone with an intent for it to feel like i was sitting in the room with them drawing ther portrait

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andromebaa · 2 months

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Despair’s Legacy

A Danganronpa AU

Part 2 - The Legacy Students Here are the first half of the Legacy students!

Sid & Joey

The silly guys! Sid and Joey are the oldest kids? (I think I made them like 19 initially but I'm still calling them kids I don't care) out of the Legacy Students. Thought it would be fun to have twin characters because as we all know twins are not at all significant to the plot of DR I only had to make one sprite yey. Their main personality trait as a pair is the pretty stereotypical wacky, prank-pulling twins. Sid's technically the older twin and is a bit more aggressive and weirder. Joey is more charismatic and friendly. They dress and act the same in public-facing situations for shits and gigs but they do have distinctly different personalities. I'm not sure I'm like, entirely happy with how I initially characterised them. They just felt too similar to Leon at some points but eh. Had a mini freak out because I wasn't sure if wacky coloured hair is like....genetic in the DR universe?! Whatever.

Daiya

Oh Daiya. Daiya, Daiya, Daiya. She was the first OC I created for this thing and the one who I spent the most time on. I thought it'd be cute if Taka's daughter took one look at Mondo and was like you are my entire personality now. He's definitely a father figure to her (Ishimondo was end game in this AU btw, also on that note any father/mother pairings in this AU do not equal couples or anything. That was all done out of fulfilling the contracts. Half of them are gay/queer in some way I promise) Anyway, I always kind of pictured her as a rebel - as much as she could be in such an intimate place. Getting answers wrong in class on purpose, and hanging out in areas she's not supposed to be in. A big part of the plot of the AU hinges on her creating a club with the sole intent of escaping the school. Her dream is to travel across the land Mad Max style. Daiya ended up being the more or less 'antagonist' archetype for this AU. I still kind of flip-flop between giving her delinquent and queen bee bully personality. The twins are her lackeys.

Ren

Sad girl hours time! Ren is a jumpy, skittery mess. She knows her existence was a mistake, so she spends her time desperately trying to make up for it.

She loves being around children and is the designated babysitter for the younger Legacy Students. When she's not being mercilessly bullied by Daiya or alienating herself from others, she also likes to make toys. Another really big aspect of this AU is that Toko voluntarily locks herself away (to protect the others from Genocider), so Ren takes it upon herself to act as her caretaker. I'm still kind of working out what her relationship with Byakuya is. I definitely made it more fractured in the original concept, but I don't think he would be that cold to his own child.

Kaito

Hi I am very unhealthy about Kaito he is my favourite. Before you ask, I made him before V3 came out and I absolutely refuse to change his name even though it makes everything I write really confusing (I think he'd get along really well with V3 Kaito though) He's my favourite attempt at mixing two Danganronpa characters together and creating an amalgamation because he ended up becoming a chill and friendly surfer vibe new age one with the universe bro friend. Also he's a blind seer who kickstarts the AU story with a horrifying vision so that's always fun! He's definitely one of the most complex Legacy students because he has tons of layers to him. Something something happiest people are always y'know - not.

Yukihiko

Ah yes, gotta have the quiet, stoic guy who stands in the corner. Yuki start off a lot meaner/more sarcastic when I first made him but then I was like nah I kinda like making him the guy who says like five words a day and judges you quietly from a distance. I was also going to make him more martial arts focused but I ended up making him more into meditation once I figured out his whole thing, that being he's afraid of his own power so he tries to keep himself in a calm state as much as he can.

and that's all the older kids! If anyone ever wants to discuss them or anything I am always open lmao they've rotted my brain for like 6 - 7 years so I have some weird ass lore for all of them.

Part 1 - - - Part 3

#despair's legacy #danganronpa #danganronpa ocs #oc #au #i am not an artist

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01turnkill · 3 months

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2024 Media Post Time - Master

1. Total Drama Island (2023) and Total Drama Island (2024)

I would personally consider Total Drama as one of my first "fandoms". One of the first times I went into the online community and talked to people... I had a DeviantART account which I made as an Ask Account for one of the characters.. Only answered about 2 asks before I stopped. I made image collages on a website online and posted those too. All before I found out how to download art programs as a kid..

It's been a long time since I watched those but sometime 3 years ago I did actually rewatch the first Total Drama Island and Total Drama Action, but stopped at World Tour and definitely didn't touch Revenge of the Island or All-Stars.

This new season is very obviously taking inspiration from the original, going back to the classic style with the characters and the challenges. Chris is back, even! There are a lot of characters in Reboot that feel like pieces of TDI put together. Though, I mean this in a good way, they feel balanced and different but not too exaggerated. Realistic but exaggerated at the same time.

When the characters were introducted I thought Ripper had the funniest intro of all time honestly. In the rest of the show he was amusing but that fart episode man. I also found Zee hilarious almost every time he spoke and Wayne too. I just laugh.

The Reboot introduces Homosexuals for the first time which is pretty cool, I won't lie. I thought it was amusing the gay guy Bowie's whole personality is just being gay and also being a bit of a petty gossip girl antagonist, but then there's Raj who is not so explicitly gay- his personality is being a stupid hockey jock (but not too stupid). It was good but I feel like the season, while it does focus on the characters interpersonal relationships, doesn't have nearly enough down time or conversations between characters in their cabins or at breakfast.. Just during challenges.

After becoming a hockey fan this hit harder and funnier to me than it could have before. Plenty of hockey references and jokes. They have the character Wayne who is a hockey jock but also stupid and since Raj is the gay one, Wayne is just really stupid and that's all he has got going on. I thought he'd maybe put his physical strength to use or something but no. He does get battered and bruised every other episode though..

I think I and a lot of people really did not enjoy Emma and Chase. Chase in the 2nd season was really funny but he wasn't there long and the whole rest of his and Emma's time on the show was a little irritating. Funny at first but as it went on ... man. I don't really care much for the romance elements in the show. Even the gays though I did appreciate it and this was kind of cool like, I think I would have been more on board if Emma stayed sadistic whether or not she liked or hated Chase at the moment and didn't keep flip flopping but I don't know what kind of a message that sends haha.

There was also a farting episode and a massive vomit scene with coloured vomit and it's like... hey now. You are gonna give people fetishes so deep in their head it won't crawl out until they're 20 and it's going to be vicious.

Could say more but yeah I love stupid shows like this every so often. I am good at laughing at everything, especially kids shows. I know how to be shocked every time something odd happens even though this is a cartoon and enjoying the same joke ten times.

Edit adding:

Wayne mentioning his Sidney Crosby rookie card gets destroyed story. Me shedding a tear 'I actually know who Sidney Crosby is..' How it feels finally knowing who a celebrity is in a TV reference... Not to mention I'm a card nerd.

#ksh #ksh media post

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