#ART FOR WHOSE SAKE?

[stil-lindigo]

prodigal son.

a sort of epilogue for God of War Ragnarok, since I miss these two so much.

support me on patreon

[giddlygoat]

can i get a kiss? and can you make it last forever?

i got emotional listening to See You Again by tyler, the creator. i thought of how long mario and peach have been a part of each other’s lives, and so i wanted to paint one of their very first romantic moments. painting in the N64 style was TONS of fun!

[5mcsinatrenchcoat]

Baldur's Gate is not a small city, and there's never a shortage of kids running on its streets. Fighting, stealing, making a name for themselves. Creating their own crews and sticking to them, mostly. That being said, if you grew up on the same streets, you probably crossed paths at least once. Even if you're unlikely to remember it...

When Karlach was talking about her childhood, I couldn't help but think: what are the chances that Vice, a street urchin from the same city and of approximately similar age, ever met her?

Wouldn't that be cute.

[undistortedworld]

some designs i made of my fav mdzs characters to hand out at a con i went to last month!

(i still have a couple of each left because i kept forgetting i had them until after id parted with people i met sdhjdsh so if anyone is interested send me a message and i would be happy to see if i can send them to you depending on postage! :) )

plus the lil xiyao chibis i did last minute that i cannot find my original files for for the life of me i can only find the sheet i made for printing them sdhjds

[cuteniaarts]

Here *throws random and actually much more important than I realised at first OC redesign at you after two and a half years since the OG*

Meifeng, Ming-Hua’s cousin! I just randomly remembered that she exists while putting together my OC family tree and since the only art I have of her is… nearly 3 years old and mediocre at best, and Kat and I have recently spent so much time focusing on Red Lotus siblings, I thought “Hey, why not redraw her? Just because she’s a cousin and not a sister doesn’t make her any less special than Lien-Hua, Summiya, Aiza or Haya!” (On that note… Nia give someone a brother challenge. The only one that counts is Aiza and she’s only a brother half the time)

Some headcanons about her, both new and old (the old copy-pasted over and slightly edited to save everyone the second hand embarrassment of going to look at my old art), which will go under the cut because this has gotten LONG:

Old:

Older than Ming-Hua by around 10 years

Her dad is the older half-brother of Ming-Hua's mom who’s… not the most fond of their side of the family

Has never left her home in the Foggy Swamp Water Tribe

Master healer, specialises in children. Can't have any of her own because of the high pollution levels in the swamp which is why she puts all those motherly instincts into teaching and caring for kids

Got a scar on her leg while saving Ming-Hua from some wild swamp creature when the latter was a child who was absolutely convinced she could handle everything herself and never listened to anyone. Ming-Hua still insists she had everything under control that day

She tried to understand Ming-Hua's perspective on things, she really did, but ultimately tribe mentality and fear for her cousin’s safety, believing her not to be nearly as capable as she claims to be, won over

Attempted to stop Ming-Hua from running away but was, obviously, unsuccessful

Was the one consoling Nuying after Ming-Hua left

Helped Suiren learn waterbending and held genuine affection for the girl, although she ultimately refused when Suiren begged for the chance for her and Midori to escape from Haya and live with the tribe. She thought that while Suiren would most likely adjust well, Midori was simply too Gaoling to survive in a place as dark, damp and isolated as the Swamp. She regrets that decision every day since she found out Suiren became an assassin

Mourned Ming-Hua more than anyone else in the tribe when informed of her death

New:

Was the one who babysat Ming-Hua a lot when Nuying was going through one of her depressive episodes after Cadeo left, and Ming-Hua actually enjoyed spending time with her because she was a lot less overbearing and protective than her mother. Was the first person to start calling her Ming. Sometimes Ming-Ming, but Ming-Hua had a tendency to deliver a very hard kick to the shins every time she tried that

Never left Nuying’s side when she got sick in the years following Ming-Hua’s disappearance, no matter how much everyone, including her own father, told her to stay away, there’s nothing she can do to help her. In her final moments, Nuying was delirious with fever and called out for Ming-Hua. Meifeng didn’t have the heart to remind her that her daughter left so instead let her hair down, covered her own hand in water and told Nuying that she was “right here, mom. I’m right here” and stayed like that until Nuying passed

When Ming-Hua returned, Meifeng was the one to break the news to her. Later, when Ming-Hua asked how and when it happened, she couldn’t quite stop herself from snapping at her because she should have been there, Meifeng shouldn’t have had to pretend to be her so her mother could die without worrying about where her daughter was. Their relationship never really fully recovered after that fight

Still, she had met Suiren when she was little on the rare occasions when the Red Lotus passed through the Swamp and Ming-Hua chose to take her daughter to visit the tribe. She never met Midori, but she did see Ming-Hua pregnant with her once

Didn’t know about Ming-Hua’s imprisonment until an 11-year-old Suiren told her because world news don’t reach into the heart of the Swamp. She just thought they had decided to stop visiting. The news crushed her but… a part of her couldn’t help but go “you should have fucking listened to me when I told you to stay, then this wouldn’t have happened”

Her teaching Suiren waterbending involved mostly the basics of combat (she herself doesn’t know much of it since she’s a healer), plantbending and healing. Suiren reached her level of mastery and proficiency as well as figured out icebending on her own through sheer determination and spite (she’s so much like her mama 🥹🥹🥹)

Is the only one from the tribe Suiren had ever confessed to about being an assassin. That knowledge broke her heart and she spent all those years absolutely terrified that Suiren would meet Ming-Hua’s fate. When Suiren stopped visiting at one point (when she left for her mission to kill Kuvira, got injured, recovered at ATI, reunited with her parents, broke Kuvira out and started living with her, etc etc) she had assumed that it really did happen, until Suiren randomly showed up one day with Kuvira in tow (Meifeng did not approve bc of the whole spirit vine thing 😅)

Absolutely reunited with Ming-Hua at some point and it was an extremely emotional moment

Ripped Cadeo a new one when he suddenly appeared looking for his daughter after 45+ years after it became common knowledge that the RL are all alive and no longer wanted by the law

All in all… quite an interesting character that I really should do something with at some point, bc how come Ming-Hua’s family is the only one to get 0 attention in our discussions?? #justiceformeifeng2024

[ramrage]

unmarked : unmasked :: simon : ghost

[athenaholmesartistsguild]

Texture used for Majima's jacket

Okay. This painting is pretty epic (In my opinion anyway).

I was trying something a little more ambitious with this piece and that's probably because Death is my favorite tarot card! It was a lot of fun to play with value and color theory with this one.

I'll write a little more about that on the Patreon post if you'd like to look at it. It's free to view and also has a high-res download available!

I also found a website that broke down the symbolism of the cards in a really comprehensive way and that was super helpful to understanding the meaning of the card. Here's the page with all of that info.

Interpretations are below the cut:

Death as a tarot card is not literally about death (not technically anyway). When it shows up in a reading, it's more likely indicating a spiritual or personal death-- an end of an era or period of your life as well as a transition to a new state of being.

Death is unavoidable regardless of whether you're ultra-rich, in deep poverty, or somewhere in between. It's so unavoidable that we refer to it as 'the circle of life'. People are born, they grow up, they pass away, and new people are born in their place.

The inevitability of death is usually scary to people who aren't quite ready to die yet. This is natural, as the idea of no longer existing in the way you were used to is a change that takes time to process.

The Death tarot card encourages you to embrace the change and view it as a rebirth, a second chance.

When it appears upright in a reading, Death usually signals that you're in a period of massive change. You might be shedding the parts of yourself that aren't beneficial anymore. You might have a new opportunity that completely changes the course of your life.

Regardless of the circumstances, the message of this card is that you're not going to be the same person you used to be. Rather than being scared and resistant to change, consider approaching the whole situation with curiosity. What parts of yourself do you feel no longer fit who you are (or who you believe yourself to be)? What opportunities have entered your life and what changes do they bring?

Reversed, we see someone who's resistant to the change that's so inevitable. Whenever I pull a reversed Death card, it always felt as if I was a zombie. Not capable of doing much more than shuffling around, stagnant and rotting and so clearly somewhere I didn't belong.

Never changing is unnatural and oftentimes brings more emotional distress than the circumstances you're scared of ever could. The inevitability of death as a concept drives home that the changes you're resisting are coming whether you want them to or not. Becoming receptive to them will oftentimes make the transition period smoother and quicker. Yes, discomfort might occur (in fact, discomfort is probable), but this discomfort is likely necessary to your development as a person.

In regards to Majima's arc in 0/ the rest of the games, my main idea was inspired by the 'Mad Dog' transformation.

While I was initially hesitant to include actively violent imagery (namely Mad Dog Majima seemingly trying to kill his Y0 self) since the original card has none, I ultimately chose to keep it since the original imagery in the Rider-Waite-Smith card is so initially terrifying.

Death is an unsettling card to look at and I believe that's the point. We're quick to view death as evil and malevolent when, upon closer inspection, you notice that the grim reaper-like figure has no weapons. He's simply carrying a flag with a Tudor rose on it (considered a symbol of peace after the prolonged War of the Roses).

I wanted to create imagery that was a similar level of unsettling, while still showing that there's not any malicious intent. After all, can you really call something murder when someone's just taking a part of their personality and hiding it away?

The Mad Dog persona is simply that: a mask. We see throughout the series that the Majima from Yakuza 0 is still there, he's just hidden behind a flamboyant, violent, shirtless persona who few are able to accurately read.

Majima's core personality is always there, but he isn't able to return to the person he was in Yakuza 0. He can't return to who he was before the '85 assassination, either.

The old Majima can't come to the phone right now. Why?

'Cause he's dead.

One of the main themes of Death's original card is the juxtaposition between those who resist death, and those who accept its inevitability. Compare the Bishop, who welcomes death with open arms to the king lies who dead in the mud, his crown having fallen. There's the impression that the king did not die peacefully, and likely was trying to evade his mortality. As such, he's not only stripped of his power and glory, but also of his ability to have a dignified death.

He chose to use his final moments on Earth to try and escape his fate, rather than making the most of his time alive and as such, he loses more than the Bishop once Death rides into town.

In my interpretation, I focused on Y0 Majima's inability to kill. While it's a good thing that he didn't kill an innocent woman, Majima created a situation where someone had to die.

Yet, he refused to decide who. This is an unfair thing to ask of anyone, especially when innocent lives are on the line, but Majima barrelled into this situation before completely thinking out what it meant to murder someone. He agreed to trade someone else's life for a spot back in the Tojo Clan.

And because of this, Lee and a woman who never asked to be involved end up being murdered in Makoto's place.

Majima doesn't have the ability to kill, but he isn't able to manufacture a situation where no one has to die, either. He's attempting to circumvent the consequences of his actions and in the end, he loses not only the lives of innocent people, but also his ability to remain himself.

Majima's Mad Dog persona, however, is able to keep the people he cares about safe (to some degree). His enemies are very, very rarely able to understand his actual motives and what he actually cares about and as such, attack targets that Majima is okay with losing: money, his own freedom, even his life at one point.

I wanted to include some of the human figures from the original card in mine as well. It's hard to tell in the actual painting, but the hand near the bottom left corner is Lee's and the figure hanging in the upper right corner is Saejima who's been executed for the '85 assassination.

Both Lee and Saejima represent the guilt Majima feels for his inadequacies. Who he was as a person wasn't enough to keep them from receiving all of the punishment for his actions (Majima didn't *necessarily* do anything wrong in either of these situations, but I'm talking more about his own feelings rather than reality). In a way, the Mad Dog persona is an attempt to atone-- a commitment to making sure what happened in the 80s doesn't happen again.

But for that to be possible, Majima has to kill his previous self and become something entirely new.

[widowshill]

102 / 585

[allseeingportrait]

Y’all ever get that One hill you’ll not only die on, you’ll enter a murderous frothing rage the moment someone challenges you about it?

That’s how I feel about future paradox pokemon. If I have to hear one more Clown Of The Week nominee crack jokes about how boring they are and how bad they feel for poor violet players I’m grabbing the offender and folding them into meat origami

[morgenlich]

always interesting to run into someone who disagrees with the idea of art for art's sake

[transiconwilfred]

im having more thoughts about that tmnt sweet toot au. i think Splinter (still Hamato Yoshi) and his wife were on an ill-timed trip to New York when the sick broke out, and they ended up sort of stranded because in an effort to contain the sick, no one was allowed in or out of the country. Tang Shen unfortunately caught it, and after her death, Splinter kinda just gave up on life and went to live in a cabin in the woods while quietly hoping the sick would claim him too. hes been out there alone for a while when he finds the turtles and they restore his will to live :)

[bbeelzemon]

also while im here let me say this and just leave it up right at the top of my blog for now

i have been getting a surprising amount of new followers today so if you're following me for my recent tarot art:

- thank you but keep in mind that is the only tarot thing i have ever done and there are no guarantees i will ever do anything along those lines again (besides commissions)

- FUCK TERFS

[l4byr1nthz1]

:/ ….

[lucysangels]

[plain text: Installation view of Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar at the Chicago Cultural Center]

Installation view of Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar at the Chicago Cultural Center

The exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center opens with the installation “Homegoing.” The work is a suspended image depicting a screenshot from Ma’Khia Bryant’s personal TikTok. In the photo she’s laying her edges, her jet-black hair shining, her baby face clean and free of makeup. Below the printed photo is a collection of candles, stuffed animals, and a bouquet. On April 20, 2021, Ma’Khia was killed by an Ohio police officer in what was later determined a justifiable homicide. She was 16 years old. 

In the gallery titled Rest and Recess: The Courtyard, the exhibition transports the viewer to the Caribbean where Black girls play together unburdened and hopeful. A tree, sculpted by Robert Narciso and made from branches from Rekia Boyd’s family home, sits in the center of the room casting a protective shadow over everything. From its branches hang yellow paper hearts scribed with the hopes and dreams of little Black girls. The sound of their joyful cacophony activates the space.

[ x ]

[mangos-draws]

"I NeEd Ai FoR iNsPiRaTiOn"

Dear god and here I thought I was lazy. But at least I'm not lazy enough to ask a software to mush some random garbage together instead of enjoying a piece of media myself and carefully picking things I like from it to weave them into my own art.

[ratspider]

i hate that thing i do where i prioritize drawing/painting/sculpture above like every other form of art. like if i fill a sketchbook that's more of an accomplishment than this cool hat i made. maybe the equivalent to that is crafting an entire outfit down to making the pattern myself. or filling a box with Stuff I Sewed. idk, i think drawing is just valued so so so much online and i watch all those sketchbook tours and i'm like Wow! these people are so motivated and these sketchbooks are so cool and filled with personality and just. so dense with creativity and I Wish I Could Do That but i already do. i just don't do the 'one sketchbook a month' thing. i have The Yearning but not the drive to draw that much and i need to just value what i'm already doing that's easy for me to do right now.