astralminstrel

[astralminstrel]

I am becoming aware of the effect a lack of trust in the media has had on people, paired with a dearth of research skills.

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Hercules model sheets by Andreas Deja

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“There are other forces at work in this world besides the will of evil.”

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animation of charmander makin some pancakes

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This is a good reminder to future me that if someone is promoting something, they're probably selling it. Anyone selling something is doing so for a reason. It's becoming more important to investigate that reason, not less.

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Christians have a similar dilemma.

God's 9th Commandement is "Don't give false witness against your neighbour", which has also been interpreted as "Don't lie". (Exodus 20:16)

Earlier there's an example of midwives lying to the king of Egypt to protect innocent lives. (Exodus 1:18-21) Though, you could argue that was before the Commandments were made, so I'll give another example.

Rahab, a prostitute living in Jericho, lies on the behalf of two Hebrews to the authorities. (Joshua 2:4-6) Then she gets included in Jesus' genealogy. (Matthew 1:5)

This indirectly suggests that lying is sometimes necessary for the sake of protecting lives. In which case, it's the morally right option.

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The composition looks so nice, and the brushstrokes are really clean. They look so real. I wouldn't have even suspected AI. Kind of alarming if it is AI art.

The only thing that made me think it might be is the noise on the edge of the branches. Y'know, that pixel fuzz?

Which is less pronounced in other high contrast areas. Like where the edge of one house meets the other.

These were both max zoom and cropped phone screenshots, so the resolution is the same. The amount of fuzz should be similar if it's just a lossy file...

I hope someone smarter than I am could look into whether this artist is using AI art to generate works.

By Juan Brufal

[astralminstrel]

Hey, I love the comic! I love how the storywriting stays true to the original series but also adds its own fun spin on it! You've actually inspired me to write my own Blue diamond AU, lol.

Anyways I have a question for making comics just in general. How can you make dynamic compositions in such a small space. I honestly love how intricate all of your panels fade into one another!

So, if you're okay with it, I was wondering if you could give me some tips on how that would work?

Anyway, I love the comic and stay awesome!

:D

Your own comic - that's awesome to hear! It's always exciting to start something like that. I wish you the best of luck in your goals!

As for the paneling - honestly, the first step is to stop thinking of it as a 'small space'! The truth is, even on a small mobile screen, we can fit a lot of detail. And as long as we know how to use the space wisely, it's not ever going to feel small.

Ironically, cramming MORE into a panel makes it feel smaller.

Drawing less on a panel makes it feel larger. Weird, isn't it?

My more general advice is... STUDY MOVIES!

Don't just WATCH movies. But study them. Movies are like comics for dummies because there's only one size and shape of a panel and all the characters do the hard work of acting for you. (It's a joke, don't kill me.)

Anyway, the paneling in movies is versatile and interesting BECAUSE they're putting that single wide panel to the best use. If you already drew some comics, compare them to a movie screenshot and see what's different! Then, ask yourself why a certain angle, or a certain cropping of an image works better.

You'll find that there's some awesome ways to cram fun details into even the smallest corner of a panel. :)

There's also some awesome art resources by more talented comic artists than me out there. I'm sure others will link them in the comments, but for now, here's one I found:

[astralminstrel]

What’s your favorite part about working on the comic? Specifically the comic; like drawing it, coloring, writing scripts, etc

Oh, that's an interesting question! Let's rate them!

Sketching/Drawing: (9/10) Creating at its finest. For me, this is the distilled elixir of creation. The heart of being a comic artist. I love organizing panels on a page, it's like playing tetris. I love drawing! Points off for requiring so much time. Why can't I just bang my head against a tablet and dump out all the pictures onto the screen at once?

Scripting: (6/10) Pretty standard work. I enjoy it well enough, but it gets points taken off for requiring so much re-writing and emotional turmoil. Sometimes, I will rework a line 3-4 times and think it works great, but inevitably something will come along to make me think it would have been better to have the character say that OTHER thing instead.

Lineart: (11/10) Excellent. Stupendous. This is drawing, if drawing required no braincells. It's meditation! I'm listening to a 2 hour long video essay about evolution or manta rays or ancient trees. I'm happy, I'm in my lane, I'm flourishing. (This would have been 12/10 except for those times when you're drawing the same line 17 times and are stuck in a ctrl+z loop.)

Coloring: (-2/10) Don't like it. Cannot recommend it. People tell me they like this part? I'm skeptical. It's tedious. It's boring. It's like one of those baby games where you put cubes into a square hole, etc, but sometimes the cubes the misshapen and don't go in smoothly. At best it's just 10 minutes of clicking with a bucket tool. At worst, it's coloring within the lines, which I have been OVER since I was 4.

Rendering values, special effects: (5/10) This is fine. It's simply fine. I can enjoy it. It's interesting, but a bit repetitive, but it takes less effort than coloring, with more variety, so I respect it.

Posting: (4/10) This is a trap. There IS a typo, and you WILL see it as soon as you click Post. Or as soon as the post hits 100 notes. Whichever one is more painful. But on the other hand... commints! But on the other-other hand... people misunderstanding your characters' intentions and being a whole clown in the comments about it! It's a mixed bag.

[astralminstrel]

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

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awesome

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i realized this was also lost in the fall of the CH website so

since it’s That Time of Year again, i’m just gonna bring back my Every Christmas TV Rom-Com comic

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Hey, do you have any tips on giving characters a wardrobe that fits them? (I dunno how to do clothes and I love the outfits you do so I thought I'd ask ^^')

Tip 1: Nail down a style. Bohemian, Chic, Atheletic, Lazy, Geeky, Professional, Sweet, Goth, etc. A character’s fashion says a lot about them, so narrowing it down to a specific style makes looking for references to pull from a lot easier.

Tip 2: Consider your character’s lifestyle. Are they dressing the way they do because they like it or because it’s necessary? For example, despite the fact that I love loose blouses and soft flowy fabric, I didn’t wear it a lot because tshirts were my work uniform and it was more economical to collect shirts. 

Does your character have time to plan their outfit or are they on the run? Do they have a uniform or dress code? Are their parents or partner lenient on their clothes or strict? Can they afford good clothes and accessories or are they going for the cheapest option? Do their clothes have deep personal value to them or are they just another thing for them to do in the day?

Tip 3: What is your character’s personality? As stated, a character’s fashion says a lot about them and this can bleed into more than just their style. If a character buttons their shirts all the way to the collar, then that makes them feel rigid, no nonsense, perfectionist. If a character’s clothes are worn out or loose that makes them look relaxed, lazy, open. They can cover all their skin or let things flash, they can roll up their sleeves or tuck in their shirt. All these little micro expressions show off the character’s personality in ways that aren’t married to their style.

And mixing the Style with the WAY they wear their style can help express deeper character. A Messy Bohemian reads like an Artist, but a Clean Cut Goth reads like a Cool Character. Characters can share a style but the way they wear it can have opposing vibes coming off of them. Technically Sabrina and Kagami have the same style (Uniform/Nerdy) but they don’t have the same personality. 

[astralminstrel]

it's so hard to be productive when I am constantly distracted by my bugcat show

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I would not have picked up on the lighting on the Vespa, the cats fur, the rendering of iridescence, the random gourd, nor the spokes on Vespa being different. But I caught the pan thing.

I got an anxiety knot, but I'll detangle it under the break.

I'm an amateur artist, still learning these things. I've made rendering mistakes. I've missed fingers on people's hands. I've had weird highlights or shadows in places they shouldn't be. Sometimes all at once.

It's awe inspiring that people can pick up on these things! Like, total sorcery that anyone could look at an image and go "that's AI art" with confidence.

Then my anxiety whispers, I can't post anything until it's perfect, otherwise people will think it's fake or bad.

I'm trying not to listen to that voice, because it's prevented me from making art for so long. Prevented me from posting, even.

I guess, I wouldn't know what the difference is between "rendering mistakes by an amateur" vs "AI fudge" anyway. So I'm not sure how to catch these mistakes in my own work. Which means I'll never be perfect. Which, if I let it, would mean that I never post anything.

How... Do I combat this...? I don't know if I even can.

I could take screenshots of my artwork during the sketching and rendering, just in case someone asks if it's AI or not. But that seems a bit overly paranoid. God knows I don't need more paranoid compulsions in my life.

I could try to ignore comments about art being AI, with an understanding that they might never go away. This feels like a new age of trolling potential. I mean, if someone ever picked apart my mistakes like this, I think I might cry.

I could just never post anything again. Art doesn't need to be shared, right? It's not like that's where all the feedback comes from or anything. Haha...

I mean, whatever, right? If I post something and people hate it, why should it bother me? I just wanted to post it so I could see a timeline of improvement anyway. Like a sketchbook of infinite pages.

Or maybe I should just post photos of my crochet projects instead. Or whatever. Maybe I should post links of my half finished and abandoned fan fics. Or the pics of my pearling projects. Or literally anything else that I've made.

Art by Mandyland 👻 🍂

[astralminstrel]

Jolteon's shiny has a barely-different green colour. What if we crank it up to 11?

Army green.