#or sometimes you see original art that i just draw and dont post! like traditional. i also streamed my art process once

[lemon-sugarcoats-nothing]

14. 🍋 and 🐝

Question 14 of the artist asks (Im sorry ive been sitting on this one for so long aaa): How has your art changed over the years?

My art hasnt changed much honestly! i've gotten better at watercolor painting, and acrylic paints, and i'm getting the hang of digital too! - 🍋

🐝 - ...Oh boy, another long history lesson today, Strap in. To keep things a little easier on me to keep condensed, I'm only going over my traditional pony art and NOT digital art. (Im not sure how much of the digital art i could even recover anymore)

TL;DR I've gone through many phases in my art, both pony and otherwise. I started out drawing ponies in 3rd of 4th grade in a very cartoon style, then trying to copy the show style, then with anime eyes to varying success, and finally to where i am now.

Alright so long ass history lesson:

This is my earliest attempt at making my own ponysona; i was really into applejack and wanted my pony to be in the apple family! This oc didnt really go anywhere though, and i dont think i drew her again. This was also early on, before i started following tutorials for drawing ponies.

A bit later, after drawing ponies while following tutorials for a while, I started trying to draw them in my own style. At the time, I was mostly trying to draw in an anime style with my humanoid drawings, and so the big eyes transferred over. During this time, most of my drawings were in blue ballpoint pen on notebook paper or printer paper. I was drawing a lot during my (online) classes and I would fill out pages and pages like this.

While i wasnt using tutorials as often anymore, i still watched a LOT of pony drawing content. At some point, i discovered some videos that inspired me to expand how i drew even more, and i started adding more graphite and colored pencil into final drawings.

Videos in question:

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSmSN3VtdD0

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTyMx2H-nuI

A bit later, i also got into creepypasta drawings for mlp and some of the songs (specifically for rainbow factory), but i didnt ever read or listen to MLP creepypastas on their own until much much later. I did however, write my own two page creepypasta comic for pinkie that i never kept up. I think i intended to but after 24 hrs i forgot and dropped the project. Ironically, I tried to redraw it a few years ago as a humanoid comic, stretching it out into i think...10 pages? until my hand got tired and I never actually got to the creepypasta part of the original first comic page. (If you'd like to see, let me know! I still have them, but there would be too many images to post in this already really long post)

Oddly enough, i noticed that around this time i was also mostly drawing either creepypasta, psychotic ponies, or drawing ponies sad and crying. Just a weird little note.

I had a short phase where i drew ponies with more boxy muzzles too, but most notable here is that i finally remade a ponysona! I would keep this sona until I would stop engaging with MLP content and go through my "Ew, mlp weird" phase.

This was also from my time of boxy nosed ponies, and I think the first image was inspired off of a drawing that came up on a google search but i dont remember. I redrew it a while later, after practicing with colored pencils more. The redraw happened sometime during my "Ew mlp" phase.

And now we enter more current stuff. all these drawings are still old but are more in line with what i draw now, and were while i was starting to come out of my "Ew mlp" phase.

First image, you can see this is one of the first times I drew Lucious as a pony. At the time, in the main rp he's from he was still just straight up a demon. And in the second image is a sketch dump of the mlp characters, where i was jut getting more comfortable drawing them again. Still held onto those boxy noses though.

No style change here, but there was a time in my humanoid art where i would draw my and Mocha's characters as royalty. Then i went and drew them as ponies in those outfits! the first image you can see Cinna as an alicorn, and an early version of Lemon was just a unicorn. In the second image, was one of my first attempts to draw Jaysir! I guess its not too far off.

Last is just this pencil drawing of Lemon when their name was still Lemon Sugar-Moon! After this point, i think i took another break from drawing ponies until we come to current day where my style of drawing ponies has less boxy noses, and more pointy, less realistic and just a bit more fun for me personally :D

Who knows where my pony art will go next! Thank you for your ask and I'm sorry again that this has taken so long for me to finally just sit down and type out lol

#mlp oc #mlp art #mlp fim #my little pony friendship is magic #my little pony fanart #art progress #redraw #creepypasta #mlp creepypasta #old art #art dump #mlp ask blog #ask blog

[rabble-dabble]

is that johnkat server still a thing and are you accepting new people?

oh baby it’s ALWAYS a thing!! 

the johnkat server has been running since September, and isn’t closed off for any reason! me and a few other mutual have made multiple (still open) links for our followers, and every month or so I remember to post a new one for all the recently joined so that you’re given the opportunity to join us and talk about johnkat (among other stupid things - we’re ridiculous on tumblr and we’re ridiculous on discord lol). 

everyone and ANYONE are allowed into the discord, so as long you follow the few rules we have (which is mostly about respect) and you’re not there to troll. keep in mind, the server IS focused around johnkat, but it doesn’t have to be if you don’t want it to! (we have multiple channels which include one for games, other hs related ship art and regular art, and just whatever temmie or you guys prompt me to create for what you want.) the server also isn't age-restricted (so no sexual art because not everyone is comfy with that) but we do swear, sometimes go into heavy topics, and do post heavily-themed art (that we tag and spoiler accordingly, and you can read more in the rules of the discord if you join). overall, we’re really nice and are always looking for more peeps to join our little circle for some fun, so don’t feel nervous about joining because me or others will always give you a lil welcome!!! 

and, oops, i used your ask to advertise. well here’s a link for an invite for you and if anyone new is interested!! hope to see you: https://discord.gg/kgsCeaU

#answered #anon #circle of johnkat #johnkat discord #the troll thing is that someone invited a person who shipped davekat who thought we were joking about really shipping johnkat... #we complain about davekat a lot and we thought THAT person was joking about the davekat...0_0 #it was. not a nice day #and we also have other ships!! i didnt want people feeling bad for not shipping johnkat or ONLY shipping johnkat so i made multiple channels #although our theme IS johnkat it doesnt always have to rely on it #we joke a lot!!! we joke too much. we suck at joking lol #and all of your familiars (if you follow me) are there!! nesta Anniesprites Temmie Livruya Plugnuts #a few more. if youre asking about mod applications i dont think we'll be takin any soon because i dont really trust anyone outside close bud #and also ive had some bad experiences runnin servers like that so. for the time bein no mod apps #but i hope you join!! someitmes i post art there before i post to tumblr so you get to see an idea or concept earlier #or sometimes you see original art that i just draw and dont post! like traditional. i also streamed my art process once #its just a really cool chill server. i hope you can find it likable! :p

[pizzahutchan124]

Do you see this pic? I Took it on the 3rd of April to show that I've been saving money since last year. I only recently cashed that in two weeks from today. It came out to $106 subtotal.

I would've updated abour this earlier but.... truth be told I'm dipping my toes into plenty of lakes, rivers, ponds and oceans with seemingly little to show for it at the moment. I'm running an art blog now, and I'm building both a financial and artistic portfolio. I'm getting tons of leads on job opportunities in both social services and backstage tech work, which means I gotta revise my resume to fit the position titles as well as follow up with the respective hiring staff. My extended family is always checking up on me, making sure me and the folks I live with are ok (they're all sweet like that.) Ultimately I would like to craft and create more art, whether that be in writing, yarn crafting, sewing, woodworking or experimenting with traditional and digital drawing. Of course, that means I have to renovate my space so that it flows with a creative and productive atmosphere while maintaining a cozy yet friendly living environment for me and my loved ones.

You dunno what that means? Yea, neither do I. I'm figuring it out as I go, but it gets hard when the people closest to you want results NOW. NOW NOW NOW. Otherwise you're a fookin lazy good-fer-nothing, haha. I got so many irons on the fire right now it's not even funny....

On top of all of that, I dont know what to do with this blog. Ive been doing research here & there and the people in the big leagues say that you gotta stick with ONE topic and/or interest so that not only your blog remains consistent, but your followers know what to expect from you thus remaining engaged on your platform. That's some quality advice for growing a wider audience, but heres the thing- I can't be asked to just dwindle down my posts towards a single topic. Maybe that worked for my ancestors in the past but I'm lucky enough to live in a First world country that encourages free thinking provided that it doesnt limit anyone elses liberties. This is a space where I can explore multiple options, opinions, pathways and idealogies, even the shitty ones if I were as bold as I used to be. In short .....

I AM A MULTI-FACETED HUMAN BEEEEEEEAN.

I used to be a self proclaimed potato; however, things change with time. So do people- we become remixes of what we used to be. Sometimes we become better people for it. Sometimes we don't. And that's ok, so long as we're honest with ourselves about what we're doing to hinder our progress in this lifetime. I think I'm making strides in being more reflective and introspective in that aspect.

Im not sure what this means for the long term future of this blog. I originally made this during a time in my life when the internet was filled with opportunity and promises of a better life. Since then I've become more aware of how the world works and thereby more cynical to the beliefs I once held as a 16 y/o 𝓭𝓲𝓼𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓮 𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓱𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓪𝓼𝓽. I'll just continue to post things that are informative to my needs and likes and hope that it'll reach the people it's meant for. Unfortunately that means I gotta work on trimming the fat on this blog. I've made side blogs for this reason, but havent gotten around to utilizing them. That's gonna be a big project for me at some point down the line. Only God knows when I'll get around to it.

Here they are if you wanna browse through them-

a Blog filled with master posts, references and tutorials on stuff

another blog filled with fanart from some amazing folks

Based on the actions I'm currently taking, I can see myself absolutely vibing within the next 5 years.

You can expect me to reblog posts on my main fandoms (mainly yugioh, pokémon and hazbin hotel/helluva boss), commentary on our society at large (uh oh, OPINIONS 😱 so scary), theories and lore based on the fandom(s) I'm in. Ngl I also become enamored with 2d characters from time to time so perhaps I'll get around to making character analysis posts. That's a big MAYBE tho. I'll also post about Cooking, economics, Psychology, personality archetypes and certain spiritual concepts like feng shui, the different kinds of astrology, mythos from different religions (Buddhism, Catholicism, etc), productivity and/or life hacks. I'm also a slut for tropes, Hence the #Tropes tag I made 😁

And finally, I will be making more original content irregularly from when "the motivation strikes me" to "when I feel my ideas/drawing/writings/musings aren't complete hot dog water."

See you in the next post maybe

#Sundae Stories #creative problems #rant #vent #Portfolio #Investment #renovations #Fandom #tutorials #References #life #time management #Scheduling #Writing problems #Artist problems

[dotzines]

Artist Spotlights!

🎤 Fawn-witch 🥁 Fawndolyn Valentine 🎷 Fenears

🎺 Foxtrotyy 🎸 Fricz 🎻 ghost-butts

Interview below the cut!

Introduce yourself

🎤 Hi, im Fawn (or Luci), im a chronically depressed, college dropout who gets real jazzed about art and animation. Really jazzed to be a part of this zine and hope to be a part of many more in the future! I do both traditional and digital art, but lately i have been on a real traditional art kick and would like to open traditional commissions at some point. tumblr: https://fawn-witch.tumblr.com/ Insta: https://www.instagram.com/peachpit_witch/ 🥁 http://www.fawndolyn.com 🎷 My name is Fen and I'm 19. I'm an animation student and I like to play videogames and drawing. Find me on twitter (@fenears_) or Instagram!! (@fenears) 🎺 Hi! I like drawing digitally and playing Pokken. You can find my portfolio here: https://foxtrotyy.neocities.org/art.html 🎸 Hello! My name is Fricz, I'm a mexican artist trying to accomplish my dream of becoming a concept artist (focused in character and prop design) and a comic artist. I work mostly in digital but I have been lately exploring more traditional mediums. You can see my art over here: https://twitter.com/FriczArt https://www.instagram.com/friczart/ 🎻 Digital Artist that can be found @glitvhghost !!

Do you do commissions post? Where can we find the info?

🎷 https://twitter.com/fenears_/status/1180968018211409925 🎺 https://twitter.com/foxtrotyy/status/1194784088382722049?s=21 🎻 https://twitter.com/glitvhghost/status/1143615932046225408

Do you listen to music (or tv shows/films/anything else) when drawing?

🎤 I like listening to musical soundtracks, the soundtrack to rwby. I tend to nearly always listen to something while drawing, usually music, sometimes monster factory. I do try to listen to podcasts but my attention span is terrible and i usually end up having to start the episode over. 🥁 Podcasts: Thrilling Adventure Hour, Night Vale Presents, Creep It Real, and others. Also audio books. 🎷 Sure! Music or just YouTube videos 🎺 Yes! I listen to a combination of Tally Hall, Lemon Demon, and Jack Stauber. Other than that, I listen to video game streams. 🎸 Yes, I mostly listen to music and mystery videos when working; it helps me to concentrate and get inspiration. 🎻 music

What’s your favorite music artist/band? If you could ask your favorite band/music artist one question, what would it be?

🎤 Jeff Williams and Casey Williams, The scary jokes, Lizzo, The studio killers,  The crane wives, Ghost Quartet, Blue Kid,  The Beetlejuice musical. Roar, Danna foote 🥁 Aurelio Voltaire is my fav. I talk to him somewhat regularly, so any questions I have are probably already asked. 🎷 I dont have a favourite artist, I like all kind of music. 🎺 My favorite music artist is Jack Stauber. My favorite band is Tally Hall. My question for both of them would be: What got them into music in the first place? 🎸 I have 3 favorite bands: The Killers, Imagine Dragons and Of Monsters and Men. And I'm sure I'd ask what some of my favorite songs from them mean, or I'd tell them the interpretation I get from them to see what they think. 🎻 I don't really have a favourite tbh :')

Do you play an instrument? If not would you like to play one? Which one?

🎤 I own both a ukulele and a keyboard but my perfectionism/anxiety is preventing me from actually learning. I am getting a drum kit for christmas and im real jazzed to learn! 🥁 Violin, ukulele, and bass. Dabble with piano and kalimba. 🎷 Id love to play the piano 🎺 Yes! I’ve been playing piano for a few years 🎸 Yes! I know the basics of playing piano and I'm currently taking guitar lessons. 🎻 No, but I'd like to play one!

Which song(s) are you going to draw?

🎤 Body love medley, by Mary Lambert and Hero, by Ghost Quartet 🥁 Une Sirène à Paris 🎷 Panic Room 🎺 I’m drawing Miss Melody by Andrew Horowitz! 🎸 Crystals by Of Monsters and Men and El Muchacho de los Ojos Tristes by Jeanette. 🎻 We Appreciate Power - Grimes ft. HANA

What do you expect from this zine?

🎤 To make some neat art with some neat people! 🥁 I don’t know. 🎷 To have fun and meet new artists! 🎺 I expect a really cool collection of art from really cool music! 🎸 To know more songs and see how the other artists see them! 🎻 I can't wait to see everyone's diverse and interesting original art!!

#Fawn-witch #Fawndolyn Valentine #Fenears #Foxtrotyy #Fricz #ghost-butts #artist spotlight #loop #loop artists

[ask-shakespearehigh]

Q&A post with the Mods!!!!

This is going to be a long one oh boy

How strict is the delineation of creative control vis-a-vis characters/plays between the mods? (@pedanticlecturer)

We generally have the plays split up along lines of “what we know”— we have a list at the very beginning of the blog. Sometimes we’ll draw the others’ characters (mostly me drawing some of Star’s…) but even then the final say on characterization is up to the “main” mod for that play — mod aster

what aster said -- mod star

What is your favorite play? What is your favorite character in terms of how they were written in the source material? (@pedanticlecturer)

I think my favorite play overall is Macbeth, just because I like the vibes (and the fact that I too could kill Macbeth), the fact that you don’t say it’s name in theatres, and the fact that it’s a play I did a full read through and analysis of in class. Favorite character? Puck from Midsummer. — mod aster

uhhhh,, hmm. ive always had a soft spot for midsummer since i saw it with aster esp bc of how fun the costumes were. of the comedies it has the largest potential to be the most visually pleasing bc of the concept of fairies,,,and im gay and dramatic so i love that. id die if i got to costume design for midsummer,,,or be in it,,,yeah. fav character. hmm. probably mercutio?? i recently saw a version of romeo and juliet where mercutio was played by a woman and oh my god it was amazing!!! not to mention mercutio’s portrayal in baz luhrmann's INCREDIBLE version of r n j!!! (I based my mercutio design on him) he just spends the entire time making dick jokes. love that. -- mod star

How do you answer asks so fast? I mean it's great but I'm impressed 😂 (Anon)

Personally, it’s a mix of: notifications on, quick drawing speed, and using the blog to avoid my class work — mod aster

aster is fast and (as you can see from all of my answers) im lazey -- mod star

Are there any elements/characters of the plays you're covering that you would have liked to work into this blog's plot, but couldn't due to the constraints of the setting or the synthetic nature of the blog? (@pedanticlecturer)

I wanted to make everyone gay but unfortunately due to plot constraints we have to have some hets but that wont stop me from making it lgbt as possible. -- mod star

I did want to make The Tempest more of a central play, but it just didn’t translate well. Similarly, other supernatural elements like the witches in Macbeth. This isn’t so much a constraint mentioned, but my own time/energy means that I want to show the Macbeth backstory, in a specific format, but I can’t right now— mod aster

Is there a hierarchy of import when it comes to each play's individualized impact on shakespeare high's general arc? If so, what plays are crucial to the foundation of the story? Which ones did you do mostly for shits and giggles? (@pedanticlecturer)

This is phrased like an ACT question and i might not answer it right so sorry in advance but: mod aster and i only selected a few plays for each of us to do given we dont know all of shakespeare’s works, but we tend to put more emphasis on the the more well known. But it also comes down to 1. How much we have plotted out for each play and 2. What the followers ask about most. Our two most popular are hamlet and macbeth bc people are familiar w those but around march caesar always becomes relevant again. I didnt even have designs for some of the characters until someone asked about them. -- mod star

I would say the same as star— it generally comes down to what people ask about. I will say that the overall plot is sort of separated into “has happened” and “is happening”. Like, the human potion of Midsummer, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth are all in the “aftermath” portion, while Twelfth Night, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet, among others, are happening. We’re trying to incorporate as much as we can, and I don’t think any of them were really put in without some thought.— mod aster

What personal significance does shakespeare hold in ur guys' lives? (@pedanticlecturer)

I go to a theater school rn and so ive dealt w shakespeare (although not all of them) it also helps that i was in loves labours lost last year as moth and that i read hamlet and r n j. Theres also a theater in my state that always does One Big Shakespeare per season and they always do them super well!!! My love for shakespeare probably started w seeing midsummer at that theater w mod aster!!! So. Theater kid rights!! -- mod star

To be honest, I got back into Shakespeare Because of the blog. I’ve been friends with some people that got really Pretentious about Shakespeare, and it kinda put me off of it. I did have a book of abridged plays (the plays’ plots written out in prose, basically) that I read as a kid, which is what got me into not only the plots of a lot of the plays, but also the idea of having them illustrated. And, same as star, the theater in state does the One Big Shakespeare— and they tend to do some really cool things with the costumes, setting them in diff time periods. I haven’t been able to see any lately since I’ve moved, but they still slap. — mod aster

🥰😘💙🥰🥰💜💟🥰I 😍💗💚😍😍LOVE🖤🖤 YALL ♥️♥️🧡💛💚💝❣️💕💘💖💗💓💞💝❤️💛💜 okay now i have a question i swear— how long have the two of you been doing art??? and what were your first shakespeare plays??? (@hellaghosts)

Uhh i started drawing when i was like idk 12 and i have the giant boxes of sketchbooks to prove it!!! I moved to digital art at abt 14-15 but mostly stayed traditional until this yr when i got a Neat New Tablet so some of my sketchbooks are sitting abandoned rip. My first shakespeare was either romeo and juliet or midsummer nights dream and i love both of them v much!!! I have a very old piece of art that i did for r n j for my freshman class assignment on it and it hasnt aged well alsdjfjafd circa 2016 i think??? -- mod star

Oh man. I started drawing when I was about 10, but it was Bad. I don’t think I got much into drawing again until I was about 14? Sometime around the end of middle school/beginning of high school. I would say I started getting into drawing as more than doodling/coloring edits sometime around 2015-16? I would draw on my iPad with my finger, then I got a tablet for my computer, and now I pretty much stick to my iPad with an Apple Pencil. My first Shakespeare play was….. uh…… probably Midsummer???? I have No idea. We would go to plays when I was little, so I honestly don’t remember if I saw others before. It may have been Romeo and Juliet— I had that book where it was the original and the “modernized” with the little dog that explained things— which, if you know it makes sense, but if you don’t is probably a bonkers answer. — mod aster

Do you think this blog has like? An overarching thesis (be it b/c intentionally or simply b/c ur own take on the world has bled thru to the point where u believe it’s central to the piece at this point)? (@pedanticlecturer)

Not gonna lie, I had to read that like three times AND dm you to figure out what you were asking from us and all I have is “be gay, respect women, write your own happy endings”. — mod aster

This blog started with an ides of march shitpost and you think we have enough brain energy to write a whole thesis? I projected feelings of found family onto my half of the blog but idk if that counts. Be gay do crime 420 69 -- mod star

What’s the nature/rough dynamic of ur relationship? How do y’all know each other? (@pedanticlecturer)

Met mod aster when i was like 4 and even tho we didnt live close we became like, best friends although the Best part didnt start until we were like 13-ish and eventually we talked like non stop (about anime and homestuck. Yknow. 13 year old kid things) and we didnt see each other a lot bc of Distance and now its even worse bc aster is in colleg.,e but we consider each other siblings regardless of family bc we’re adopted into our own respective families so that bled over into our friendship and it would feel weird calling him anything other than my brother now. We’ve seen each other at our best and worst and if you really want a good insight on what we’re like as siblings watch griffin and justin mcelroy’s overview video of catlateral damage wherein i am griffin and he is the long suffering justin. -- mod star

Star is basically my long distance sibling and functionally the only cousin I recognize bc like their parents are basically an aunt and uncle and like our dads look enough alike that we’ve both accidentally gotten the wrong dad for a hug or similar so like. Anyways yeah Star is the Griffin to my Justin, complete with our absent middle brother who we love dearly— mod aster

Dubiously relevant q but what kind of music do y’all listen to when u do art (if that is indeed a habit either of u partake in) (@pedanticlecturer)

It can depend on the piece? I was working on some (unrelated) oc prints that were song-focused, and for those I just listened to said song on loop. Sometimes I have playlists. Sometimes I’ll just be in a Mood and throw a song on loop. But a lot of time for the blog, I’ll listen to The Adventure Zone for the billionth time, because I have Too Much Attention. I’ve also, on request from Star, linked the most recent “loop song”.— mod aster

I tend to obsess over the same like 3 songs every few weeks so those get listened to on repeat but it also depends on the tone of what im drawing or who im drawing i might genre switch bc of that. If im drawing ophelia i stick to lana del rey and if im drawing hamlet its the neighborhood, horatio is sufjan stevens etc. i have categorized,. Most of the characters i draw into different songs/genres/energies of music but not like i ever follow that. Sometimes i just pull up a really long nonsense video and forget to draw. Essentially: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ -- mod star

How’d y’all come up with ur pseudonyms? (@pedanticlecturer)

I love space so much and my main blog is starryeydsailor space gay rights!! Im also tiny and full of energy and bright so basically i;m star -- mod star

Uhhhh i was like “hey i want to do uhhhhhh flower?” And then I google searched flower names until I found one I liked —- mod aster

How did you end up deciding the rough timeline of events in canon? (@pedanticlecturer)

It’s mostly determined by like. How we choose per story? If that makes sense. Like, we just take story by story, and decide “is it happening, has it happened, and when?” And then we fit them together in relation to each other just by dint of. All existing at once. Like, I knew I wanted Macbeth to be in aftermath, because like, even though there’s no murder, the way I’ve translated it to the AU is still kinda heavy, and it’s something that I don’t know that I could do properly if it were happening right now. Also, it’s more interesting IMO to have them at different times. Tl;dr we wing it per story and slot them together— mod aster (mod star agrees I just can word better, in theory)

If you could tell the story of shakespeare high in a different format than an ask blog, would you? Obviously y'all are making very good use of the format, but would you want to write this as a animated series or like? a comic book? or is the form inseparable from the story? (@pedanticlecturer)

I kinda wanted to do a webcomic or maybe to plot develop through like, animatics but the element of surprise comes from the asks we get and really makes us think so the blog is a good start. We didnt think we’d get this far -- mod star

Pretty much what Star said— there are certain elements where it’d be neat to do as a comic or as an animatic. Like, the fantasy dream is like, an anthology webcomic of each story, where you can like, see other characters in the background and stuff. But to be honest, we develop a lot by what we’re asked— there was a post about developing worldbuilding by being asked questions and then pretending you’ve thought about the answer, and it’s not far off. Personally, it’s hard to just lay out a story, because I have a whole WORLD and what’s relevant? What are people interested in? It’s by getting questions that I can then focus in on an area to develop. And yeah, we Super didn’t think we’d get this far lmao — mod aster

Any headcanons about your characters that you don't think will ever come up on the blog through asks or plot posts? (@pedanticlecturer)

I could make a whole separate post for this!!!!! Mostly its voice headcanons (and by mostly i mean like 1 or 2) or relationship hcs!!!! -- mod star

Honestly same. I don’t think I have voice headcanons for mine, though I bet I could find some. I’ve got a bunch of miscellaneous headcanons that just kinda float around, but like they’re scattered, too numerous for this post, and also not always things I’m sure are canon yet.— mod aster

#mod post #mod aster #mod star #q and a #birthday #we cant seem to read more AND tag so like brb gonna go kill god

[gobbochune]

I’m calling you out for not knowing how to call people out

I saw a callout post for a problematic user the other day that was probably the worst attempt defamation I’ve ever seen. And this made me mad not because I thought the target was wrongly accused, but because there were like seven people giving their testimony to the abuse and yet it was handled so poorly that I doubt anyone who saw it would even believe them. This is pretty dangerous considering the person in question was an actual pedophile grooming children for sex, and a quick google search told me that this person has an army of stans ripping the lack of significant evidence apart in order to entrap new victims. Calling out the blatant inconsistencies in testimonies is a tactic that abusers use to separate their victims from the people who want to help them. Anyone who has had a run-in with a serial pedophile can tell you that they usually have a methods to make people trust them over numerous allegations. Its not enough to throw a rock at their house, at its worst, that rock can even help the abuser gain a victim’s sympathy. 

So I’d like to take this moment to explain how to properly spread information about a potentially dangerous person. Though, I’d like to make this very clear: I’m not saying this as someone whose done a lot of these as if its some kind of art form. I’m doing this from the perspective of someone who has seen the scum of the earth and know how they ensnare people, and hope to be able to spread awareness to potential victims. 

1. The Abuser

I feel like it is a no brainer to actually mention who the abuser is, but apparently thats difficult for some people to wrap their heads around. So often I will see purposeful misspellings or code names in callout posts to avoid causing drama. This is stupid for two reasons: Firstly, if it is at the point where you feel a callout post needs to be made for people’s safety, fandom drama should no longer be an issue. Secondly, if you don’t make it clear who it is you’re warning people about, how the fuck are they actually supposed to avoid them? Like, do you expect a 12 year old who is currently being gaslit by a pedophile to message you like ‘Hey, is @lle/////gory!!!334 Gregory? That kinda looked like his username but I couldn’t tell.’ Of course they’re not. They’re going to ask the person who is grooming them, who will either say ‘lol nah’ or make up a sob story as to why they’re being defamed. Grow a pair and use their names. 

It is very likely that the abuser will have more then one account, you’ll probably need to list all of them that you’re aware of, but know that the minute they see a post with their current name on it they’re probably going to change it. So, mention very clearly who they are, what circles they can be found in, and how they amassed enough popularity to trap victims in the first place. 

This callout post that I saw, which I will now be using as a reference for what not to do, managed to list the abuser’s various names but pretty much nothing else about them. All it said was that they were apparently the origin of some meme, but didn’t even explicitly say what the meme was so I had no idea if I even knew this person or not. I didn’t know if they were a fandom blog, an art blog, a social justice blog, a youtuber, the only context I could draw was from the fandom-specific usernames of their victims. If they changed their name, which they probably did right away, I would have no way of telling who this person was. 

Include screenshots of any of their posts with a lot of notes and listing this as identification for who they are. Also explicitly mention what circles they can be found in, any projects they were involved with, and any other iconography that can be associated with them. However, there is something I’d like to stress:

Do not include leaked personal information such as home address, workplace, or emails. It is not your authority to broadcast this information online. A callout post is not a legal testimony, merely a warning to other internet users within a community. If alerting the authorities is necessary, it is a different process to be handled by the victims and their supporters. Do not attempt to intervene through a social media. 

If you don’t want to receive hate from an army of stans thats understandable, which is why many people often will make a blog where victims can anonymously offer evidence. In fact, I suggest doing this as a first resort as it is easier to search “_____ problematic” into Tumblr then it is to scour a personal blog for mention of the abuser. This will also provide a handy archive for the allegations, and help keep up with the abuser’s activity. However, for legitimacy’s sake, I suggest that the mod’s identities of these blogs be clear. This leads us to my next point:

2. The Evidence

This is actually my primary reason for wanting to make this. The stuff mentioned above delegitimises accusations but isn’t really dangerous the same way a shoddy presentation of evidence can be. Someone who has been thoroughly brainwashed by the abuse cycle will look for any reason to continue a relationship with their abuser. They’ve likely been isolated from their friends, groomed to worship or fear their abuser, and are so drained from a volatile relationship that they don’t have the mental energy to waste on doubt. It takes a lot of strength to end even a good relationship, thats why abusers try to keep their victims drained and confused. They make them think it is easier to continue being abused then try to untangle the lies and manipulation. 

That is why you need to be explicit, blunt, and vocal about what the abuser has done. Put the most serious and unforgivable accusations at near top of your post in clear view. Try not to rely too heavily on accusations that dont have concrete evidence, as the abuser has probably already explained away anything you don’t have in writing. 

I am going to once again revisit the terrible callout post from before. The first thing they did was the usual attention grabbing intro with the paragraph pretending to tell us who this person is was to list a bunch of testimonies from various users.

Now, testimonies don’t really work over tumblr in a traditional sense. In a courtroom a testimony is given under oath, all the words spoken must be presumed to be true because the speaker understands that lying is a federal offence. Obviously the internet is not like this, and there is nothing stopping someone with a blog from lying. Not to mention, if they had been in the abuser’s circle in the past but is now flinging accusations, it is safe to say they didn’t leave on the best of terms. Abusers are famously unable to take responsibility for their relationships falling apart, odds are everyone in the abuser’s circle convinces their latest victim that all previous victims were in the wrong. 

I spoke with a friend who briefly joined the public discord of a known abuser to see what it was like, and showed me the rules specifically prohibiting anyone on the server to discuss allegations towards the mods. There was even a list of names that the bot would automatically block if you tried to type them in the chat log, and the mods had this witch hunt mentality where if they found evidence of you conversing with blacklisted users outside the discord, you would be banned and your name would be added to the list. It is very likely that the act of reading a testimony and asking about it could place a victim in danger. 

However, there is value to a testimony online if there are more then one. Testimonies are really only effective if there are an abundance of them, so many that you don’t even have to read one, the sheer volume of people speaking out against the abuser is suspicious enough on its own. Again, the presence of a blog that allows anonymous asks or submissions would be the ideal platform to publish testimonies.

Back at the terrible callout post, underneath the list of testimonies they had some bullet points of direct evidence that they linked directly back to the abusers blog. You should not do this. I cannot believe there are people who do not realise it is largely worthless to use posts that the abuser still has access to as a source. 

If you have even a remotely functional following anywhere on the internet you have probably said something stupid that bit you in the ass before. Your immediate reaction was probably to defend yourself, and when that failed, you go back and delete the post. Abusers can do the same thing, or, even more insidious, edit the post to say something else. 

“_____ fetishises black women! here is the link!” can originally have linked to something explicit but can easily be changed to “I think black women are beautiful and deserve our support <3 <3″ to make the writer of the callout post look stupid or overzealous. 

Screenshots are your friends. Take screenshots of the concerning behaviour and either include them in the post or link to a photo sharing archive. There’s really not much to explain about this. I cannot believe someone thought linking back to the original url would work. 

Another thing I cannot believe about that terrible callout post was that half of the accusations linked to posts of people repeating rumours they’ve heard. 

This is...dumb. This is unsalvageable. Don’t to this. It will never count and you will look like an idiot. 

However that terrible awful worthless callout post did have SOME credible evidence, to shit that didn’t matter at all, which leads us to our last point. 

3. The Abuse

Now this part is hard to discuss as most people seem to think abuse is a subjective term. This is not the case. 

While abuse can take shape in an infinite number of ways, not all stuff that pisses you off counts as abuse. Sometimes a jerk is just a jerk. Now you can hate a jerk as much as you want- they probably deserve it, but don’t try to sell someone just being a generally awful person as abuse.  

The terrible awful no good callout post tried to back up claims of criminal activity by saying the abuser cares more about Doctor Who than Flint Michigan. 

This is not abuse. Why would anyone think this is abuse. 

Now, if I have a blog devoted to a fandom I’m probably not going to post stuff about Flint Michigan to that blog. As stated above, I had no idea who this person was. For all I know they could have been exclusively a fanblog for Doctor Who. Sometimes there are just spaces that are kept away from serious real world issues and that in itself is not a crime. 

Trying to equate something like that to an act of sexual assault only makes it easier to dismiss your legitimate concerns by saying: ‘they’re just hating on me for being cringy’

There are millions of reasons why someone might not want to keep up with real world social activism on their blog, and those are a million reasons the abuser will use to invalidate your legitimacy. 

But hey, if that sort of thing annoys you, I totally get that. Go ahead and block this person, campaign against them, blacklist their stuff, encourage your friends to do the same. I’ve blocked people for less, just dont call it abuse. 

Now there is actual fan content that is means for legitimate concern. If the person consistently praises or creates content of abusive scenarios, its a red flag. If a person consistently defends incest or pedophilia, its a red flag. If a person bullies someone else for being ‘triggered’ over Flint Michigan, its a red fucking flag. 

The problem isn’t the art or the content or the blog type, but the mentality behind those things. Liking Doctor who isnt a problem. Liking the idea of Doctor Who having sex with his own daughter is. Avoiding current events isnt a problem. Trying to bully activists into silence is. You need to include that context to be taken seriously. 

Chat logs are your friend. Get the permission of victims to post, anonymously or otherwise, chatlogs of concerning behaviour. Try to focus on patterns to show a potential victim that the tactics used to insnare them have been used on other people before. Highlight instances of an abuser being sweet, (The Honeymoon Phase) as well as how quickly they devolve into abuse. 

In Conclusion

I’ve probably turned a lot of people off with this big dumb rant about something as petty as a callout post, and to those people I say: Good. If you’ve never been in a position to need this kind of thing then that is good. I’m not being facetious here, or implying you don’t know what you’re talking about just because you disagree with me, a callout post is really a last ditch effort to warn others that someone can construct in the aftermath of their ordeal. Pretty much everything I’ve mentioned relies on the willingness for victims to come forward, which I totally understand if they dont want to.

It is not my intention to bully others into sharing traumatic memories over the internet, but rather to make sure that anyone who does speak out wont become a target for harassment. At the end of the day, these are just posts floating around on tumblr. All you can ever hope is for someone to see your warning and stay away from the person who hurt you. Perhaps even draw the attention of other victims and help them process what has happened to them. 

But baseless claims and petty squabbles aren’t how you do that. Abuse should be taken seriously, and there is a large difference between someone Problematic and an actual Abuser. 

[lackadaisical-pottymouth]

Artist Asks

Thank you @desfraisespartout~~ <33

1. Traditional or Digital? 

I like traditional for sketches and inks, but digital for colouring! There’s more movement in my traditional work I feel, and that’s a thing that I really like in my artwork. My digital works tend to have the same postures or proportions, but digital lets me experiment with things without worrying that I’ll run out of resources (also, I can animate on digital which is like, the best)

23. Fanart or Original Art?

Almost everything I draw that’s completed is fanart :,D (I blame tanabe-san birdmen is gr10 with kickin designs) But I do practices and little ideas with oc’s! They just dont get posted often;;; 

Right now I’m working on a thing with my sister, and that’s almost all traditional

25. Silence or with Music?

Depends? I usually colour with music and draw sketches in silence. But sometimes I’ll listen to a song like six times in a row before drawing a sketch (If you ever see a picture with a song at the bottom guarantee this is what happened). There are also times I just ca’t focus if I have music? so thats a thing

OH BUT THEN sometimes a really good song comes on and its like Y ES and just energizes the way it feels to draw. I dig those time so much you have no clue

#enter: mal #thank you sara <33

[thefatedmeeting]

@queen-0f-demons​ hey bro!!! i saw u wrote that post and i wanted to talk to u about it, if thats cool with you. i decided to make it a post in case other people would need to read it, but if u want me to make it private or something just hmu. 

i don't wanna hog your post but i wanted to share my experience and realizations so that it perhaps might make you feel better about your art feels somehow. keep in mind these are my personal opinions! more under cut.

i relate to every single word you say. sometimes being an artist doesn't seem rewarding, and most of the time it really isn’t. when you don't get enough money, when you have to undercharge for your art, when people don't acknowledge your effort or even Refuse to do so; when you feel you're not good enough, and when you feel like your art isn't worth anything, or even when, in your eyes, it's bad compared to other people's art.

i feel that!! i used to feel that all the time. especially when i used to post more on tungle, and consciously or not, i also used to feel that Very Intensely due to anxiety and depression. i would try to not be negative, but deep down i'd be super jealous at the artists i admired (and sometimes i still am!), because their art was so nicely developed, stylish, so uniquely THEM. i was unable to have that at the time, or i thought so. 

but back then i was actually in my learning phase - i was developing my anatomy, my style, and myself! i was going through a healing process as well. so of course everything boiled down to a . snowball . HDFFDDFG but you know. i'm still in a learning process. i might understand certain things better - because not only practicing, but my studies have helped me see things i didn't see, or realize, before - but i am still learning! dude! 

i still have to learn how to properly draw legs sometimes. i have to put on more flesh in the joints. i have to DRAW EARS PROPERLY and not like some weird thing! gotta learn BGS! composition! i have to draw more because lately ive been DEAD BUSY! etc etc. but that's alright. the more i practice and learn and see, the more i will improve - just like you.

please keep in mind, the things below are things i have learned and thought for myself. i can't make you have realizations of your own, but i assure you it gets better if you allow yourself to go through that process.

most artists post works they're proud of, or that they consider postable for some reason or another. don't forget that every artist, yourself included, has had hundreds of canvases and pages filled so that they could MANAGE to learn one thing that they're showcasing in that one picture! art takes time, and effort, and everyone has a different rythm. just because others are faster, or have more time, or have more technique, it doesn't lessen your own effort. you are doing what you can at the current time - respect your limits, and push them when possible!

DONT COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS i figure you're very tired of hearing advice like this but it's the truth man. everyone has followed different paths in life, that has given them certain abilities or certain ways of seeing the world. you don't need to follow that same path to be able to do good art. you have to follow your own path, to live your life, and build your own sense of... how do i say. your own lifestyle. your own vision, your personality? btw, of course you can use references. of course you can pick up snippets of what you like/respect/admire the most in other artists, even in things that don't relate to art.

speaking of that! good art is not perfect art. what do you consider to be perfect - life-like realism? life-like proportions? something aesthetically pleasing? something that grabs someone's attention? something that communicates? etc. art is not about being perfect! it's about communicating, expressing, about an experience, about yourself, about whatever you want it to be. what do you like to draw the most? do you enjoy anatomy, or animals? backgrounds? abstract art? is there a style you like the most? and why do you do that? think about it! if you can, study about the old things. about art history, art theory, old and new techniques, things that aren't even related to your area - for example, you want to be a mangaka? why not try sculpting. you can use clay, stone, bronze, metal, you can even assembly different objects and stick them together. might not be related to your area, but it might give you new ideas. expand your horizons!

my teachers said something that stuck with me. at first i didn't like to hear it, but it stuck with me. but they said it's nice for the growth of your own unique style - to perfect a techique to "break" it later. because it gives you purpose, and it's not the lack of a technique that is stopping you from using it! for example. i can do realistic paintings and drawings. takes me more time. i have fun doing them at times, when my confidence is down and i get like oh right, i can do that thing. and even though i do it sometimes, i choose to focus on another style because or semi-realistic paintings are just not my style. but life drawings, which are “realistic” in nature, helped me immensely with anatomy, proportion and lighting.

on another hand, art doesn't necessarily needs technique. i think studying and developing is vital to your formation as an artist - but i don't think the Academy(tm) and Technique(tm) its the only path to success or self realization as an artist. there are socially and economically marginalized artists who have never entered a school and they are selling their things, or making art, inconformed w the status quo (with reason And receipts..), some who are arting their emotions away, some who embrace their lack of technique and amp it up on pure instinct, aesthetic sense and their life path, some who are practicing their culture by making it. if you communicate things well enough, or express what you want to express and think, "wow, that was nice. i like that. it's nice enough." 

an example i can think of on the top of my head for you is ONE, the mangaka who draws the original One Punch-man and Mob Psycho 100%. His art isn't the traditional anime-y style - it's anatomically/proportionally imperfect from an academic view. most of the characters don't have the characteristic "anime eye". your first glance of his drawings might've made you think, "god, this guy can't draw at all." but damn! have you seen the few panels where he puts effort/detail into? he knows how to - he has the eye for it, whether he chooses to make it to a simpler style for comedic value, effort, merchandising or personal values/choices, he knows it! he communicates so well. his panel placement, his expressions, his gestures and even the writing. in my eyes he is a fantastic, top notch artist. and he's getting the recognition and the money, even though you might look at him and say his drawings aren't perfect. (say what you will, he has improved a shit ton ghgh)

everyone has their own values about what is good art and what is bad art. learn what yours are! and allow these values to change as you grow.

don't try to prove anything to the world just yet! focus to yourself. prove to yourself that you can improve. fight off that "not enough" vibe. Do It bro. i know you can! and i assure you it will get better. practice, practice, practice - BUT PLEASE don't forget to rest if necessary, focus on your health first; AND to enjoy your life as well. the more you get out there and see new things, the more things you will have to express.

sorry this was long but i, lost track of time i spent 1 hour writing this. anyway. thank you for admiring me man. i hope the best for your artistic career and for yourself!! don’t give up and keep going. hit me up anytime, i'll answer whenever possible ey

#queen-0f-demons #art #not really but You know #mine #long post - #very very very very long post

[thefairygodmonster]

Fairy FAQ

May I use/repost your art with or without credit on other sites? No. Do not ever repost my art please. If you have already posted my art on other websites I ask you take it down. Art is part of my livelihood and reposting on other sites affects that livelihood. Thank You. I already have accounts on twitter and instagram. Twitter: https://twitter.com/MerriMonster Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/merrimonster/

Do you take Art Trades/Commissions/Requests? Sorry, I rarely open commissions or trades. Sometimes I’ll open them up and will make a post if I do so but I cant tell you when or for how long. 

Are you okay with Fanart/Giftart? I am okay with fanart and gifts! However my characters are very personal to me and I ask that they not be presented in any scenarios that are sexual, violent, fetishy, or out of character situations. If you want them to interact with your character please send me an ask with what you had in mind, Thank you.

Can I make a character based on your original species like the Dreamons or Fabricians? I cannot say I own specific characteristics like body horror with eyes/arms or creatures that hide their face with cloaks. However I do consider my original species to be closed. I would ask people not to call their characters Dreamons or Fabricians and exactly copy their aspects/nature. This goes for any and all race/species I make.

I made a character inspired by your character! Im happy to inspire folks but please do your best to differentiate your characters from mine. I totally understand that sometimes coincidences happen with designs but if you’re purposefully copying or heavily referencing my designs please either give credit or dont. I dont mean to be rude but I worked and put a lot of time and effort into my work so it hurts when folks just reference from it and get credit 

Why didn’t you answer the ask/comment I made? Honestly, Im just terrible about answering asks. I do see them all but sometimes I cant answer it right then or want to think of a response and just completely forget. Rest assured I probably received your ask/comment and I am not ignoring you. I apologize in advance if I don’t answer. Im just either very busy or very scatterbrained or both.

Can I tag your art as “me” or “kin”? Please do not tag my art as me or kin. The thing is my characters and art are very personal to me for reasons I don’t want to get into. They’re an accumulation of my own experiences so its just weird for me to have someone say ‘this is me’. If you want to tag ‘same’ that is okay.

What art tools do you use? For traditional art I mainly use Copic Markers, Col-Erase Colored Sketch Pencils,  BIC Cristal Smooth pens, Micron Liners and Brush Pen, and Palomino BlackWing Pencils.

Digitally I work In Photoshop CS6 and mainly use brushes from Kyle’s Ultimate MegaPack such as non-photoblue pencil, big round softy, mr. natural, and animator pencil new. 

Can you give me tips/tutorial on X/Y/Z?

I’d love to make tutorials and tips for all of you believe me.  I love helpin folks with drawing and such but most of the time I just don’t have the time and energy to make a detailed post about my process/influences/resources.  Sometimes I may be able to and will try to answer your questions but please don’t feel bad or discouraged if I do not.

What gender is Fairy? I don’t know. Fairy is a persona of mine and I haven’t really figured out my own gender identity. Feel free to use any he/she/them pronouns for Fairy though. Why do you have two titles? MerriMonster and TheFairyGodMonster? MerriMonster is a name I use for more professional things. Its based on my character Merrilee and is also a reference to the name of my own universe the Merriway! TheFairyGodMonster is more a pun and is used for more casual purposes like my personal blog here! I really want to be your friend, is there somewhere I can chat with you? I’m really flattered but unfortunately I do not frequently try to set up chats with new folks. If you want to send me a few messages/comments and we end up kinda going back and forth for a while then feel free to ask but for the most part I have very limited time/energy to start do this sort of thing. Its not meant to be exclusive I am just a shy/introverted person. I ask that you please respect this and do not push me to interact with you, if I feel uncomfortable I will block people.

What does Oranhamme sound like? I dont have a specific voice claim for Oranhamme. I have his voice down in my head but for the most part the best I can do is kind of mix and match aspects of other character voices and try to give you an idea. You can read about it here!

Can we roleplay your characters/use your art for roleplaying? No! Please understand my characters are personal to me and having someone else roleplay them has always felt invasive and uncomfortable. Please do not do this on any site.

Can I use your art as an icon? Im gonna ask folks not use my art for their icon. It ties in with the art is personal to me and its a bit weird to me seeing folks running around with my characters as their avatars. Sorry :C If you have any questions feel free to send me a message!

#FariyFAQ #FAQ

[puppidoodle-blog]

1,2,3,5,9,13,15,18,21,22,23,24,25 ???(sorry for asking so many lol ;p ;3 )

Do you prefer traditional drawing, or digital?

doesnt matter! But for coloring, I prefer Digital, but anything else , traditional is good

2.How long have you been drawing?

ever since i was like 2 years old. Though i really didn’t take it seriously until I was about 11 or 12

3.How many classes have you taken?

like...1. I don’t take art classes lol i learned eerything i know from the internet :’D

5. What’s your favorite thing to draw?

Characters! and SpACE

9. How much time do you spend drawing on an average day?

too much

13.Do you prefer to keep your art personal, or do you like drawing things for other people?

i love drawing things for other ppl!! when i want to. other than that sometimes i dont rly like being told what to draw?? i prefer making art for others as gifts bc i lov them. so like. i guess i love drawing things for other ppl

15.How long does an average piece take you to complete?

it depends. Usually not too long? But if it’s like a really detailed piece it takes me around 5-7 hours :’D

18.What are you currently trying to improve on?

Shading, coloring, backgrounds definitely. coloring. uhh. faces? symmetry probs

21. Do you like to challenge yourself?

sometimes lol bc im a lil pussi

22. Are you confident that you’re improving steadily?

YES. everyy day i slowly but surely am getting better! And everyone should have this mindset tbh

23. Do you draw more fanart, or more original art?

i draw fanart and original art equally! i just post fanart more

24. Do you feel jealous when you see other people’s art, or inspired? (Be honest!)

a mixture of both, but more inspired. I choose to be more inspired than jealous, because it helps no one when ur jealous.

25. Do you like to draw in silence, or with music?

 i need. All the sounds when im drawing omg

#EEEE I DID ALL OF THEM #gooeysquoosh

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: Plié Meets Twerk in a Performance of Black Queer Joy

Jumatatu Poe’s “Let ‘im Move You: A Study” (2013/16) and “Let ‘im Move You: This is a Success” (2016) at ICA Philadelphia (all photos by Ryan Collerd)

PHILADELPHIA — Rihanna was blasting through the DJ’s sound system, remixed with Italian prog rock band Goblin’s soundtrack to the 1977 horror masterpiece Suspiria. Two performers emerged from the audience, clad in tiny track shorts and shredded polo shirts emblazoned with hashtag marks in pink tape. They strode onto the small, slightly raised, bare wooden stage, and the shorter one, William Robinson, raised a tin can. In carefully rhythmic, halting steps, he danced across the stage, sprinkling grits as if in sacrament. The pair moved together for a few moments, circling in a sort of shuffle, then stopped. Choreographer and dancer Jumatatu Poe addressed the audience. He noted the institutional setting, the white cube, and the majority white spectators. “I brought some black folks with me, just in case,” he said, as projected video images of around 30 black men and women appeared behind him.

The performance was Jumatatu Poe’s “Let ‘im Move You: A Study” (2013/16) and “Let ‘im Move You: This is a Success” (2016), choreographed with Jermone Donte Beacham and curated by Danielle Goldman as part of ICA Philadelphia’s Endless Shout, a multifaceted exhibition exploring performance and improvisation. In Poe’s work, movements that appeared classical, like a plié, blended seamlessly with voguing, African dance movements, and J-Sette, a tightly choreographed dance style sprung out of black Southern drill teams.

William Robinson and Jumatatu Poe in “Let ‘im Move You: A Study” (2013/16) at ICA Philadelphia

James Blake’s somber ballad “Measurements” began to play. The dancers struck a pose: left foot pointed in front, arms akimbo on the waist. Poe shifted first, pulling his legs apart, swinging his hips wildly, and grinning like a madman. Robinson followed suit, mimicking the movements a moment later, two beautiful black bodies moving in tandem. Their pumping fists and fast, swirling movements were deliberately ill-paced for the slow, melancholy music. Break dance drops, high kicks, heads pulled back in the ecstasy of a self-caress, ingratiating bows with steepled hands — each move made clear that these were performative gestures of joy. That we, the predominantly white audience, were consuming and exoticizing their bodies, as white people have consumed black bodies, for entertainment and gain, for hundreds of years.

In the postmodern cauldron of cultural references Poe draws from, J-Sette emerges as the most overtly political choice. In a 2013 interview with the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, Poe discusses his discovery of J-Sette on YouTube and his fascination with what he describes as “this huge, combustive energy in these really small spaces.” He first found videos of Beacham “dancing in the garage, the living room with the table pushed back, the kitchen sometimes, or in the bedroom, behind the bed.” The domestic scale of the choreography coupled with its  eruptive gyrations had Poe considering its origins in the black South. He ruminated on the tight spaces involved with the service work that people of color in the South often do, and the emotional labor that work demands, drawing lines between it and dance through the performance of joy for others. It’s rare to see an artist smile during a performance, but Poe and Robinson were both grinning throughout, exuding a sly gaiety that that they wielded like a knife, a weapon to disarm viewers.

William Robinson and Jumatatu Poe in “Let ‘im Move You: A Study” (2013/16) at ICA Philadelphia

The music cut suddenly and sharply as the dancers continued moving in offset synchronization. Poe and Robinson broke off in separate directions. The latter affixed his hands to the wall, while the former wove through the crowd. He placed his foot on a bench, and a woman seated on it slid over to accommodate him. Both dancers leaned into the wall and twerked to a spoken rhythm: gaga-gaga-ga-ga, gaga-ga-gaga-gagaaa. They then moved back to the stage, got on the floor, entwined their legs, threw off their shirts, and jerked down their pants. Bare assed, they fitfully twerked with labored breaths as a thin keyboard organ played against the sound of a metronome, worlds away from the previous R&B remixes.

Poe and Robinson performed an iteration of the same piece last summer on a stretch of 52nd Street near Baltimore Avenue, deep in West Philly. 52nd Street was once considered the “Main Street” of West Philadelphia. It was a center for jazz, shopping, and black culture until it fell into a spiraling decline in the 1980s and ’90s, when it became better known for crime than culture. In a panel after the ICA performance, Poe described the experience of dancing there in contrast to dancing at ICA, on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, an institution historically rife with white supremacy; he spoke of the street’s summer heat, the homophobic jeers, and pushing, pushing through the performance. That version of the piece was sans nudity, but with plenty of booty popping.

Toward the end of the video documenting the work, a woman appears in the doorway of the Chinese restaurant they’re dancing in front of and crosses her arms disapprovingly. Everything from the grime on the sidewalk to the diegetic noise of passing cars seems hostile. It was an action that carried real personal risk. Poe spoke about “circumnavigating expectations” with his work, and indeed, “Let ‘im Move You: A Study and This is a Success” is a strange, eclectic mixture that has roots in many cultural traditions, but no true home. The work changes with the context of each space it’s performed in and with each audience it’s performed for. Poe challenges viewers by confronting them simultaneously with pleasure and with a self-awareness of their gazes meeting his black, queer body.

Robinson got up, and Poe kneeled in front of him. Hands out stiff in a near embrace, they shared breaths as Robinson slowly sank into Poe’s lap. They rocked each other back and forth, sharing breaths, touching lips, but not kissing. “Do you want not to know me?” Robinson asked into Poe’s slightly open mouth. “I want not to know you,” replied Poe into Robinson’s. A few more mumbled exchanges. “Let us dissolve into one another.”

Beacham appeared and stood behind them. Still locked in an embrace, they arched their backs away from each other, and Beacham pulled a chartreuse henley over Poe’s head. He placed a dark green jersey over Robinson’s head. Still clutching each other, they moved into the audience. Beacham pulled off their track shorts and dressed them in pants leg by leg. Flinging themselves back against the wall, hands stretched out, the dancers reached for each other. The DJ, Zen Jefferson, stepped away from his booth and, sharpie in hand, traced their profiles gesturing in eternal longing. They moved, and the line followed them. Robinson walked away and melted into the audience. This marked the end of the first piece.

Jumatatu Poe, William Robinson, and Jermone Donte Beacham in Jumatatu Poe’s “Let ‘im Move You: A Study” (2013/16) and “Let ‘im Move You: This is a Success” (2016) at ICA Philadelphia

A throbbing beat picked up, a remix of Erykah Badu’s “Trill Friends.” The ICA transformed from  a rarified art gallery into a club. Now Poe and Beacham danced together, smiling and twirling. Step to the left, hands up, folded on top of the head, point out, turn, hands up again, hands on hips, twirl. Poe took out his smartphone and posed, Beacham just behind him. They grinned for the screen — he was taking live video. Jubilant, he pranced around the room, weaving his roving video selfie through the crowd, which shifted to accommodate his whims. We watched him watching himself. He exited the gallery, and everyone craned their necks, wondering, should we follow? All rules had been broken. Anything was possible here. He returned momentarily, put the phone away, and swept into a pose with Beacham on the stage. They turned away from each other and faced the crowd.

Poe locked eyes with me and approached, a toothy smile painted on his face. I held his gaze, wondering when it would break, wondering if I was about to become part of the performance — but of course, I already was. It was utterly infectious, and I couldn’t help but grin back. He looked out across the room and picked four members of his ensemble who’d been embedded in the audience. They joined him on the stage and writhed together to Ciara’s “I’m Out,” then snaked through the audience. The floor vibrated with beats and electricity.

Jumatatu Poe’s “Let ‘im Move You: This is a Success” (2016) at ICA Philadelphia

The group danced out of the gallery to a remix of Beyoncé’s “Sorry,” heading onto the landing, lassoing with their arms as they moved down the ICA stairs and into the lobby. The performance was boundless, breaking the fourth wall, transgressing the space of the stage, then the gallery, and ultimately the viewer’s voyeuristic pleasure. This time, the audience followed, enraptured and watching from the balcony. Arms raised in a final movement, the dancers finished, as waves upon waves of raucous applause were showered upon them.

Jumatatu Poe’s “Let ‘im Move You: This is a Success” (2016) at ICA Philadelphia

Jumatatu Poe’s “Let ‘im Move You: A Study” and “Let ‘im Move You: This is a Success” were performed at the Institute of Contemporary Art (University of Philadelphia, 118 S 36th Street) on January 22. Endless Shout continues through March 19.

The post Plié Meets Twerk in a Performance of Black Queer Joy appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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