#also can we talk about the linework in these sketches for a second???

[elviradreaminess]

Elina & Nori… and Bibble! 🌺🐚🫧

I’m forever obsessed with old Barbie movies, one of the best childhood memories! 😩💘 And Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia was one of them! 💖 I remember how little me was having some beef with the movie because I was upset that they didn't give Elina both tail and wings…

So, since it's MerMay, I knew I had to draw Elina and Nori!

[tavyliasin]

The Highs and Lows of Fandom Creation

Hello darlings~ It has been a little while and this one has been on my list to get to for a while, and with the Baldur's Date Valentine's Fanworks event soon to draw to a close it seems appropriate to start preparing ourselves for the cycle of what happens when we release our works into the wild. So without further ado, our latest essay~

The RollerCoaster of Emotion That Comes With Being A Creative In Fan Spaces (FanArt, FanFiction, Cosplay, Photography, Music, and So Much More) ((Another CallOut Essay Prepare To Be SEEN)) (((Also I Have Some Coping Techniques Here Too!)))

As usual with my essay pieces I will be making plenty of use of the headers to divide topics, and I fully welcome any thoughts and feelings in the comments. Whilst I am really only in the FanFic side, and a focus on Baldur's Gate 3, I do intend to make this essay inclusive of the trials and tribulations that we all tend to face in making and sharing fanworks of all kinds and through all fandoms. The more people I speak to, the more it seems to be a universal experience, so hold on to your hats it's a bumpy ride! The first part will talk about the Rollercoaster itself, the how and why behind it all, and the second will be around how to cope with it. For readers and appreciators of fan content, I urge you to have a little look too, and at the end I will add in some ways you can help support your favourites too~

Creatives Are Emotional Beings

Starting off with the obvious callout - most of us are. We feel things deeply, and that emotion can often be an incredible driving force behind our works. Whether we're creating around things we've experience, being inspired and influenced by our current emotions, or drawing on our well of imagination to work out what characters might feel (and often more importantly how/why they feel that way), emotion is a strong part of the process.

This can be an incredible strength! Tapping in to the deeper parts of ourselves, our experiences, and the emotions at our cores, can bring out the very best in our works across all creative formats. It also tends to help our audiences engage too, as they recognise their own emotions mirrored in the works.

The Downside to Strong Emotion - The Rollercoaster Effect

This chart was initially drawn up based on writing, but truly after speaking with a few beloved Discord friends it was quick to see that this easily applies to art as well, so I'm going to go over this slightly differently to the initial plan.

The Start Of Every Ride

We begin usually around a neutral baseline, or maybe a little below if we haven't created in a while, perhaps we might start higher than baseline with the rush of an exciting new idea. Either way, the first part of the project tends to go up in mood very quickly when we share those early unfinished parts.

For writers this might be a beta reader or sharing a sample of the work as they're still writing as a teaser, artists might see this as their initial sketch or linework stage if they're sharing progress and teasers too. Cosplayers could be the first part of a build, musicians sharing a few bars of the melody - whatever it is, that first little positive boost that says Keep Going is a powerful one.

But what happens next? Well, you still have more work to do! That initial boost and confidence can drop down to a slump, especially if it's taking longer to complete than you thought it would, and double that if something goes wrong that needs to be changed or fixed.

You may, hopefully, find it begins to rise as things start to come together again and that finish line in sight, but then...

I Finished Making The Thing, Now What?

Well, first you're going to feel that massive surge of satisfaction from completing the thing. Sometimes a dopamine rush in the brain, and all that excitement of "Finally I get to share the thing I worked so hard on! It's done!" So, off you go, you post it. You share the links, maybe drop them in some Discord servers, other social media...and then, often very quickly, it hits you.

Post Publishing Drop

Those of you in the convention and event scene might also know this feeling as "Con Drop", which can take a little longer to manifest. Post Publishing Drop hits quite quickly. Sometimes it might take a few hours, but other times it starts almost within minutes of posting as all that rush of energy finishing and publishing is just...gone.

If you're lucky, you might get some quick and early feedback, especially if you're a well known or popular creator, but I imagine even those of you who tend to get very high engagement can feel a lot of this too so I don't mean to exclude any of you in any way at all~ So what is it? What's happening? WHY?!

Well darlings all that adrenaline is wearing off and realistically you're not likely to get that creative feedback and validation instantly. So that wonderfully powerful emotional heart of yours is going to crack a little. It won't last, it won't stay this low, but good gods that lack of engagement and positive reinforcement can be devastating.

The first engagements you get - kudos, likes, reaction emotes on a Discord post - they may be enough to boost you right back up to your baseline or even a little above, until the worry creeps back in again. And I know that it does, clawing and slithering in the back of your beautifully creative mind whispering those horrible lies:

Why isn't this getting the reaction I hoped for yet? Is this work not as good as before? Have people stopped liking me? Is the website/platform hiding my work? Have I upset people somehow in ways I can't even see?

Then Back Up We Go, And What Goes Up...

Hopefully those voices don't get a chance to be too loud for too long before you see more of that engagement. Maybe it's a heartfelt comment from someone, or a share from someone you respect, or just a little surge of interaction in general. You're back on top, darling, your creative heart is soaring, finally your work is being seen in a way that reminds you why you put in all that time in the first place!

And each time, the high wears off again, with a drop, though the extremities of each is likely less and less as time goes on. Unless, of course, we make one little mistake and the gradual confidence build comes crashing back down...

The Perils Of Comparing

Sometimes this might be looking at someone else's work, seeing a similar style or similar topic get far more engagement than your own. It can be really hard not to feel discouraged by this, and falling into that trap of questioning where you're "going wrong" can lead to absolute agony - I urge you to do your best to move away from this as soon as you notice the feeling. I'll cover some proper techniques later though, I promise!

The other trap with comparison can be looking at your own past works, and over-analysing why some pieces never got the same love and appreciation as others. Picking it apart to find what you can do better is not as wise a plan as it seems for one simple reason:

Over half of this is down to pure chance!

It might be the time of day it was posted, or just one or two people seeing it and deciding to share it on that gives a work a massive boost to interaction and engagement. Maybe a work was lucky enough to get shared in a prominent community by one of the members, or even had someone with a huge following give it a boost.

At the end of the day, there seem to be very few ways to predict this. Of course there are some characters, topics, art styles, writing tropes, etc that will have a tendency to get more love from their respective fanbases - that's how popularity works - but there is no guarantee that, for example, two portraits of the same character in similar styles by different artists will have the same levels of engagement and "success". The main person you should be aiming to please with your own work is yourself~ After all, when working on it you will be the one going over it again and again, knowing every detail in and out, if you don't love the subject of those details your less likely to even reach that finish line~

And It All Begins Again

At the end of the cycle there's often one last spike up. Maybe it's a comment or interaction from someone who truly felt the depth of meaning in your work as you hoped it would, or you realise that it has done better overall in the numbers, or most often you get that creative surge of a shiny new idea that calls to you with that familiar siren song, promising the high of satisfaction and sweeping the memory of that Post Publishing Drop under the rug all over again so you won't see it coming when you trip on it.

How Do We Get Off This Ride? Where's The Safety Bar?

Darlings, be honest, you didn't want to stop. You still don't. That's why you're still right here, reading this with me. Your cycle might take a day, a week, a month, or you may go through the whole thing in a matter of hours.

Riding The Waves

The first way to begin coping is to prepare. Know yourself and how you're likely to feel, and plan ahead for it. If you know the drop is coming, you can try to avoid it, or deploy distress tolerance when it feels too much.

On a very simple level, this can be reminding yourself that the lows do not last, and those highs will still be there. You might even be tempted to try to regulate the highs as much as the lows, to bring everything a little closer in to the baseline throughout the cycle.

Distress Tolerance techniques can be important to practice when you're feeling close to your baseline and calm so that they're easier to turn to when you're feeling that low hit. There are lots of things that work for different people, so it might be trial and error - largely you're looking at relaxation techniques, distraction from the source of the distress, and/or community support.

You Can Rely On The Community!

It is ok to ask for help! You can ask people for reassurance, directly ask for feedback, or even just talk over how you feel with other creators and find out how they're handling things. Sometimes just knowing you're not alone and that your feelings are real, valid, and matter can be a real boon - that's why I'm here, spending a couple of hours putting all of this into words as best as I can for you all. I've felt this cycle too many times, but the more I talk about it with other fic writers the more I feel we are connected and that I'm not just losing my marbles over nothing~

We are human, we have emotions - strong ones, remember? - and there's nothing wrong with that at all!

There is nothing wrong with having emotions and experiencing them!

Knowing When To Step Away

If you know you're more likely to have a swift drop from lack of quick feedback, it's a great idea to plan to step away from socials as soon as you're done. Have an activity planned, or do it all write before bed so you can switch off and go to sleep. Turn off those notifications so you aren't fussing over each one of them as they come in and don't go back for a while.

Allow a realistic amount of time to pass for people to see and engage with your work before you worry it is invisible!

The Next Shiny Idea

Conversely, if you're feeling too much of a creative itch, then as soon as you're done sharing move right on to starting the next project. Let the initial surge of energy from completing and sharing something be the driving force to kickstart the next great adventure! That way you're thinking more about the new work, the sparkling allure of a fresh idea, rather than fixating on the success of the last.

Cashing in on that adrenaline rush to make a good head-start can boost you right to that early feedback stage too, then if you're really lucky when you hit the first drop-off you'll have the positive engagement from the last work to boost you back up, so in some ways you're overlaying your graphs to balance them out with each other.

Naturally this only works if you have the time and energy to do so. It's also important to know when to take breaks to avoid burning out.

General Mood Boosting Ideas

These might not work for everyone, but here are some things to try when you're in one of those lows. A lot of this may be trial and error and knowing yourself best, so treat this as a few things that may or may not be effective rather than Lia's Super Snake Oil Cure For Everything (you have to buy that from me separately, it's super expensive but it is delightfully cherry and cinnamon flavoured~)

Check in on your basic needs. Drink, food, meds (if applicable), sleep/nap, caffeine (if you usually have it), shower/bath/hygiene needs (even if just a quick freshen up it's better than nothing), fresh air/outside time (if possible), exercise/physical movement (if you're able to), social needs (can be in person or online, any social interaction/support)

Music can be a powerful mood tool. Sometimes it's cathartic to listen to music that matches your current mood, but other times it is better to listen to music with the mood you want to feel.

Media from the fandom, like the book/film/game/etc that you're making fanworks for - return to the thing that inspired you to create and remember all the things that you loved about it in the first place.

Look at other fanworks but be very cautious! Do this for inspiration, to look at things you do and don't like in other pieces, but do not do this if it will be likely to cause a mood drop for you.

Do something different and change up your routine. Something entirely new or something you haven't done for a while.

Try something small, not connected to a large piece. A few sketches, doodles, make a meme, write a few short lines of dialogue or a brief scene. Share something with far lower stakes for a little boost.

Talk to others in the creative community and have a bit of fun, maybe try some games together, whatever you like!

I'm Not A Creative, How Can I Help?

This also counts for creatives who want to support each other, too! Of course I will put the caveat that I do understand that not everyone is comfortable visibly interacting with spice and that's fine~

Drop a like or kudos if you enjoyed the piece, it takes a second and means the world~

Leaving a comment, even a couple of silly words of "I loved it" is great!

Leaving a longer comment, picking out your favourite parts? That is the kind of boost that lasts weeks darlings it really does.

Sharing the work is also a big boost, whether publicly or privately to friend/fan groups, but especially when sharing art/images please share the link with it not just the image or a screenshot~ let people find and appreciate the artist.

Follow or Subscribe or Turn on notifications if you really want to see more of their work, then you can interact sooner and give that much needed boost~

Try to be patient, especially with longer or higher effort works. Expressing excitement is a boost, but just be careful you're not putting too much pressure on the creator. We do have things going on behind the screen that can delay our plans at times.

Consider dropping an interaction on something else, or check in on how they're doing in general - a little kindness outside of just the works being produced can be a boost too!

The Grand Finale of the Rollercoaster

Thank you for staying with me to the end darlings, I know this was likely a bit of an emotional ride, but please do drop in some comments or reblogs with the other things you experience and how you handle the emotional whirlwind of being a fan creator. Always remember, you are valued for more than just what you can produce, your works are adored but the person behind them is worth so much more and always will be. Look after yourselves, I love you dearly~

[recurring-polynya]

Do you have any advice for a newbie looking to get their first tattoo?

The first step is to think a lot about what you want to get and where on your body you want it. Look at a lot of pictures of tattoos. The place to do this is Instagram. I do not like Instagram and honestly, this is the only thing I use this for. At first, just look at all sorts of tatts and try to get a feel for what appeals to you and what doesn't. Save pictures of your faves. You don't need to look for things that are exactly what you want--you might like the linework in one and the coloring in another, but you're going to want to be able to put together a coherent "story" of what you want for your artist to work from.

Once you have a good idea of what you want, you will need to find an artist in your area (or an area you're willing to travel to). At least where I live, there are various studios and then artists work out of those studios who usually handle their bookings independently. (Note: I live in an American major metropolitan area, but not in the city itself) You may want to google studios near you, and they will have a website that lists their artists and offers some samples of their work. If you see someone you like, they may have their own Insta or website that shows more of their work. The artist will almost always have instructions somewhere in here for how to book them. The tattoo studio websites may also have instructions, but in my experience, it's better to contact the artist directly if you can. I am also lucky in that I have a lot of tattooed pals and we share recommendations. If you have inked friends, ask them about their experiences!!

A lot of artists will offer ready-to-go designs that are available, meaning, you can just sign up and they'll tattoo exactly that on your body. If you see something that's perfect, this will speed up the process a bit.

Otherwise, you contact them and tell them what you're thinking. DO read all their guidelines before you contact them-- most of the artists I've seen are very specific about what info they want you to provide. Once you've sent that in, if your idea sounds like something they want to do, they'll schedule a consult. My consult for my first tattoo was in person, and my guy had sketches for me to look at and we chatted about it. I was pretty happy with what he'd done and we scheduled a session after that. For my second tatt, we did the consult over email and she emailed me a draft. Some artists don't want to do this, it's up to them! My upcoming consult is over the phone for covid reasons.

Up to the consult stage, it's perfectly fine to not go with that artist. This is the part where "this is permanent" comes in. You might want to suggest big changes and they might try again or you might say "I'm gonna go with someone else". In both my cases, mine only needed minor tweaks and I trusted my artists, so we went forward. At that point, you put down a deposit (mine were ~$100) and schedule a session. Tattoos may take more than one session, but mine took one each.

Respectable tattoo studios take sanitation very seriously and that includes covid. Read through their guidelines and make sure you're on the same page with them. A friend of mine got a tatt a few months ago and said she felt like it was one of the most well-protected activities she did during the pandemic, but obviously there are going to be some studios that take this more serious than others. If you don't feel good about a studio find another one. There are many good and safe studios out there. Also, covid messed up a lot of peoples' schedules-- many artists may be backlogged and they may not be taking new clients right now, although it seems to me like things are starting to open up a lot more right now.

A few other tips:

- Read up on rates and be prepared for the cost including tip (15-20%). I have two relatively simple, B&W tatts and they were a couple hundred bucks. Elaborate tatts can easily run into the thousands. But remember, you're commissioning an artist, you should treat them with the respect they deserve!

- People always talk about the pain thing. Personally, getting tattooed is not painful to me, I actually kinda enjoy the sensation. People experience pain differently, though, ymmv. There are also parts of the body that are more or less painful if this is a concern for you.

- Read up on the aftercare process, just so you know what's involved. Generally, you've got about two weeks of washing it carefully and moisturizing, but you shouldn't go to the beach or get in a hot tub, etc, so you might want to plan around vacations.

I hope that helps and good luck!

[sevlgi]

patient

requested: yes

group: mamamoo

pairing: hwasa x fem!reader

genre: fluff

contents: tattoo artist!hwasa, flustered!reader [15/33]

warnings: none

synopsis: It’s hard for you to be patient about your next tattoo session when your artist is so damn gorgeous.

a/n: um??? I love tattoo aus???? also don’t come at me for the name, I’m not creative

word count: 1.9k

“Elegant Chaos.”

You test the name out on your tongue, staring up at the slightly grimy neon sign of the shop. The entire front is one-way glass, so all you can see is your own reflection and the ones of the people bustling around you.

Before you can make up a decision to open the door to the store or not, someone else does; a pretty brunette woman steps out and smiles at you, crazy beautiful with full lips and crescent-eyes. “Hi. Can I help you?”

“Uh, yeah.” You show her the printed-out address your friend sent you and step a bit closer. “Is this a tattoo shop? I searched the address up but nothing resulted, I was referred by a friend.”

She barely takes a glance at the address before flashing another bright grin. “Oh, yep! This is our tattoo shop, we opened a couple months ago. It’s weird that we’re still not showing up, but oh, well. Want to come in?”

You barely register her quick words but step into the shop after her, the smell of rubbing alcohol, paper, and perfume vaguely stinging your nose. “I’m Solar, the receptionist,” she introduces, walking behind what you presume to be her desk. Out front, some teenagers talk quietly, a tall, dark-haired boy with a sleeve sipping at a banana milk.

“Cool. Uh, I’m Y/N. I don’t have an appointment, is that okay?”

Solar nods, tapping at her phone. “Sure. Jungkook over there is just waiting for Byul to finish her other client, and Wheein is prepping to pierce the kids. Hwasa’s our best artist, anyway, does that sound good?”

Her question startles you from staring at the intricate sketches taped all over the walls, the same 3 signatures stamped everywhere. “What?”

She laughs, though it’s not rude. “We have one artist left, Hwasa, but since you’re referred, you probably don’t have someone in mind, right? You can go to see her now, she’s free.”

“Great. Do I just...?” At Solar’s nod, you walk past her and into the back. The studio’s quite small, to be honest; there are 4 stations, two of them occupied. One of them, who you guess is Byul, is tattooing an elderly man, her sleeves rolled up to reveal the art on her bicep. 

The second, probably Wheein, is wiping down her tools, and she’s the first to notice you. “Hi!” she grins, turning the music blasting from the radio down with her ungloved hand. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah. Solar mentioned that I should come find Hwasa,” you explain, eyes widening at the complicated art being tattooed on the elderly man. “Are you...?”

“No, I’m Wheein.” Ah, so you were right. “This is Byul, she’s a bit preoccupied,” Wheein smiles, dimples poking into her cheeks. “I’ll get Hye- sorry, Hwasa for you.”

She hurries out to the back, and you can hear talking through the open door, before she comes back, the woman you presume to be Hwasa behind her.

Instantly, you’re starstruck; she’s stunning in a way that’s completely unique, long dark hair and tanned skin contrasting beautifully. The only makeup she wears is a bold red lipstick, her tank top showing the delicate tattoos she has. “Hey, I’m Hwasa,” she greets, sticking her hand out. Her nails are long, too.

“Y/N.” You accept the handshake, trying not to stare. “Uh, Solar said you were free for a consultation?”

“Yeah.” She sits at one of the free stations, clearing the things scattered on the table. “So, what’re you looking for? Do you already have a design chosen or am I freehanding?”

You fumble in your bag for a piece of paper, sliding it over to Hwasa. “Um, this is just something my friend drew up for me. I want it pretty small, on my forearm.”

The dark-haired woman shrugs, unfolding the paper. “I could do that. Is this your first tattoo?”

Nodding, you watch as Hwasa taps her long, red-painted nails on the desk. “Okay. Is this part of a sleeve or by itself?”

“Uh, how long would each one take?” To be honest, you have no idea why you said that; you didn’t consider a sleeve at all, though you considered multiple tattoos or a large one. There’s just something about the other woman that makes it impossible for you to think.

She considers the question before answering, “Depends on the size and how many small ones you want to work in for the sleeve, but I’d recommend a separate session for each small square, so maybe 8 or 10. I’ll be done with this in less than 30 minutes, though, if it’s just the one.”

To be honest, the only thing causing you to consider a sleeve is getting to see Hwasa again, and you curse your own attraction to her when you blurt, “Maybe a sleeve? I have to think about the other ones I want to work in, though.”

“Okay. I can just do the one today, and we can schedule another day for you to come in and design the whole thing,” she offers, picking the sketch up. “I’ll go make this into a stencil, then.”

“Sure.”

When she takes the sketch and walks to the back room, you slump down in the chair and pivot to look at the others. You quickly realize how long you were talking with Hwasa; Byul is already working on the coconut-haired boy, and Wheein is already done with the teenagers.

She seems to be the outgoing type, and waves at you while sanitizing her needles and packing her kit up again. “So, how did it go? Are you going to start today?”

“I am, yep. You’re already done with the kids?”

Wheein nods, placing the studs back into their cases. “Yep. They just wanted more lobe piercings, it’s really easy. I’m a tattoo artist, too, but I think the kids like me more. Except for Jungkook over here, they think Byul’s intimidating.”

“I’m not!” the other woman protests, hands still steady as she works on the boy. Her voice is deeper than you’d expect. “You literally call me a hamster.”

Flapping a hand, Wheein flashes you her dimples again. “So, what do you think of Hwasa?”

“Huh?” you blink, brain basically short-circuiting. “Uh, she’s a good artist? I saw some of her sketches, yours too; you’re all really talented.”

“No, no, that’s not what I mean. Wait, you’re not straight, are you?” she narrows her eyes at you, scanning you from head to toe. “Maybe my sense is broken, I didn’t peg you for a...”

“I’m not. Straight. I’m a lesbian.” Your cheeks burn to say it aloud, though nobody really reacts, not even Jungkook. “Are you?”

Wheein shrugs, “I mean, I’m attracted to women. All 4 of us are- Hyejin, Byul, Yongsun. Solar, to you. And we make sure everyone who comes in is accepting, we won’t serve bigots.”

For whatever reason, you’re almost relieved to hear that Hwasa’s also attracted to women in some sense, even though it doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s attracted to you. “Oh. That’s cool.”

“Yeah. So, is it just one tattoo or a sleeve?” Her knowing smile puts you off a bit; how did she figure it out? “A lot of girls who come in here change their original idea because of Hyejin-ah. You’re obviously attracted to her, to, so it’s no surprise.”

“Is it really that obvious?” you groan, surprising yourself with how open you’re being about it. “Do you think she knows?”

“Probably,” Wheein giggles, nodding when Solar pokes her head in the studio to tell her something. “Anyway. I’ve got to go, good luck!”

She waves as she leaves, the only noise left in the studio being the quiet music and Jungkook’s quiet talking. He seems just as awkward as you are, lifting his free hand in a half wave.

You’re saved by Hwasa returning with a stencil. “Here. Does that look good?”

She’s modified the original design just the tiniest bit, making the lines a little bit darker and the shading simpler, and it looks... “Perfect.” You grin, a weight on your chest lifted by your conversation with Wheein. “Should we start?”

“Sure.” She brings you over to one of the actual tattoo stations, the seat already smelling sanitized. You can barely listen as she explains what the process will be like- cleaning, the actual tattooing, pain; you finally come to when she asks, “Are you ready?”

“I... yeah. I am.”

It’s quiet until the buzzing of the tattoo gun brings you to life, the tiniest bit of fear sour on your tongue. Hwasa looks concentrated as she peels the stencil off, not exactly reassuring, either. “So. Is there a meaning behind this?”

“Uh, not really. Are there meanings behind yours?” You gasp when the needle first touches your skin, the cold wipe taking off excess ink.

“I have some matching tattoos with Wheein,” Hwasa explains, smiling at the mention of the other girl. “Uh, one is Maria, my Christian name. Wheein has more, but all of us have some kind of meaning behind ours. It’s not bad to have no meaning, though.”

You wince as she continues with the linework, slowly getting used to the pain. “Are you and Wheein...”

She looks up, raising an eyebrow. “Together? No, we’re best friends. I haven’t been with someone in a few years.”

“What’s stopping you?”

Hwasa laughs, wiping your arm once again. “Nothing, I guess. I’m just patient enough to wait for the right person.”

“Patient. Right.”

Conversation flows smoothly, mostly light topics. You learn each other’s ages, and you’re told to call Hwasa ‘Hyejin’ instead. You learn when she got her first tattoo, and when she learned to tattoo others. The more you talk, the more drawn in you are, fascinated by her every word.

The half an hour is over far too fast. “Done,” she announces, smiling as she turns off her gun. “Take a look.”

It looks gorgeous, as expected, though Hwasa plays off your barrage of compliments. “Uh, should I pay now?”

She shrugs, placing saran wrap over your arm. “We’ll go talk with Solar about that, she’s better with pricing than I am. But it probably won’t be much.”

“What? Why?” you frown, examining the tattoo. Usually, discounts only happen when something goes wrong, or you have a coupon. You’re pretty sure neither of those things apply.

Hwasa pauses, turning to send you a small smirk. “Well, the cute ones usually pay less.”

Your heart practically stops, though you force yourself to walk to the front with her. “Besides, you’re probably coming back again soon, right?”

“Oh! Uh, yeah. I think so. When will that be? The next session, I mean.”

She frowns, tapping at the tablet Solar hands her. “You can come in as soon as you’re free to design it, if you want, but you have to wait a bit for the next session, especially if you’re doing the things close together. If you want, I can give you my number.”

At your stricken expression, Hwasa’s lips curve into a knowing smile. “So you can send me ideas, for the sleeve.”

“Ah, of course.” Your cheeks burn as you take out your cash, counting out a surprisingly small amount. “That sounds good. I guess I’ll just have to be patient, then.”

“I guess so. Call me, Y/N,” she smiles, handing your phone back with a new contact in.

Being patient is going to be so damn hard. 

[tmabigbang]

Schedule Update

We have updated our schedule slightly after talking to writers and artists to include a two week extension as well as some changes to checkpoint dates! Remember, sign ups, which you can find here, close tomorrow at midnight EST!

-Mod Cai

September 5th to 11th: Sign-Ups Open 

Sign-Ups for writers, artists, and betas will be open! 

September 12th: Big Bang Officially Begins! 

Writers must send in their fic synopses as well as any beta request forms in by the end of today! 

September 13th, noon EST: Claiming Period Starts 

The claiming document with all the fic synopses will be open so ARTISTS and BETAS can claim the fics they want to work with. There will be open slots to put your tumblr username for each fic. 

Translate to your time zone, if needed: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20200723T160000&p1=179 

September 15th, 11:59pm EST: Claiming Period Ends 

Get in contact with all the members of your group. Take this time to set up a schedule with your beta and start to discuss which scenes will be depicted or what the concept of the art pieces is going to be. 

Translate to your timezone, if needed: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20200726T035900&p1=179 

September 16th: Deadline to Contact Groups 

You should hear from all of your members by this date! Please let us know if there are any issues with contacting any members of your group. 

September 26th: First Checkpoint 

WRITERS should try to have around 1k words for oneshots and 2k words for multichapter fics. 

October 10th: Second Checkpoint 

WRITERS: try to reach 2k if you’re doing a one-shot and 4k if you’re doing multi-chaptered. 

ARTISTS: show your group some sketches, an outline, to let them know how far you’ve gotten and if you need to know anything new. If you’re having any trouble, please contact mods. 

October 24th: Third Checkpoint + Midway Check-In 

WRITERS: try to have 3.5k and 6.5k for one-shots and multi-chaptered fics respectively written so you can have room to edit. 

ARTISTS: you should have a good idea of all the scenes/info. you’re planning to use, start outlining/sketching if you haven’t. Let the mods know if you feel you’re really behind or are having any issues. 

November 7th: Fourth Checkpoint 

WRITERS should have 5k for one-shots and 9k for multichaps. 

ARTISTS should have linework done on pieces, if not more. 

November 14th: Fifth Checkpoint 

WRITERS: aim for reaching the min by this point (that’s 6k and 11k). We low-balled it with the mins so we know a lot of you are going to go higher, which is also why we’re asking for the word min early. If not, it’s okay if you haven’t reached the min yet, just do your best to give yourself time to go back to any scenes you’re not too sure about or add anything you feel needs adding. Your betas should have access to your work by this point, although we recommend you give it to them much earlier. 

ARTISTS: be in constant connection with your group. If you are going to add any last minute pieces, now’s the time. 

November 21st: Sixth and Final Checkpoint 

WRITERS, you should be pretty much finished by this point. Use this next week to edit and add the finishing touches. 

ARTISTS, same goes for you. Let the mods know if you feel you’re REALLY behind (we’ll keep it in mind so we know to assign you the latest possible posting day). We are going to be working on posting dates this week, so keep an eye out for a mod bothering you about date/time. 

November 28th: END OF BIG BANG CONTENT CREATION! 

November 29th: Posting Dates Assigned 

Based on what we’ve heard back from everyone, we’ll assign you a posting day from the dates below. We’ll do our best to give the latest posting dates to those that, for whatever reason, fell behind (so, if you feel you’re good to go, let us know you’re up for being the first to post). 

November 30th to December 7th: Posting Week 

December 7th: END OF TMA BIG BANG 2020

[mysticsparklewings]

Fairy Enchanting‪

A bit later than I expected, but here we have the art that I used for the examples on my Commission Sheet! (Unoriginal title is unoriginal and also a pun based on "very enchanting") When I started thinking about putting together a commission sheet in the first place (which was something I wanted to do for the new year, as before I was just using a lengthy pricelist), I knew that I wanted to make a piece of art specifically for it and track my progress as I went, so that I would have an example for each stage in the process I take commissions for. And for the art, I more or less wanted to "go all out" since it's supposed to be an example, and I figure the example needs to be as close to top-notch as possible. Admittedly, I probably could've done even more than this, but me being me I procrastinated and ended up having less time to work on this that I initially expected, so... In deciding what the drawing would be, I also decided to return to my roots a little, and a do fairy as an homage to back when I used to do Winx art all the time. Likewise, as Enchantix to this day is my favorite transformation from the show, I drew heavy inspiration from it, and I'm sure that's so obvious that if you know the show I probably didn't have to point it out to you. Anyway. I actually didn't start completely from scratch with the sketch; I re-used this pose from a previous sketch I did that never saw a full-finished piece. I liked that other sketch okay, but it didn't feel like a "finish me" project. I did have to alter the feet because the original sketch was made with feet for ballet slippers (bigger heels, more rounded/curved toes, etc.) and much later on in the process I ended up angling the leg on the left more outward, as that felt more natural for the direction I was taking this new sketch in. In sketching all the bits that make this sketch otherwise unique from the old one, as I mentioned, I was taking heavy inspiration from Enchantix. One of my favorite parts of the transformation has always been the leg-wrap/barefoot sandals, for reasons I can't explain. So those were a must. I also really like how the Enchantix outfits tend to be short dresses that are more form-fitting at the top and more flowy and soft at the bottom. Here, I decided to bring the ribbony look on the leg wraps up into the bodice, and to frame the collar/shoulder area I used a sleeve & choker style similar to what I did for the dress for Ink Dance, which itself was based on a dress I actually own and love to pieces despite never getting a chance to wear it because of how fancy it is. The main difference for both of the drawing versions is that I skipped the lace overlay that connects the sleeves and choker, mostly because both pieces are traditional and drawing lace/mesh traditionally, especially when it's so teeny, is a nightmare I do not want to engage with. And the choker part fits nicely, as in Enchantix each fairy has a necklace (usually a choker) that holds their fairy dust bottle. I'm not sure if this fairy has one or not, but she very well could! Enchantix usually has long gloves, but I altered these to be shorter and fingerless (more like Magic Winx or Believix gloves) since this fairy is also based partially on myself, and I'd be more likely to wear that kind than the full-length formal gloves. And for the hair, as is maybe obvious, I was primarily inspired by Stella's for her Enchantix, since I've always loved that part of the transformation sequence for her's. Also, even though it doesn't look that way on my commission sheet, IRL I drew only one wing and left it separate, off to the side, to make positioning and flipping it easier. Once the sketch was done, I did try inking it traditionally/by hand once, and I just really wasn't happy with how it turned out. And I also realized I had drawn the skirt billowing/ruffling in completely the wrong direction anyway; It was moving to the left when it should've been moving to the right like the hair. So I had to take time out to fix that. As opposed to wasting more paper trying to ink traditionally after that fiasco, I instead went with what had been my gut instinct anyway; I scanned the sketch in and did the lines in Photoshop. Well, most of the lines. I was a dumb-dumb and when I did the lines for the wings, 1. it took forever because they're large curves everywhere and 2. I used a slightly bigger brush than for all the other lines, as I had mistakenly thought I was going to be re-sizing them significantly and the lines would be altered to for me when I did that. When I realized that wasn't the case, I did not want to have to redraw most of those curves again and risk not being able to get the right a second time. So I ended up booting a copy of the wings I'd already done into Paint Tool Sai and made use of the linework layers to redo the wings without having to draw the same line fifty times. Then I booted that back into Photoshop and adjusted the wings to be angled/aligned with the rest of the lines as I saw necessary. It was also at this point that I played around with positioning the leg on the left more outward than what it was on the sketch and ended up going with the position you see here. I could have then gone back and added weight to the lines in some places, but at this stage, I was already thinking that I wanted to print the lines out and use my digital lines to hopefully get cleaner traditional ones, as opposed to just printing the lines off outright. (Mostly because I wanted to use some super thick mixed media paper that I would bet serious money will not go through my printer.) That's what I ended up doing, and I have to say that attempt went a lot more smoothly than me trying to ink from the original sketch. And once I had the initial lines done, then I went back and thickened them in certain places. And I should probably mention here that the wings were a little tricky to figure out how to handle traditionally, as that's not something I've had to do very often. I ended up using my clear stardust gelly roll when I did the normal inking, and then, later on, I used colored pencils to go back over the outlines before coloring them in. After doing some tests, I started coloring with markers for the hair and skin, and a little colored pencil for some blush. I tried to get a little more bold with the shading than I usually do, which I'm sure still looks pretty tame compared to most. But I'd rather the shading be too light than too dark. Originally, I thought I was going to do all or mostly all of the coloring with alcohol markers. (Sidenote: is it just me or does it seem like there’s a lot of alcohol marker related stuff going on in the art world lately??) But then I did some testing with the lines I originally inked and didn’t like, and was reminded why I normally don’t use alcohol markers for gradients like the one on the skirt...frankly, I’m not very good at them...yet. Even though the test went better than expected, I still wasn’t happy with it. Then I tried a few more tests with watercolor, and that didn’t fare much better. Watercolor would’ve worked if the gradient wasn’t also supposed to be shaded, I think, but trying to shade it without using another supply wasn’t working. That left me with good ol' tried and true colored pencils. But colored pencils are relatively slow and textured, and I didn't really want that for the skin. The texture would've worked for the hair, but I didn't want to make the time investment for it either. And so I ended up sticking to my mixed media instincts and I used the colored pencil exclusively where I had to (on the dress so I could get the gradient for the skirt right) and then I used alcohol markers everywhere else, shading and all. With the alcohol marker doing most of the work, then I came back and added additional shading/highlights with the colored pencils as needed to everything except the skin. I added blush, but otherwise, I was quite pleased with how the skin turned out and didn't want to touch it for the risk of ruining it. The dress is supposed to be black/really dark gray, but I did brighten it up a bit with some of the blues from the skirt gradient as opposed to pulling out specific grays, so it definitely looks/feels more navy in the final product. Although my relatively dark/saturated color choices for her outfit made figuring out what to then do with the wings more challenging. I didn't want the wings to be the exact same colors as the rest of the drawing, because then they'd blend in too easily and be too distracting from the rest of the piece. But at the same time, I wanted them to match/look like they belong. (Again, similar to how the wings are in Enchantix) After some back-and-forth testing and a LOT of color sampling, I decided to color the wings in with alcohol markers in colors that were similar to her clothes but overall lighter/more pastel and outline them and the sections inside the wings again in colored pencil. Most of the colored pencil is slightly darker than the marker colors I picked, but I went with purple for the black/gray rims of the wings because I thought a dark gray or black would be too harsh. I'd already decided I wanted to do a slightly more complex background digitally, but even with that in mind, the traditional drawing still felt like it was missing one more thing after that. Namely, the wings didn't seem special enough. I realize that sounds a little weird; I was just talking about how I didn't want the wings to be too distracting, but I think there is a delicate balance to having them be special in the way fairy wings should be while still not overpowering everything else. And I'm not sure I achieved that, but I at least tried to. Though not a perfect solution, I ended up adding some metallic watercolor on top of the "true" (less purple-y) blue and pink sections on the wings.  You can't really tell here on the scan, and what little you can appears to be the wrong color, but in person, both colors now how a lovely pink or blue sheen to them when you move the picture in the light. (The metallic paints, in this case, are very opalescent, so they're almost completely transparent when you see the flat color despite still have a really pretty metallic sheen in the light.) After that, I felt there wasn't much more I could do traditionally, so I scanned it and moved on to that background. At this point, I was kinda pressed for time because me being me, I had unintentionally put making my commission sheet off to the last minute. I really wanted to have it finished before the ball dropped on New Years' Eve ("new year, new me" and all that jazz), and I still hadn't finished my example art by sunset time the day of. So I had to keep things moving. Early on, I'd had the idea to either digitally make a slightly more complex (but not too complex; I wanted to keep at least a little of the sanity I have left) background or perhaps make a special watercolor piece to use as the background. Unfortunately, I just didn't have the time for that anymore if I wanted to have the commission sheet finished by my self-imposed deadline. (And if we're splitting hairs, in theory, I could still go back and change the background if I wanted to, for reasons I'm about to go over, so of all the things to get rush-cut that's really not so bad.) What I ended up doing instead was taking some of the left side of my Starfall Mountains painting (I was looking for a background-type thing I'd already done/made that would suit this drawing or that I could quickly tailor to make it work, and I'm just as surprised as anyone else that this frustrating tiny painting ended up being the one I liked best of my options) and I blew it up to comfortable cover the background here, flipped it around so the colors would flow a bit better, and used the hue/saturation slider to make it more of teal color for a little more contrast. But of course, there was still just one more thing missing, even after all that. After a little tinkering, I decided I didn't like trying to making the wings transparent (I could do it, I just didn't like the way it looked in this case), so I went in and added a touch of sparkles digitally to both tie them more into the piece as a whole and to give them a little more pizzazz. And finally, blessedly after all of that, the artwork was finished, I was very happy with it, and I could move on to making the actual commission sheet.   I have to say, for as rushed as it was towards the end, I do really like how it turned out. More particularly I like just how blended both digital and traditional art ended up being here. To me, this is the next step beyond what I was able to do for mixing digital and traditional art with my Doodle Moon piece, and if I weren't currently in the middle of a tablet crisis, I'd really want to do more with this concept of going back and forth between the two on one artwork. However because of the tablet situation, the thought of really trying to do that right now kinda fills me with dread, so we're gonna have to wait a little while on that. I do also really like the anatomy/proportions in this. Which is not something I normally feel comfortable saying.   It's not the best art I've ever made or anything, but looking at it makes me happy. It's good to see it finished and it's good to think of where a lot of the ideas for it came from. (Re: Nostalgia for my life a few years ago) I'm not sure if I will since it kinda counts but also kinda doesn't(?), but I'm tempted to put this and some of my old Enchantix drawings up on the "Draw This Again" template, just to show how far I've come. I'm still thinking about it, we'll see. Speaking of "we'll see," I got word that the sketchbooks from the contest I made Designiest Design for back in October are finally in, which means the prize packs should be sent out anytime now! I'm excited to see how the sketchbooks turned out and get my hands on the Powder Pack and see how said powders work! I was admittedly starting to wonder how that was coming along, so that was some good news and a nice surprise I'd really been needing here lately. Rest assured, there will almost definitely be an art piece talking about that stuff once I have it in my hands! 

____ Artwork © me, MysticSparkleWings ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

[beanplague-moved]

absolute social detriment

i wrote some mindless cute fic to make up for a bad day. monster prom is embarrassingly taking up a lot of my headspace at the moment.

writing commissions | art commissions | ao3 | donations.

Brian does a bit of art in his free time. Nothing spectacular—his art style needs some work, and he always fucks up the eyes—but you know, it’s something. Mostly just sketches to pass the time in class, when he actually bothers to go.

Currently, he’s doing his best to replicate this one image that’s been present in his mind for the last couple hours. He’s actually pretty good at this—translating ideas onto paper, that is. He’s got a good grasp on anatomy, though he does wish he could make it a little more stylistic. His poses feel too stiff sometimes.

Polly says, “Is that Damien?” and Brian closes his sketchbook immediately.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” says Brian, his tone deadpan. Polly is floating beside him, peering over his shoulder. “You can leave now. We’re in class.” This is a bullshit deflection, mainly because their teacher could not give less of a shit what they were doing. Polly glances at the now-closed sketchbook.

“He’s your boyfriend, you know. You don’t have to pretend not to like him or whatever,” she says. Brian blinks.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t draw. Go away,” he says. Polly’s eyebrows arch, and then she smiles.

“I’ll have you know that once a club announced it was at capacity and I physically possessed a bouncer in order to get in, and spent the whole night body hopping,” she says, “Closing things off only makes me more determined, Brian,” and then she leaves, floating back to her seat.

Brian puts his sketchbook in his backpack and makes a mental note to avoid drawing in class.

Brian goes to gym and tells the coach that he’s dead (which is true) and sits out the dodgeball round for the day. He instead spends the time drawing his boyfriend playing dodgeball and gaining creativity stats.

Liam, who has also used his undead state as an excuse not to play dodgeball, leans over to see Brian’s sketchbook. “You’ve drawn him to be a lot more aesthetically pleasing than I would have,” says Liam, glancing between the sketchbook page and the real-life reference, who is baring his teeth and threatening to punch his own team members in the face. “I didn’t know that you draw.”

Brian closes his sketchbook, “I don’t and never have,” he blatantly lies, trying his best to cut away from the conversation. Liam doesn’t get the hint.

“Ah, I see,” says Liam, “This is an attempt to remain cool and collected in the eyes of a social superior. Well, there’s no need, Brian. Social hierarchies are far too cliche, anyway.”

Brian says, “I honestly don’t understand any word that has ever come out of your mouth,” because it’s the truth, and he’s a very honest person. Liam nods.

“A very convincing persona. I’ll give you points for dedication, at least,” he says, and it’s at this point that Brian kind of just tunes him out and watches the game. At one point he almost reopens his sketchbook, but in the corner of his eyes he sees Liam glancing at it and he stops himself.

It’s not even that he’s embarrassed of the art or anything—or, well, he is. It’s objectively embarrassing. Brian, who is known for not caring, spends his time doodling his boyfriend in candid poses? That’s absolute social detriment right there. He doesn’t even know how he would prepare for such a scenario wherein someone noticed. What if someone pointed out how careful the linework was? What if someone called him cute? What if Damien saw? There are just too many variables.

And yeah, technically Brian is dating Damien already, and it isn’t particularly weird for him to idealize his boyfriend or draw him, but come on. A man is entitled to his particular complex, all right? Not every irrational argument or insecurity needs to be scrutinized for how much sense it makes.

Brian leaves gym class having lost several points contributing to his boldness stat. That’s just how it is sometimes.

At lunch Brian enjoys the very reliable practice of not eating anything (in this cafeteria? You’d be better off eating out of the garbage, which is legitimately what some students have been doing. It’s absolutely hilarious and also very indicative of the school’s quality of life) and finally finishing his damn drawing without a dating sim character breathing down his neck.

“Is that Damien?” asks Miranda, and does she have to be so loud? Well practiced in this particular method of avoidance, Brian shuts his sketchbook immediately. “That’s so romantic!”

Oh God. “Miranda, I will pay you at least two money to leave—” he’s cut off before he can finish his offer and/or threat of bribery.

“You saw them, right? The drawings?” asks Polly, who actually might be the devil. It’s a distinct possibility. She hangs out with Damien an awful lot for someone who isn’t the devil. Of course, you could say the same for Brian or literally anyone else in their circle of friends, but still. “I think it’s adorable!”

This. This is the nightmare scenario. Holy shit.

Brian is in the middle of considering his plan of action, and he narrows it down to two distinct choices. Either he can toss his own sketchbook into the garbage at such an angle where it constitutes as a rather impressive slam dunk and thus has a distinct chance of impressing his peers, or he can get up and leave and continue his drawing in the bathroom.

He isn’t so keen on the possibility of losing his sketchbook, and his boldness stat isn’t particularly high. He ends up taking the second option, wordlessly walking out of the situation like the corpse he is. He really is living up to his undead heritage.

Brian is almost done with his drawing, which is actually pretty impressive, considering he’s illustrating this in a bathroom. It’s a horrid environment for art. It smells weird and he’s pretty sure Polly does drugs in here, but you take what you can get.

Damien says, “You fuckin’ draw?” and Brian is considering that, perhaps, he has angered some minor god. It happens all the time, and it would certainly check out if he had. “What are you doing in the bathroom, dude? There’s another recess rave so I figured we could set something or someone on fire over there, if you’re up for it.”

Brian is kind of wordless at the moment, because all of his nightmare scenarios are playing in his head at once, and truly he is trying not to rehearse his own detriment in his head.

He says, “Oh, uh, yeah. Arson and manslaughter sound great about now,” and he attempts to close his sketchbook. He sees Damien narrow his eyes.

“Can I see what you were drawing?”

Hm. No. “Well, you see,”  says Brian, “I would normally show you my sketchbook right now, but I’m about to throw it in the garbage, and—”

“No, really, I’m actually curious,” says Damien, with as much sincerity as he can possibly produce, “I like to see stuff you’re into, you know?” Oh, Brian is definitely into the things in his sketchbook, which is about 70% Damien. Brian hesitates.

“Sure,” he decides, handing the sketchbook over to Damien. He’s had a good, long, reanimated life. Brian has already dealt with a physical death, what’s a social one to boot?

He watches as Damien opens the sketchbook and pages through it, realization passing over him as relatively innocuous drawings of trees and tables and shit gradually become portraits of his own face. It’s a true facial journey, which eventually settles on an expression that could be Damien blushing if he wasn’t already a solid red demon who’s blush was indistinguishable from his actual hue.

Damien is about to push the brink of his charm stat and create some bullshit excuse, “You see—”

“So, like,” Damien pauses, “Do you ever do, fuck, I dunno, self portraits, or, uh. You know, drawings of us together or something?” and it’s a very genuinely sweet moment that Brian is having in this dumpster fire of a school bathroom.

“Uh, yeah, if you flip it to the next page,” Brian says, and they have a very nice, very cute conversation that they will describe as “kickass” and “definitely not cute” to close associates. Damien asks Brian to draw him taller, which is a valid comment, but Damien already gets to be tall in real life so no.

[areallyyellowmango]

Hello ! I am a 14-years-old artist and since you're young as well, I would like to know if you have any advice to young artists who are trying to get a little noticed like me ? Also, any digital art tips ? Ty if you answer !!

Hey there anon! Thank you for asking! ♥ That is a subjetc I really like talking about cause it’s something that, honestly, is not very easy and can be very different for different people. Getting your art noticed at first can seem like an impossible mission, especially if, like me, you’re still climbing your way towards “essential” improvement, and by essential I mean the fundamentals of art, like anatomy, composition and other theorical stuff. As an artist that is still in the middle of this process, I feel so honored to know someone wants my advice to get through steps I’ve gone through, that means I’m progressing well, so thank you for that ♥ But anyhow, I’ll try to sum up what I feel like are very very VERY important tips for young artists, based on what I’ve learned/self taught myself throughout the years. c:1) Don’t do it to get noticed; do it for fun. Of course, feels so good to get a fantastic feedback from followers and other dear mutuals, it’s just amazing! But it’s a human being fact: when we turn fun into work, it becomes boring and stressful. When I started the blog, I pushed myself to post every single day. I thought that if I was very active, I’d be noticed more quickly. At first it was okay, I learned a lot of stuff really quickly trying and trying repeatedly. But it soon started feeling like another source of pressure in my life. So I went back to how I did before, drawing for fun, doing it cause I love it, cause it’s my passion, working to improve, and it all got so much better. Being noticed should not be your main fuel, love should. And all the rest comes as a consequence of how much love you put in what you do. Not only in art, but everything in life.2) Practice. Practice a lot. Never stop.Right after having fun, improving myself as much as I can is the second main thing I focus. There’s a quote that I like that goes: “May you be pleased with your work, but never satisfied”. Keep on practicing, constantly. I recommend keeping a sketchbook with you, and trying to make yourself draw some sketches on it every single day. But keep in mind: It doesn’t have to be perfect! It shouldn’t be! Make gesture drawings, scribbles, doodles, sketches. Draw from life or from your mind. If you like drawing faces, draw many different faces, experiment shapes and styles. Challenge yourself to draw something you’re not good at. No need to push yourself to make it perfect on your first tries, keeping on trying is the key for any young and specially self-taught artist. If your art achieves what the viewers looks for in quality, it’ll be noticed sooner or later.3) When it comes to getting your art more noticed, focusing on fanarts might make it easier.Okay that might sound weird, but it’s true. Starting out and gaining some popularity as an OC artist is DAAAAAMN HARD. At first, my blog was gonna be OC focused. I kinda gave up cause 1) I noticed I didn’t really wanna draw OCs anymore for a while :’) and 2) As we know, fanarts are much more likely to get noticed than original characters arts. Luckly for me, I love the AoT fandom so much and it was quite easy for me to feel like an active part in it when I started trying. It’s a really nice fandom overall in my opinion, which accepts all kinds of art pretty well, so it’s a good starting point for you. Of course, if your original art is good and innovating it’ll gain popularity with certain ease as well, but it’s not that common for young and begginer artists like us to expect that from ourselves right off the bat so I guess that’s worth saying.4) Find mutuals/fellow artists/your inspirations!Before creating my blog, I’d never been in touch with other artists that produced the same kind of content I do; I did it all just for the sake of doing without really showing anyone and without any critique, just keeping it all for me. Tumblr really changed it for me. I made fantastic friends here, some of which are EXCELLENT artists that I look up to so so so much. Being in touch with other artists, along with making it much more fun to be a creator of content, helps you learn much more about what you need to improve by constantly noticing how they draw certain thing, what kind of style they use and having someone close to you that likes the same stuff you do and might like your art as well!I could go for hours talking about stuff I think are very important on improving your art and bringing people to notice it more, but I think it’d get too long and something like a “lesson” and I don’t think art is something that can be taught to someone in that way. You can teach the fundamentals I mentioned before, but art is something that should come from each individual in my opinion, and growing with it is a different experience for each different person. :3About digital art, I’m still a begginer in that and my traditional art is much better than my digital art in many aspects (except coloring, cause I don’t practice coloring with pencils much and don’t have watercolors yet ;-; ), but from what I’ve learned these past few months, the three most important things are:  1) Get to know the program you use, whatever it is. As a begginer, I’d definetly recommend using Paint Tool SAI. It has some great tools, just enough to start out and make some good art, and it’s not too hard to use. By getting to know your program and it’s settings and tools, you’ll eventually know by heart just which tool to use everytime and how to make things look more natural and flow better. Also, I believe moving to Photoshop or whatever other program that has more tools after getting used to SAI is much easier than picking it up straight away. There’s also the pen tablet of course which is essential in my opinion (I ain’t got time, patience and skill to draw with a damn mouse :^) ). There are some good ones that are not very expensive and do their job pretty well! 2) Don’t get stressed out if your art is not as clean and well done as it usually is on paper. For me personally, learning how to draw digitally has been almost like learning how to draw all over again. It’s not as easy to transfer the ideas from my mind to the computer screen as it is on my sketchbook. I have a messy drawing style by nature, so things like linework and coloring digitally were very tough for me at first, and it took some practice to get to the point I am, in which I still need A LOT of practice and improvement. But my point is, try and try and try again until you get to a point in which it looks cleaner and it flows better, like it does on paper. Play around with different brushes and textures, perhaps you’ll find one that matches your style better.3) PRACTICE! That sounds cliche, but it’s true. It’s the only way to improve. There’s not much to say about it overall, but what I like to do to practice is take some random reference photos and “trace” over them, not like, literal tracing, but turning the body into blocks so I can understand better how joints work, for example, and how they look when bent like this or like that, so when I draw it by myself I’ll remember that and it’ll look much better. There are also many sites in which you can challenge yourself to draw based on certain reference photos in a strict time that you can choose, I’ll link you two of them: x    y So, these are some of my tips for you as a young artist to improve your art and therefore get it noticed sooner or later, I hope this was helpful in some way! If you have any more questions, please feel free to PM me, I’d be glad to give you some more advice that I couldn’t put here so it’d be too long (and my “Keep Reading” thing doesn’t work for some reason :^) ) and give some more in depth tips in digital art! Kisses and hugs and good luck! ♥

[templeofgeek]

We spoke with Brandon Keeney!  His ultra detailed art caught our eye and we’re looking forward to seeing him at Wondercon this weekend!

Q.  Out of college you were a 2D animator and then realized everything shifted to CG, what was it like coming to that realization?

I made the realization about halfway through my college courses in Media Arts and Animation, and it was a little sad. I fell in love with the look and feel of traditional animation when I was a kid, but I didn’t really understand the process until I took started taking classes. I immediately fell in love with the process and focused all my school work around it. To have that introduction and spark of passion followed by the constant reminders that it was a dying art form was tough. During my senior year I tried to shift focus towards Flash animation because it combined computers and elements of hand drawn, but the technology at the time wasn’t far enough along to bridge the gap for me. I think if we had been using Cintiqs and drawing directly on the computer screen it would have helped, but the only tablets we had sat on the desk while we looked at the monitors and created a disconnect from the screen and your hand. It also consisted of a lot of shape manipulation and less with drawing.This made the process feel very unnatural to me.

Q.  After that realization is that what led you to selling your art?

Shortly after graduation I was introduced to sketch cards on E-Bay. My mom actually discovered them and sent me the information, thinking it was something I’d enjoy doing. I saw artists creating tiny illustrations and paintings and selling them to consumers. Through sketch cards I met many talented artists who were making it work as self employed freelancers. I think that was the primary motivation: to be able to take and pursue the jobs I want and not to have to work for someone else.

Q.  Are you anti-CG or have you started to embrace it?

I don’t ever remember disliking CG, or the look of it. The process just never inspired me like traditional art did. Even now, when I work digitally I incorporate traditional techniques and even scan in textures and my penciled linework. Moving 3D shapes around in software just didn’t evoke that same passion in me. The amount of time I had to spend troubleshooting, or learning the software and rendering the scenes drove me crazy. I do love the stuff that is being done with CG though. I think around the time of Tangled, when Glen Keane was trying to incorporate a lot of hand drawn stuff into the production of the film, that CG movies reached an upper echelon of beauty and movement that I hadn’t really seen before that.

Q.  Which came first for you the geeky stuff or the art?  And when did you combine the two?

They both came at a very early age. I was drawing in elementary school. I would draw non-stop, all kinds of things, but my favorite things to draw were X-Men and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I grew up around art and it always felt natural to grab a pencil and draw the stuff I was interested in, and what I was interested in was comics and cartoons.

Q.  You’re a fan of Star Wars and baseball… can we see them combined in your art in the future?

Ha! That certainly is an interesting idea, albeit has never crossed my mind before. I can’t say it’s impossible, but I’m not sure I’ll be drawing Star Wars baseball illustrations anytime soon.

  Q. What’s one tip you’d like to give young artists out there?

Don’t give up. Keep drawing, keep learning, keep struggling, and keep failing. People always tell me I have such “talent” but I constantly remind myself that it is skill, and it is from decades of practicing and making mistakes. Sometimes making the same mistakes over and over and over. It’s not like I could just draw well the second I picked up a pencil, it took a lot of time, and I’ve had a lot of ups and downs with art. The successful artists are the ones who never give up.

Q.  The incredible detail in your art really stands out to me, some of it you can see every intricate pencil stroke… how long does the average piece take you? Are you also super obsessive about every detail?

The amount of time I spend on a piece varies considerably. If it’s a portrait with no background I typically spend between 5-10 hours on it, but that changes based on size and medium. Anything more complicated than a single face take considerably longer to finish. Oil paintings take FOREVER to finish because of the drying time between layers. Often times it will take me weeks or months to finish an oil painting because I need to wait several days for it to dry between layers. I prefer to work in acrylic because it dries much faster and I can get in and get to the details sooner. I’m not obsessive, but I know what I like and when something doesn’t look right I will re-work it over and over until I think it does.

Q.  In 2014 you were forced to work out of your comfort zone to make larger pieces… are you still uncomfortable with that? and are you pushing yourself to be more uncomfortable?

As I said before, I started doing illustration consistently with sketch cards which measure 2.5″ x 3.5″ and I would squeeze as much detail as possible into them. Once I pushed myself to work larger I found it hard to break away from that micro detail and focus on the larger picture. Not only that, but it was difficult for me to fill large areas of space and make it look interesting. Now for the past 3 years or so I have been working primarily between 8×10 and 11×14 and I find it much harder to go back to sketch cards. I am much looser and happier with large pieces and working larger is far more forgiving. What I mean by that is that if I draw an eye a fraction of an inch off in a large size, it still looks like a the character, however if I make that same error on sketch card it is amplified because the details are so small. I’m constantly trying to push myself and lately I’ve been working 11×17 and trying to create designs that work not only on paper but on t-shirts and enamel pins. As an artist you aren’t doing your job if you aren’t constantly trying to grow.

Q.  What do you love and hate about cons?

Conventions are great. My girlfriend Karen Hallion is the one who introduced me to them. We met each other at my first convention. At the time I hadn’t planned on doing anymore, but she convinced me to travel and start displaying my artwork. I am grateful for that because I have seen so many places, and met so many awesome people that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. My favorite aspect of them is just seeing and talking to people. I spend 5 months of the year holed up painting, so when convention season rolls around I am desperate to socialize! I’m so grateful to be able to do what I do, and to be surrounded by others who are passionate about their fandoms and art is just an incredible experience.

My least favorite aspect of conventions is traveling with all my gear. I get very anxious about the logistics, so getting taxis and checking bags with all my prints and heavy suitcases stresses me out. It always works out though so maybe one day I’ll get over it.

Q.  Where can our readers find you next?

Here’s a list of confirmed shows I will be attending this year:

WonderCon – March 23-25

C2E2 – April 6-8

MegaCon Orlando – May 24-27

Denver Comic Con – June 15-18

San Diego Comic Con (Tentative) – July 18-22

Boston Comic Con – Aug 10-12

Come out and say hi!

Artist Spotlight… Brandon Kenney We spoke with Brandon Keeney!  His ultra detailed art caught our eye and we're looking forward to seeing him at Wondercon this weekend!

[mikeyd1986]

MIKEY’S PERSONAL BLOG 59, June 2017

On Monday morning, I had my Strength Training session with Luke Davey at Breakaway Fitness in Berwick. I was faced with numerous barriers on the drive to UFT PLAYgrounds this morning...the rain, low visibility, heavy traffic, being nervous, a couple of errands, last Thursday night’s terrible workout session...but I managed to push through all of these and let them go. I don’t give up very easily despite my never-ending mental struggle. What’s the worst that can happen right?

Right off the bat, I knew that this would be a much better session today. I felt like I was connecting better socially with Luke, I was saying hi to a few of the trainers at UFT and I was feeling better about myself. Focus on the positives. Plus it was a much quieter time to train as well. Morning sessions clearly work better for me so it was a good choice on Luke’s part to change the time for me. Nobody wants to see me as an emotional mess plagued with negative thoughts. I have to try and leave all that anxious bullshit at the door which is really difficult for me sometimes but just gotta keep trying. https://www.facebook.com/breakawayf...

WARM-UP...I started my sessions by doing 3 rounds of 10 “Good Mornings”. I was overthinking my form a little at the start but slowly improved and focused on bending from the hips. And I also did 3 rounds of 10 back extensions. My legs and knees were starting to burn a bit but otherwise I did heaps better than last time.

DEVELOPMENT...Back to the deadlifts. Today I did 5 rounds of 5. My form really has improved tremendously and Luke gave me plenty of constructive feedback about it. That made me feel awesome. Here I am doing 85kg deadlifts and despite feeling a little fatigued, I really smashed them out. I took my time with them, making sure I corrected myself before the next rep. I was deliberately being mindful about keeping my shoulders pulled back, bar close to the body and chest straight. I’ve certainly come a long way since I started doing this.

WORK-OUT...Another really tough workout today. I had to do 21, 15 and 9 reps of the following: 20kg deadlifts, ring rows, (two minute rest), 20kg deadlifts and butterfly situps. I was really starting to feel it during my 15’s and after my rest. My arms were burning so much especially doing the ring rows. I was gasping for breath and feeling a bit light headed at times. I was also worried about throwing up.

Part of me felt like I should raise the red flag up at Luke and yet even if I wanted to, I was too exhausted to speak. I didn’t want to come across like “Poor Michael” either. But even though I struggled hard and had to slow down and stop a few times, I wanted to prove it to Luke and myself that I was finishing this damn workout. I ended up getting a time of around 13 minutes and 20 seconds. I AM NOT A FAILURE. I AM NOT WEAK. I WILL NOT GIVE UP!

On Tuesday afternoon, I caught up with my friend Mandi Herauville at Enterprise Eatery in Berwick. Of course, I didn’t realise that the cafe closed at 3pm and here we are just chatting away as they’re trying to shut the doors. But I’m really glad that I made the time to see her. I need a good laugh and to release some stress before my session with Brendan. She’s still in the process of painting the walls of her gym at The Yard Strength & Fitness and she wants to do something unique with the colour scheme compared to other gyms.

Later that afternoon, I had my first remedial massage appointment with Brendan Rose at MyoMAX. I was physically shaking like a leaf as I grabbed the clipboard and started filling my patient info form out. Funnily enough, filling out the form proved to be a good distraction. The nervousness was more about this being a new experience for me and not really knowing what to expect. I bumped into Joseph Coverdale and Michelle Newman in the waiting room, returning smiles and awkward glances. https://www.facebook.com/Myomax/

In the treatment room, Brendan made things as comfortable as possible for me. Though I was slightly self-conscious about taking my shirt off in front of him, I managed relax as he assessed where my tightness and soreness in my muscles was located. Doing a squat in front of him, it was clear that I was really stiff in my hips and found it difficult sinking my butt low to the ground. This was obviously a lot different to the relaxation massages I’ve had in the past. This was a much more personalised service.

Some of his questions felt like curve-balls. I decided to just be honest with him, even if that meant saying “I’m not sure”. Why should I feel guilty about not knowing an answer? But it was good that he made the effort to ask about my personal life and get to know me better. I trusted him enough to let my guard down a bit without being an emotional mess. You can only keep that “brave face” on for so long.

As for the needles and the massage techniques, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting. Brendan was very careful and gentle about it, assuring me that it wouldn’t hurt. He even played Nickelback’s new album on his tablet to help calm my nerves even further. The only thing that I’m really worried about is the financial cost of these treatments but I’ve already discussed it with Brendan. I’d rather be honest than pretend I’m fine. But I would definitely return to him. He did an excellent job today. https://www.myomax.com.au/

On Tuesday night, I went to my Body Combat class with Cinamon Guerin at YMCA Casey ARC in Narre Warren. Despite feeling very drained, I somehow had the physical energy to do pretty well tonight. For once, I decided to stand directly in front of one of the mirrors. I’m not sure whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, though it did inspire the thought that I need to go shopping for more form fitting workout wear. It’s time to rid myself of those large baggy clothes.

I felt really good during the first half of the workout, especially doing those side roundhouse kicks and jab boxes. Then it got ridiculously hard for me during the second half where we had to quickly shift between doing squats, back lunges and front kicks. I got really uncoordinated and found it difficult to keep up but I just did what I could. Most people were fatiguing hard at this point but I felt great afterwards.

Chatting with Cinamon after the class always puts my mind at ease. It’s just so easy to talk with her about anything from my mental struggles to the progress I’m making with my fitness to reality TV shows. She’s a great listener and gives great advice. She also makes me laugh which is exactly what I need more of in my life. http://w3.lesmills.com/israel/en/cl...

On Thursday morning, Mum and I attended a Morning Melodies function at the Olinda Creek Hotel in Lilydale. Unfortunately, I was in a really negative and irritable mood not helped by checking my bank balance. It just resurrected a lot of guilt and shame from my endless debt cycle and spending too much money. It got me down because I really wanted to have my credit card paid off by now (end of June) but alas it’s just going to take a bit longer. I just have to remember that it could be worse. I WILL pay that credit card off.

Watching the performance by Dennis Rea however seemed to lift my mood a little. He played an hour’s worth of classic cover songs by artists such as Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond,  Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash and John Paul Young. Mum told me that her father, my granddad, used to play some of these songs to her when she was a young girl. After the show, I was practically venting to my Mum about all the things that have been bothering me lately which kind of helped in a way. I needed to get it out of my system. I enjoyed some beer battered fish and chips as well as a passionfruit cheesecake and a regular latte. https://www.olindacreekhotel.com.au/...

On Thursday night, I attended my first ever Life Drawing class at Oak Hill Gallery in Mornington. It’s been nearly 10 years since I last did any sort of life drawing at TAFE so I really wasn’t expecting great drawings tonight. The moment I walked into the gallery, it was a bit of a mad panic getting all the equipment and materials ready. I had to reacquaint myself with an easel and using charcoal as a drawing medium. The gallery space was also quite squashy and with about 6 other artists in the room, everyone was up close and personal.

Tonight’s model was local Mornington-based artist Billy Nye who’s work I greatly admire. We had the fireplace and heater going as well as some smooth jazz and romantic songs playing while we were busy drawing. Each drawing is timed at 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes or 20 minutes so the idea is to work quickly, loosely sketching out the structure of the pose and working in the details. My style seems to be very expressive with a focus on bold linework. I still need to improve on my composition and scale of the body parts but overall I think I did alright for my first class. http://oakhillgallery.com.au/2017/0...

On Friday morning, I had my second Strength Training session for the week with Luke Davey at Breakaway Fitness. I decided to surprise Luke with a small birthday present. My biggest concern was that he’d take it the wrong way. My intentions are always good ones and honestly this was nothing more than a random act of kindness. I’m a caring person and I care about my personal trainer so I wanted to do it. Thankfully his reaction was a positive one, he was taken aback and didn’t expect it.

I feel like I’m in a much better headspace than I was last week at UFT. Switching to morning sessions has obviously been a worthwhile decision in terms of my mental health. I’m connecting better with the other trainers. I’m letting go of negativity. I’m trying hard not to overthink too much (easier said than done!) and I’m also bonding better with Luke. I even decided to try and be more interested in his life instead of being consumed by the awkward silence. And it’s genuine as well. It just takes confidence and self belief to be able to speak up for myself.

WARM UP...Today I started my session by doing 4 rounds of 12 single-arm bar bell rows and 4 rounds of 15 resistance band stretches through the upper back muscles. The second part was a lot harder though. I did some YTW shoulder exercises on the bench. Basically I had to make a “Y”, a “T”  and a “W” using my arms for 3 rounds of 10 reps each. I was fatiguing very quickly even during the first round. My shoulders were burning and I found it difficult keeping my arms up. But I reminded myself that there’s no shame in struggling, being out of breath, panting or fatiguing. This was a new exercise for me so I should be proud regardless.

DEVELOPMENT...Back to the bench press again, this time doing 5 rounds of 5 reps. Today I was focusing more on correcting my technique rather than how heavy the weight was. This was definitely a source of frustration for me as it’s a lot of things to remember and it takes me a while to get it. Making sure that the bar path was in a straight line. Keeping my elbows in close to the body. Rotating the forearms inwards. And tensing up the back muscles. All while lifting the bar up and down.

Eventually I got there though and made some significant improvement. Seeing Luke’s face upside down actually made me laugh. It’s like those funny faces in the World’s Greatest Shave ads. And it’s exactly what I needed today to keep my mind focused on the workout.

“All your life, scramble and scurry. Take your time, rather than hurry. Never too late to write the best of your story. Remember to breathe or else you're gonna be sorry. Life's no race, it's a companion. Always face with reckless abandon. The ticket to life as my mother once told me. Stick with your pride and you're gonna be lonely (gonna be lonely)”  Nickelback - After The Rain (2017)

“So here I am. I’m back at it again. So much time I’ve wasted. Sitting on my own hands. Nothings gonna stop me. From doing what I love. With determination. Running through my veins. Running through my veins. It’s now or never. This is my second chance. I’m not ready to give up. It’s not my time. There’s no more excuses. That will change my mind. Don’t look back”  Driven to the Verge - Persistence (2017)