#often this is what making art is for me

[finngualart]

this is like that how to draw an owl meme, tlou edition: step 1. draw a triangle; step 2. draw the fucking rest of ellie and joel

#tlou #the last of us #ellie williams #joel miller #tlou hbo #the last of us hbo #this exact shot is what took my sanity and i cant rest until i exorcise it from my mind #by passing it through my heart and out of my fingers #often this is what making art is for me #an exorcism of emotions :P #long post #for those who dont like long posts

[inkskinned]

the thing about art is that it was always supposed to be about us, about the human-ness of us, the impossible and beautiful reality that we (for centuries) have stood still, transfixed by music. that we can close our eyes and cry about the same book passage; the events of which aren't real and never happened. theatre in shakespeare's time was as real as it is now; we all laugh at the same cue (pursued by bear), separated hundreds of years apart.

three years ago my housemates were jamming outdoors, just messing around with their instruments, mostly just making noise. our neighbors - shy, cautious, a little sheepish - sat down and started playing. i don't really know how it happened; i was somehow in charge of dancing, barefoot and laughing - but i looked up, and our yard was full of people. kids stacked on the shoulders of parents. old couples holding hands. someone had brought sidewalk chalk; our front walk became a riot of color. someone ran in with a flute and played the most astounding solo i've ever heard in my life, upright and wiggling, skipping as she did so. she only paused because the violin player was kicking his heels up and she was laughing too hard to continue.

two weeks ago my friend and i met in the basement of her apartment complex so she could work out a piece of choreography. we have a language barrier - i'm not as good at ASL as i'd like to be (i'm still learning!) so we communicate mostly through the notes app and this strange secret language of dancers - we have the same movement vocabulary. the two of us cracking jokes at each other, giggling. there were kids in the basement too, who had been playing soccer until we took up the far corner of the room. one by one they made their slow way over like feral cats - they laid down, belly-flat against the floor, just watching. my friend and i were not in tutus - we were in slouchy shirts and leggings and socks. nothing fancy. but when i asked the kids would you like to dance too? they were immediately on their feet and spinning. i love when people dance with abandon, the wild and leggy fervor of childhood. i think it is gorgeous.

their adults showed up eventually, and a few of them said hey, let's not bother the nice ladies. but they weren't bothering us, they were just having fun - so. a few of the adults started dancing awkwardly along, and then most of the adults. someone brought down a better sound system. someone opened a watermelon and started handing out slices. it was 8 PM on a tuesday and nothing about that day was particularly special; we might as well party.

one time i hosted a free "paint along party" and about 20 adults worked quietly while i taught them how to paint nessie. one time i taught community dance classes and so many people showed up we had to move the whole thing outside. we used chairs and coatracks to balance. one time i showed up to a random band playing in a random location, and the whole thing got packed so quickly we had to open every door and window in the place.

i don't think i can tell you how much people want to be making art and engaging with art. they want to, desperately. so many people would be stunning artists, but they are lied to and told from a very young age that art only matters if it is planned, purposeful, beautiful. that if you have an idea, you need to be able to express it perfectly. this is not true. you don't get only 1 chance to communicate. you can spend a lifetime trying to display exactly 1 thing you can never quite language. you can just express the "!!??!!!"-ing-ness of being alive; that is something none of us really have a full grasp on creating. and even when we can't make what we want - god, it feels fucking good to try. and even just enjoying other artists - art inherently rewards the act of participating.

i wasn't raised wealthy. whenever i make a post about art, someone inevitably says something along the lines of well some of us aren't that lucky. i am not lucky; i am dedicated. i have a chronic condition, my hands are constantly in pain. i am not neurotypical, nor was i raised safe. i worked 5-7 jobs while some of these memories happened. i chose art because it mattered to me more than anything on this fucking planet - i would work 80 hours a week just so i could afford to write in 3 of them.

and i am still telling you - if you are called to make art, you are called to the part of you that is human. you do not have to be good at it. you do not have to have enormous amounts of privilege. you can just... give yourself permission. you can just say i'm going to make something now and then - go out and make it. raquel it won't be good though that is okay, i don't make good things every time either. besides. who decides what good even is?

you weren't called to make something because you wanted it to be good, you were called to make something because it is a basic instinct. you were taught to judge its worth and over-value perfection. you are doing something impossible. a god's ability: from nothing springs creation.

a few months ago i found a piece of sidewalk chalk and started drawing. within an hour i had somehow collected a small classroom of young children. their adults often brought their own chalk. i looked up and about fifteen families had joined me from around the block. we drew scrangly unicorns and messed up flowers and one girl asked me to draw charizard. i am not good at drawing. i basically drew an orb with wings. you would have thought i drew her the mona lisa. she dragged her mother over and pointed and said look! look what she drew for me and, in the moment, i admit i flinched (sorry, i don't -). but the mother just grinned at me. he's beautiful. and then she sat down and started drawing.

someone took a picture of it. it was in the local newspaper. the summary underneath said joyful and spontaneous artwork from local artists springs up in public gallery. in the picture, a little girl covered in chalk dust has her head thrown back, delighted. laughing.

#writeblr #warm up #this is longer than i wanted i really considered removing that part about myself and what i went thru #but i think it really fucking bothers me that EVERY time i talk about being an artist #ppl assume i just like. had the skill and ability to drop everything and pay for grad school. #like sir i grew up poor. my house wasn't a safe space. i gave up a FREE RIDE TO LAW SCHOOL. for THIS. bc i chose it. #was it fucking hard? was i choosing the hard thing?? yes. #but we need to stop seeing artists as lazy layabouts that can ''afford'' to just ''sit around and create'' #when MANY - if not MOST - of us are NOT like that. we have to work our fucking ASSES off. hard work. long and hard work #part of valuing artists is recognizing the amount we sacrifice to make our art. bc it doesn't just #like HAPPEN to us. also btw it rarely has anything to do with true talent. #speaking as someone with a chronic condition i hate when ppl are like u have it easy. like actively as i'm writing this my hands r #ACTIVELY hurting me. i haven't been posting bc my left hand was curled in a claw for the last week #this isn't fucking luck. after a certain point it's not even TALENT. it's dedication & sacrifice. #''u get to flounce around and do nothing with ur life'' is a narrative that is a direct result of capitalism #imagine if we said that about literally any other profession. #''oh so u give up 10 yrs of ur life to be a doctor? u sacrifice having a social life and u get SUPER in debt? #u need to work countless hours and it will often be thankless? well i wish i was that lucky'' #we should be applying that logic to landlords ONLY #''oh ur mom and dad gave u the money to buy a house? and all u did was paint it white and rent it? huh.''

[puppyeared]

my attempt at making a fursona

#i never see any mole furries so i thought id try my hand at it ^_^ #i was hungry making this and was thinking of dirt cup pudding so its partly inspired by that and mario grass blocks #i dont draw furries very often so this was a fun learning experience lol. also!! star nose moles are kinda cute!!!! #when i was coming up with a name my mind kept going back to that tiktok of dogs and the tts voice saying stuff like i like mulch #mulch is my favorite food! yippee mulch!! so if youre wondering where i got the name theres the lore for it #i also wanna make a sea otter fursona.. and perhaps a snowshoe hare or other winter animal. oh or a barn owl!! #im trying to free my mind when it comes to making multiple sonas bc im still trying to wrap my head around it #ive always kinda seen myself as my persona but i want to try and be silly with it. actually while i was making this i was a little doubtful #to call it my fursona bc it doesnt look like me but a little voice inside my head was like well. youre not a 5 foot tall talking mole eithe #so you might as well. and i was thinking abt ppl with their dragon wolves with wings and i was like wow.. youre right... i can do what i #want forever. and brother that shit was enlightening it was like my third eye opened when i realized that #my art #myart #my oc #oc #fursona #mulch #furry art #sfw furry #character design #oc ref sheet #reference sheet

[hellomayu]

i'll be your anything.

#satoru who's everything will tear himself apart if thats what suguru wants #if suguru tells him to jump off the building and not use his powers he'll gladly fall off and crush himself to the floor lmao #true cult follower behavior #jujutsu kaisen #geto suguru #gojo satoru #satosugu #jjk fanart #oh and happy holidays thanks for always indulging my art!!! ; v; #i read tags often yall enjoying them makes me so happy uwu tysm~

[chiricat]

(don’t) hold back

#souyo #yu narukami #souji seta #yosuke hanamura #p4 #persona 4 #cat’s art #persona #i did like. ten different lighting drafts for this one aough #internal monologue for this one was like ‘i HAVE to push myself harder i HAVE TO PUT MYSELF OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE’ #always in fear of falling back on what’s easy for me and never learning because of that #every so often i’m like… have i even improved at all? have i even been trying #very cool thoughts to have. not #yearly cat struggle of ‘wow my art hasnt changed at all and everyone can tell and i look like a joke’ #enough moping. ENJOY THE SOUYO THEY MAKE ME CRAZY

[dianagj-art]

Pretend April has been flying around smaking the shit out if Muninn and Huginn, I forgot to draw her, but hey! a panel fully animated! that was fun to do

First / next

#rottmnt #rottmnt separated au #separated leo au #separated leo au comic #rottmnt fanart #i missed doing frame by frame animation so much #tho im very rusty #i wanted to make that last panel more dramatic of him raising in shadow then giving a step forward to the light #but it started to kill me bc i couldnt draw it #then decided ok what if he just raised. did some edits and that looked cool enough for his presentation #im not gonna do animations for this that often but i'll try ading a few when necesary #dg art #dg fanart #dg comics #dg animated

[bbq-potato-chip]

thinking about saiura

#my art #saiki k #tdlosk #saiki no psi nan #the disastrous life of saiki k #saiki kusuo #aiura mikoto #mikosai #saiura #i like them as friends more often but...an impulse came over me idk what happened . .. #i got an anon a couple days ago saying they liked my mikosai arts even tho i . didnt mean for those 2 be ship arts #so this one goes out to you #usually i dont like it when ppl tag my stuff as ship but i had a change of heart #(btw those other arts are still intended as platonic/ friendship stuff but i'm making an exception just this once) #anyway. no one probably wanted to listen 2 all that but yeagh #more recent art but not really. i really tried to do like have a bunch of arts on queue type deal but it didnt work . like at all. #anyway peace and love

[turtleblogatlast]

Don’t think I ever quite said what my LGBTQ+ headcanons are for the boys, so these are my current thoughts! Always changing of course but this is what I feel most strongly right now.

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt headcanons #rise donnie #rise leo #rise mikey #rise raph #donnie and leo’s sexualities being practically swapped was unintentional but it works way too well #same with mikey and raph tbh it was a happy accident #anyway I kinda hc raph as the type who doesn’t care about physical appearance just if you fight lol #Mikey’s more than happy with friends and family #Donnie is a BIG romantic but he needs time to sus a person out fully before he gets the hots for them #leo meanwhile isn’t keen on romance unless it’s with someone he grows to really really REALLY trust #I could go on and probably will later (knowing me) but it is late and I am tired haha #turtle art tag #curious as to what everyone else headcanons #the only one of these I’ll defend forever is Bi (female-leaning) donnie and trans leo #all the others can change over time but I really like where they’re sitting right now #I hope these are the right flags too because it was kinda hard to find them #went looking for transmasc flag in particular but I couldn’t find a solid agreed upon version 😭 #ngl a big part of why I hc mikey as aro is because of a pun #my phone often misspells aromantic as aromatic and- and you get it- because aromatic herbs and- and Mikey is a chef do YOU GET IT #note that while I hc leo as bisexual (male-leaning) I still think he’s prob closer to demi in that as well just not as far into the spectrum #if that makes sense #headcanons are fun and hard to narrow down at the same time alas #I made this in like an hour can you tell djjdjd #I drew them all from memory so if there’s anything wrong…shhh #and if you’re wondering for April and Splinter #Both are Bisexual (female-leaning) but April is also Panromantic #I almost wanna make Splinter demiromantic too so Big Mama’s betrayal hits just a bit harder

[lbhslefttiddie]

youve heard of sex flowers get ready for the flower that makes you into a celestial shoujo herione complete with particle effects you cannot turn the fuck off and creates a wifebeam so powerful it can incapacitate and maim and keeps making you burst into tears and fall on your ass which makes the wifebeam More Powerful and you also cannot turn this off either. and is also still, sort of, a sex flower

from one of my favorite fanfictions, Celestial Afterglow by elanor_pam, a fic that defies description in the best possible way

#arts #shen qingqiu #svsss #listen im not saying that ive spent a cumulative half a year reading this fic and then trying to make an arts for it #and then getting frustrated and stopping because i couldn't figure out how to make sqq shimmery enough #but like. im not NOT saying that #this is the FOURTH time ive started something for this bitch it haunts my fucking dreams and yet the opalescent glittery sqq evades me #perhaps you o unlearned fool look at this and say hmm that's too many colour layers and glowy effects but oh how wrong you are #if it doesnt make you literally fall over yourself at how otherworldly and radiant he is then there is room for improvement yet #perhaps you look at this and you think Wow!!! this gives me literally NO ideas what this fic is about #well Let Me Tell You. i have no fucking idea how to summarize this fic #its not often the tags in a fic give me pause but i saw this and as i read the tags i was increasingly just like What #but i have no idea how to describe it. the tags arent NOT accurate but i was SO unprepared for what happened in like an extremely pos way #if i were tagging this i think i would give it the no archive warnings apply label if that matters to you #the author seemed they wanted to leaned towards over caution rather than risk missing anything re tags because This Is A Weird Fic #but oh my fucking god #i am gripping you by the shoulders i cannot stress enough how charming it is #brilliant characterization especially with airplane in the first scene #and also so much fucking funnier than i thought possible for the general setting summary tags and buildup #its just. ough. its good

[saturdaysky]

SOMEbody failed his wisdom save to resist unlimited tadpole power, and that somebody is definitely my tav Mayhew. a WIP:

mindflayers are incredibly fun to draw fwiw, do recommend

#i don't usually do linework but it's super fun #the bg3 theme about loss of identity - often expressed through increasing monstrosity - is incredibly my jam #what if you can't make it through as the same person you began - literally? what if you save everyone and are made worse for it? #what if you're a liar and a cheat in a story where consequences are inevitable & inescapable? what if there are debts that always come due? #how much worse would you make yourself for love? for curiosity? for the sake of others who deserve better? for power? #mayhew's answer so far to all of those has been 'a lot worse' and consequences just came to call #bg3 #the emperor #bg3 emperor #mayhew #gnome tav #my art #me drawing: how buff can i make a tentacle. very buff? even buffer than that?

[tomboyyyaoi]

#i need to draw a post trimax vamery every so often so i dont explode #i was trying smth new here excuse that its a bit weird #ok so allow me to ramble in tags a bit #imdesperate to push my art in a different direction im getting really sick of how it looks and feels at the moment #im so so so thankful for everyones support but i feel if i cant make art i like then im going to struggle making it #so i want to make art i love looking at and making #so expect either a bit more inactivity on the art front maybe. or maybe the opposite if all goes well idk #coz im just not having fun making what im making rn #anyway lol vamery #trigun #vashmeryl #trigun maximum #meryl stryfe #vash the stampede #my silly art #id in alt text

[luck-of-the-drawings]

OH ARTHUR BENNETT.. such a gorgeous and intriguing character. terribly burdened by a GRUESOME set of crimes, his light suffocated by a HEAVY century of GUILT. so tragic, so dark and broody, and yet PAINFULLY awkward in any social setting ever

#jrwi fanart #cw blood #jrwi show #jrwi suckening #arthur bennett #OUHH THIS ONE WAS SITTING IN MY WIPS FOR SO LOOOONGwhen i took it out there was mould on it :sob: #BUT i think i was able to fix it up okay #i keep seeing SO MANY MISTAKES RRAAAHHH BUT YOU DONT SEE THEM RIGHT?? THATS ONLY ME. RIGHT?? EXACTLY. #THE KEY IS TO SAY. AND REPEAT AFTER ME. 'FUUUCK IT WE BALL #so anyway. arthur bennett huh? grizzly says that arthur is reaal fuckin difficult to play. and i SUPER get that. i mean LOOK AT HIM.. #grizz often needs a minute to think abt what hes gonna say in a way that matches w that Stoic Personality. which is FAIR but also that #ends up making way for awkward confrontations like: the lady in the parky lot. he took too long to answer and scared her away.& I LOVE THAT #arthur is tragic and sad and cool and stoic but hes ALSO awkward and silly and kinda dumb and short sighted. HE HAS COMPLEXITIES #I LOVE WHEN TTRPG CHARACTERS HAVE A GOOD SET OF SHORTCOMINGS. ESPECIALLY WHEN U FIND THEM ONLY AS U PLAY THEM. #I COULd go on and on saying the same things w different words abt arthurs intriguing and entertaining character but i shall spare u. for no #ILL ALSO MENTION HOW MUCH I LOVE HIS FLAVOR THO.. I LOVE TALL HOT BOY WHOS ONE W THE DARKNESS.. I REMEMBER WHEN HE FIRST MENTIONED THE #BADLUCK. N I WAS LIKE OOOHH THATS WHY HIS DESIGN IS SO COOL N CHAOTIC N ASYMMETRICAL. HES UNLUCKY!!! i love love love his design so much... #GRaaauruguguraguhhghghgh what else what else is there for me to spew on abt...i think im reachin a limit here..OH MAGNUS. i hope that #we get to know more abt how magnus and arthur met.. like How they became besties... ouuhh... I ALSO WANNA KNOW MORE ABT MARY DAVIS. LIKEHOW #he also apparently spent alotta time in a zone dominated by edward twilight? all he remembers is constant partying? I WANNA KNOW MORE.. #i think i got room 4 one more ramble SO. THE ART PIECE.as i said its gone a lil stale BUT. im still very proud o the bits where hes allScar #I WANNA SEE HIM GET SCARYMORE. I like the idea of shadows solidifying to make him strange and eerie.like TEETH n CLAWS n SPINES n YESS #also the SILVER EYES.no1 does silver eyes like the show Claymore. they make em look so striking and eerie...i also like to think that #human arthur had deep beautiful brown eyes.just in my beaitufl heart.i mean look at him..i wanna cook him n eat him.ANYWAY #i think thats all my ramblin for this piece. now i gotta go cancel a single day i had ata hotel bc my work schedule change last minute FUCK #feel free to ramble in my tags aswell tho i read all of them and i chew on thenm and i love them so sos os mcuh

[sctumsempra]

“the cold black eyes were boring once more. close your mind. . . close your mind. . .”

or

eldritch-esque legilimens severus snape

#severus snape #snape #pro snape #snape fanart #procreate #digital art #fanart #legilimency #i am so unhealthily obsessed with snape’s legilimency. it keeps me up at night. i wish i was joking #the staring. the cold dark soulless eyes. being able to read what most people think about him. #he doesn’t even need a wand or incantation anymore. he must’ve done it so often #characters should be more unsettling. make snape weirder. freakier. #make him an eldritch horror possessing traits and dimensions beyond human comprehension

[canisalbus]

Just a little line to say your dogs fill me with feelings! Your line art is divine. You make it all look so easy, and effortless. Like my logical brain knows this is false because I failed art, I cannot draw a stick figure to save my life, but your boys just look so NATURAL, I’m staring at them like “yeah. Easy peasy.”

.

#thank you so much! #that's so nice to hear! #and I know the feeling #I get that often when I'm listening to music or reading any type of fiction #I don't know how to create either but I can tell 'oh yeah this person knows what they're doing they make it seem so easy and clear' #it's satisfying to see things slotting together perfectly as an outsider #happens with visual art a lot too but I can usually analyze and deconstruct it a little bit better #when it's a form of creativity that is more foreign to me it's like wizardry #like how on EARTH #answered #hrh-spinach

[crunchchute]

a ref sheet for nothing in particular

#idk what prompted me to do this but i had a lot of fun making it #could use this for later art but i dont think i will draw him too often eee #william afton #dave miller #springtrap #spring bonnie #glitchtrap #crunchchute art #my art #five nights at freddys #five nights at freddy's #adding cropped versions cause it seems tumblr ate it to 2 pixels

[bonefall]

tall shadows line of "she was only a kittypet" kinda reminds me of the line "they were only slaves" from the prince of egypt.

What kills me about it is that like, at that point in the movie, the Pharoah Is Bad. Him saying that a billion babies where fed to crocodiles is A Bad Thing. It's the point where Moses realizes he can't be part of the royal family without being complicit.

But Tall Shadow says "calm down, Bumble was less than human anyway" and Gray Wing nods along (complete with the jiggly clicking noise that comes with shaking a can of spraypaint) and this is an example of them being reasonable. Level-headed, even, not getting swept away by the passion of the angry mob.

There are so many levels to how fucked up the Bumble Debacle is that you can't explore every floor all at once. It is an onion. It has layers.

#I don't take potshots at liberals too often but like. I have to here #Because GOD they are bad at defending their positions #They can't defend nonviolence because they don't actually believe in it #They believe in STATUS QUO #They're not antiracist. They're just pro-decorum and being racist/xenophobic/bigoted is rude #Very very rarely do they reach their position through introspection and thinking through their beliefs #So you see it in their art. #Unable to examine WHY bigotry is bad or what's so insidious they just repeat it #Or try to justify it #She was too fat/useless/not part of Our Bonds and thus her life is lesser #And thats why they have the theme of predestination making everything forgivable imo #And it not actually mattering what you did #It's the ultimate status quo. Change doesn't ACTUALLY happen because of people or our actions it's all just fate. #And this ironically makes them very susceptible to smooth-talking fascists #...also my lover told me im Bumble's Lawyer and made me an AA style talk sprite so I've got that going for me now