cringeisdeadandsoami

[cringeisdeadandsoami]

So, I saw this image on Facebook, and it was supposedly showing what Queen Nefertiti would have looked like in real life:

Now, I thought this AI generated garbage was just truly terrible on a number of levels; first off, she looks wayyyyyy too modern - her makeup is very “Hollywood glamour”, she looks airbrushed and de-aged, and as far as I’m aware, Ancient Egyptians didn’t have mascara, glitter-based eyeshadows and lip gloss. Secondly, her features are exceptionally whitewashed in every sense - this is pretty standard for AI as racial bias is prevalent in feeding AI algorithms, but I genuinely thought a depiction of such a known individual would not exhibit such euro-centric features. Thirdly, the outfit was massively desaturated and didn’t take pigment loss into consideration, and while I *do* like the look of the neck attire, it's not at all accurate (plus, again, AI confusion on the detailing is evident).

So, this inspired me to alter the image on the left to be more accurate based off the sculpture’s features. I looked into Ancient Egyptian makeup and looked at references for kohl eyeliner and clay-based facial pigment (rouge was used on cheeks, charcoal-based powder/paste was used to darken and elongate eyebrows), and I looked at pre-existing images of Nefertiti, both her mummy and other reconstructions. While doing this, I found photos of a 3D scanned sculpture made by scientists at the University of Bristol and chose to collage the neck jewellery over the painting (and edited the lighting and shadows as best as I could).

Something I see a lot of in facial recreations of mummies is maintaining the elongated and skinny facial features as seen on preserved bodies - however, fat, muscle and cartilage shrink/disappear post mortem, regardless of preservation quality; Queen Nefertiti had art created of her in life, and these pieces are invaluable to developing an accurate portrayal of her, whether stylistic or realistic in nature.

And hey, while I don't think my adjustments are perfect (especially the neck area), I *do* believe it is a huge improvement to the original image I chose to work on top of.

I really liked working on this project for the last few days, and I think I may continue to work on it further to perfect it. But, until then, I hope you enjoy!

Remember, likes don't help artists but reblogs do!

[cringeisdeadandsoami]

I think my favorite part of Dungeons and Drag Queens is the "girls playing mermaids" energy they all have.

I feel like seasoned DND players feel like they have these restrictions on what they can do, like "well how does the rules describe the spell" and DNDQ just goes "Well when I start casting my skin starts glowing and I summon spirits around me AND AND AND the spirits sparkle AND they whisper stuff AND my skin is glowing like rainbow sparkles" like do you know the energy I'm talking about it's so like kid with an imagination, all I care about is having the coolest idea and looking cool lol

Like as much as I love D20 and TAZ comedians being ironic can get a little annoying. Like "what are you wearing" "A GOOF, A BIT" vs "What are you wearing" "I'm wearing a floor length dress with gems and glitter and my shoes are gold and sparkly" like I don't feel like coming up with real examples but yall know what I mean RIGHT it's literally so fun

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"It doesn't help your credibility to exaggerate, most employers wouldn't literally work you to death" like, I used to work in distribution. If booking a truck driver for back to back shifts until they fall asleep at the wheel, crash, and die counts as being worked to death, I have personally met employers who've worked employees to death and gotten away with a slap on the wrist. It may not be universal, but it's a hell of a lot more common than a lot of us would prefer to think.

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my wife: who was that problematic author, the one who did enderman's game? uhhhh... orville redenbacher?

me: can I post that

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I've really been enjoying @derinthescarletpescatarian 's Child of a Wandering Star, an amazing first encounter story from the POV of the aliens, and the image of an astronaut being read as a baby star-god was so delicious to me so I had to draw the "hatching" scene.

and because im normal i was like well if im drawing the aliens I need to hunt down mentions of their physical appearance so I can know exactly what they look like and model them after real arthropods. obviously

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Everyone should give my cat so so so much love

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TAMARA RALPH Couture Spring/Summer 2025 if you want to support this blog consider donating to: ko-fi.com/fashionrunways

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whitebored :P

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me when someone abruptly asks me if i want to go and do something fun together but the fun thing wasn't part of my daily plan:

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my veins of pitch black ink ;

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