#I don’t know how productive I’ll be at making new digital art so I’m gonna try post more from my sketchbook :) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

legionofpotatoes · 3 years ago

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I love your art, it is very detailed in a neat way. Was wondering how you got started making it as a source of income? How did you get your first paid work, I'd love some advice on how to get started, if that's ok

Thank you. Of course it's okay, although I doubt I have enough work experience in art to really delve into this. I only went full freelance this year, and had been juggling art as a side hobby until then. If you're still interested in my somewhat narrow perspective, and are okay with my long-winded rambles, I'll give it a shot:

So to answer your question fully, I'll describe how I started and move into personal advice and learnings later on. As a disclaimer, I am a white cishet dude in my late twenties with a moderate cocktail of mental illnesses, but overall I can pass for a functioning adult so a lot I have to say may come laced with privilege I cannot fully identify.

So uhh I began drawing in around 2012? I think? Maybe halfway through 2011? And I mostly made fanart for things I enjoyed and tried to branch out in communities that felt nourishing to my style and interests (I caught a bug for alt posters and enjoyed mainstream movies so I spent a long time on posterspy early on). There were a handful of opportunities that came from there but I could only accept a couple because of primary workplace commitments. Still, it showed that networking in a focused community was definitely a good place to start; I myself have huge trouble committing to social networks and really staying socially active, but I knew it was an essential ingredient in succeeding so I tried to make myself be involved in challenges and art support trains etc. as much as I could.

In parallel to all that I also ran a few third party online stores (redbubble, teepublic) for disposable income and would sometimes, if rarely, hit around $100-150 a month from those sources combined. It is a sort of thing that requires helper accounts on other social media sites to promote it on, because the stores themselves have a huge volume of content that translates into low organic discoverability. Obviously it was never gonna be the way towards financial independence through art, and with community projects being few and far between, I opened private commissions in around uhhh 2017 I think, focusing on offering a few styles I knew I could do well, and sometimes operating in individual fandoms (it was mostly a bioware thing to be frank). But I had to close them back down after a year or so, again because of work-life conflict and how badly it was burning me out. The reason I kept trying to monetize this hobby is because I honestly hated what I did for my main job and wanted to see a way out in some shape or form in the future.

And then in 2020 I had to quit my main job altogether because of *gestures at pandemic* and deal with a mental breakdown from all the wonderful things it did to us and me specifically. I took a short break and decided to give art a shot full-time, and that was around May this year. I was planning on opening up commissions again (and I still am), but a few sudden opportunities that fell in my lap moved that timetable down and now I'm grateful to even be doing something I am getting adequately paid for.

So, with that somewhat limited perspective, here's what I've learned that I'd tell myself if I was just starting out:

1. Being a fan of something can be a shortcut towards effective networking kickoffs. Which are important evidently. If you love something and enjoy making content for it, join communities, settle into a combination of social media websites that feel right for those interests + your body of work + your inner rhythm, and try to play to content discovery as much as your mental health allows you to. Like I said, I know that I myself am incredibly bad at self-motivating to talk to people, so I found that synergizing common interests into fanart - which I enjoyed making anyway - could be a way to give myself a gentle nudge forward and build those bridges leading to community activities, which then net experience and coverage. Sometimes even freelance projects from official avenues. Again; picking the right spaces for what you're after is key. Companies roam twitter, concept art recruiters scour artstation or linkedin etc, instagram can land you private commissions and collab opportunities, so on and so forth. Find your niche and try to kick up dust. However...

2. I do not believe that any social profile can replace a good portfolio. The thing that made an immediate difference to me this year was building a coherent, simple website with my best work front and center and a contact form on top. Every single opportunity I got came from that form (maybe via twitter or instagram initially, but always sealing the decision after going through the website), so I firmly believe that showcasing your skills and portfolio in a visually arresting and user-friendly way is a big priority. I had some reservations about tackling that task but fortunately I had help from a savvy life partner and we slapped it together via wordpress in less than a day. Twitter/whatever social media is prevalent in your target groups is definitely important to get the right eyes on your shit, yes, but those eyes will then look for a second stop where your work and rates are more clear and concise. Simplicity is key imo, I cannot overstate this. So make a cute, simple portfolio!

3. Your skills and rates will grow and change as you do. Let them. Over the years I built several lasting professional relationships from my obsession over mass effect and kept getting opportunities both from bioware and their partner companies, some small and some a bit bigger. A one-off job earlier this year opened an unexpected door to another much larger commitment, and then the work I did there brought some attention from small businesses looking for commercial commissions. These were all incredibly different projects in terms of scope and budget, and I've been tackling them all on a case-by-case basis and slowly coming into my own irt my needs, rates, and SOW thresholds. It is still a work in progress (and a LOT of literal work as well), and very much a thing I struggle with in publicly marketing, which is why I felt a tad underqualified to answer your question in the first place (obviously I did not let that stop me). But what it means for me now is that I am rapidly developing into whatever my "version" of a functioning freelance artist is, and when the conditions for that guy are met, I need to be able to confidently plant myself and operate from that space despite past precedents. Do not let anyone bully you into downpricing what you yourself perceive as legitimate products of personal growth and development. Speaking of which...

4. The shitty challenge of turning envy into inspiration, and paddling outside your comfort zones in full riot gear. it is hard, but realizing that being a miserable, self-hating artist in my early days got me nothing but more misery back was the first real step I took and what truly blew the hinges off. I was just not pleasant to be around, I would badmouth my work all the time, and it all somehow made sense in my broken mind because the validation I sought was purely external and the way I sought it was through eliciting sympathy via self-victimization (even when I made something objectively nice). It all led fucking nowhere. Except perhaps to my own narcissism that I one day managed to identify and start managing. So I started looking at things that made me seethe with envy and calmly deconstruct and figure out their inner workings instead, do studies, and find nuggets of inspiration or discover new ways to approach rendering or building up specific elements. It was an application of analytical diligence to what I wanted to be a purely emotional, esoteric workflow, but that I deep down knew wasn't. Art is a discipline and a skill, and maybe it isn't a straight line, but you gotta find some line to thread nevertheless. Being self-hating was almost an identity I had to break out of, and despite it still being like, 4-5% there? I realize its cause and effect on me, my work, and those around me, so it is with a conscious choice that I gently set it aside when I work and especially when I learn. It won't always stay quiet, but the effort is the difference. Your doors towards accepting true growth and venturing into uncharted territories, art styles, and networking will really open from there. But there's a huge caveat...

5. Toolsets, accessibility, privilege, and all the good things that enable artistic expression and profitability are not given equal to all. you might do all the mental work I mentioned to be ready to rock and roll and learn and draw your way out of anything, but digital art is a fucking money pit that asks almost too much at times. I don't got a good case study here but identifying and ensuring accessibility to the tools you need to do your best work is, like, super important. The ergonomics can improve as you make money and settle into the job, but the basics have to be made available to you. And some of that might not even be under your direct control. That can be anything from pen tablets to software subscriptions to opportunities in hiring sullied by sexism or what have you. You gotta navigate all that through careful networking and money/time management. I don't do a good job of devoting specific slices of time to work/study, and my primary clutch is iPad software which went from a good deal to a nightmare scenario over the years. So all I can say here is do what I didn't; network, invest in a PC/tablet, and pick a software you'll learn that won't burn a hole in your pocket.

6. Be nice to work with? This one is hard to articulate and has landed my own ass in hot water in my early years because of how socially inept I am, but nothing is more worthwhile than being.. like. a good person to work with. That can be anything like meeting deadlines, or sometimes missing them but eloquently articulating why, being generous in early stages, being communicable and not too wordy in your emails, having a good grasp on abstract artistic concepts and how to describe them in simple terms, having a clear, laid out framework of your working rates in commercial and non-commercial projects and sticking to those guns with grace, understanding when you need to say no and saying it well, the works. Just being nice. Sometimes that might mean going headstrong with something you believe in, or simmering down and sucking up to the big man, all relative and adaptive. Part and parcel of the service provision dance that we all have to do in order to make bank. Know your lines here, obviously, and don't like. work for nazis. or uh.. *shudders* exposure. but be nice and empathetic and communicable and word will travel eventually. Skill may be in abundance these days, but good people are most certainly not, and capitalism has a way of bubbling up scarcity. Grim, but uh, them's the breaks.

I know I'm ultimately telling you to like. Have a body of work, make a portfolio, grow, and network. But that's really how I see it for now. And being nice can be a cherry on top that sets you apart, along with the inherent irreplaceable voice of your artwork. I think I rambled on enough, but if there is something specific you need my help with, even if you want to come off anon and talk in private, please feel free.

#anon #asks #long post #sorry I cant actually condense ideas better :(

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meruz · 4 years ago

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Aforementioned long ask post please excuse me while i try to figure out tumblr's new text editor. I’ll get into the art meme questions first and then the rest at the end.

Ok first of all thank you all for sending in questions! Giving me an excuse to talk hehe. I’ll address these in number order. Here’s a link to the ask meme for reference but also I’ll restate the question for ease of reading.

1. When did you get into art?

Super cliche answer but I don’t remember a time where I WASN’T the weird art kid! I started keeping a dedicated sketchbook when I was about 12? But here’s a page from my kindergarten journal about what I want to be when I grow up.

2. What art-related sites have you ever signed up for?

LOL this is a weird question. Not sure why so many people want to know. Anyways I definitely had a dA. more than one dA account. I used to browse oekakis when I was a kid but I think I was only signed up to some small ones that internet friends owned. What else...? Mangabullet,Tegakie, Paintberri, iscribble back when that was a thing, instagram if that COUNTs, I used to post art on livejournal and dreamwidth too. Patreon, I guess. Gumroad, inprnt, bigcartel, storenvy all for selling stuff.

In terms of resources.. I have a schoolism account that I’m sharing with friends. Used to take classes on coursera for free. I signed up to textures.com for work recently haha. I can’t remember if I ever had an account on posemaniacs. Did they have accounts...? I definitely used to visit all the time.

3. Show us your oldest piece of art you have on hand.

Alright here’s me actually logging into my old deviantart account. These are from September 2008 So I was 13 years old. I don’t have a deviantart account from before then because 13 was the required age for having an account and I didn’t want to lie about my age because I wanted people to be impressed by how young yet clearly incredible at art I was LOL.

4. What defines your artistic style?

You guys are probably more equipped to answer this than me but uh... I wanna say... Focus on colors. And... a slightly heavy hand? Like confident... not always well-considered mark making HAH...

Also I think I have a pretty healthy mix of american comics/manga influences. I feel like people who are into american comics always think my art is too manga and people who are into anime/manga always think my art is too american. And I’m taking that as a good sign.

5. Do you practice other styles/have you tried other styles in the past?

I like to think I switch it up a bunch! I mean, these are pretty different, right?

I think I’ve mentioned this before but one thing I really took away from art school is that, for an illustrator at least, art style shouldn’t be consistent. Your greatest weapon is changing the aspects of your style based on the task, the emotions and message you want to illustrate etc. So depending on the project I’m working on, the fandom I’m drawing for, whether I want something to be funny or serious or dramatic, I’ll change things about my style all the time.

One thing I don’t rly post on here is really tight polished work and that’s because I do that for my day job haha. If you’re not paying me... I’m probably not gonna color in the lines.

6. What levels of artistic education have you had?

I have a whole ass diploma LOL. Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. from the Rhode Island School of Design. And I had a great college experience tbh. Besides the student loans. If any of you guys are thinking about art school feel free to e-mail or message me questions or concerns, I’ll be happy to help. Be as honest as I can be.

7. Show us at least one picture you drew or sketched recently that you did not put on a public site.

heres the wandavision kids. Uhh what else do I have...I feel like I’m rummaging for loose change here...

assorted valentines prep doodles

8. What is your favourite piece that you have done?

Well, obviously this is gonna change all the time and generally it’s gonna be my most recent piece LOL. So yeah, why the hell not. I’ll say it’s this one. I have a pretty short memory which I count as a blessing for an artist. I don’t dwell that long on older work and it keeps me moving forward.

10. What do you like most about your art?

I like that it’s something that only I would make! I had this thought fairly recently and I wrote it down in my sketchbook, it’s pretty cheesy and rambling but it felt revolutionary at the time:

So yeah. I like my art best when it’s the most me and for me. And I like it least when it feels like I’m just making something for social media or for other people’s expectations or whatever.

14. What do you like drawing the most?

Kids in baggy clothing are like my go-to LOL idk if that’s obvious. but also I like being challenged so lately I’ve really loved drawing multi-character compositions, environments, weird angles, etc.

oh i LOVE drawing the underside of shoes lol. And bandages. People that are kinda beat up.. I think it comes from getting a bunch of cuts all the time. I’m always patching myself up and I want to patch characters up too.

15. What do you like drawing the least?

mmm I try to find something to like in every drawing but lets see... I don’t like doing commissions of people’s dogs. Just because it’s normally like... a family friend and my mom volunteered me without my consent and I don’t even really know what they’re expecting me to draw and I don’t even get to meet the dog. Also I’m not that great at dog anatomy. Trying to learn though.

18. What is your purpose for drawing?

This could have a million answers! Uhhh to GIT GOOD??? But also to express myself... and also to make money... I mean it depends on what the drawing IS. I draw fanart mostly to connect to people in the fandom so if you ever see me drawing fanart please take it as like an open invitation to talk to me about the character haha.

20. How would you rank your art? (poor, mediocre, good, etc.)

Good!!! I have a lot of self-confidence primarily born out of ignorance and a short attention span. If I don’t think too hard about how many other artists are mindblowingly unfathombly good... its easy to think I’m good too! LOL

In all seriousness though, I think the opinion a person has of their art is like a crazy balancing act, right? Like you have to think you suck enough to want to get better but also you have to think you’re good enough to not want to give up. I think we’re all walking that line, I know I am! But also I’m a glass half-full type of person so. Most of the time I feel good about it.

22. List at least one of your “artspirations.”

This is a good question because I’ve been trying and failing to put together one of those “influence map” memes for like a full month now. What’s giving me a hard time is I feel like none of these are actually really obvious “““influences”““ in my art? Like it’s hard to see a lot of them in the work I make...? But idk maybe you guys’ll see what I can’t.

And these are just a couple! God there’s so many more. I could talk about other artists for ages, from all different genres of art. Daumier, Rockwell like every illustrator out there, Dana Gibson, Alex Toth, Hiroshi Yoshida, a lot of the Brandywine School. Lots of current working artists too, Karl Kerschl, frikkin Masashi Kishimoto lol, Jake Wyatt, Richie Pope, Edouard Caplain, Matt Cook, Sachin Teng, - lots of big internet artists, Sophie Li, Freddy Carrasco, Milliofish, Angela Sung... like all my friends from art school too. I could just keep going but I’ll stop for now lol.

24. Do you have a shameful art past? (recolour sprite comics, tracing art, etc.)

I mean if that’s how we’re defining shameful?? sure LOL. It’s not sprite comics but I used to do pokemon sprite recolors all the time. And I used to trace manga panels and color them... Granted this was all when I was like under 12 yrs old so it’s not even embarrassing. Can you really call it shameful when a 7 year old wets the bed or whatever? Not really. In fact some of these are cool as fuck. Look

25. Draw a picture!

Man I’m so tired now but here.

I used to get a lot of compliments for drawing people smiling lol but I don’t think I’ve drawn a lot of smiling lately.. here’s proof I’ve still got it.

OK MEME DONE. onto the rest.

I read this ask first thing when i opened my computer in the morning and it made me really emotional.. I’m so glad my sketches could help you!!

I think a lot of artists on social media talk about the struggle of making art but imo not enough people talk about the joy! Like I know it’s corny but. I really meant what I said at the beginning of that sketchbook about re-contextualizing art around process and progress > product and perfection. I think its super important..! The strength of messy, unfinished, and energetic art! For the feeling of it, for the love it!

That's crazy!!! I hope you like 'em. The whole line of x-books is really good rn imo.

Hi! I totally have the answer for digital stuff on my faq lol. But in terms of drawing on paper.. it varies! I tend to use sketchbooking and any on-paper doodling I do as a way to loosen up/warm-up or experiment. But right now my go-to aresenal is:

from top > bottom

- kuretake no.55 doublesided brush pen

- tombow fudenosuke

- muji 0.38 ballpoint

- medium size poscas

- grey tombow double brush pens

- good ol bic mechanical pencil

not EXACTly sure which inking you referring to from my sketchbook but if I had to take a guess it'd probably be the kuretake no55. That's been my main inker, lately. Great for sketching with the thin end too.

You can print out and eat my art if you like. Just please don't mass produce or re-sell. <3

Thanks! I've come to accept that my art is always gonna be sort of gestural and painty naturally. It's getting it to tighten up enough to be legible that's hard lol...

uh yeah lol I agree actually. I think yolei is great.

I assume these asks are related? LOL

1) Yeah totally true. I love David.

2) I don’t take requests, sorry! But if you want to commission me to draw Legion i would be MORE than happy to. Just e-mail me at [email protected].

<33333333333333333333333333

#ask #anonymous

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the1trueanon · 4 years ago

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Aight, let's do this.

It has been. A looong time. Since I’ve actually put anything up on here. First of all, I’d like to apologize for being gone for so long. A lot has happened, both before and during my disappearance, and thus I had to take a big long pause from trying to coordinate posts and stuff (also, not having my own phone or device or anything has had a good part in the break, and while that hasn’t been fixed yet, I’m still going to try to update here somehow. How I’ll do that, I don’t know, but I’ll do it XD). I’d also like to let you all know that I do have some new ideas and plans!! This blog is for all my crazy stuff, as a general “oh hey, Anon the idiot is posting some random shite again, lookit guys!” blog XD But I am thinking of separating my personal works into different blogs so that you guys don’t have to scroll through all my madness to get to what your looking for. All of which will be tagged in a sort of FAQ post here, if I choose to do this. Currently, however, my main goal is to get this blog (and some of my other side blogs) up, running, and most of all, updated. I have a ton of art that I haven’t gotten to post (some of which looks awful now that I look back at it, but what can ya do lol) and I want to get this blog caught up before I start up all the new ideas and shit that I’ve got going on in my brain. It hopefully won’t take too long to get everything on track, but we’ll have to see. That being said, I do not plan to continue the Bendy and Boris in the Inky Mystery comic yet. I haven’t drawn up any updates for it and currently, I don’t plan to any time in the near future. I’m sorry, I know that really sucks, but trying to draw the full comic in traditional while dealing with schooling, personal/side art, and the (at least 3 major) different ideas I’ve got is just too much right now. I also have not been able to keep up with the original story as of late, so I have no idea what I’m missing and where I’m going. As for continuing when I can finally do it digitally, we’ll have to see. At worst, I’ll attempt to pass on the comic to someone who can keep up, possibly Bunni (@bunnis-stuff), or I’ll stop production of the comic (I think that the crew might have been planning to make an animated version, so if the comic stops, we’ll at least have something like that to look forward to if they do it. But that’s a big might, so don’t quote me on anything.). Now, about my newer ideas (hehehe =w=).... I have a lot that I’d like to get going as soon as I can. And yes, one does involve the messages left on my tumblr and the responses from @evermore-cathrine-blog. All I can say about them at the moment is to just keep an eye out for anything new and interesting, as I’ll update everything through here as well. They’re gonna be fun, and I hope to get as many of you guys involved as want to and as possible! Now, over the course of this next week I’m going to attempt to spam post as much old art as possible (starting either Tuesday night or Wednesday, as I need to take today to go through all my old art and get pictures to put up) before this handy dandy device I’ve gotten is yoinked back by the school -_- (yep, that’s right. I love you guys so much I’m fighting against all the bs of the school’s internet system to try and get back to you guys <3). After this week, I’ll end up offline mostly, for about 2 to 2 1/2 months, ish. Just for the summer. I hope to get a device like this one back next year, and during that I’ll finally finish whatever I need to get up (if I don’t finish it in sporadic, unexpected/unplanned updates over the summer) and then finally finally finally get to start sharing my ideas!!!! I really hope you guys will like them, there’s a big one that I’m so excited about, I might try to get it’s blog up and running too before I go!! With all that said, thanks for sticking around and again, I’m so sorry for being gone so long. I hope that from here on out things go better, and we can start getting a lot of new stories of the ground!!! Until then, enjoy and revel in my formerly horrible old art skills and hopefully

my some-what better recent art skills (whenever I can get the newer stuff up)!!! Oh! And also, keep an eye out. There’s a post I’m going to make concerning a personal project of mine and a group, and I think you guys will like what you see of it ;) See ya then.

#whoo!!#finally got to this!#finally updating!!#sorry for the long wait!#so much has happened #i swear im gonna get you guys updated before just randomly starting stuff tho #super excited!!!#@bunnis-stuff #project-clockwork #evermore!cathrine #we'll see you guys soon!#anon speaks #anon rambles #anon apologizes #anon updates #the1trueanon

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theheroheart · 4 years ago

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New Years Meme 2020

@arqueete: “This survey is a meme that has been passed around among my friends since back in LJ days. If you want to join in, please consider yourself tagged.”

I used to journal more, and stuff like this is really nice to look back on, because I have terrible memory for life stuff or the passage of time. So here, for future me.

1. What did you do in 2020 that you’d never done before? Uhhhh wear a mask to the grocery store? This was not a groundbreaking year for new experiences.

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year? I didn't have any. I don't make any. I mean, sometimes I make them in the vague "I want to focus on this in the future", but I'll already have forgotten by March, like I don't really PLAN my life in such a way. I just have goals that aren't tied to specific points in time. You get there when you get there, and you choose what you want to prioritise.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No, but my brother got married, which was very exciting because he's 40 and has never had a girlfriend who he considered important enough for me to meet. (And my sister-in-law is delightful.)

4. Did anyone close to you die? My (half-)brother's dad died a few weeks ago (cancer), but I didn't really know him, so I wouldn't say he was close to me. I did spend almost a week at my brother's place to be there for him though. And honestly, I kept thinking about how my mom's dead this year, because in a way I'm glad we didn't have to deal with this year together. She already died from respitory failure, had poor impulse control and sense of safety, and I would've been CONSTANTLY worried about her.

5. What countries did you visit? I was gonna go to Malaysia (for my brother's wedding celebration), but that didn't happen. (Flatmates were gonna go to Japan.) So. Yeah. Home country all the way.

6. What would you like to have in 2021 that you lacked in 2020? A driving force to move forward in my life?

7. What date from 2020 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? I don't think... that there is one specific day? I guess the US election? Despite me being Norwegian, it's still fairly historic.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? /stares blankly at the wall I did do some nice art pieces? I coped? I managed to have good times and make friends despite everything else.

9. What was your biggest failure? I dropped out of two classes specifically because I couldn't do remote learning and self-structured study (BECAUSE ADHD YO), even though it wasn't even that HARD subjects, which was very frustrating. It hasn't set my study plan back, thankfully, but it still felt like a waste.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Only mental. And thankfully not as bad as it could've been, but hell yeah there was some strong anxiety in there.

11. What was the best thing you bought? I've bought some great video games this year. Animal Crossing brought 250 hours of fun, Hades brought 100 hours so far. Good investments.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? // 13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Both of these are related to pandemic behavior so I think you can guess.

14. Where did most of your money go? Entertainment? Also, god, I spent so much money on theatre tickets that are now just vouchers for non-specific future performances. I'll get my money's worth eventually, but right now it's hundres of dollars worth just sitting in vouchers. OH, and, digital D&D books.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? I had tickets for Chess. Several tickets, for multiple performances. STILL HAVEN'T SEEN THIS PRODUCTION THOUGH. But they're still doing it so hopefully it will still happen.

16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2020? Not sure I have any specific ones, actually. No iconic music.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: Last year I was feeling very accomplished. I was challenging myself, had befriended lots of classmates, had gotten through some stuff I was quite proud of managing. This year has been... not that. But on the other hand, I'm not as exhausted from school stuff, and I'm ready to actually go places and try to do things, as opposed to just wanting a month long nap.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? General life maintainance stuff. Not just school work, but like, focus more on money sensibility and try to get on disability, go to the dentist, work with my doctor more... All of that got a little bit just... postponed indefinitely.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Uh, can't think of any notable negative behaviour. It's mostly stuff I didn't do. Like, I had some bad anxiety in the spring, but honestly I think I did an appropriate amount of worrying.

20. How will you be spending Christmas? Had my first christmas with my flatmates (whom I love very much), and had my dad over as well. It was very lovely, and socially way less draining than usual.

22. Did you fall in love in 2020? lmao I'm aromantic

23. How many one-night stands? lmao I'm asexual

24. What was your favorite TV program? There were a few this year! Good Omens, The Queen's Gambit, Julie and the Phantoms, Avenue 5. There were more I watched and enjoyed, but I think those stand out the most. Also, does Critical Role count? OH, The Baby Sitters Club! A lot of good stuff.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nah. I don't hate a lot of people.

26. What was the best book you read? Don't think I read anything notable this year. Don't read a lot of books, I prefer to consume stories in other media.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Julie and the Phantoms. Not because the music is astounding or anything, but it was very feel-good and fun. Don't think I had a lot of new music.

28. What did you want and get? D&D campaigns? Have gotten really invested in one of them in particular, it's delightful.

29. What was your favorite film of this year? Hmmm. The only one that stands out was The Old Guard. I watch more series than films. 2 hours isn't long enough for me to get properly invested AND satisfied.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 33 and I don't know that I did anything special. I think I just chilled? Flatmates made me a nice breakfast!

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Having the energy for essays/exams, probably. Just feeling like I actually had some accomplishments. OR LIKE. If Norway did like New Zealand and just wiped the virus out.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2020? Pyjamas. Occasionally 'apocalypse chic'.

34. What kept you sane? My flatmates and my dad. Reliable social interaction with people I care about.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Matthew McNulty, which applies to every single year. But this year I started both a gallery website and a discord server for him, so it was a particularly good year for him. (Special mention to Paul Spera, who I finally talked to face-to-face, through Zoom, but still.) Also I'm using 'fancy' platonically.

36. What political issue stirred you the most? Ha aha hah all of them, oh god. BLM, probably, though. That was when I still had the energy to get invested.

37. Who did you miss? So many people. Like, come on. I don't know that it was even specific people so much just... being in a group? Like, my choir gang?

38. Who was the best new person you met? Met a guy I ended up playing a LOT of board games with. We haven't really talked in a few months now tho. And there's a friend I didn't MEET this year, but I really connected with, who's also now my DM, which was really nice.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2020: It's not necessarily new knowledge, but this year has really driven home the need for both community solidarity and governmental support/leadership.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: I'm alone in my apartment, that means I can do anything / I'm not wearing pants (alone in my apartment - Brian David Gilbert)

Summary: It's been a conflicted year, a lot has felt like it's been on stand-still, but there's still been some good things in there.

#real life maybe #2020 #personal

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daggerzine · 4 years ago

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Celebrity Mixtape Party #3 with celebrity musical guest Jonathan Segel!

Big thanks to our Stockholm correspondent for giving a listen to mixtape number three. I had as much fun reading Jonathan's musings as I did making the mix.

The Neats - 6

I had a thing against this band because of their use of a capital-Lamdba as an A on their band logo, so I always read it as “The Nelts” and by the time I finally understood it was “The Neats” I wasn’t interested. This song is an obvious love poem to 96 Tears, with the organ sound and spy-riff guitar. Nice Pebbles-type music, the lyrics are stupid.

The Chills - I Think I Thought of Nothing Left To Think About

Chills are great, I have always been a fan of the NZ scene, so many good bands. “Driving yet melodic” as they used to say

The Mantles - Don't Cross Town

Nice simple melody guitar intro. Indie band quality recording, good for those in the know (I’m not, though.) Again, the classic guitar/organ with the bass and drums. These guys sound like they learned how to play in order toto form this band.

Magazine - Touch and Go

Nice edgy new wave from Magazine! This is classic stuff, heard on KDVS when I was in high school, making rock music what it needed to be. Listening now, I can hear the glam in it as well.

Naked Raygun - Rollerqueen

Bass driven rock music with droney scream vocals, I guess it was considered punk at the time. But it’s a love song! About a big legged lady, no less. From the punk styles that used Marshall amps, yet claimed to hate the big rockers of the 70s.

The Names - Floating World

Back to the classic 80s organ/chugging guitar/arpeggios with a chorus pedal. I’m glad people made records like this, nobody would tolerate singing like this these days unless it was from teenagers. “let’s go away, far.”

Unrest - Vibe Out

“Vibe out”, vocoded. Bass riff central again, eventually we get to the almost-in-tune girl vocal pair, which I have to say, makes me happy. There’s something about it that makes me happy, especially the suspensions. All strummy strum, downstrokes on the bass, with that pair of crooners melodicizing.

Slant 6 - 30/30 Vision

Ok now we’re in proto-math rock territory, awesome riffs and key changes, great sounds from the guitars and bass. Spoken vocals, again, the almost in tune girl melodics that just get me. Great build to new sections! Faster pace, and a weird phrase for the chorus “30/30 vision” then back to the slow bass riff. I think I would have loved these guys live, never saw them!

New Order - Ceremony

The most pop track so far, most of these bands with the bass-riff intros probably copped it from these guys. This is a great track (and I’m not a super NO fan) with great simple melody and strong guitar and bass parts. I obviously stole something from this song for a song on the second CVB album, “Chain of Circumstance”.

The Sound - Unwritten Law (7" version)

Back to the garage, cool guitar riff on two janglers going slightly stretched tuning wise. I haven’t heard it before. “a hand is a hand a knife is a knife”. Where did these guys come from and where did they go?

Happy Refugees - Enshrined In a Memory

Another 7”, again I’m not in on this band, sounds cool, sort of Fall-ish delivery but with the REM jangle. I’m gonna get good at music trivia.

Television Personalities - Reaching For The Stars

I know these guys, had many albums, so my trivia knowledge is influenced by KDVS. And

The Three Johns - Brainbox

Nice strong song, good recording, complete with the major key anthem fade out.

The Pooh Sticks - Time to Time

Welsh post punks garage rocking it

The Primitives - I'll Be Your Mirror

More 80s bands mirroring the Velvet Underground?

Biff Bang Pow - 7 Seconds

Like UK’s own Paisley Underground. I guess most of this tape is 80s/early 90s Brit snark mixed with a bit of acid.

Party Day - Carousel

Early Goth! This type of bass and to a certain extent guitar, are why I thought the Cocteau Twins were goth at the start, same early 1980s era.

Mick Trouble - Tales of Hank Marvin

(Mick trouble, really? Tales of Hank Marvin! The throwback nostalgia to Hank, doing up the old strummy guitar. It also reminds me a bit of TV P’s)

Bad Sports - Can't Just Be Friends

This is like a love note note 7”. Every time I go you can put me on your stereo.

The Unknowns - Not My Memory

Early 80s when the new wave was crashing and nobody knew what the genre enclosed. I like the way he clucks like a chicken.

Julian Cope - I've Got Levitation

Man, Julian Cope. Was high. That super crack midrange snare is like hyped up Rolling Stones, with this blues progression. He was into cutting high and low end to squeeze more volume out of analog gear. Punchy! You can sort of see where this is going in terms of UK drug and rave culture.

Abecedarians -They Said Tomorrow/Wildflower

I liked these guys, DIY post punk Californians. Sort of into the texture as much as the notes. Moar reeverb!

Red Zebra - The Art of Conversation

Don’t know them, I think…Belgian punkers. Sounds pretty emo these days. Nice gothy chorus on bass and digital delay on guitar. And freaky ending!

Wire - The 15th

Monks of Doom covered this song relatively recently on What’s Left For Kicks (2006) so that version almost supplanted this version! Wire is so weird, they’re always great but somehow unknowable. Like what are they actually talking about? Is it as dire as they make it sound? Love their style with all the direct downstrokes on the guitar and the organ.

The House of Love - Road

Taking the goth and post punk signifiers to the bank via high end production. Emo vocals moving out of the underground. This was toward the end of the A&R

Rote Kapelle - San Francisco Again (partial)

This is obscure. Cool indie (SF, I guess?) boys and girls

Veronica Falls - Bad Feeling

Unknown, cool song, more recent indie Scottish boys and girls?

Close Lobsters - Sewer Pipe Dream

80s Scots, jangly Enigma Records stuff. Nice song, good sounds with the jangles and the fuzz. 80s compulsory snarky lyrics, as usual.

....and here’s the mix!

https://soundcloud.com/user-292047766/jonathan-segel-mix?ref=clipboard&p=a&c=1

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crowwstudies · 5 years ago

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hello!! i’m selena and i’m back after years of not being active on this site. i still go here for inspiration but i reblog lately. rn and i’m in a slump because we have been in quarantine in almost a month and i haven’t left the house in a solid two weeks (so i’m making this post to try to cope). yes, we’re all in quarantine rn and i know y’all are looking for ways to cope/distract yourselves/be productive during this time. also, i’ll do my best to be realistic because i’m also trying to find ways to cope based on experience.

i will emphasize, NO ONE is going to pressure anyone into being productive during the quarantine because we all just want to get by.

“but what if i’m doing well during this quarantine and i just what to let time pass by?”

then this post is for you !!

1. schedule what you can do for the day

maybe we all keep saying we’re bored, we have nothing to do, we feel so unproductive this and that; so i could suggest making a list of what you do during the day to fill up the time slots of your day. this all depends on what time you wake up and what time you go to sleep (my sleep schedule is wack lately lmao i just wanted to share)

once you feel that you still have nothing to do or you still have gaps in your schedule, then you could look for more ideas on what to do or just simply take a nap (because i swear to god naps are the best). maaaaaybe you could try a new hobby and finally commit to it (no pressure, though, after all we’re going through a pandemic)

if you want some printables on a daily schedule, i have some links

universi-tea moodyprintables

2. declutter your room, organize your desk, make everything prettier !!

okay so quarantine. we’re all stuck in our rooms, our houses, and whatever else you see. so why not make everything more pleasing to the eyes? maybe, through decluttering, you’ll find something that will remind you of something (i hope it isn’t something bad tho) and maybe you have some decors that you haven’t hung up like string lights. but please, before the string lights, consider the electricity bill, especially for families that don’t have a source of income rn.

you could also handcraft your own decorations, and speaking of that, i could transition to my next suggestion, which is...

3. try out crafting

of course, with the materials you have in your reach. you could make origami, perhaps a curtain of paper cranes, a wall of paper flowers, a string of paper decorations? these links below could suggest more

diy paper room decorations diy yarn room decorations easy wall art diy home accents fabric projects

there are more ideas on the internet, and maybe you have other materials you have stored in your house !! you can search up more diy projects based on that and you could put a twist to the ideas you see on the internet

4. have a try at journaling

based from my experience, self-isolation leads us into being stuck with our thoughts. so, journaling is one way to let out those thoughts. there are a lot of ways to journal, whether traditionally or digitally, and there are a lot of ideas on the internet. if you don’t know where to get started, here are a few useful posts out of the shitton of posts you can find on the internet

bullet journaling: a guide by bujowsofie 31 day journal challenge by coffeeandpoem journaling ideas/inspiration by gh0stylt 15 things to collect in your journal by improving-slowly 150 self-discovery and bullet journal prompts by undersoilanddirt masterpost of journal prompts by undersoilanddirt

5. learn a new language

have you ever attempted to learn a new language but was never able to commit to it? now is like... a perfect time since we have possibly months of quarantine so we’re gonna be stuck here doing nothing lol anyways you don’t have to commit either if you don’t absolutely feel like it. it’s really up to you if you want to do this for a long time since this is a way to pass time for the quarantine period. here are useful links and masterposts for people trying to learn a new language

how to learn a language when you don’t know where to start by escapetoluna 2+ months of language learning prompts by amillionlanguages language learning masterpost by languagessi tips for starting a langblr by join-the-dutch-clan

6. pick up a new hobby

there are lots of hobbies you can learn with the help of youtube (or online courses, if you can afford it; and as they say,, hope all..) here is a list of hobbies i could suggest

drawing/painting photography playing a musical instrument writing handcrafting cooking/baking sewing

7. start working out at home

there are a lot of ways to get fit (since diets and meal plans are a difficult option ngl especially where i live in), and working out does not require equipment. you could perhaps use applications (i personally use Home Workout), or you could do yoga by watching and imitating what instructors do on youtube. you could even try getting flexible during the quarantine period or even study your favorite dances (or even just a little bit of zumba!!)

8. do some advance studying in your academics

yes. i hate mentioning this. but if your online classes aren’t suspended (hello @ my school idk what you’re doing but it’s not effective at all for underprivileged students) then you better check your priorities LMAO. i do wish that whatever situation you are in is conducive for you to be able to learn, but if you’re done with your academics you could do some advance studying so that you can get a headstart once you go back to “normal”.

9. oooooor you could study an online course you are interested in

there are free courses offered by the ivy league rn, here is the link !!

10. and lastly, remember that this pandemic is a time for you to rest and be aware of what’s happening outside. multiple factors led us into this situation and we must make a change for these type of things to not happen again. as the youth, we must be socially aware because it’s our job to help our nation.

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tigerlilyhasablog · 5 years ago

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Life During the Apocalypse

Hello darlings! Hope everyone is doing well… Hope you all are safe, healthy and not going too crazy if you are in self isolation. Since I’m stuck in the house with quite a bit of extra time, I’d like to try to blog a bit more than usual. I thought it would be kind of fun to share with you what I have been up to at home, so enjoy: The Day in the Life of a Quarantined Teen.🙃

Remote school

First for the dull stuff. My university moved to remote learning the week of March 6th, and while they originally said it would be “until further notice”, they have since announced that it will be like this for the rest of the semester. It’s definitely more boring than going to class, and I miss going to school and seeing people, but I don’t mind it that much. It’s kinda funny, ’cause I was homeschooled for most of my life, up until college, so doing this is like going back to the old days of being homeschooled. 🙂 Right now I’m actually on Spring Break, so this week I’m mainly just chillin’.

What I’ve been watching

I’ve been meaning to get Disney+ for eons now, but never got around to it. My sister and I decided that hey, what better time than now? The very first thing that we watched was High School Musical… Don’t judge me.😂 Somehow I had gone through life never having watched this iconic piece of pop culture, but I decided it was time to amend that. What can I say: it is equal amounts completely terrible and utterly amazing.

Finally watched The Mandalorian as well, which is really, genuinely good. I feel so-so about most Star Wars stuff – I don’t dislike it, but I don’t love it – but damn, I got into this show immediately. The way that they’ve made it like a Western? So good. The characters, the visuals, the storyline… 👌🏻 And yes, I would die for Baby Yoda.

Once we finished that season, we began on Agent Carter, and we just finished the first season last night. I felt so-so about it for like, the first two episodes, but after that I got really into it and like, damn, it’s really good! Two thumbs up from me.

Other than Disney, the only other thing that I’ve watched recently is The Miseducation of Cameron Post. It’s been on my want-to-watch list for a while now, and the other day my school gave me access to a site with a bunch of free films on it, one of which was this movie, which I was really excited about. Fuck, it was good. Really hit hard, Chloe Grace Moretz was incredible, as was the rest of the cast, just a really powerful story of course. I liked the indie feel of the whole thing… Sometimes you can just tell, you know? The 90s aesthetic was also great.

What I’ve been listening to

Being stuck in the house has giving me lots of opportunity to listen to music basically all of the time, so let me share some of the stuff I have been loving right now:

Conan Gray’s Kid Krow – I am really loving this album. It is packed with bops, as well as some fantastic sad-boi songs. I’ve liked Conan’s stuff for a bit now, but in a rather passive way… Now I would say that my fan-ness (not a word, I know) has been solidified.

Ed Sheeran – let me introduce you to the little underground indie artist I’ve recently discovered. Haha. It’s kinda funny that I’ve gotten so into Ed lately, cuz I mean, of course I’ve listened to his stuff for a while now. But like, I guess I’ve never delved very deep into his discography? But lately I’ve been listening to the entirety of each of his albums, and I’m a little obsessed. Guess I should have believed the hype sooner, huh?

Alec Benjamin – someone else who I’ve been into for quite a while, but who I’ve been listening to even more lately. His songs have made their way onto “Music of the Month” a couple times already, and I’ll tell you right now that he’s on there this month, too. 🙂 I don’t think he has a single bad song. I have tickets to see him in May, provided corona doesn’t fuck that up, and I’m really excited!

Lauv’s Modern Loneliness – bops. bops. bops. What else can I say? Bops.

Foster the People – ok, this band has such nostalgia for me. Torches was like, all that I listened to in like 2012/13. I hadn’t really listened to them lately, and hadn’t really explored their more recent stuff. But the other day I put on their Spotify playlist and had a dance party to them all afternoon and it made me so fucking happy.

What else I’ve been up to

Spending way too much time on the internet – gotta go ahead and get this one out of the way. I’d love to say that I’ve been super productive and learned a ton of new things and been really creative, but if I’m entirely honest, what I’ve really done is wasted a ton of time on YouTube/Tumblr/TikTok.😬

Drawing – I have gotten some stuff done though! I haven’t used this time for art as much as I’d like, but I’ve been sketching some, and also been playing around with a drawing app… I’ve always been a pencil-and-paper person, but doing it digitally is kinda fun!

My latest project? A vine compilation, of course.😂 Here is the beginnings of it:

Making music – again, not as much as I should be, but I’ve been playing the guitar and singing quite a bit. I’ve been doing it in a very relaxed, just-singing-what-i-want-to kind of way, which is nice. I guess I’ll use this opportunity to plug my Soundcloud (which I rarely post on, oops.)

Working out – I always exercise pretty regularly, but I’ve decided that this is the perfect opportunity to ramp it up a bit. My family and I have been going on walks every day, since that’s the only way we can get out, and I’ve been doing the Chloe Ting 2 Week Shred Challenge. It’s fucking tough, but I’m very excited about getting in shape.

Texting for the Bernie Sanders team – this has been fun! It’s a super-easy way to get involved in a campaign… I’d love to say I could make calls, and I hope to eventually, but it makes me really nervous. But texting is something anyone can do! Basically all campaigns have moved online, so if you have some extra time on your hands, get involved from home, either in a political campaign or something on the activism side of things! You can text, call, do stuff with social media… do it!

Catching up with friends – this one is smaller in terms of how much I’ve been doing it, but I’d just like to remind you that this is a great time to text or call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while. I know I often feel weird about just contacting someone out of the blue, but in a strange time such as this I think it is the perfect opportunity to check in with someone and see how they are holding up. Even though we can’t see each other in person, we’ve got to stick together in this tough time and keep up our relationships in a long-distance fashion.

Final thoughts

Okay, that’s all for now! It’s looking like this whole situation is gonna last for a while, so maybe I’ll make another one of these in a few weeks and let you know what else I’ve been up to! I’d just like to end with a little thought: if you are stuck at home and bored and going a little stir-crazy, please remember that we are privileged to be in this situation. There are some people for whom this means that they are out of work, desperate, scared. There are others who are older or immunocompromised who know that getting the virus could be a matter of life or death. Others are not able to work from home and have no choice but to go out every day and risk getting infected. And others have been forced to go home and be quarantined with abusive family members. Even though this is tough for everyone, if your main problem is that you are bored, make sure you put it into perspective and be grateful that that is your biggest worry.

I hope that didn’t sound preachy, but I just think we have to remember that it could be a lot worse. Now, stay safe, stay healthy, and for fuck sake, don’t go out unless you have to. ❤️

#personal #blogging #self isolation #coronavirus #quarantine #my life #disney #the mandalorian #agent carter #high school musical #conan gray #ed sheeran #alec benjamin #lauv #foster the people #bernie #bernie2020 #bernie sanders

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dysfunctionalbatfam · 4 years ago

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Do you have any advice/tips/tricks for new artists?

I’m definitely not the most qualified for this but I’ll try my best!! 😅

I kind of started out sort of using other artists’ art as references (just personal studies that I threw away right after) - that’s how I actually got into drawing. I did it for fun and when I finished I thought, “Huh. Neat” (even though it was terrible) and then I just tried a few more. Unlike working from real references, some artists may choose to have a style that’s more simplified and easier to understand. (Do keep in mind that you should never just trace it and repost online.)

Another thing I took from were speedpaints and tutorials - and they don’t really all help me, but they at least give me some motivation, even if they make it look overwhelmingly easy. They help break down the steps and give you a process so that you don’t only see the masterful finished product and that the beginnings can be rough. There has been, however, two (2) that really did help a lot. (Probably will drop the talented users in the tags 💞💞)

And honestly? Most of it has been just, making up shit, and that’s okay! Even if you have no idea what you’re doing, it’s not going to hurt your art progress, and often times you learn from them. Explore things, different styles, programs, tools, until you find some you’re comfortable with. And don’t worry if you’re unsure, this process takes a ton of time, so just keep exploring. Sometimes you just gotta say “This looks bad to me, but it helped me learn this and that.”

Another good thing to do is find a group of friends willing to support you! You could share your shitposts to more serious drawings and get their feedback. Bounce off ideas off each other, find other artists. People encouraging you to push on can do more than you’d think.

This is said. A lot. You hear it everywhere, but it’s commonly said for a reason, y’know? Practice. Practicing is so much of the gig. No one’s going to automatically be amazing at art, which also means that if your art isn’t what you want it to be right now? Doesn’t mean it’s never gonna get there. Try your best to draw everyday! Don’t worry if it varies, do whatever the fuck you want, this is for you. A two second scribble one day and a portrait study the next? Heck yeah.

Last general advice, methinks, is to use references. I’m a huge hypocrite for this because I just. Randomly put stuff down. But don’t ever be afraid to use them. They’re a resource all artists have used.

Onto more technical stuff -

Digital Art Programs (that I’ve tested and would recommend)

-Firealpaca (computer) and Medibang (computer & tablet): Always my recommendations. They’re absolutely free and easy to install, yet they offer such a reliable program. They’re basically the same, to be honest

-Krita (computer): I don’t really know how to use this but it’s free and capable of producing gorgeous pieces of art.

-Photoshop (computer & tablet): I started with this, it’s pretty good, but my personal issues made it just keep crashing, so I’m not very versed in it 😅 but it lives up to its hype.

-Procreate (tablet): Good for painting, but lineart is a little harder, in my opinion. The brush stabilization is wack. But it’s very comfortable and whelming to use, worth the ten bucks. You can also download a fuck ton of free brushes online, always a plus (I SWEAR I get twenty more every day)

-Autodesk Sketchbook (tablet & computer [?]): The interface is very similar to Procreate, so if you want a subsititute for Procreate, go ahead! In my opinion, it’s a little harder to use, though.

-Paint Tool Sai (computer) and Clip Studio Paint (both): Never tried, but probably really good, I know a lot of people who use them.

[Do keep in mind that starting out with free programs is enough, and many extremely good artists stick with them!]

Traditional art stuff -

-Same stuff applies, you don’t need advanced supplies to create good art!

-Hoard sketchbooks like a dragon, eat hot chip, and cry

-A lot of professional artists prefer sketching/inking traditionally and then digitally coloring it

-My favorite traditional supplies are charcoal pencils, if that’s anything? 😂 I find them more comfortable to use than pencils.

-You can tell I can’t do traditional to save my life, I’m SO sorry if you do traditional dhdkhd

-Brushes can be bought cheap!! They’ll still work just as well (many supplies that come cheaper are still good, I got a whole set with paint, a sketchbook, etc. for under twenty USD)

-Some advice I took from a youtube video somewhere: Have two notebooks, one for more serious artwork and one just to do anything in, as we know we all have failures and get nervous to fuck up. This ensures that you unleash your creativity! In that notebook, don’t worry about making your drawings look good, just put your ideas down.

This is getting to the point that I’m just rambling, so I’ll end it here. Hope it helps, even though I should follow my own advice- ❤️❤️❤️ good luck, you GOT this, anon!

#absolute-0zero was the first person who i had used references from for fun #very neat and simple linework #tutorials i liked: nac-nic /speedpaints i liked: kurawastaken #not dc #art tips #art refs #i guess #i am NOT qualified #very honored 🥺💞 but why me i can’t draw hskdhkdhkd #asks #long post #sorry #didn't cover anatomy and shit because nac-nic will do it way better #i can't anatomy myself rp #their art is 100 you won't regre it

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kny111 · 5 years ago

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The David Prize, Animation, Comics, and Storytelling from Forgotten New Yorkers

Hey everyone, I’ve got exciting news for those of you keeping track of the creation of my working title comic book ‘Story of 27′. For starters, as some might remember I didn’t get to reach the intended goal to really get the ball rolling and thus, life and the finances of living in New York city as an Afro-Indigenous low income citizen had me needing these resources in dire time of having to move. So fast forward to now, I’m still trying to get this book out to yall, digitally or otherwise. By all the circumstances I should really be trying to secure some long term finances for my new born child (10 months now) and generational wealth. So in that regard I hope that this following venture might help pave that.. with your help. What I’m attempting to create is not just an inclusive animation studio but a place that can set those in need on the right career path of art, media and being able to sell the products of their labor without having to cater to oppressive systems of abuse like the kind that frequent POC communties and the LGBTQ communities within. Wait Ken but how does an animation studio fit into a story your were gonna tell through comic books? I’m still creating the comic book in its originally thought of medium but the animation studio would be the next step since the story itself was supposed to be an animated film in the likeness of Daft Punk’s Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (in that there was very little dialogue if any but heavily based on speaking through music). I’d likely create the comic book through this studio, publish it, then use the comic book as storyboard for the film I wanted to make which is what a lot of studios are doing to help facilitate the process. My hope is that the comic book can build a readership into viewership with the help of ‘The David Prize’, which I’ll explain further.

So think of the comic book as a storyboard we’ll all get to read about and then if all goes as planned, an animated film using voices of all types of New Yorkers even folks who would have otherwise not have that chance (like homeless New Yorkers or folks in shelters who would like to give their voice for that cause and in return or in general we’d create toons and media for the poor at low to no cost - and considering how making a few seconds of animation will run hundreds if not thousands of dollars it admittedly wont be an easy feat).

As I had also mentioned I want to first publish a free digital comic book prelude to ‘Story of 27’ called ‘Tail of The Unlikely’ for those who have been waiting so patiently for me to publish something. Trust, I want me to get this done too but life stay slowing things down on that for the better. The more you wait the better the story is cause I’m always learning from yesterday and include that into my stories. Enter ‘The David Prize’, it’s a fairly new prize of $200k to 5 New Yorkers with a vision to help make New York a better place. The prerequisite is having a focus for New York’s growth as a city. I figured this was up my alley and I’ve yet to get to where I’d like to be in terms of production movement on my comic book with the newest member to the family among other life duties. I’m now somewhere I have more cultural knowledge and historical awareness of some factors that make me feel glad I hadn’t created the book sooner in how awesome these inclusions will be.

This makes me excited about this prize because I know with your help as well as suggestions and hands on assistance we can make our own all inclusive animation power house in New York. One where everyone, especially the poor, disabled, POC communities and their LGBTQ equals are welcome and given a chance to work on some media that truly exemplifies a decolonized art movement by way of animation. I’ve never seen this here or much elsewhere so it would be worth trying this in NYC. If this sounds interesting at all to yall, feel free to nominate me for the prize so I can make this a reality for us. With this place made, I might even be able to provide emergency housing assistance (if the city allows it - this likely requires extra licensing and time) to homeless LGTBQ folks which sadly are far too many in the city that many times ignores them.

I’d also like yall to know that my sister has been searching for years now on the housing market to own her own place, a building, to leave some generational wealth to her daughters which I respect. With her current knowledge of the housing market I really think if we brainstormed with some appointed folks that I can trust or work in social justice we can figure out how to use our knowledge and resources to provide for people in need.

Similarly through that space, we can have multifunctionality by also providing a space where the future and present of art and media can flourish through animation. Am I being too hopeful with tryina create this? I think with enough support we can make this a realty. And yall know I won’t deny folks in need if this was made. * I’m still working on the comic book even if I don’t win. To nominate me for the prize click here. Some info you’ll need for the prize are: 1. My email: [email protected] 2. My first and last name are on my email in the order its shown. 3. They’ll ask you to describe me, if you forgot me my archive be here. 4. They have a super short questionnaire on me, yourself and why you think I can make NYC a better place through this initiative. Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this. -Ken, your neighborhood science journalist.

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decimadragonoid · 5 years ago

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Some Musts for Artists!

As I'm typing this, it is currently midnight on April 12th during the coronavirus pandemic. We're all artists here, so let's go over a few things that we can do as like-minded people. I've been on Deviantart for nearly 6 years now. I recently started a Tumblr and a Ko-Fi to make this a fun side job. Expanding my art network and social media outlets was the name of the game throughout the years, but I thought I'd create a small journal entry or a manual somewhere midway through the process for current and newcoming artists. So, here are some tips and musts for artists that all of you can use! 1.) Practice as often as you can. - This step is pretty self-explanatory. After all, practice makes perfect. You might even unlock hidden potentials that you never thought you had before. Even if you don't feel comfortable using certain tools (e.g., the perspective ruler, mannequins, outlines), making use of them will become much easier if you ease your way into using them. For example, I've always had trouble making backgrounds while using the perspective ruler synchronously, but over time, I eased my way into using it for making settings. Now I use the perspective rulers when I'm trying to capture the essence of a room or an area outdoors. It may be hard to create characters, props, and backgrounds at first, but once you find methods you're best comfortable with, stick with your guns and flesh out your masterpieces with your own unique styles! - I also use thicker sketch lines to make characters and poses just right to accommodate my nearsightedness. I call this technique 'The XL Method.' 2.) Study and Observe from Others. - If you have a favorite show, artist, or animator you like to watch, observe how they flesh out their characters, backgrounds, settings, and stories. Using any of the listed in the last sentence as reference material is a good way to analyze the big picture and make it your own. Of course, you must remember that you're not doing this to mimic your favorite artist, but rather referring to them as a template of sorts. Don't try to stay as someone else's shadow. Your art style is created through your body and soul, not by emulating your idol. 3.) Take care of yourself. - This is probably the most important thing you must NEVER neglect as an artist and overall person. If you can't draw yet due to other responsibilities outside of being an artist, don't try to force yourself afterwards. I've personally seen artists get hounded with questions and comments like 'When's your next page coming out?', 'Finish this project up already!', and even 'I only came here for Undertale. It's the only thing that gives me life. If you stop making Undertale comics and cancel your series, I'm not gonna watch you anymore.' Every artist I follow has been pressured more than once, especially in the Undertale fandom, when they actually put a project on hold, had a desire to draw something else for a while and try new things to take a break, or had other responsibilities outside the digital realm that followers neglect to understand or just don't care about because they're so anxious to see what happens next in a story they like. With followers, some are patient and respect that the artist has other responsibilities and hobbies they'd like to attend to, and others feel like they're entitled to the next page, when really, they're not. This isn't prominent in just the Undertale fandom, but also in many others - so many in fact, that it's a hassle just to list them all. - It's important to balance your lifestyle with things you like to do. If you like to draw, by all means, do it. If you like to read, by all means, do it. If you like to hang out with friends, by all means, do it. If you like to play video games, by all means, do it. If you have to take care of yourself and put your health over everything else first, do it. Do NOT compromise! When it comes to your health and lifestyle, unless it's beneficial to you, nobody else's input matters. Your followers won't get mad at you for it, and the followers undergoing the stages of entitlement will have to shut the hell up and take a hint. You're your own person, not someone else's servant. 4.) Eat! Eat! EAAAAAAAAAAAATTT!!! - Whether it's your favorite food or something jam-packed with nutritious value, eat all the food you want to eat! No artist can operate on an empty stomach. Keep your metabolism going and grab a snack, breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You want an example? Eat popcorn or sushi. Popcorn is high in fiber and helps keep your blood sugar in check as long as you don't drench it in too much butter. I also recommended sushi in this tab too. The reason is because sushi and other types of fish are high in DHA content, which stimulates brain activity and keeps your creative juices flowing. - There are other snacks that can help you stay motivated and full. Yogurt prevents diseases and enhances digestive and weight control. Bananas are high in potassium and help maintain a healthy heart. Chips and hummus go together too! Not only is hummus a good dip filled with fiber and protein, it's also filled with antioxidants! - I can go on and on about what kind of foods you can eat as an artist, but there are too many to list! I just love food THIS much! You'll be sitting here reading this tab all day if I did, so I'll leave the examples in the previous paragraphs for you. Whether it's a snack food, breakfast, lunch, or dinner, feed your body and mind, and you'll definitely make it as an artist! 5.) If you're a comic artist making an original story or building up from someone else's idea with a fanmade comic of your own, achieve total secrecy and wow your viewers later! - Yeah, I know it's great you've finished a comic page to show to your followers, and it has them craving for more. But sometimes, someone else's desire for more pages might be a little too much. Whether you're a regular artist or a comic/fancomic artist, not only is it important to balance your lifestyle, manage your time, and decide when you want to draw an art piece or the next page to your story, but it's also important to limit the amount of desire and demand you take in. - If you don't mind giving your fans spoilers, then that's okay too. But sometimes, achieving complete radio silence and being exclusive helps you get the most work done. - For example, a clothes designer named Geoffrey B. Small utilized a marketing strategy in which he made his clothing line limited and exclusive to shoppers. He doesn't want you to find his clothing. Even more so, he's not interested in being available to everybody. This makes his clothing unique and valuable to the eye of the beholder. If his clothes were found by literally everyone, it would disappoint him and jeopardize the overall exclusivity and value of his products. If your someone who doesn't want anyone to know that you're working on an art piece or a batch of comic pages that's gonna gobsmack your fans, pull a Geoffrey B. Small-esque move and don't leak any info whatsoever. - But IF you must inform your fans your project is still up and running, leave a subtle hint or a W.I.P thumbnail behind. That'll suffice. Keep your fans guessing, even if it means making them succumb to their anxiety or neediness for updates. - Limit any questions or comments you want to take in until you feel ready to reveal your big guns. You decide when you'll work on your art on your OWN terms. 6.) Allow yourself to imagine and enjoy your creative mind going wild before fleshing it out on your tablet or on paper. - Creativity is what makes literally anything in the world come to life! That's how we have the technology, video games, buildings, and other necessities in our generation today. For us artists, our most creative tool is the brain. The brain is the center of all human activity and thought. It's what allows us to imagine what happens next in our stories before we physically flesh them out on our drawing tablets or on paper. I always use my brain to generate a thought in my head that's so powerful, when I close my eyes or flesh it out every second, I can see a glimpse of it playing in my head like a roll of film filled to the brim with moving images for a movie. - It's also beneficial to write out a script, and even pretend you're a character in the story you want to create. - Flesh out your thoughts, play the track over and over again, add more thoughts, put a few funny moments into the mix, and BAM!! You've got an idea! Of course, you must also understand that unless the thought is something long-term you want to remember, you might forget some parts of your idea at first. Some ideas might be some you'll totally dislike later, and that's okay. There's always room for re-imagination and improvement. - Also take to heart that you shouldn't let your creative thoughts take over your real-life responsibilities. Those come first! - Overall, it's important to imagine and have fun going wild before physically bringing your thoughts into being. Let the creativity flow naturally. 7.) Understand you're not perfect, and neither are others. - In the wise words of Mayuri Kurotsuchi from BLEACH, 'Nothing perfect exists.' - 'If something is truly perfect, that's it. The bottom line becomes, there is no room for imagination, no space for intelligence, or ability, or improvement.' - 'Perfection is a dead end, a condition of hopelessness. Always strive to become better than everyone who came before you, but not perfect.' - You need to understand no artist or average working person in the world is perfect. Nobody is better or worse than anyone else. If you start to develop an egotistical sense of perfectionism, stop. You're not Picasso or Van Gogh. You're not better than anyone else. Neither am I. Everyone has their own ways of creating things or getting through the harsh reality of the real world. - The only thing we are is a small part of a bigger picture. We're all here to fill the gaps that plague the digital realm and society as it is today. 8.) Enjoy every minute. - The last thing an artist, viewer, average kid, and/or working adult needs to know is that if you enjoy doing something, it's worth enjoying all the way no matter what anybody else says. Have a good time. Don't let anyone take your modes of enjoyment away from you. Because at the end of the day, everything that lives is designed to end. We don't know when the time will come where we won't or can't enjoy what we love to do today anymore. So take your life and hobbies, make them the most enjoyable and memorable moments of your life, and never let them go! As an artist and overall human being, I care about my own well-being. Hell, I even care about the well-being of strangers and passersby on Deviantart, Tumblr, Ko-Fi, and real life. As such, I feel it's important to share my words of wisdom so you can read, listen, and make them your own. So remember to not only enjoy art or any other hobby or career you wish to pursue, but to never stop growing. The growth and development of the normal human being is a neverending journey, and it's one worth living well. Thank you for reading, and take care of yourselves. Stay determined, where and whoever you are... See you soon... Your friendly stranger and creative thinker, DecimaDragonoid

#words of wisdom #i care about all of you #food for thought #words to live by #artists on tumblr #people on tumblr #journal

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houseofvans · 6 years ago

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ART SCHOOL | INTERVIEW WITH JUSTINE JONES

Baltimore based artist and illustrator Justine Jones creates her vein of psychedelic fantasy horror drawings–filled with tiny black lines and an occasional pop of bright colors–which have been featured on the covers of Kobold Press and Warlock magazine. Using the hashtag #VisibleWomen to amplify the voices and portfolios of women comic artists, Justine has be able to do more illustrative work and character design. We’re excited to find out more about Justine’s artistic journey, her love of role-playing games, comics, art, her influences and much more. . . Take the leap!

Photography courtesy of the artist.

Introduce yourself? Hi, I’m Justine! I’ve lived in Baltimore Maryland for the past decade and currently live in a small apartment downtown with my partner and my shiba inu Mo, who is a cool and grumpy guy.

How would you describe your work to someone who is just coming across it? I used to call it storybook surrealism, but now I guess it’s more like psychedelic fantasy horror? Monsters and Wizards. Lots of tiny black lines, sometimes with lots of bright intense colors.

How did you start from doodling and drawing to what you do now? I feel like it sort of happened organically. When I was younger, I would do just pencil drawings, and then in my late teens, I got more into using micron pens. I didn’t really discover color until a few years ago, so I’m a huge color noob. I think a lot of it also came from working in comic shops for years and going to conventions. Seeing all of these amazing artists grow, and thinking hey, I could maybe also do that! I first started with t-shirt designs because it just seemed really fun, and I used to have a really hard time selling prints. People don’t need more prints, but they can always use clothes! Now i’m getting more into illustrative work and character design, and I’m loving it!

Who and what were some of your early artistic influences? When I was a baby, my dad hung an Aubrey Beardsley print over my crib. My mom thought it would make me deranged, and maybe it did, but it also made me love ink work and Art Nouveau style haha. I was obsessed with sword and sorcery stuff and loooved cartoons like He-Man and She-ra, and later, Pirates of Darkwater. I also spent a lot of time in elementary school copying sexy comic book ladies from 90s comics, and I know that is pretty far from what I do now, but it’s honestly how I learned to draw. I also copied a lot from children’s storybooks when I was little.

What are some things that inspire the drawings you make? What are some of your favorite creatures and beings you like to explore in your art? Video games are a huge inspiration to me, from SNES JRPGs, to games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Also folklore and mythology from around the world, and fantasy artwork from the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. Basically anything fantasy. My favorite things to draw are wizards and monsters. I love body horror, anything disgusting and beautiful at the same time. I take a lot of inspiration from Manga, like Berserk, or anything Junji Ito. I’ve done a lot of Illustrations for Clark Ashton Smith stories, which I find endlessly inspiring, visually. Just like, fantasy/ sci fi/ dying earth type stuff.

When did you start collaborating with Kobold Press on creating some awesome fantasy art covers for their publications? I remember getting the email from them when I was on the way to Necronomicon Providence in 2017. I thiiiink they found my stuff through the visible women hashtag on twitter? I was very excited because I owned some of their adventures from back in the day when I played Pathfinder!! Plus, I have always always wanted to draw things for table top RPGs, so it’s been really cool to actually do it! The Warlock mag that I’ve been doing covers for is awesome because it’s going for an old school DND vibe, but it’s all things that are made for 5th edition. You can get it on their patreon, and I hiiiighly recommend it to anyone who plays 5e dnd!!

Take us through your artistic process? What’s a typical day in the studio like? Haha extremely chaotic! I don’t even have a real set workspace, which I really need to change, I just draw where ever. Just chill out, listen to music or a podcast, and draw. If I’m further along in a drawing and don’t need to focus so much, I’ll watch movies or video gameπ– let’s plays while I’m drawing. I also love to listen to/ watch things that are in theme with what I’m drawing, to give me some inspiration. I try to go to coffee shops to change things up sometimes! Basically I just do a bunch of sketches until something materializes, and then I will just slowly refine the sketch. I guess it’s not that exciting, but it’s cool to see the first sketch and the finished product because in my head, the sketch always looked like the finished product, but when you go back to look at it, it’s usually just indecipherable scribbles.

What are your essential art tools and materials? 90% of my art is just done using a .05 mechanical pencil and micron pens. I also draw everything on smooth bristol. If I have time and want to make my lines super crisp before I scan them in, i will use a light box. Then for color, I generally use Kyle T Webster brushes in Photoshop with my Wacom tablet. If I’m on the go, I like to draw things in Procreate on my iPad Pro, but I’m definitely not as good at doing detailed lines digitally.

What do you do when you’re not drawing or working on projects? How do you unplug? Haha, I wish I ever truly unplugged, I think my brain is now melded into the internet! But mostly I love to play video games. JRPGs and anything From Software/ Soulsborne (currently obsessed with Sekiro!) I also love comics and manga. I’ve been reading The Girl From the Other Side, which is a beautiful dark fairytale Manga by Nagabe. I also just got one called Witch Hat Atelier, which has the most amazing art! My partner also owns an insane amount of board games, so we play a lot of those. I’m obsessed with coffee, and work part time at a coffee shop, and my favorite thing in the world to do is eat good food.

What has been the most challenging project you’ve worked on? How did you overcome those obstacles and what did you take away from it? I made a kind of cosmic horror short story in mini comic form last year for SPX, I had very little time, and it was my first time actually writing a story/ dialogue to go with my pictures. It was insanely challenging. I ended up with a finished product that I’m really proud of and that I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback on. I think it really drove home the fact that I just need to stick with things and finish them, even if I don’t feel like they’re perfect. I’m never going to have the time that I want, and I’m never going to feel like anything is perfect. I can still make a great thing!

What advice would you give someone who wants to follow in your footsteps and pursue art? Don’t spend 4 years doing nothing, but playing World of Warcraft (Or doooo?). Uhhh, believe in yourself. Be nice to other artists. Draw all the time! Immerse yourself in things that inspire you! Also, like I said before, things don’t need to be perfect. Let go of perfect, because sometimes it’s an unattainable ideal. Just do as good as you can, and don’t beat yourself up so much! I’m horrible at advice!!!

What’s your best Art School tip that you want to share with folks? Haha, I moved to Baltimore to go to MICA like, 14 years ago, and then realized I was poor, and would never be able to go to MICA… sooo… I never went to real art school. I wanted to go so bad, and I still wish I’d had that experience, but I want other people who can’t afford it to know that you don’t NEED it. Things are a bit harder, but you can find so much free info online if you have the drive, you can teach yourself so many things. Don’t get discouraged just because art school isn’t gonna happen for you.

What are your favorite style of VANS? I love my lavender/ sea fog Authentic Vans, because they basically go with anything, but I am always eyeing those Sk8-His.

Anything you can share that is coming up? Ahhhh, I have some realllly cool things that I can’t share yet, but just everyone keep an eye out (It will be very exciting, i swear)!! As for things I can share, I’m working on some new t-shirt designs, and another comic, and also plan on drawing some more cool wizards in my spare time. So if you wanna see some cool wizards, uhhh, come to my Instagram–you guys! Let’s hang out and look at wizards. And talk about wizards. And if you don’t like wizards well, don’t come I guess.

FOLLOW JUSTINE: INSTAGRAM | WEBSITE | TWITTER | STORE

#Art #Vans #Vans Art #Justine Jones #Vans Girls #Comics #illustration #Art School #Interview #Baltimore

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clevercatchphrase · 5 years ago

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2019 year in review

So… The 2010’s are almost over. Huh. What a decade it’s been. Hard to comprehend how much has changed in 10 years. I can barely believe that I was in high school at the beginning of this decade, and now I’m a college graduate with 2 degrees who’s been working at the same job for the last 3 years. But trying to summarize the past 10 years in a single post is a good way to give myself an existential crisis, so let’s not do that! Instead, let’s just focus on 2019 because there has been more than enough shit that’s happened to me in this year to talk about.

PART 1 OF 2: 2019 AND 2020 GOALS AND RESOLUTIONS

Huh, looking back through my archives, I apparently didn’t make a tumblr post about my goals this year. I definitely had some, though. Lemme list ‘em off real quick, and then we’ll go through them point by point.

1) Pay off all my student loans 2) Finish some song comics 3) Make art for my Redbubble account 4) Finish the first rough draft/script of a game I wanted to make 5) Practice ASL 6) Sew some stuffed animals 7) Finish some fan fictions 8) Work on Ghost Switch 9) AMVs 10) Do some original writing 11) Make illustrations for my fan fictions

Okay, first off, the student loans. I was actually SO CLOSE to successfully completing this one bUT THEN MY CAR HAD TO BE A WHINEY PISS BABY AND HAVE ITS ALTERNATOR DIE ON ME WHILE I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY AND THEN A BLOW OUT THREE WEEKS LATER.

GOD, if I had to summarize this year in two words, for me it would be “Car troubles”. I swear I spent more on auto repair in the first third of this year than I ever have just freakin’ OWNING a car. All four of my tires had to be replaced, my alternator failed and my car literally just SHUT OFF while I was driving, and I was barely able to coast into a gas station. Both my front breaks and rear breaks were worn down the metal and I only learned this when my car was barely able to stop after I had to slam the petal down full force! I went in for an oil change, and they found some problems and then I didn’t get my car back for three days! I don’t even like owning a car! I hate driving! I hate my country’s refusal to provide universal, free public transportation! I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS!

Oh-kay… number 2. Finish some song comics. I didn’t finish any. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t work on them. I have made tiny progress, but that’s certainly better than no progress. One of these song comics I hope to be realizes is going to be a collab with one of my friends. It’ll be a long-time coming as it’s pretty low priority for the both of us, but if anyone else out there was disappointed with KH3’s ending, we’re gonna have ya’ covered… With SONG!

3. Make some redbubble art. I actually did this one! Not in the way I expected, but I added (technically) 3 new designs to my redbubble in the middle of the year. If you like butterflies and dragons, I got some product for you~!

Number 4, finish a script for a game I want to make. I… thought about this. I thought about this a lot, but I never put pen to paper, so… oops. It almost happened! I debated making this my main writing project for NaNoWriMo this year, but ended up having more inspiration for another story. Maybe next year? (god, I hope not. I don’t want to wait a full year just to write something)

Number 5, practice ASL. I just straight up didn’t do this and I only have myself to blame. Still keepin’ up that Danish Duolingo streak, though. 4 years going strong and not a day missed yet.

Number 6, sew some stuffed animals. Again, another one I just straight up didn’t do, but I have an excuse of trying to save money while my car crashed and burned in every other sense except literal this year. Hopefully 2020 will be different. I’ll definitely be able to pay off this last loan within the first half of 2020, and then I can start saving for whatever I want to buy.

Finish some fan fictions was number 7, and I did this! Well, I only finished, 1, but it was a story I’ve been working on for over 3 years, and it came out to over 200 THOUSAND words long, which is the longest thing I’ve ever written, and I’m quite proud of myself. Now that the big story is out of the way, and I’ve gotten into a good rhythm of working on Ghost Switch, maybe I can squeeze in some short writing sessions more frequently. (either that, or just wait for my car to break down again and then go on a writing spree in a pepboys. The lord and the fan fic discord know that’s solely why I finished my other fic this year)

Speaking of Ghost Switch, working on it was a goal this year too, and I did that! I kept it up all year and took a vacation in November and it was wonderful. While the major plot points have been in place since before I started drawing, I still need to script each arc beyond Snowdin, but hey, by the time we get there, it’ll be 2022 so I got time. (Note, don’t do this, kids. Script your stories and comics thoroughly before publishing. The road I’m on is paved with misery and pain and it will only end in tears unless I change lanes soon)

Number 9, amvs. Do people make AMVs anymore? Idk… the last one I made was... Jesus, 5 years ago? (it was a gravity falls/fall out boy crossover, if you were curious) I’ve been wanting to do 2 more for just as long, but in order for me to do that, I’d have to spend time re-watching the shows to find the footage, and then actually edit them together, and I just don’t…. feel like it. Maybe someday, but not any day soon.

10; do some original writing. I did this! For nanowrimo! I wrote the first draft of some original fiction I’ve been planning for a year or two now and it completely sucks! But it’s on paper now and I’m happy. Will I revise and edit it? Sure, but not for a while. I want to let it sit and forget about it and look at it with new eyes months from now so I can be sure I can make it better when time comes to rewrite.

11, make illustrations for my fan fics. Now that You Monster is done, I want to go back and add pictures to it. I didn’t do any this year, but I did keep a list of scenes I wanted to draw, so I have plenty of ideas to do as warm up sketches next year~ I kinda want to stream them~

So, that was 11 goals, and I successfully fulfilled 4 of them! That’s! Not a very good ratio… QmQ So, goals for 2020. Some I’m gonna keep from this year, some I’m gonna drop and some I’m gonna add. In short I would like to,

1) Finish paying off that last student loan 2) Put more stuff on my redbubble 3) Illustrate my own fan fics 4) Sew at least one stuffed animal 5) Make an enamel pin 6) Read one new book a month 7) Write one page a day/Complete at least one new fan fic 8) Learn Python or C# for the game I want to make 9) Finish fully scripting Ghost Switch 10) Boost my patreon

Most of these I think are pretty self-explanitory, but I’ll go into detail just a bit because I’m on a roll and typing my thoughts helps me feel less alone in the middle of the night when you’re super tired and you know you should probably go to sleep, but the toddler in you is throwing a tantrum and doesn’t wanna go to sleep just yet, but you can’t fight the progression of time either way.

Number 1- I should be able to reach this goal by the end of March. End of June at the absolute latest. Once that goal is met, my secret new year’s resolution will be unlocked as well!

Number 2- I want to put more art of my OCs on redbubble. These OCs are tied to the game I want to make. There’s already some art of them up there, but I want at least one piece for each character.

Number 3- Mostly for You Monster. Embrace the cardinal rule of fan fic and apply it to fan art. If you want to read about see art about certain ideas, scenarios, or what-ifs, you gotta make it yourself.

Number 4- I have 3 potential ideas to sew. One is definitely leagues easier than the other two and will probably be chosen if/when I have the time and materials.

Number 5- This year I got really, REALLY into the idea of making enamel pins. Unfortunately it’s a pretty big investment (like, $350 to make 100 pins you might not even sell). If this happens, it’ll probably be towards the end of the year, and if I get enough interest. I’m currently torn between making an original enamel pin and one based off Undertale. We’ll just have to see where this goes.

Number 6- Back in 2018 when I paid off one of my many student loans, I rewarded myself by spending over 200 dollars in used books. All these books had a theme; they were focused on dragons because I have a problem. I have not yet read a single one of these books I have bought, and I would like to fix that. I have, like, 20 unread dragon books, and even if I only read 12 out of 20, I would consider that an amazing accomplishment and money well spent.

Number 7- I currently have about 8 different WIPs I could work on. (well, I don’t know if I can even call them wips. More like, a general idea and a title written down.) I want to build good writing habits, and if I can write just 200 words a day, hell, even 200 words a week and just one of my 8 stories done, I would consider this goal met.

Number 8- I’m torn between making my game in unity or ren’py. I know jack shit about both. Ren’py is more user friendly, but unity will allow me more customization. (Lol, can you guess what kind of game I want to make yet?)

Number 9- I really just want the full story to be done and written incase anything goes horribly terribly wrong in my life and I find myself unable to continue making ghost switch in comic form. Then at least I can finish the story by other means, you know?

Number 10- It always surprises me every month when I get that patreon email saying I got paid. Sure, I don’t even make double digits on it, but it still awes me enough to know that people out there like my work enough to throw me a tip. I can’t thank my patrons enough for supporting me and I hope to one day be in such a good place I can update my comic/song comics/writing frequently enough without need for goals or milestones. But until that magical day arrives, money is always a great incentive for anything, I suppose. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ALRIGHT. PART 2 OF 2: SHIT THAT HAPPENED TO ME IN 2019

Cheesus crust what a year. This year started off great! Back in late January Kingdom Hearts 3 FINALLY released, and let me tell you a little story. Back in the summer of 2006 I was a 13 year old middle schooler with no way of making money other than by doing house hold chores at a rate of 25 cents a task. A few weeks ago, I had a sleep over at a friend’s house and they let me play this weird game called “Kingdom Hearts” and god, I was instantly hooked on it. That summer, I did over 800 chores, enough to earn myself 200$ and buy myself a playstation 2 (just in time for the ps3 to come out, gg me) The only games I had for the ps2 were KH1, 2, Re:CoM and Okami, and I beat them all… except Okami. Miffed that the PS3 wouldn’t allow for backwards compatibility, little 13-year-old me made a promise. I looked myself in the mirror and said “I will not buy the next playstation console until KH3 comes out, AND BOY that was probably a good choice for me to make with my level of gaming. I’m even less of a casual gamer than the average casual gamer, but I have been waiting 13 years for this piece of closure, and I even told my friends and family that “the day Kingdom Hearts 3 comes out is the day I will buy a playstation 4”. My dad apparently thought this was the funniest shit, because he literally took the day off from work that Friday to drive me on base to get the game and console (he thought it would be less crowded than a regular walmart, I suppose). I paid $400 on a ps4 pro while he bought me the game. Again, I have an impecible sense of timing seeing as the PS5 is now right on the horrizion, but just like before, I’m not buying a new console until the next KH game is released. See you in 2045, sony~. While I was at the gamestop on base, I also picked up Okami HD and The Last Guardian. For all of February and even early March, I took my time playing through KH3. And…! It was the best disappointment I’ve ever played. After a month away from gaming, I started The Last Guardian and finished it in a couple weeks. I love trico and would die for him, but trying to get 100% completion on that game is udder insanity. Okami, HD, however… again after a month break after finishing TLG, I started replaying Okami. I think I had only managed to get about halfway through the game before I just… stopped playing it on my ps2 version. I am currently SO CLOSE to getting a 100% on the ps4 version. In fact, I’ve beaten the game. I only (techinically) need 2 more trophies to be done; 1st, escape the water dragon without being eaten, 2nd, I need to beat that dumb stupid race with Kai, in order to get the last bead on my rosary, as well as the top dog trophy. I hate her so much. I hate this race so much. It’s awful and bad.

Flash forward to December! Earlier this month I was at Barnes and Noble, buying myself a planner for 2020. I exit the store and notice that there’s a gamestop across the street. For shits and giggles I go inside to look at their game selection, and I find KH 1.5 and 2.5. Now, my PS2 died a few years back (it just won’t read my discs anymore, I don’t know why) and I haven’t been able to replay any of my other kingdom hearts games since. If you had seen me the day I finished kingdom hearts 3, after the ending credits rolled, you would have heard me say “Man…. I wish I could play kingdom hearts 2 again”. AND NOW I CAN, ALONG WITH BBS which I had never even played yet, but knew the story of. I’ve restarted playing kh1, and I was so happy to hear that familiar music when I booted the game up for the first time. While at the game stop, I also picked up Rime and Tearaway, two games that had looked interesting to me. At the time of writing, I’ve finished Rime and am 25% done with tearaway. Rime was…. An interesting experience. I learned about it through Jacksepticeye’s channel a couple years back and thought the art style was enticing. For a super casual gamer like me, I found the puzzles just the right level of challenging and exploring was a blast! The music gave me VERY strong Princes Mononoke vibes, but the overall story left something to be desired. Overall I had fun, and enjoyed completing this game to 100%. Now for tearaway. Can I just say this game is super fucking adorable? I know the original was on the ps vita and the gameplay there was arguably more diverse and imaginative, but this game is just so fucking cute I don’t care?? ALSO, this game’s sound track is ABSOLUTELY incredible and I’ve only heard the first fourth of it! Listen to The Orchards, Pig Riding, and Gibbet Hill Pilgrimage for a taste of their wonderful beats and fantastic use of string and woodwinds! God, I’m so excited to get some more games in 2020. I’m proud to say I currently own more ps4 games than I ever did with my ps2 (and now the majority AREN’T Kingdom Hearts titles!), and I’m still hoping to play Journey, The Witness, and Abzu before everything becomes ps5.

What else happened to me this year. Oh, I went to a doctor for, like, the first time in seven years. I also had my blood drawn for the first time ever, and the nurse said the most disturbing thing to me while she did it. Now, whenever I get shots, I refuse to look. I did that here. So she thought it would be appropriate to say to me “Can you feel your blood leaving your body?” Lady… You can clearly see I am uncomfortable with what is happening here. Why, of all the things you could say, did you choose to say that. Unfortunately, while my doctor is nice, she keeps wanting to run tests on me, that I just cannot afford with my current salary, and my monthly insurance is about to go up to 200$ a month, so I’ve cancelled my next appointment with them, and don’t plan to go back until it’s absolutely necessary. Capitalism is fun, guys. Preventative healthcare is for wusses.

I started going to a chiropractor on a monthly basis. Story time- I don’t know when it started, but sometime late last November I began to notice that I had a headache that just... wasn’t... going away? And each day it was starting to get a little worse. It made it hard for me to find a comfortable position to sleep, it made it hard for me to be in bright areas or move fast. So I said to myself “Okay, if this headache persist through the month of december, then something is proooobably wrong and I should go see someone about it. And hoo-boy were thing wrong with me. By the time this January rolled around, I couldn’t even stay on my feet for more than a few hours without it physically hurting to just BREATHE. So I started going to this chain called The Joint (A+ name, I know). THey aksed me “How are you doing?” I said “I’m in pain” and they said “We can help fix that!”. I’ve only been to a chiropractor once before in my life a few years back after my freshmen year of college because I began to notice my hips weren’t able to support me? LIke, I would lie on my back, and I couldn’t push my hips up when my feet were flat on the floor. I also couldn’t climb anything steep, because my legs just couldn’t push me up if my knee had to bend more than 90 degrees when I lifted my leg up. (Turned out both my hips were apparently out of place). This time only one of my hips were out of place (which they fixed. they said one of my legs was an inch “longer” than the other because I had been leaning all my weight on one leg when I stand). But two of my ribs were apparently “Stuck” which was why it was hurting for me to just breathe, and one of my shoulders was missaligned too, causing one of my trap muscles to constantly be streched, which was pulling on my skull, and causing the headache. Anyway, after they popped all my bones back into place, I still felt terrible, but by god, that night was the first time in weeks I was able to sleep without a migrane. A chiropractor can’t magically heal your arthritis, or fibro, but I definately think they have merit to keeping your posture good and helping your body with things like circulation. 10 outa 10, would recomend. It’s all the fun of getting your neck snapped without the dying!

Earlier this month I got together with two of my friends and we baked Christmas cookies. It was a lot of fun, as well as a great learning experience. A member of my family has a gluten allergy, so we used rice flour for most of the cookies. We learned this is a bad idea! The cookies will just fall apart! A few member’s in one of the friend’s family have nut allergies. Other friend and I knew this and were careful to avoid cookie recipes with nuts, bUT THEN COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT ALMOND MILK AND ALMOND EXTRACT COUNT AS NUT. IN FACT, ALMOND EXTRACT IS PURE CONCENTRATED NUT JUICE AND WE FELT SO BAD FOR ALMOST ACCIDENTALLY POISONING THE FAMILY.

Earlier this year me and these same friends took a field trip to Hobby Lobby and just dicked around the store for a couple of hours. It was super fun, 11 outa 10, would recommend, a great date idea for your artsy S.O.

Back in May I went to a wedding for the first time in my life. (well, not true, but the first one I could remember) we left at 5am, drove 5 hours to get there, hung out at a zoo and spent the night in a la quinta before the wedding day. I slept on the bathroom floor because my mom was snoring too loud in the main room and keeping me awake, and the rest of the day was just spent me trying to keep myself together because I was pissed off and tired.

Other than all of that, nothing really major happened to me this year. I guess one more thing I’ve tried to do this year is started the process of breaking certain internet addictions so I can use my free time for more personal projects. Seriously, I found myself watching way too much youtube and following blogs that didn’t even make me happy. I had a personal intervention with myself where I sat down and asked myself, “why do you watch these videos and youtubers? Why do you follow these blogs? Do you really enjoy their content? Do you really care? If you stopped watching/following them, would you even notice?” After critically thinking it over, I’ve found myself unfollowing several channels and blogs and suddenly I feel so much happier. I thought I would miss it, but I realized I didn’t really care if I saw their content or not. I wasn’t missing much. And now I feel like I have more time to draw, read and write. If you think you spend too much time consuming and not enough time creating, I suggest you try and de-clutter your internet habits as well. It’s done wonders to un-fuck my headspace.

And… well, that about sums up my year. How are your holidays going? Anything fun, exciting, dramatic happen to you this year? I hope your new year is warm and safe! Good night, everybody!

#new year's resolutions #year in review #long post #(seriiously this think is like 3k words)

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sauciesauce · 5 years ago

Text

Dear @aphmau

It’s currently 3 AM. I just spent two full weeks of doing nothing but binge watching all of MCD AND MyStreet. My heart hurts. I’m feeling stupid nostalgic. And I haven’t cried as hard as I am crying in a hot minute.

Thank you, Jess. Thank you for being such an impactful part of my life. You’ve inspired me in more ways than one.

I’ve been a fan of your channel since I was 11, when for some odd reason a video about a woman playing this video game I kinda liked popped up in my recomended. Her kitty litter box exploded. I remember.

At the time I was so young and confused, I didn’t even think that subscribtions to channels were free, so every day after school I would rush to my family’s computer and refresh your page until the new episode came out.

I remember losing my shit when we heard the voices of these characters you created for the first time. I remember sobbing my brains out when Aaron died. I remember being so emotionally confused when the time jump happened. I remember wanting to kill Zane myself. I remember being so excited to see what you would do next.

After a while I... distanced myself. Part of me could tell that you were feeling the same way about the series, but the other part of me was just growing up and moving on. But I still showed my support.

I no longer watched it, but for my birthday I wanted an MCD poster SO badly. We were moving houses, and I wanted my blank walls to not feel so blank anymore. When I opened it on my birthday, all of the other boys scoffed at me. Minecraft was lame. And Minecraft roleplays were lamer.

I followed the trends of the Internet, and found myself becoming lost after quite some time. I wandered amongst bad skits and funny cat videos. But I always gravitated towards storytellers. No matter how far I drifted away, I always found myself coming back to your content.

I’d pop in every so often to watch mini games, and I showed tons of support to all of the VAs and their channels. As a growing actor, I know that even the slightest bit of support can mean the world.

But nothing really grabbed my attention until the thumbnail for “When Angels Fall.” I recognized that character. It was Irene, and I knew it. I rushed to it, but quickly realized I had no clue what was going on.

I backtracked. I couldn’t watch everything, but I watched what the fanwiki deemed as “important” and got caught up. I turned notifications on, so every time the series got updated I knew about it.

I don’t know how, but you and your team managed to bring me back to those times I remember. Those times before worrying about college and my upcoming reality that will settle in shortly after high school ends.

I am 16 years old now. And since Minecraft has once again blossomed in popularity, I can tell you I was enthusiastic to spend my summer free time rewatching Diaries and the entirety of the MyStreet series (PDH and FCU included). Not only that, but the day after I began rewatching it, the first episode of the revival was put out. It is beyond impressive that you and your wonderful team have come this far, and you should be so proud of the work you’ve done.

I just spent two weeks rewatching EVERYTHING. And I mean no sleep, no productivity levels of binging. I can confidently tell you that I wouldn’t want my summer to go any other way.

You’ve done something that a lot of people take for granted. You’ve taken something from YEARS ago... something that wasn’t meant to ever become anything... and turned it into a work of art. You’ve managed to create something that is authentically yours in every way, and I admire every bit of that.

Not only that, but you are ADDING to it!! You are creating new worlds!! You are putting more into this simple game about blocks than most put into their own lives!!!

I want to do what you do, Jess. I want to be a part of something that makes people feel the way your content makes me feel. I want to make them feel.

So as I sit in my room at 3:45 AM, tears streaming down my face, my Woof plush in arms, I’ll never be able to thank you enough. I’ll never be able to repay you for what you’ve inspired me to do. I don’t know how I’m gonna do it yet, but I’m going to find a way to create.

I edit videos for all of my friends who try to be “YouTube famous” to get practice in premiere. I draw digitally three times every week so I can improve. I act in my high school theatre program. I’m writing two full length novels. I wouldn’t be doing any of this if it wasn’t for you. These aren’t just my hobbies. These are my passions.

Thank you so much for helping me find them.

With much love,

Sawyer Reid

#aphmau #minecraft diaries #mystreet #thank you :')

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