#But I have since learned that their paper is bad quality. But hey I'M a bad quality artist and I'm mostly doing pencil sketches anyway...

[stormears]

December Art Dreams

Three years in a row now, December has been the month I start having artistic aspirations beyond my skill or practice level. I watch YT vids of people's fantastic, full sketchbooks of pencil/pen drawings, alcohol markers and gouache and think...I wanna do that...damn...

I DO have two sketchbooks that I use now and again but the stuff I draw isn't like, good at all. It's even worse than my journaling/bujo "designs" lmao. And yet I occasionally have these delusions of art grandeur, of having a sketchbook I could proudly show off to people...dragons and landscapes and beautiful skies and interiors and buildings, moonlit mountains and powerful figures and scenes from my fanfics pfffffft

But yeah too-ambitious compositions for someone who struggles to draw realistic grass and is pretty terrible at human faces/figures.

It's not that I'm putting in zero effort, but still not nearly enough. There's often weeks, sometimes months between my sketchbook drawings (I date them) and like. I don't really see a notable improvement. But I can see/remember places where I sort of scraped the edge of understanding on making a good line, a good shape. It's so hard to grasp.

But once again, I want to try harder at it. Once again I'll give myself an injection of drawing effort to close out December. Also trying to finish 1 more fanfic chapter before EOY.

[cherisenae]

"Hey, come look at this Sesshomaru!" Kagome calls.

Sesshomaru stops, snow crunching under his boots, and looks over his shoulder. With a grin stretching ear to ear, Kagome stares whimsically at whatever she was holding between the palms of her mittened hands. He sighs and turns around, walking towards Kagome. A violent gust blows, the cold trespassing his many layers of clothes and seeping all the way to his bones. He shivers and adjusts the yellow scarf around his neck before tucking freezing claws into his furisodes' sleeves.

Kagome had sewn everyone a scarf as a gift, including himself. He initially refused, expect Kagome wouldn't take "no" as an answer and forced her gift onto him. While his initial reluctance was futile, Sesshomaru was now secretly thankful for the miko's stubbornness that day since her scarf was proving quite useful in this frigid weather.

As he nears, Kagome looks up at him with dazzling eyes. She lifts her arms up for Sesshomaru to see the small snowflake resting in palms of her hands.

"Isn't it beautiful?!" Her smile grows even wider, "Like crystallized heaven that magically fell into my hands!"

Sesshomaru winces, golden eyes narrowing at her as his lips part in a frown, "It’s a snowflake, Miko."

Kagome shakes her head, looking dreamily at the snowflake as it sparkles in the sunlight, "Yes, but we can appreciate its beauty."

Melchanly fills her once cheery expression as the snowflake melts, dampening her brown mittens.

She shakes her hands and grins at Sesshomaru. Playfully tapping his shoulder, Kagome teases, "You got to learn to love the little things Sesshomaru! It makes the world a lot nicer place to live."

Kagome skips a few steps ahead along the forest path before spinning back around to Sesshomaru. Throwing her arms behind her back and adding a slight tilt to her frame, Kagome smiles at him, "Ready to make way? We still have a long journey ahead of us!"

Closing his eyes, Sesshomaru smiles softly with a light chuckle, "Hn, Indeed. As you please, Kagome."

Kagome waits for Sesshomaru and once he's by her side, slips her hand into his. Gently squeezing his hand in hers, she looks up and her lips break once again into a large smile that shows off her teeth. Sesshomaru returns her smile with slight nod of his head and a small smile of his own. Hand in hand, they walk down the shoveled pathway between the tall trees, the sun shining brightly overhead which slowly, yet pleasantly begins to warm the air. 

(Notes and link to ao3 after cut)

For @crescent-dreams FCN December 2023 prompt: Bestow

I was in a drawing mood last week and decided to do a little sesskag fan art based on this fic I had previously written. While I didn't plan on finishing the fic, I decided why not? So I spent a good portion of last night and today editing it. Now I got a fic and a complimentary fan art that goes with it. While I'm not used to drawing chibis, I think did a good job and that they're both really cute 💓

(I completed the drawing before re-reading my fic, so I forgot kagome was wearing mittens 😅 Oh well, I'm not redoing her hands 😂)

Anyways, congrats to me for these are my first fic and art of the year! And I love it just happened to be sesskag 💓

Medium: Graphite pencils on sketch paper. Photo edited with Snapseed.

edit- had to re upload the image bc the quality was bad

[binart]

Hey, absolutely LOVE your art and I enjoy seeing your comics! Small question, how long does it take for you to make one page? And what is your process?

thank you!!!

THANK U!!!!!!!

it's a decidedly long-ish process and i'M KIND OF WONDERING HOW I MANAGED TO CHURN OUT TWO PER WEEK FOR A WHILE... (it was bad for my mental health i think is how). some artists can do like THREE OR EVEN FOUR PER WEEK!! but i am slow and so it takes me like 4-5 days to make one dfkjhgfdkjg

anyway first step is thumbnailing! that's when you make a tiny comic page and map out where you will have the panels, and what you want in them. also very good to figure out where your text bubbles will be at this stage.

NEXT!! transferring the thumbnail to a regular comic canvas! i like to thumbnail on paper with pencil because i eRASE STUFF A LOT (paneling is hard and i'm still learning), so i take a picture of it and then paste it onto the canvas >w>

NEXT!!! rough sketch phase. the picture quality tends to be jank as hell b/c i'm lazy & refuse to take more than one picture EVEN IF IT'S BLURRY, so i go over everything with a VERY QUICK SKETCH to lay out the same ideas. then I go in with a vector tool to make the panels!!

NEXT!!! Sometimes skipped depending on the page, is any 3D background work if I feel like i need it! which is usually always, because my perspective skills are uh. LACKING. (aND YES IT'LL TAKE LONGER TO LEARN PROPERLY IF I RELY ON 3D TOOLS BUT I DON'T CARE!! I JUST WANT TO TELL STORIES RIGHT NOW!)

this also involves MAKING the 3-d structure which i try to do if i know the scene i want to make is in a moderately complex looking area. it takes.......... so long............................ 3D modelling is hard....

NEXT!! Actual Sketch. This is me figuring out what the characters will look like Proper instead of throwing vague blobs on the page. i have to turn my brain on a higher setting for this part so it's usually a harder step for me. i also like to finish the background lineart by this stage.

NEXT!!! THE DREADED PEOPLE LINEART........ hardest stage. VERY BORING. lack the attention span for this to not be a horrific slog. HAVE TO HAVE SOME FORM OF ENTERTAINING NOISE ON OR ELSE CAN'T COMPLETE.

NEXT!! FLAT COLORS AND SHADOWS! self explanatory! i usually do the background first since it's cooler to watch characters come to life on an already completed BG.

NEXT!!!! Text stuff. Drawing out proper text bubbles, adding in text, changing the colors of the bubbles to match the characters.. this is also where i attempt to add SFX if there are any, and this is extremely difficult for me for whatever reason. STILL LEARNING LMAO.. i also blur stuff if i'm trying to show like... depth at this stage. like making one character blurry so you know they're closer to the "camera" so to speak

NEXT!!!!!!! AND FINALLY!!!! THE BEST PART!!!! Gradients. MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER. FUN TO APPLY. PULLS THE ENTIRE PAGE TOGETHER.

....................hm that's actually quite an involved & difficult process. i am only now realizing that

HM.

[lick-me-lennon22]

George caring for a sick Dhani 💜

(thank you to @pmak2002 for this request!! it was supposed to be just a blurb but I did a little research beforehand and it ended up pretty much becoming a whole fic 😅 oops... either way, I hope you enjoy this one! 💕)

When Dhani wakes up for school on Monday morning, he immediately knows something his wrong. His throat is sore, his nose is runny, and his muscles ache like nothing he's felt before. He painstakingly drags himself out of bed, clutching the sheet around him, and heads straight to his parents' bedroom where he finds his mum Olivia still in bed. Dhani notices that the bathroom door is cracked open and cautiously steps inside to find his father, George, brushing his teeth. "Dad..?" he says quietly, voice hoarse. George startles, turning around to see Dhani in his unfortunate state and spits his mouthful of toothpaste into the sink, letting the water wash it down the drain before turning the tap off. "What is it, my boy? You sound bloody awful..," he gently presses the back of his hand to Dhani's forehead to assess his temperature. "You seem to be running quite the fever, son- let's get you to the doctor, all right? Just let me finish up in here and I'll be right out to take ye" George says. Dhani nods weakly, coughing into his elbow, and shuffles out of the room. George jumps into action- he swishes and spits some mouthwash, changes out of his sleepwear into a button-up and jeans, and sprints to the car, his son following close behind him and hopping into the passenger's seat.

 

"This is ridiculous.." George mutters under his breath as he walks his son out of the clinic and gets into the driver's seat of his car. They had been able to see the doctor almost instantly upon arriving; he had taken some swabs, run a few tests, and determined that Dhani had contracted the flu: "He probably picked it up from school," the doc had said. When George had requested a prescription of some kind to alleviate his son's symptoms, the doctor simply shook his head: "I'm afraid there isn't much we can do for him. The flu's been going around at many schools, I've seen a lot of children this past week with the same complaints. As it stands, all I can tell you is to give him some over-the-counter medicine, bring him some saltwater to gargle for that sore throat, and be sure he gets plenty of fluids and bedrest." George tried to argue, stating that there must be something he can do to cure Dhani of his illness sooner- but as the doc's hands were tied and George didn't want to subject his son to more stress, he took Dhani by the hand and led him out of the office, through the lobby, and back to the car. "Alright, my boy," George sighs- "seeing that the doctor was no help whatsoever, we're headed straight to the drugstore for anything that'll help you feel better. Sound good?"

"Yeah Dad, sounds good" Dhani croaks out and smiles weakly, glad just to spend some time with his father. Being a famous musician and all, George isnt able to spend as much time with his son as he'd like to, a lot of it consumed by work and media-related endeavors. Dhani admired his Dad more than anyone else in his life and though they rarely got the chance to hang out nowadays, they were practically best friends and had formed a close bond throughout his childhood. George was always a fun parent, bringing his son along to festivals and such ("Don't tell yer mum," he'd say with a grin), and sticking up for Dhani to authority figures and even other kids at his school- he was fiercely protective of his boy. However, he was also a gentle parent who allowed Dhani the chance to explore and express himself, and had fostered a mutual respect between the two of them since his son was but a toddler.

"I'm pulling you from school for the whole week" "But what if I'm- *cough*- all better before then?" "Just in case, Dhani- it's not like you really need them and their indoctrination, anyway.." George grumbles, never having been a fan of traditional schools or their teachings. Dhani however has always cared about his grades and paid close attention to the lessons he's been taught, in spite of what his father thinks. "...Okay, Dad" he says meekly, wanting to protest but unwilling to sacrifice more quality time with his famous father. George pulls into the parking lot of the nearest drugstore and marches in, intent on gathering all the supplies his sick boy could need: tissues, lozenges, cough syrup, pain medication, ice packs, and even more tissues- 'just in case.' He makes his way to the checkout, queuing up, paying for the items and hauling his bags back to the car. He drives Dhani home as quickly as possible, carrying him to bed and tucking him in before calling and cancelling any studio time, interviews, or collaborations he'd previously planned. There's only one committment he can't cancel- dinner with Paul tonight for the first time in ages. George sets his son up with all of the remedies he'd bought and tells his wife Olivia everything about the situation, including the "unhelpful and useless" doctor they had gone to see. She of course agrees to care for Dhani, sending her husband on his way to dinner with one of his long-time best friends.

 

The following day George rises just before noon, having stayed up late to pal around with Macca. He runs the few errands on his agenda, including grabbing his family some lunch, and pulls into his driveway back home where he spots the vehicle of none other than Richard Starkey parked outside. He makes his way to his son's room to discover that Uncle Ringo had come to visit the sick young lad (having found out from Paul that Dhani had come down with a bad case of the flu), joking and cheering him up to distract him from his poor state. The two close friends chat for some time in the living room before Ritchie departs, Olivia checking up on Dhani in the meantime. George thanks his wife and dismisses her from her nurse duties, taking on the responsibility himself. He tiptoes to his son's bedroom cautiously and enterd to see that he's been tucked in, the ice pack George had picked up from the store the previous day resting on his forehead, half-lidded eyes trained onto the telly. "Dhani..?" "Oh- *cough*- hey, Dad"

George approaches the bed and sits down carefully, holding a paper bag out to Dhani. "I brought you a burrito- your favorite," he grins down at his son, who takes the bag: "Really? *cough*- Thanks Dad, you're the best!" he says, hands emerging from the blankets to tear into the treat. George stays sat on the bed, determined to spend time with his sick boy and make sure he knows how loved he is. Glancing around the room at the piano and guitars he's bought and played with Dhani, then back to the young man, Ringo's words from earlier echo in his mind: "He's growing up into such a wonderful lad. He's just like you, ye know- good looks and all."

Olivia had always said they were very alike, but he'd usually dismissed the observation... until now. George couldn't help but realize that they were right- though he was but eleven years old Dhani was already becoming a very talented and creative musician, having learned much about music from his dad. He'd certainly taken after his Beatle father in that regard, and they were in fact very similar- not to mention their near identical looks. Sharing his Dad with the world had been difficult and a bit isolating for Dhani despite his many school mates. He admired and looked up to George from a very young age, always striving to be just like him. As Dhani grew up before George's eyes, he became more and more like his father by the day and George was immensely proud.

His train of thought was broken suddenly when Dhani finished the burrito, crumpling the paper bag and tossing it into the bin. He landed the throw, earning a hearty laugh and a high five from his father. He closed his eyes and laid back, George stroking his hair gently, the two of them cherishing this moment of father-son love. "Are you gettin' sleepy, Dhani?" he asked tenderly- his son nodded in response, already drowsy despite the brightness of the late afternoon sun. "Tell you what- I'll play you a lullaby, that way you can rest easier and know that I'm here beside you." "Dad," Dhani chuckled, "aren't I a little too old for that?" he lied, secretly longing for the affectionate gesture. George grabbed his son's acoustic guitar from its stand and begin to tune it: "You're never too old for yer old man's love and attention, eh? Now you just relax, close your eyes, and rest." Dhani didn't protest any further, heeding his father's instructions with a soft smile on his face. With that, George began to play- he chose "Here Comes The Sun," fingers strumming the strings gently and with care, dedicating the sweet words to his beloved son. By the time he was finished Dhani was fast asleep- grin faltering as he drifted off, but still visible on his lips. George placed the guitar back on the stand gently, taking care not to wake the sleeping lad. He smiled to himself, tears welling in his eyes as he turned to admire his son's peaceful face. "I love you, my boy," he whispered, placing a gentle kiss on Dhani's forehead before tip-toeing out of the room and shutting the door cautiously. Back pressed against the wooden door, George let his eyelids fall shut and sighed: "Sweet dreams, Dhani." ♡

[funtarou]

Plans || Kuroo x Reader

Part one of a Kuroo Tetsurou x reader angst twoshots

So like, thank you to @yams-wants-that-booty for giving me the inspiration for this angst. I never though anyone would reply to my post asking for angst inspirations. Instead of a drabble, I ended up making a full two shots of this trope because am just greatfull and got carried away in the trope. I cant think of anything but a slow-burn angst. Again, thank you so much for giving me an ask of the trope 🥺 I-I hope I did decent

Here is the mentioned trope being sent:

Now let's get to the story point :v

Story Warning: Fluff to Angst, Comfort/Hurt, Kuroo and his pet names for you smh. Human emotions are weird. Reader has a small feature.

Writing Warning: Bad English Grammar, possible over-use of words or sentences, and possible spelling mistakes. English is not my first language and I'm still rusty from not writing for years. I'm still trying, and maybe or maybe not I might forgot to proof-read thoroughly.

Kuroo Tetsurou was not one to have his hopes too high up the cloud. He's not exactly a pessimist either. Sure he has dreams, future plans, but he always based and ground all of those possibilities with facts and the reality of things in his life. He already decided that he would be better off in the sport industry as an executive, instead of a player. And so he took the major in college. He already decided his strategies on passing with his best scores, and already pin-pointed possible work places that he can apply to. And don't get him started on his financial. Already planned. Everything for the future, he most likely already noting it down in a journal or any piece of paper he can find, before keeping it in a safe file.

But there has always been one factor in life that he has yet to sorted out based on facts. And that's You. Always running around his well-planned life, giving him surprises and unforgettable experiences, whether it be a sweet or bitter one. But that doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy your presence in life. He already learned to live with your cheerful giggles and loudness ever since you two were kids, finding the small details from you as factors that brings sunlight when his days has been clouded.

He never would've calculated nor see that you two would be together like this right now.

"Hey Tetsu! Look! this duvet feels so sooooft~ and the color is really nice! I think it might match the apartment's aesthetic well!"

Your high-pitched voice can be clearly heard even from the other side of the isle where he is at now. He peeked through the open space of the store's aisle to see you running your hands across the displayed duvet. A chuckle escaped his lips as he Made his way towards you, also feeling the soft fabric.

"Hmmh, this does feels nice. Are you sure you want this one, kitten? Not gonna search for something with a better offer or quality?"

He asked, raising an eyebrow down at your jumpy figure.

"I already searched the whole floor for the perfect one, and I don't think I could sleep on any other duvet than this one. Pleaaase, babyyyy?"

And how could he deny those big doe puppy eyes (or kitten eyes) of yours. He already fell victim from them for what, 16 or 17 years now? Time sure does fly fast when you got so much stuff going on as you grew up.

"Alright, but let's look around a little bit more, just in case."

"Alrighty!"

You cheered with one hand up forming a fist. Turning around on your heels, you lightly jump up to tangle your arms around the taller male's neck before pulling him down for a quick peck on the cheek. He who had gotten used to these "surprise attack" only smile at your figure that's already skipping to the next aisle.

When he was a kid, love like this feels so unrealistic. With all the old memories of his parents yelling at each other, as he tries to stuff his ears with pillows, he never was one to though love this sweet is possible for him. He though he was going to stumble on the same page as his parents, unconsciously picking up their bad influences in a relationship. Moreover, from the first place, he though "true love" was all but mere fairytales to keep kids entertained.

Sure you two don't go on fantastic adventures, over the top romantic dinner near a lake, nor did he saved you from a fire breathing dragon. But loving you with simple moments like this, feels just right for someone like Kuroo. Loving you by every subtle touches and simple tasks you did together everyday, is enough for his heart and mind to fall in love all over again. Loving you by planning your future together, feels like a dream come true. It almost feels like a privilege to think that out of all the other males in your life, it's him that you choose to share a future with. And maybe a few years from now, he would share a future with one or two more little ball of energy.

"... Maybe saving and searching for a bigger place would be handy one day..."

Mumbling to himself, as he pulled out a notebook before writing down his though and a plan for a bigger place to live. If he can, maybe even a simple 3 or 4 bedroom house.

"Hurry up, Tetsu! The egg discount is going to be over in 20 minutes!"

"I know! Just hold on okay! You're not the one paddling up a hill with an extra weight on!"

"ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT?!"

"NO BABY THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!"

You two ex-change some small banters as Kuroo paddles his bicycle up the small hill to the nearest grocery store from your apartment building. Honestly if you two weren't in such a hurry to get the well-priced discount this afternoon, this won't feel so tiring on the ex-captain's legs.

At any other case, he would've kept napping back home when you suddenly shook him awake with a grocery magazine shoved at his face. You saying some stuff about big discount and offer at the supermarket nearby, and about how you might or might not accidentally waste some food on a failed dish. If it wasn't nearing the end of the month where both yours and his wallet are quiet dry from college and necessary needs, he would've just passed out on the couch again. But seeing it's not the usual case, and that you two do need some cheap yet healthy and legal proteins until the month end, he agreed on this.

Atleast in the end you two didn't miss the half-priced for each egg cartons and the other extra discounts given.

"Yaaaay! We're gonna make it till the end of this month!"

You cheered, with one hand raised up as the bike roll down back the hill you two paddled up not long a go. Well, Kuroo's the one paddling, but still.

"Love, next time maybe you should stay home and let me race to the market."

Kuroo said with a small tired chuckle, stopping the bike after he sees the yellow light head turned red.

"But shopping feels better when you're around Tetsu! Plus, riding a bike always feels better and more fun together,"

You said as you nuzzle your face lightly on his back.

Daily chores does feel better with you around. It doesn't feel like a "chore", instead to him it feels like a small date you two get to enjoy on an almost daily basis. You never failed to color in his boring daily schedules. Finding fun and games in every little things you do. People would call you childish at times for it, but he only ever view you as creative, full of imagination and possibilities.

'... If I were to work at that place one day, I should plan my free hours and day offs for little errands like this too...'

Kuroo though to himself, mentally noting the plan that just popped in his head. He'll eventually write it down a paper or his journal once you two arrived home and set the groceries.

"Tetsu, why aren't you asleep yet?"

Looking away from his laptop and over his shoulders, Kuroo's eyes land on your form leaning againts the doorway to the average-small living room of the apartment. He was hunched over his device and notes, progressing on his last semester's essays. But hearing your sleepy voice and small yawn, made his body moved to sit straight up and faced you.

"Need to work on this a bit more. I'll join you to bed later baby. You have morning classes tomorrow right?"

He said softly, tiredness from lack of sleep can be heard in his voice. Instead of going back to the bedroom like he wish you to, You grabbed a blanket and two pillows before strolling back in the living room. Plopping the two pillows down the couch beside Kuroo, before you lay on the cushion with the blanket over your body and some part of Kuroo's lower abdoment.

"I'll sleep here and keep you company then..."

You said with a yawn, before your head dropped down to the soft pillow under your head. The sound of steady breathing can be heard soon enough from your body after your eyelids closed. And there Kuroo was about to tell you that sleeping here might not be as comfortable as the bed. Now he doesn’t have the heart to just wake you up again and convince you to sleep on the bed.

"... Maybe those couches that can turned to a simple bed would be a good assets."

He mumbled to himself as he goes down back to his notes and laptop. Half of his thoughs somehow drifting to a possible future moment, where he needs to finish a report late at night as you layed beside him. Just like this, but maybe, with a small somebody sleeping in your arms and a gold band through his and your ring fingers.

Even if he end up being tired over works, a future like that feels like it would be worth the extra-hours of efforts.

"... Two or three years from now... Yeah, That seems like a good time..."

He mumbled to himself again, writing something on a piece of paper that didn't seem to have any relations to any of the topic of his essays.

"Tetsuuu...!"

He can hear the whispering sound of your voice near his ear as he slowly became concious due to the constant shaking of his body. As he finally opened one eye to focus his vision on you, a soft smile tugged on his face.

"Morning, kitten..."

He softly, almost like a whisper, greet you with his morning voice. Pulling up a hand to stroke your face as he tries to gather the life within him to sit up.

"Morning, Tetsu! I made breakfast on the table. Sorry I cant eat with you this morning, I'm kinda late to my class. Don't worry about me, Akaashi offered a ride to campus. Love you, and remember that you have class at 2 PM kay~"

You put a chaste kiss on his lips, that he gladly take, before turning on your heels to the door. From the bedroom, Kuroo can hear the front door opening and closing with a click from your keys and faint footsteps following after before he's left with silence.

After 5 minutes or so, he finally proceed to sit and stand up to walk over to the dining table. Like you've said, breakfast is already served neatly on the table, still quite warm for him to enjoy. Even you've prepared him some coffee in the coffee maker.

The rest of the morning feels like any other regular week days morning. He ate, do his part of the chores before getting himself ready for his afternoon classes. In the middle of those process he received texts and small calls from you, asking about each other's condition and lightly updating about the situation you two are in. Sometimes even ex-changing snaps. Nothing out of the ordinary. A normal day of him loving you through subtle things despite separated by a few kilometers, as much as he despises it. But even that, is still normal.

So why.

Why does he need to witness this scene with his bare eyes today.

Your figure being hit and thrown away by the impact of the irresponsible vehicle who ignored the red light. He can somehow even see the few blood drips flying from your body, as if he was trapped in a slow motion when it happened.

You were just crossing the road. Following the road-light and following the general rules of using the zebra-cross. Trying to reach him who was waiting on the other side, two lattes in hands, ready for his classes and giving you something after you finished yours. You were suppose to already be in his arms, sipping your latte, kissing him good luck for his classes before going to the usual cheap dining place to wait for him.

But, Why this?

Why in front of his eyes.

As if he had a VIP front-row seat of seeing your once lively form turned limp at the side of the road.

As if it was a mockery from life.

Mocking him as if he thinks his plans would go smoothly, as if life won't give him lemons anytime soon

-- End of "Plans" --

-- To be Continued to the second part --

A/N: Ehe anywho, hope you enjoy this first part. Stick around for the second part for the conclusion? Maybe? If you think my writing is decent enough that is.

Cover Edit belongs to me. Picture used belongs to the Haikyuu manga.

Read Part 2 here

[tomatosaladforyou]

Hi! Hey! Uhm, that art of Janus is amazing. Is there any way you could share some tips for watercolour? I'm about to start a comic in ink and watercolour, and would greatly appreciate any help I can get.

Hi! I'm glad you like my recent Janus piece :'D

About the tips for watercolour, I'm genuinely surprised I'm giving off the impression that I know what I'm doing, because I have no clue. I recently started doing it more since I had no other media available, so I don't think I have anything to share, sadly.

I know a few basic things you probably know as well, but if you want I will share them, and also some videos I found interesting and useful.

Tips

1. The paper you use matters SO much, for a multitude of reasons, which being if it's watercolor paper it won't end up having wrinkles and being bent from all the water.

2. Save the white of the paper. It acts as light in your art, and if you won't save it you lost it in that drawing. That being said, in practice you can play around and experiment, so it shouldn't stress you then.

3. Work in layers. Watercolor is a media based on diluted paint, so you won't have full opacity from one layer. The number of layers depends on how you work, the quality of your paper(how much it can take before wrinkling or bending) and the opacity you wish to achieve.

4. Practice without fear. That I learnt recently, with the Janus piece.

That piece wasn't supposed to be finished, since I started on the wrong foot with the sketch, then added base colors like I was drawing digital art (not working on layers, not saving the white of the paper). It looked bad, at least for what I had in mind, but two days after I decided to try to continue it anyway, more like a practice piece. And since I didn't fear I'd ruin it since from my view it was already ruined, I took some creative liberties and added purples, reds, oranges on the face without doing too many layers for precaution(more just for, well, layering). That gave me a bit of confidence, though it did matter where I put said strokes.

This is how it looked before, but even in this stage it looks better than in the beginning (sadly I don't have a picture of that).

When you think a work is lost you don't have much else to lose, and that helped me be more casual. Though I advise to not experiment on 'official' work, for the lack of a better word.

Other tips in general would be to use white ink, prefferably water resistant at the end for details (again, try and see if it is for you), obviously don't paint the entirety of the paper, use some tape for the edges(like I did in the photos above) for both a professional look at the end and to minimalizeze the bending of the paper (even though it might bend while you work, the tape being used all around the edges will help it return to it's original form when it's dry).

Now I'll put some links here:

Kelogsloops is an amaizing watercolor artist from which you can learn a lot, from tehniques to tips and tricks to make your life easier. I really recommand looking into his channel more.

Emily here gives some pretty good tips for beginners as well, so check her out too if you will.

Hope you find this useful and good luck on your watercolor comic! ❤️😉🍀

[hood32]

Hi! I'm a PhD candidate in chemistry in my 3rd year however since starting I've come to learn: the research my lab does is built upon questionable methods, there is evidence my advisor published fabricated data, my program doesn't follow any of their rules/regulations and lets pretty much anyone graduate/advance, and a huge list of other similar stuff. Do you think it's worth sticking it out for another year or 2 for the PhD or should I get out as fast as I can?

Hey! This sounds like a lot of problems, though unfortunately not all that uncommon. However, you are not your PI. Your individual daily work, methods, and publication quality is completely up to you. You have to keep yourself honest about your procedures and results, along with your interpretation of your results. Do your best to make sure the research you personally doing is honest. Make sure if anybody outside your lab looked into your papers, they’d come to the same conclusions you have. 

In many cases, your PI’s name does have the ability to influence future job opportunities, but if you don’t think this is the case (the PI isn’t known for habitually publishing bad data, your PI isn’t very well-known in the field, etc), your opportunities will have to do solely with both your paper quality and the fact that you hold a specific degree. 

I hate to buy into the “sunk cost fallacy,” but you’ve been there for three years so far, fighting for your PhD. That’s a LOT of work, especially if you’re not one of the people who fabricates data and takes shortcuts.  I say you go ahead and take the degree. 

[the-psychedelic-hobo]

3. Education, isolation, perseverance, fail and try, fail and try, Language deprivation

So if you're wondering by now what "mainstreamed" means. It means you were deaf, most likely was steered away from ASL [American Sign Language], and sent to a regular school instead of a Deaf school. I was forced to talk, given stressful speech therapy, devices that went with my hearing aides that the teacher would wear so I could hear her voice [most guy teachers refused to do this, especially P.E. coaches]. It was bad enough that my inefficient, staticky hearing aides drew me negative attention, now the whole class giggled at the sight of this even more inefficient device with mangled wires wrapped around the teacher.

I learned to adapt. Some ways positive, most ways negative. The negative adaptations I picked up was the "deaf nod". Having said yes to questions many times that werent yes or no questions, having the teacher making me the example of the classroom of the "kid who's not paying attention". Even though I made straight As by reading... yes reading. I didnt have to hear the teacher at all as long as i picked up context clues and read. Public school is that fucked up. Unfortunately this was the reason i was never given the Deaf route. "Oh they have done so well here, why isolate them at a Deaf school?" They would say

Truth was. Being deaf in a hearing school was the real isolation. I became pedantic with words, an overcompensating speaker, I had to because I didnt want to say the wrong things, the wrong way. My language was great on paper, but with conversational language logic, I struggled with confusion every day. It wasnt until high school when teachers started testing on things that werent written on the board or highlighted in the book that would stop a bullet with many parts we were told to ignore.

I think you'll notice that some of the problems I've had in a mainstream school aren't just exclusive to deaf kids btw....

My parents divorced when I was 5 right after my sister died. My older half sister moved out when I was 7 and so from age 8-18 it was just me and my mom. And she worked from 8am to sometimes 11pm depending on the day. At home by myself, I watched tv. Had to do alot of guesswork as to what was happening but dvds thankfully had subtitles. [I'm a proud dirty fucking slut for subtitles]. I mostly played outside in the woods. I loved to read but could have been encouraged to do so more. School kinda got in the way of recreational reading but hey at least I know [jk I forgot] the chemical processes of photosynthesis.

I had very little friends. And as a proud Millennial, mySpace IM was huge in 8th grade so I began to make one of the best friends who I am still best friends with today. For that I'm thankful. We were so different socially. He was hearing and more cooool😎😎😎 about not getting attached, and I? Oh I had 13 years of conversations to catch up on!! I typed like hell lmao. We would just hang out on IM [instant messaging] send youtube videos to each other and talk about music.

AND FOR THE LOVE OF GAWD WE DEAF LOVE MUSIC QUIT ASKING US HOW LOOK UP BEETHOVEN AND VIBRATIONS U THICK SKULLED PEOPLE WHO DONT THINK DEAF PEOPLE CAN ENJOY AND EVEN CREATE MUSIC

Anyways... I have played piano since I was 4, guitar since 12 yo, harmonica since 8 yrs old, mandolin, banjo, and fiddle since 15

And I've always loved singing..

Youd think with all these qualities I'd have no problems making friends. But if you cant communicate well with people it's hard. I tried and failed so many times but I really never fully gave up.

Had teachers play the "what?" Game with me.

Lord do I hate this game. I ask what because I cant hear and students and teachers say what back to mock me.

Or the whispered "losers say what" to which I would say what bc I cant hear and the preppy future serial rapist jocks would roar in laughter.

In my teens to compound onto my severe to profound deafness, I started having major tinnitus problems that last to hmm yes while I'm typing this. Never goes away. Compounded onto that is psychosis, paranoia, mood swings, and depression which leads to my early adulthood mental breakdowns and a diagnosis of both paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar.

To be continued...

MY [not all] experiences as a mainstreamed deaf adult

1. Birth, "condition", minute heritage

Let's start with my birth. Me and my twin sister were born with a type of deafness that deals specifically with the "hairs or fibers" in everyone's ears that pick up vibrations of sounds that then later go further to the ear drums then the brain. [Or so it has been explained to me. I am NOT an audiologist].

Basically those hairs or fibers in me and my twin sister's [Barbara RIP] ears were weak? Short? Genetically unfit to pick up sounds efficiently? Again I am not an audiologist. And it was genetic. My parents were hearing; my paternal grandfather [Granddaddy happy & 90 this year!] is also deaf or hard of hearing. His identity is for him to disclose. But he was also born with a very similar hearing loss [is it a loss if you never had it?] to mine. He is not culturally deaf. He grew up in the hearing world and really never got into the deaf world which is his choice. However, we share values, beliefs, and traditions outside ASL [which he has never learned] that are very similar to Deaf culture. [I do not believe in gatekeeping, take it elsewhere, etc, plz & thx].

To be continued...