beryllineart

[beryllineart]

Golden-bellied Starfrontlet (Coeligena bonapartei)

I found out about 3 hours ago that National Hummingbird Day is the first Saturday of September. Guess it's time for a new profile picture!

Hummingbirds are so pretty. I've said this before, but they are my favorite animal. I love their colors.

[beryllineart]

Detective Papyrus (Sherlock Bones?)

@acrownameduck made this post today about how Papyrus would make a great Sherlock Holmes type detective. This is something I have thought myself many times, so today I conquered my fear of drawing Papyrus because someone else thinks he would be a great detective.

Undyne would be like Lestrade, of course. I personally think in an Undertale/Sherlock Holmes combo, Papyrus would want to join the police force as an officer or official detective, but it's actually kind of convenient for Undyne to keep him as a consulting detective who doesn't have to follow the same rules she does. But this does make Papyrus feel left out, so he tends to get a bit rebellious if Undyne decides not to ask for his help. They're usually good friends though.

Flowey would be Moriarty, of course. I actually have only read the books (and seen Without a Clue, which I highly recommend) so I was super confused as to why Moriarty is such a famous character when he literally only appears in one story. Moriarty's whole thing is that he's kind of an invisible antagonist, so I would love Flowey to just pop up and taunt Papyrus at every turn, and no one believes that a talking flower is masterminding all these crimes.

Monster Kid would be a Baker Street Irregular. Their admiration for both Undyne and Papyrus makes them perfect for the job. Also, I don't know what Alphys would be up to, but probably some general sciency stuff. I get the feeling she wouldn't necessarily be part of the police force, but would definitely be up to looking at crime scenes and analyzing whatever stuff needs analyzing. She'd also be the only one to believe Papyrus about Flowey.

Okay, I love the movie Without a Clue. Its basic premise is that Watson is the real brains of the operation, and Sherlock Holmes is an actor he hired to do all the public detective stuff. Watch it, it's super funny and I love it.

Anyways, I like to imagine that here, Sans is a mix between Watson and Sherlock's brother Mycroft. He's lazy, but smart, and sometimes he's the one who connects the dots way before his brother does. But he's always willing to give his brother the spotlight, so he'll just do some gentle (or not so gentle) nudging to get Papyrus on the right track. After all, every Sherlock needs their Watson, or Wat-"Sans" as the case may be.... that was a terrible joke and I'm sorry.

So, those are my personal thoughts on a Papyrus Sherlock Holmes type detective character... thing. I can't draw Papyrus, why is he so hard to draw, there are so many people who are so good at drawing him and I am supremely jealous!

[beryllineart]

Yay me!

Ok so I've got a writing project that I've been doing research for for months, right? And this research has been super, super hard because I'm actively fighting my weaknesses here and all the resources I've found are basically made for people who already know what they're doing.

So, like, after months of research and a few decent ideas I finally hit upon an idea that was short. Literally all of my ideas (the ones that aren't total failures, at least) have ended up being complicated, long form projects that will take many, many months to write and polish, and perfectionism requires me to do so much more research for worldbuilding, historical context, forensic evidence, etc, before I even start writing.

But this idea I had today is short, and primarily based on vibes, and isn't contrived or dumb. Do you know how crazy that is? I can't write short, yet somehow, my brain managed to think up a short story that doesn't require me to go through more months of research. Just a couple days, at most. And I'm not stuck! I haven't been able to write outlines for my previous ideas because they're too big, but this idea is small. I have a full cast of characters that have some depth to them and a few details about each. Do you know how hard that is?

It's okay for me to celebrate, right? This is a dream I've had for myself for years and am only now getting close to achieving after months of actively working towards it. Like, I know that all I've done is write down my ramblings, it's not even a coherent outline, and it'll probably take me 3-7 days to write the thing, plus I want to draw it so that'll take forever, but it's a workable idea that won't overwhelm me. I think I can finish this. But I feel weird for feeling so elated before I've even done any "real" work, but also this is the first time I feel I can actually make my progress into a finished product instead of procrastinating or overthinking or moving on.

I literally told myself when I started this that I wasn't allowed to get excited and ramble about this until after I had actually finished something, because I have a tendency to ramble once and abandon projects (perfectionism has a huge part to play in that, I'm afraid). But I want to ramble and I want to share my excitement because this has been a long, hard struggle up a metaphorical mountain, and I can finally see the top. I actually know what to do next and I'm so excited to make my way past these final few obstacles, partly because they're things I've dealt with before (research, writer's block and artist's block).

I want to try those longer ideas at some point because I'm excited about those too, but this short story idea is complete, unlike all those other ideas, which are mostly scenes or evidence that I want to fit together but have no idea how to. So yeah. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to call this a milestone or accomplishment since it's like, barely the first step in writing a story, but I think I'll take it as a win anyway.

[beryllineart]

Blind composing

So... music.

I love listening to music, and I love composing music, but I gotta say, my biggest enemy when it comes to pretty much anything creative is the blank page. I have two ways that I get around this for music, and they are very similar, but the second one might be better for really bad creative block.

I am a "classically trained musician," and by that I just mean I played violin in high school, so when I compose music I prefer staffs (staves?) and clefs and music notes and stuff. That means that for composing, Musescore is my go-to because it matches how I think.

Also, it's kind of funny that I call it "blind composing" when it really should be "deaf composing," because these techniques are actually pretty deliberate but do require you to mute your computer or do it on paper without hearing anything.

So, I did the initial bit of this melody during one of my college classes last semester, but I didn't want to use earbuds because, y'know, I would have missed what my teacher was saying. I got out a little notebook, wrote the alphabet like you see above, and turned a whole bunch of random words into musical letters, which I then put into a muted Musescore. I don't remember what word this example was, plus this has been polished (I listened to it and changed it a bit) but it gave me a direction where previously I had none.

One problem I do get when I use the previous technique is that if I'm just putting down quarter notes, 8 times out of 10 I'm not going to have any ideas for the rhythm. So, I got out a couple of dice and a coin to add to my toolset. Here are the steps I took.

Okay, I do have to confess one thing. I listened to this piece as I wrote it, but all the preliminary steps forced me to follow a plan, so I didn't get overwhelmed by not knowing if I needed an eighth note next, or a G vs a B, etc etc. I definitely suffer from choice paralysis, and this helps.

These steps aren't going to produce winners every time, but at least they put something on the page, right? I just thought I'd share some of the tactics I use when I just can't think of a melody but really want to compose something. Plus, it's more deliberate than randomly putting notes on the page, which I feel gives it a higher chance for success.

[beryllineart]

National Tell a Joke Day (again!)

Tell a Joke Day is the first holiday I celebrated on this blog! When you compare the art I did last year to the art I did today, you can see how much I've improved.

I always love looking for reasons to celebrate, and it's been so fun celebrating the randomest holidays with art, music, and other things. They honestly give me a lot of good inspiration, and I'm grateful for that.

I was originally going to do a comic full of baking puns, but that would have required me to draw Papyrus. Which I can't do. So I did math jokes instead, because I can sort of draw Frisk, even if I was a bit inconsistent. It's 2 in the morning as I'm writing this, I do not have the energy to keep working on this comic.

Looking forward to many more holidays and many more reasons to celebrate!

[beryllineart]

International Left Handers Day

Yeah, fun fact, Revali is left handed, as are most of the Links, excluding Breath of the Wild and Skyward Sword Link.

I'm curious if Link would be able to deactivate Rauru's arm. What with all the rings and adornments and things, it can't be super comfortable to lie on and stuff.

Undertale lefties! It's been way too long since I've drawn any of the Undertale characters, forgive me for the quality.

It's also Alfred Hitchcock's birthday, so we checked out a whole bunch of Hitchcock films from the library and we're gonna watch them after we clean the house a bit. I'm looking forward to it!

[beryllineart]

I feel annoyed...

Seriously, these guys never comment on anything I've spent more than an hour on. (Not that I want them replying to my posts)

[beryllineart]

My favorite books are the Discworld books! I recommend them to anyone who likes fantasy. I don't often laugh aloud when I'm reading, but the Discworld books have made me do so multiple times. Death is my favorite character, but the Vimes books are probably my favorites.

I think the worst good book I've ever read is Les Miserables. I am really holding myself back from going on a rant about how much I hate that book, but it's pretty good and now that the bad memories have faded I sometimes find myself wanting to reread it. But Victor Hugo likes to go on tangents... and by tangents I mean that I want to read a story about Jean Valjean, Cosette and the other main characters, and instead he gives me 60 pages about the battle of Waterloo... and that's only the first example of his tangents. Also, Marius really rubbed me the wrong way (but that's my personal taste.)

I love mysteries, but I'll admit I've only read Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot stories (as well as a couple of modern cozy mysteries.) Holmes will always have a special place in my heart, being how I got into mystery stories, but Poirot will probably be my favorite detective for a long time. I think it may be because Poirot is a "fair play" detective and Holmes is a "gotcha" detective. I'm working on a mystery right now, and I'm studying Agatha Christie's stories to help me figure things out.

Anyways, that's me rambling about some of the books at the top of my mind today. I love books and reading so much!

[beryllineart]

Owl Wizard or something... idk

So, my birthday was earlier this month, and things like new years, birthdays and special holidays often inspire me to try to improve. So this month, I decided to find out what I need to learn. It's all well and good to say, "I want to learn!", but you won't actually learn if you don't know what you need to learn.

This month I learned that I work better if I am focusing on one thing at a time. I have a tendency to think ahead a bit too much when I'm writing or doing art (the endless curse of revising as you work) and that can really stop you from getting into a flow state. But now that I knew the problem, I could address it, which I did for this piece.

I was really inspired by how Peter Mohrbacher (@bugmeyer here on tumblr) does his art, and I actually used his brushes for most of it.

Focusing on one thing at a time (values, then colors, then details) really, really helped, and my problem solving skills and stamina were much better too. If I got stuck, I was able to figure out what needed fixing, and if I needed a break, I was able to come back and get straight to work. I have so many art pieces I abandoned just because I was too overwhelmed trying to figure out what I was supposed to do next.

One thing that makes me really happy is that I have a specific thing to work on now; materials and textures. Working on this made me mindful of my specific weaknesses, rather than a general, "My art sucks but I don't know how to fix it," mindset. I guess I'm just glad that I got to see some real improvement in my art this month.

Also, July 30th is International Day of Friendship.

[beryllineart]

Quick comic

Self indulgent birthday present to remind me that I am still capable of making comics. The holidays today are World Chocolate Day, Macaroni Day and Father Daughter Take a Walk Day.

It is also Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's death day (someday I hope to write a mystery... or multiple. I have huge respect for mystery authors.)

Some art and things that have helped me regain confidence in my art skills (and style). I have had art block for way too long, but I'm finally getting over it.

I can do character design! These two might appear in a comic, assuming today wasn't a fluke. I just have a lot of trouble with panels... and backgrounds.

Anyways, happy birthday to me, and the holidays today rule! I love finding reasons to celebrate!

[beryllineart]

Version without sound effects (and some rambling) below the cut.

There's just something lovely about a quiet forest with a stream or babbling brook. I have been trying for ages to draw a piece of environment art that fits this music, and I think this really works. I'm a sucker for dark blues and purples. My brother and I both agreed that some sound effects would really tie the music and art together.

This is the longest piece of music I've composed so far, being almost 3 minutes. I think it's really pretty myself. The more I learn about music, the harder it is to compose, if I'm being honest. Learning about things like layering and counterpoint but not knowing how to implement them can be frustrating sometimes. Luckily, this piece was the perfect mix of deliberate choices and random inspiration, and even a month later I still like listening to it.

I have not been keeping up with my New Year's resolution of getting better at drawing backgrounds, however, I am technically better than I was at the beginning of the year. I just haven't improved as much as I could have. To be fair, I've been dividing my attention, and I think (or hope) that I've improved in some other artistic areas as well. Though apparently composition is not one of those things. This forest art could be a lot better, but it could also be a lot worse. I'll take the win.

...Still no good at titling things.

[beryllineart]

Some doodles

So, I was spending a lot of time sketching and trying to improve my art, you know, get better at character design, I've got a project I need to do worldbuilding for, etc etc etc... but I started drawing these little guys in my sketchbook instead.

There is absolutely no benefit to me drawing them, they aren't helping me learn anything... but they're fun to draw! And I decided not to feel guilty about just letting myself have fun and doodle the same thing over and over again, despite it being basically useless. I didn't learn anything about proportions, my poses are as stiff as ever, and there's only so much you can do with eyes that are just dots.

If you consider my goal going into my sketching session (which was to improve with facial expressions) then you could definitely consider this a failure. But I like that it doesn't feel like a failure, because these guys are cute, and when I look at that page in my sketchbook, I won't remember wasted time. I'll remember how much fun I had!

I'm a full believer in "practice makes progress" and I'm always looking for ways to improve my art, but sometimes it's good to just stay in your comfort zone and not bother improving at all. Practice without progress is okay (especially when you're a bit burnt out and just want to start having fun again).

I like these little guys.

[beryllineart]

Deltarune today! I haven't been able to draw anything decent for over a month, so uhh... have this old comic I did a while back.

Battle Against Lancer

... Oh dear... That wasn't supposed to happen...

Deltarune belongs to Toby Fox

Ok, little headcanon here, I think it would be cool if Darkners turned into the object they are in the Light World if they die in the Dark World. Hence, Lancer turning into the Jack of Spades when Susie kills him. She has no idea what just happened, and even though she didn't get any LOVE or anything, she knows that Lancer is definitely dead, and it's her fault. And the player can't do anything to stop it because they can't control or stop Susie.

Anyways, with Ralsei, his robes would cover up the object he really is when he reaches 0 hp, but it wouldn't be damaged like Lancer's card is because it's not a permanent death unless the whole team dies.

But come on, turning into the object could have a whole lore behind it, because the Angel is worshipped by the Light and feared by the Dark, right? So what if it is because light doesn't mean death, but death means light to the Darkners? Like, when a Darkner dies, they are brought to the Light and forced into that form, permanently. It makes sense in my head, ignore my ramblings.

Anyways, I'm not sure how my headcanon would work for Chapter 2 Darkners, but come on, I wasn't going to miss the chance to draw a card sliced to bits with a traumatized Susie looking on. You can tell that I cared about that page because I added a background. Also, I realize that the soul on page 2 comes from Susie when technically it should come from Kris, but I liked the way it looked (and totally didn't notice where it was spawning from when I played the game.)

Comics are hard, but I had so much fun playing around with the panels on the first two pages. My pacing might be a bit off though... Also, it's so so hard to draw the same character over and over in different poses, so sorry if Susie looks a bit different than she should, I did my best. And sorry for the ramble, but that's why I put the keep reading thing up above. If you read through my brain dump, good job! Get yourself a cookie.

[beryllineart]

D&D Character Idea

...

I'm not sorry.

[beryllineart]

World Turtle Day

May 23rd is World Turtle Day, so I painted a picture of my favorite world turtle, the Great A'tuin from Discworld!

[beryllineart]

I had a dream that I set myself on fire, and I did not stop, drop and roll... I'm a little disappointed in myself right now.

[beryllineart]

I really need ice cream right now...

I have to make a phone call later, and so my brain is doing weird things to compensate for the emotional distress I'm experiencing by turning it into physical discomfort, since that is something that is more easily remedied I guess?

Like, I really need some sort of weight on my shoulders and back, but I don't want a blanket covering my arms because that's just a really bad feeling right now. And I really hate violin music at the moment, like, it's causing me to mildly panic due to the way it sounds? Usually I love strings, but I think I can only listen to brass as long as it's somewhat soft (also I can't listen to woodwinds currently, only brass). And also, I need to taste something cold and sweet because of- hear me out- my current comfort color.

You know that scene in Ratatouille where Remy is tasting stuff and it's doing different music and colors and patterns and things? That's kind of happening to me, but instead the colors are coming first and I'm understanding what tastes I need to make my mouth feel those colors. And in order to get the comforting feeling of... idk, what is that, a pale night sky?... I need cookies and cream ice cream. Vanilla would work, but cookies and cream is just that extra bit I need, like stars in the sky. Not necessary, but it would give the best effect.

Anyways, I feel a little bit silly writing this now... I guess rambling and actually drawing my comfort color helped me calm down, so those things I said before aren't bothering me as much. I still want ice cream though.