fluffypenguins16

[fluffypenguins16]

Going to be starting this on Sunday but adding my own twist to it 💗

30 Days of Art Improvement Challenge

Are you tired of feeling like your art just isn’t improving? Do you want to do a 30-day challenge that’s actually useful? Welcome to 30 Days of Improvement Hell. >:D

I made this because I’ve been feeling super ‘blah’ about my art these days, and I needed something to kick-start myself. Who wants to do this with me!? Start now or whenever you can (now you procrastinators!). Challenge yourself and have fun at the same time!

Tag your posts with #Improvement Hell so everyone can follow along and see each other’s awesome artwork. I may even create a blog and reblog them! :D

What are you waiting for? START!

Self-Portrait - Introduce yourself

Draw a figure using a reference - link to reference

Draw a figure that’s in action, using a reference - link to reference

Draw a part of the human anatomy you have trouble with. x20, with atleast 5 being skeletal/musculature studies.

Draw more figures. Quick gestures and silhouettes. x20, with atleast 10 different body shapes

Let’s have some fun. Design a character from either This or This character generator! Be creative and bring something to life!

Pick the weirdest object in your house/room. Draw it. Shadows and Highlights.

Find 2-3 objects, make a scene with them. Draw it. Bonus points for creativity. Double points for dramatic lighting.

Draw a landscape of a place you’ve never been or drawn.

Draw a BG with 1pt Perspective. Negative points if it’s a railroad or an empty street.

Draw a BG with 2pt Perspective.

Look out a window. Draw what you see. Bonus points for adding something interesting.

Draw an interior setting with the character you designed on Day #6 in it.

BG with either bird’s eye or worm’s eye view.

Halfway there! Draw three 'action’ scenes with different compositions in each. Quick sketches are fine, just make them interesting and understandable! Bonus points if it’s the same scene, but different composition.

Draw a single page comic with 5-7 panels (the story begins and ends on one page). 

Draw an animal you’ve never drawn before. x10  Link references.

Draw a car. Negative points for whining. Hint: Use a perspective grid.

Think of the thing you hate drawing the most. Guess what? Draw it! Negative points for lying to yourself.

Pick an object in your house/room. Now design a character from it, using the shapes, forms, textures, purpose and colors as inspiration. Also link/post the object you used. Negative points for using a humanoid action figure.

Draw a character/object/scene, and shade them using ONLY solid blacks and whites. Bonus points for good use of lights/shadows

Draw a different object/scene/character. Shade using hatching, crosshatcing, and/or pointillism. Bonus points for lights/shadows and textures.

Colors! Pick a color palette, and paint a scene/character/object using only those colors (some blending allowed). Bonus points for good use of lights/shadows.

Draw and color a scene/object/character - no lines allowed! (aka - lineless art). Don’t forget light and shadows!

Draw a scene/character in a style you’ve never drawn before. If emulating an artist, credit+link. Bonus for color style.

Draw a character. Draw 10 emotions/expressions. Bonus points for 'uncommon’ emotions. (i.e. anxiety, guilt, despair, loneliness etc.)

Draw three random shapes using your opposite hand (or your foot). Now design characters from those shapes.

Turn on the tv (or load your illegally downloaded movies). Pick an actor and draw them.

Almost done! Let’s have some fun. Draw some fanart. Bonus points if it’s super obscure and unknown. Make people guess what it’s from.

Last day! Find a drawing you did within the last year. Now draw it again using what you’ve learned! Link it for comparison!

 Look at all that amazing improvement! Congrats!

[Update] There is now a sequel challenge, Draw All The Things!

[fluffypenguins16]

You can either fight against your brain which will hurt like hell or you can listen to your brain which will be hell

[fluffypenguins16]

The War

There’s constant battle in my mind. Part of me wants to go out and live life, experience joy, feel the warmth of the sun of my face and be kissed by the magic of a genuine smile while part of me wants to end said life. I am floundering in deep waters the absence of my adolescent years clearer than ever while I smile and hide behind the carefully curated facade of an ‘adult’. There’s a constant battle in my mind between survival and destruction

[fluffypenguins16]

At the start of the year I thought you would be forever

Thought I was clever

But now it’s less than 48 hours until 2025

And all I want to do is hide

[fluffypenguins16]

End of Beginning

I’m sorry I couldn’t be the girl you wanted

I’m sorry I wasn’t who you thought I would be

I’m sorry I’m broken I’m heartbroken to let you free

God please save me

As I wave goodbye to the end of the beginning

[fluffypenguins16]

In A Year’s Time

Restriction will become freedom

Fake laughter and smiles will turn into real ones

Nights spent hating myself will be spent pampering myself

Mental exhaustion will turn into strength

Hiding my body in baggy clothes will turn into the freedom to wear whatever I like

Loneliness will turn into connection

Rumination will turn into focusing on my dreams

In a year’s time I hope all will be fine

[fluffypenguins16]

List of Inexpensive Things To Do

(With other people or as a solo date 🫶 - list curated by a broke socially anxious 20 year old)

- At home movie night (bonus blanket fort)

- Walk and grab a coffee (or tea)

- Have a picnic

- Have a study date

- At home pamper night

- At home high tea (try baking your own treats)

- Make yogurt bowls (because froyo ain’t cheap)

- Make a fancy dinner at home

- Eat ice cream by the water

- Go swimming

- Go thrifting

- Do some crafts (painting, drawing, crochet etc)

- Have a photoshoot

- Go to free events/markets

- Go window shopping

- Make a cake to celebrate life :)

- At home workouts

- Take a nap

- Have an at home yoga/meditation retreat

[fluffypenguins16]

Exposure Therapy Tips 💗

1. Take a fidget toy with you

(I never leave the house for an exposure task without my squishies <3)

2. Wear clothes that are comfortable and make you feel confident

(Being as comfortable physically and mentally can help prevent anxiety from getting worse)

3. Plan tasks in advance

(For me personally I have a weekly planner where I assign myself a task everyday such as ‘get on a train’ or ‘go for a walk by myself’ having set tasks everyday helps keep me accountable and also allows me to mentally prepare myself)

4. Practice affirmations e.g: “I can get through this”

(It can be hard to control the physical reaction to exposure therapy regardless of whether or not you try to control the mental reaction unfortunately but every little bit counts)

5. Get a good night sleep the night beforehand

(This one may be hard for a lot of people especially if you’re like me and struggle with PTSD but trying to get a good night sleep the night before can help prevent further exhaustion which exacerbates anxiety)

6. Fuel your body before and after

(Again another one that may be hard for a lot of people including the author of this post but fueling your body when it’s under stress is so important)

7. Find a support system

(For me this includes my psychologist, GP, parents and boyfriend)

8. And finally be kind to yourself!

(The fact that you are fighting your mind every time you step outside your house and still go out regardless makes you pretty badass if I say so myself 😊)

[fluffypenguins16]

It’s a different kind of pain when you know you need to change but can’t find the strength inside yourself to do so. I hate so many parts of myself but no matter how hard I try to overcome them they always take over

[fluffypenguins16]

Re-entering Society

No one ever talks about how painful and isolating it can feel at times when you re enter society as a person who has experienced trauma. Following a mental breakdown at 16 I hid myself away from the world for years grocery shops with my mum became the highlight of my week. The mere thought of leaving the house alone instantly made my body freeze, as my world contracted so did my personality, my spirit, my power. I became a slave to my anxiety. Now at 20 although I am far from healed I am no longer that traumatised little girl whose body could not distinguish between a simple solo walk around the block and being in an active war zone (trains still feel like this for me but I’m slowly working on it) and it’s beautiful in some ways. I have more than I ever dreamed of, a loving partner, beautiful friends, little creative projects I’m working on and for the first time in forever a direction forward in life outside the confines of 4 walls yet I feel alone.

When people reminisce on their high school years I remember how everyday was a battle to stay alive. I feel so alone sometimes but maybe that’s a blessing in disguise because perhaps my path was harder because my calling was higher

[fluffypenguins16]

A Love Letter to the Sea 🦋🌊

Since I’ve been little I’ve always had an affinity with the ocean. No matter how loud the thoughts it my head were the crashing of the waves on the shoreline always drowned it out. Everyone has a place in their mind they go to when they are feeling overwhelmed for me this is the sea maybe because it reminds me that we’re all connected and free.

[fluffypenguins16]

Writer’s Block

It’s the most frustrating feeling in the world when you have so much to say but word’s elude your mind on how to say it. You feel the walls closing in as you remember your own mortality at times you can almost feel the call from the graveyard yet a visit from a Grim Reaper isn’t what scares you, it’s the fact that this all might be for nothing. Your story may never get told, the words never printed to page. How fun is writer’s block!

[fluffypenguins16]

Lost in The Sea

As I stand on the shoreline looking out I can feel the ocean pulling me in so many directions and I ponder which one is right for me?

I feel lost in the sea I desperately try to make my way through the waves only to find myself drowning, my thoughts paralysing my body which was once my home now feels like a prison.

But maybe we are all lost in the sea.

[fluffypenguins16]

First post on my new blog slay ig