#also this year i am forcing myself to post these messy sketches

[rotteneyed]

happy new year everyone, i reached a new level of brainrot where i started doing shit like so it's either going to be the year where i finally lose it or maybe.... a good year? nah

[meruz]

once again i am answering asks in a big compilation post. included is... gotham, patrick stump, tips about drawing backgrounds, tips about drawing in general, links to my faq, and infinity train

like.... the tv series? No... I’ve drawn dc comics fanart before, though. But it’s been years since I’ve been really into it. I like jumped ship like 10 years ago when the New 52 happened LOL.

AFJHDSLKGH I’m sorry I (probably) won’t do it again??

Actually full disclosure I have a truly cringe amount of p stump drawings/photo studies in my sketchbook right now LOL. He’s just fun to draw... hats, glasses, guitar, a good shape... but I don’t think I’ll rly post those until I can hide them in another big sketchbook pdf.. probably Jan 2022. Stay tuned........ (ominous) 

(ominous preview)

These are all sort of related to backgrounds/painting so I grouped them together even though they’re pretty much entirely separate questions.... ANYWAYS

a) How is it working as a BG artist? Is it hard? What show are you drawing for?

I think you’re the first person to ever ask me about my job! Being a background artist is great. It’s definitely labor intensive but I think that could describe pretty much any art job (If something were rote or easy to automate, you wouldn’t hire an artist to do it) and I hesitate to say whether its harder or easier than any other role in the animation pipeline. Plus, so much of what truly makes a job difficult varies from one production to the next, schedule, working environment, co-workers etc. But I will say that I think while BGs are generally a lot of work on the upfront, I think they’re subject to less scrutiny/revisions than something like character/props/effects design and you don’t have to pitch them to a room like boards. So I guess it’s good if you don’t like to talk to people? LOL

A lot of my previous projects + the show I’ve worked on the longest aren’t public yet so I can’t talk about em (but I assure you if/when the news does break I won’t shut up about it). But I’m currently working on Archer Season 12 LOL. I’m like 90% sure I’m allowed to say that.

b) ~~~THANK YOU!! ~~~

c) What exactly do you like to draw most [in a background]?

@kaitomiury​ Lots of stuff! I really like to draw clutter! Because it’s a great opportunity for environmental storytelling and also you can be kind of messy with it because the sheer mass will supersede any details LOL. 

I like to draw clouds... I like to draw grass but not trees lol,,, I like to draw anything that sells perspective really easily like tiled floors and ceilings, shelves, lamp posts on a street etc.

d) Do you have any tips on how to paint (observational)?

god there’s so much to say. painting is really a whole ass discipline like someone can paint their whole life and still discover new things about it. I guess if you’re really just starting out my best advice is that habit is more important than product. especially with traditional plein air painting, I find that the procedure of going outside and setting up your paints is almost harder than the actual painting. There’s a lot of artists who say “I want to do plein air sometime!!” and then never actually get around to doing it. A lot of people just end up working from google streetview or photos on their computer.

But going outside to paint is a really good challenge because it forces you to make and commit to lighting and composition decisions really quickly. And to work through your mistakes instead of against them via undo button.

My last tip is to check out James Gurney’s youtube channel because hes probably the best and most consistent resource on observational painting out there rn. There’s lots other artists doing the same thing (off the top of my head I know a lot of the Warrior Painters group has people regularly posting plein air stuff and lightbox expo had a Jesse Schmidt lecture abt it last year) but Gurney’s probably the most prolific poster and one of the best at explaining the more technical stuff - his books are great too.

e) Do you have tips for drawing cleanly on heavypaint?

@marigoldfool​ UMM LOL I LIKE ONLY USE THE FILL TOOL so maybe use the fill tool? Fill and rectangle are good for edge control as opposed to the rest of the heavy paint tools which can get sort of muddles. And also I use a stylus so maybe if you’re using your finger, find a stylus that works with your device instead. That’s all I’ve got, frankly I don’t think my drawings are particularly clean lol.

f) Tips on improving backgrounds/scenes making them more dynamic practicing etc?

Ive given some tips about backgrounds/scenes before so I’m not gonna re-tread those but here’s another thing that might be helpful...

I think a good way to approach backgrounds is to think of the specific story or even mood you want to convey with the background first. Thinking “I just need to put something behind this character” is going to lead you to drawing like... a green screen tourist photo backdrop. But if you think “I need this bg to make the characters feel small” or “I need this bg to make the world feel colorful” then it gives you requirements and cues to work off of.

If I know a character needs to feel overwhelmed and small, then I know I need to create environment elements that will cage them in and corner them. If a character needs to feel triumphant/on top of the world then I know I need to let the environment open up around them. etc. If I know my focal point/ where I want to draw attention, I can build the background around that.

Also, backgrounds like figure compositions will have focal points of their own and you can draw attention to it/ the relationship the characters have with the bg element via scale or directionality or color, any number of cues. I think of it almost as a second/third character in a scene.

Not every composition is gonna have something so obvious like this but it helps me to think about these because then the characters feel connected and integrated with the environment.

Some more general art questions

a) Do you have any process/tips to start drawing character/bodies/heads?

I tried to kind of draw something to answer this but honestly this is difficult for me to answer because I don’t think I’m that great at drawing characters LOL. Ok, I think I have two tips.

1) flip your canvas often. A lot about what makes human bodies look correct and believable is symmetry and balance. Even if someone has asymmetrical features, the body will often pull and push in a way to counterbalance it. we often have inherent biases to one side or another like dominant hands dominant eyes etc. you know how right-handed artists will often favor drawing characters facing 45 degrees facing (the artist’s) left? that’s part of it. so viewing your drawing flipped even just to evaluate it helps compensate for that bias and makes you more aware of balance.

2) draw the whole figure often. I feel like a lot of beginner artists (myself included for a long time) defer to just drawing headshots or busts because it’s easier, you dont have to think about posing limbs etc. But drawing a full body allows you to better gauge proportion, perspective, body language, everything that makes a character look believable and grounded.

Like if you (me) have that issue where you draw the head too big and then have to resize it to fit the proportions of the rest of the body, it’s probably because you (I) drew the head first and are treating the body as an afterthought/attachment. Sketching out the whole figure first or even just quick drawing guides for it will help you think of it more holistically. I learned this figure drawing in charcoal at art school LOL.

oh. third mini tip - try to draw people from life often! its the best study. if you can get into a figure drawing/nude drawing class EVEN BETTER and if you have a local college/art space/museum that hosts those for free TREASURE IT AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT, that’s a huge boon that a lot of artists (me again) wish they had. though if youre not so lucky and youre sitting in a park trying to creeper draw people and they keep moving.. don’t let that stop you! that’s good practice because it’s forcing you to work fast to get the important stuff down LOL. its a challenge!

b) I’ve been pretty out of energy and have had no inspiration to draw but I have the desire to. Any advice?

Dude, take a walk or something.... Or a nap? Low energy is going to effect everything else so you gotta hit that problem at its source.

If you’re looking for inspiration though, I’d recommend stuff like watching a movie, reading a book, playing video games etc. Fill up your idea bank with content and then give yourself time/space to gestate it into new concepts. Sometimes looking at other art works but sometimes it can work against you because it’s too close. 

Also something that helps me is remembering that art doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking... like it’s okay to make something shitty and stupid that you don’t post online and only show to your friend. That’s all part of the process imo. If you want to hit a home run you gotta warm up first, right? Sports.

I should probably compile everytime i give tips on stuff like this but that’s getting dangerously close to being a social media artist who makes stupid boiled down art tutorials for clout which is the last thing i want to be... the thing I want to stress is that art is a whole visual language and there are widely agreed upon rules and customs but they exist in large part to be broken. Like there's an infinite number of ways to reach an infinite number of solutions and that’s actually what makes it really cool and personal for both the artist and the viewer. So when you make work you like or you find someone else’s work you like, take a step back and ask yourself what about it speaks for you, what about it works for you, what makes it effective, how to recreate that effect and how to break that effect completely, etc. And have a good time with it or else what’s the point.

for the first 2, I direct you to my FAQ

For the last one, I don’t actually believe I’ve ever addressed artwork as insp for stories/rp but I’ll say here and now yeah go ahead! As long as you’re not making profit or taking credit for my work then I’m normally ok with it. Especially anything thats private and purely recreational, that’s generally 100% green light go. I only ask that if you post it anywhere public that you please credit me.

(and I reserve the right to ask you to take it down if I see it and don’t approve of it’s use but I think that case is pretty rare.)

a) @lemuelzero101 Thank you!!! I haven’t played Life is Strange but actually  that series’ vis dev artist Edouard Caplain is one of my bigger art inspirations lately so that’s a really high compliment lol. And yeah I hope we get 5-8 too...!

b) Thank you for sticking around! I’ve been thinking about Digimon and Infinity Train in tandem lately, actually. They’re a little similar? Enter a dangerous alternate world and have wacky adventures with monsters/inanimate objects that have weird powers... there’s like weird engineers and mechanisms behind the scenes... also frontier literally starts with them getting on a train. Anyways if anyone else followed me for digimon... maybe you’d like Infinity Train? LOL

c) @king-wens-king I’M GLAD MY ART JUST HAS PINOY VIBES LOL I hope you are having a good day too :^)

a, b, c, d) yessss my Watch Infinity Train agenda is working....

e) aw thank you!! i think you should watch infinity train :)

[skookworks]

Gallery – Half Hour Sketches 31 to 60

From last year, the second set of thirty daily/half hour sketches. Do you have any favorites?

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Story Seed #45 A Bad Seed Blooms

Karren was always a difficult child. Demanding, clingy, prone to throwing tantrums when she didn’t get her way. Dealing with her on a daily basis was enough to convince her parents that they didn’t want to have another child. Yes she was often charming. Yes she was usually very entertaining and she could seem very loving but, damn, she was awfully narcissistic.

When Karren was eight, her mother became pregnant (their contraception method failed) and her parents decided that they’d keep the baby. Karren would adapt, she’d have to. Right? And for a while it seemed like Karren would. She was delighted by the idea of having a sibling. She had fun playing nursemaid and helper to her mother and she revelled in the appreciation that her parents showed her for her new attitude.

The baby came, a little sister. Karren played doting big sister, giving cuddles, helping with bottles and rocking her to sleep. But, her parents had less attention for her and got crankier form lack of sleep, the old Karren resurfaced. She was jealous of the baby, angry that it just wouldn’t behave. Her play became meaner and rougher. One morning her mother caught her holding a pillow over the baby’s face. She wasn’t trying to kill the baby, she was just trying to make it stop crying, she didn’t know what she was doing, did she?

Her parents made arrangements to send Karren to a boarding school. Until she could depart her parents never left her alone with the baby and they locked her room at night.

Two days before Karren was to depart her mother took her and the baby to run errands. Karren had been behaving. She seemed contrite. Maybe safe? As they returned to the house their car was blocked in by a pair of black SUVs and armed men pulled them from the vehicle.

Karren’s parents were comfortably upper middle class. Karren’s grandfather, her father’s father, was rich and had made a lot of enemies getting that way. The kidnappers were in the employ of a Russian gangster that Grandfather had doublecrossed.

Karren, her mother and her little sister are taken to a remote location. Karen’s mother is forced to record a ransom plea. Karren pouts, Karren yells, Karren is not a cooperative hostage. The kidnappers beat her, tie her up, cut off one of her little fingers and send it with the ransom demand.

Karren’s father is in shock and desperate. Grandfather is disappointed. His son was always a weak thing. Grandfather harrumphs and takes charge. He has his security chief put together a team to rescue the kidnapped mother and her girls. But Grandfather didn’t get rich by giving a shit about anyone but himself. The team is to rescue the family if it’s convenient but it’s more important to him that they kill as many of the Russians as they can. The “girls” are expendable.

And Karren? Karren is very, very mad. Her parents could be boring. Her parents could be strict. Her parents often spoiled her fun. But they’d never hit her. They’d never hurt her. And now these smelly men have dared to hurt HER and threaten HER mother and HER little sister?

Karren is clever. Karren will get out of her bounds. Karren will make them all very, very sorry.

Recommendation

I am behind on my newsletters. I have a virtual stack of them waiting to be read and, at the moment, I can’t remember which ones I’ve already recommended. So this week I’m recommending a youtube channel: Cartoonist Kayfabe. Jim Rugg and Ed Piskor are veteran comics creators and they regular post a lot of videos about comics. I’ll let them introduce themselves –

Local News

I don’t have heroes. When I was a kid I kept discovering that the folks my history classes promoted as role models were often pretty horrible people. Even the ones the weren’t horrible were usually … human. That is, they weren’t necessarily nice, they weren’t always faithful and they often did things that were sloppy and stupid. As a kid, I was looking for perfect heroes to model myself after and real humans just kept failing provide me with the examples I wanted.

As I grew up I came to admire the people who stood up, who took action to make the world a better place, regardless of whether they were also shitty spouses, terrible parents or lousy friend. Rather, I’ve learned to admire the noble actions they took and accept that the rest of their lives and behaviors were probably pretty messy.

I’ve been following and reading Warren Ellis‘s work since I encountered his columns at 9th Art back in the 90s. I posted some art in the Remake/Remodel challenges in the FreakAngels forums. I found a lot of interesting newsletters (and was inspired to do this one) because he recommended them.  I don’t get many regular comics these days but I did pay attention to what he had coming out next. I mostly heard about that when I read his latest newsletter. I only heard about the controversy when he posted his last one. This essay gives the pertinent details with links to more info.

Of all the bad actors who have come in to light in the last few years, Ellis is the first one whose work really matters to me. After a few days passage I’m still … I don’t know. I believe the women. You don’t get 30 or more artists to agree on something unless there is truth there. And they’ve got the emails. (And being a whistleblower is never about money unless you’re already rich and famous. Being a poor whistleblower means you, at best, become a famous and poor whistleblower. Anyone who thinks that someone calls out injustice for fame and glory and wealth is someone who doesn’t actually care about injustice.)

I admire his work. I’m sorry he’s behaved poorly and kind of relieved that he didn’t behave worse. I sympathize more with the women who had to put up with his shit than with him for what’s happening now. What struck me, in his statement, was this –

“I have never considered myself famous or powerful, to the point where I’ve made a lot of bad jokes about it for twenty-odd years.”

  It’s a reminder to me that our perceptions of ourselves are often off the mark. You might think that someone in Ellis’ position, who has had the accomplishments and influence that he’s had, would have a better perception of his place in the world. But most of us don’t. Most of us hear our internal dialogues, our fears and our doubts, much louder than the feedback we get from the outside. We rarely perceive ourselves accurately. 

It’s a reminder that I/we have much more power in the world than I/we think I/we do. It’s a reminder to be more aware, to think before speaking and acting. It’s a reminder to talk more about perceptions and expectations even when doing that seems like it’s going to kill the flow of an interaction. I may think things are hunky dory but the person I’m with might just be being polite. 

I don’t think I’m currently in a position of power. In previous jobs I have been a supervisor and an assistant manager and a manager. As I moved up in responsibility I became conscious of having a responsibility to model “professional” behavior. Getting wasted and flirting with one’s coworkers isn’t a good look for the boss. Now I’m just one mail carrier in a station of about a hundred other carriers. I go to work. I don’t really socialize. I just want to put the hours in so I can get paid and go home and draw. Do I have power? Of course I do. I’m an older white guy who, to the new hires at least, probably seems like I’ve been around forever. Postal carriers have a union. Carriers advance by seniority. There’s a culture of not ratting on your fellow carrier when they misbehave. So I maybe could fuck with the new hires and get away with it. I’m pretty sure that veteran carriers already do that.

I have gotten tired. I have withdrawn. But I’m not dead. It’s time to pay a little more attention at work and in the world. I am not a hero. But I do have power and I can take a few noble actions now and then.

Tuesday Night Party Club #25 Gallery - Half Hour Sketches 31 to 60 From last year, the second set of thirty daily/half hour sketches.

[mcalhenwrites]

I really wanted to be over the anxiety I had regarding posting my writing and tagging fics so they could actually be seen in the tags. By the end of 2019, I was going to be over it. That was my goal. I wanted to work toward it. It’s the last month of the year, and I’m worse. I did manage to tag a couple of fics in smaller fandoms (I assumed no one would be paying much attention to nearly-dead fandom tags tbh - I was pretty wrong about that regarding ToX it turns out haha), but other than that, I’m not making progress with my anxiety whatsoever. 

This marks the first year where my anxiety was so bad that I was in bed for a couple of weeks straight, not eating, sleeping fitfully, staring in the dark for hours in constant panic. One of the few things I could manage to do to keep my mind off that anxiety was to sketch for a short time, and only towards the tail end of that.

That was back in August, and I’ve had a few days since then that got that bad, but they were here and there. And most of the time, I’ve managed to force myself out, but... I am usually not anxious enough that I shut down like that. I usually just avoid crowds and prefer doing my errands as soon as the sun comes up or late at night when things are calm.  Right now, I really want to be able to accomplish this writing thing, but I don’t know what I’m doing. I can’t seem to absorb any tips about the industry. I feel VERY alone in that I don’t have any guides through it. I have a few people who can help me moderately, but I am one of those people whose anxiety leads to fuck ups, and I have even more fuck ups when I have no idea what I’m doing. I basically need hand-holding, and that’s embarrassing to admit. At least until I get the gist of what I’m supposed to do, which...could take a few turns. (This is why I’ve never been good with a new job - I’m great once I pick up, but expecting me to know everything with a quick 1-2 day training course is...well, insane. Give me a few weeks.) Not to mention my, well...do I call them insecurities? I’m not sure I can say that, when they’re things I’m pretty sure I’m doing incorrectly.  One being that multiple people have said - both in person and online - that they understand how I speak. ‘Cos sometimes I’m not good at articulating myself. Which means...how am I supposed to write a grammatically correct book, if I’m known for vomiting gibberish that my friends eventually learn to translate? HOW CAN ANYONE READ BOOKS WRITTEN BY A PERSON WHO IS LIKE THAT My writing style isn’t pretty, it doesn’t flow. It’s jilting and messy and simple. Maybe that works for some folks, and that’s fine - that’s a matter of personal tastes! And my tastes expect higher quality from me. Or at least they want higher quality from me. I want to write as well as some of my favorite authors, and I’m nowhere close. They’re architects and I’m a pile of dirty, chipped bricks. Lately, I’ve also become hyperaware again of how much personal stuff I’ve put into my writing. This was something I’d overcome a bit until more recently, and I’m going to admit that this whole ‘if you write it, you love it’ attitude that’s been prevalent in recent years is one of the reasons I’m starting to spiral into self-hate again. Especially ‘cos I write about shit similar to what I’ve been through, in a way that can reach out to others like me so they don’t feel alone. I’m working through a lot of personal trauma. Writing is a way I reach out to others. Only...that’s an issue. I’m not even reaching out anymore. And if I do, what if someone bites my head off? What if no one likes any of it? What if everyone twists what my writing is about so they can demonize me for funsies? What if my family finds out the person writing this stuff is ME, and they figure out a lot of things about me because of what I write? Which doesn’t bother me except that I’m not somewhere far away enough to feel safe from them right now.  I don’t need more trauma on top of the trauma they already inflicted upon me. I wish I had someone I could properly talk to about a lot of this, ‘cos it would be nice to have proper therapy and medication and consultation on how to navigate these thoughts better.  It would be nice to share my writing and not be unhappy no matter where it goes - whether it’s liked or not liked, either way, because there’s so much anxiety in any direction that it really stopped mattering anyway. The only way there’s no anxiety is if I don’t post at all, and then I’m just unhappy because the stories I want to share are being locked up. And why bother writing if I’m not going to share? Except that I do love writing as a process! But...I also finish less when i share less.  And I’m sitting on endless amounts of fic and original that just...weren’t posted or updated. There are chapters of long fics that are sitting around in my files, and I am letting them go to waste.  Of course, there is a voice in my head that says, “Even if you post it, no one is interested in it!” And that’s only partially true. Most people aren’t, but a few people are. I don’t know. I want to say, “I really want to talk to a friend right now” but again, I feel like I can’t? That therapy is the best, and friends are not therapists, and this is just me screaming into an abyss again ‘cos I can be muted and have tags blocked and whatnot, and I just. Need to scream for help sometimes? ngl I am screaming for help, in different ways.  I keep telling myself other people have worse lives, but...I don’t think I can like this one very much that I’m living right now, just ‘cos of that. I don’t think it’s right that other people are miserable, and I don’t think it’s right that people who have more than I do should be dismissed when they’re going through shit, just ‘cos they have more. That’s not the way of it. Everyone has shit to face, and it’s okay to ask for help sometimes, it’s okay to ask for comfort, it’s okay to want things to be better for everyone. No matter of anyone’s standing. And it’s also okay to recognize that sometimes stuff is shitty, but there are ways in which you’re more privileged than others. Still doesn’t mean you can’t complain and being a change. I think the writing thing is deeper than writing, too, but...it’s such a huge part of me and always has been, and right now... I don’t know what to do anymore. Sharing has never been easy for me, but it’s now at a point where I’m not sure there’s a point to sharing, and I’m also...not sure there’s a point to me writing. Like...I’m not smart enough to manage it, I know that. Shouldn’t I just stop? It’s like I’m trying to become a surgeon when I can’t stand the sight of blood. Or if I tried to become a professional singer when I can’t sing and am tone deaf? (Fun fact, I’m both bad with the sight of blood as well as a terrible singer! xD) Maybe...maybe this just wasn’t the right path for me.  I’m not sure what the right path for me is, because every path I’ve ever tried to take always lands me back in the same spot. Alone with my failures.  Maybe I’m just one of those people who lacks any intelligence. I know I’ve been called stupid and ugly most of my life (by those who claim to love me as well as those who don’t even know me), and I may not be as bad as they say, but if all these people are saying it, and only me and my closest friends are contesting it...maybe the majority is right. I don’t want to be ignorant to that. I don’t want to be like, “the rest of the world says this, but they’re WRONG!!! I’m clearly right!!!” ‘cos I’ve seen what that type of ignorance can do from others, and I’d like to be self-aware. I mean, I can’t do anything about the ugly part, but... I am a little lost on how to fix stupid when I do all this self-educating on my end to combat that. Only...I stagnate. I’m always stagnating. In life and in writing.  Honestly, I’m really sorry I’m so confused. I’m sorry I even exist, because maybe if I hadn’t existed, that’s one less strain on resources, and no one could mourn a person if they never came into being. But here I am, and I’m a mess, and the only things I know how to do are mediocre gardening, mediocre writing, scribble badly, mediocre food, a bit of cleaning, and okay-ish crocheting that I can’t even physically manage anymore.

[sadrien]

prince of cats

chapter five: to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss

on ao3 || on ffnet 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 

hey everyone, how was your week!

posting wise, we've passed the halfway point of what i currently have written (i have through ch9 written at the moment). i'll hopefully write most of the rest of the fic in august, just at the moment my productivity writing wise is down because i've been drawing a lot and listening to taz!

enjoy!

From: the Most Beautiful To: fashion goddess      just letting u kno that i hate my boyfriend

From: fashion goddess To: the Most Beautiful      Thats a lie and you know it      Whats he making you do

From: the Most Beautiful To: fashion goddess      >:(      hes making us go out to dinner with his moms

From: fashion goddess To: the Most Beautiful      Oh THIS dinner

From: the Most Beautiful To: fashion goddess      yup

From: fashion goddess To: the Most Beautiful      First of all I talked to Nino about it last time you brought it up and its just a normal dinner      His moms just want to spend time with you two From: the Most Beautiful To: fashion goddess      ur sure From: fashion goddess To: the Most Beautiful      Absolutely      Alya you love Ninos moms      Theyve basically adopted you

From: the Most Beautiful To: fashion goddess      ur right      im just tired      ninos really excited so i was worried im missing something or am gonna be surprised by something

From: fashion goddess To: the Most Beautiful      As far as I can tell its just a normal dinner      No surprises just Nino being Nino      And the answer is to take a nap when you get home from work      Did you not sleep much last night?

From: the Most Beautiful To: fashion goddess      nah i was working on a project      until like 3 cause i hate myself      nino had to drag me to bed

From: fashion goddess To: the Most Beautiful      Thank god for Nino

From: the Most Beautiful To: fashion goddess      yeah he haaated me last night      speaking of cute boys tho

From: fashion goddess To: the Most Beautiful      Alya oh my god

From: the Most Beautiful To: fashion goddess      im sorry uve been friends w adrien for how long now??      3 weeks??? more than a month?? literal years!?!!?!??!?!      u talk about him all the time when r we gonna meet him

From: fashion goddess To: the Most Beautiful      Eventually!!!!!      I promise I just dont want you scaring him away

From: the Most Beautiful To: fashion goddess      nino and i r great we dont scare ppl

From: fashion goddess To: the Most Beautiful      uh huh

From: the Most Beautiful To: fashion goddess      shut up      also get me his last name

✦ ✦ ✦

Marinette puts down her sketch book. “Let’s go to the store.”

Adrien looks up from his laptop in surprise. “What?”

She’s gotten used to weekends with Adrien. He doesn’t expect her to look nice or even all that presentable, and she doesn’t expect him to, they just sit on the couch or in the kitchen and do their own thing. Adrien usually works, because he literally never stops working, and Marinette designs. She forces him to watch her favorite shows with her, even if it means that she has to explain to him who every single character is and the entire plot. In return, he’s managed to get her to watch some of his favorite movies. He randomly shows up throughout the week if he needs something from her kitchen because he always seems to be short something. Marinette is genuinely considering giving him a key to her apartment. Even if it’s just so he can steal from her fridge and cabinets.

“The store.” She pulls her hair up into a messy bun and grabs her purse off the back of her chair.

Adrien stares at her like she’s grown another head.

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want, but if you need anything, you should.” She gestures toward the door.

“What do you need?” he asks, apparently having found his voice.

“Fabric,” she says, ticking things off on her fingers, “some thread, ribbon, watercolor paper, brush markers if they have any, and pizza.”

He laughs and runs his hands through his hair. “I do like pizza.”

Marinette picks up her keys. “So are you coming? Because if you aren’t I should probably kick you out.”

“What?” Adrien asks as he stands. “You don’t trust me?”

“You might steal my Jagged Stone poster,” she says with a shrug of her shoulder.

“Fair enough.” He pulls on his coat. “Show me the way.”

✦ ✦ ✦

Marinette opts to walk to most of the stores. She asks Adrien if he minds and he just shakes his head and pulls his phone out of his pocket, sending a few quick texts as they make their way down the stairs and out of the apartment building.

“Where are we going exactly?” Adrien asks, pulling the door open.

“Fabric store first,” Marinette says, stuffing her phone into her purse.

He raises an eyebrow. “Don’t you have fabric at work?”

“Yes, but you’re missing the point— turn here. I don’t have fabric at home. At work, I do stuff for the head designer and my boss. I have much more creative freedom when I’m at home.”

“Huh.” Adrien flips his phone over in his hand. “Interesting. I know nothing about fashion so…”

Marinette smiles. “I sort of figured.”

He shrugs. “I don’t know much about how any sort of normal jobs work. I’ve got it relatively easy.”

“Working from your apartment and living off of take out?” she asks innocently.

Adrien rolls his eyes. “Yes exactly.”

Marinette elbows him lightly. “You’re very lucky you have me to teach you how to bake.”

It’s a nice day, not too hot and not too cold, without too many people walking around the streets. She finds herself wishing that she had more free time to spend outside, that she still had a balcony like she did when she was growing up. She misses having time to herself, where she could garden and sit outside and sew. It’s too nice to be stuck inside all the time.

Adrien accuses her of taking the long way and she doesn’t defend herself.

She holds the door open for Adrien when they get to the store, letting the far too cold airconditioning billow out onto the sidewalk.

Adrien wanders around in a sort of daze as Marinette pulls out her sketchbook and meticulously looks for the exact shade of blue that she needs.

“You needed ribbon?” Adrien asks, suddenly popping out of nowhere.

Marinette squeaks and jumps back with a start, dropping her sketchbook in surprise.

“Sorry about that,” he says sheepishly before bending over to pick up her sketchbook. He hands it back to her, rubbing the back of his neck. “Didn’t mean to frighten you.”

She takes a few deep breaths before taking the sketchbook from him. “It’s fine, you just surprised me. Easy to do when I’m concentrating.”

“What are you looking for?” Adrien asks, leaning closer, tilting his head to look at the page she has her sketchbook flipped open to.

“A blue,” Marinette murmurs, pointing to a swatch of fabric she stole from work and taped onto the page. “I mean obviously I have a type of fabric in my mind, I’m just really desperate for this shade of blue because—” Well…she doesn’t actually have a reason. She’s just attached. And that’s silly.

Adrien hums to himself. “Okay,” he says after a moment. And then he vanishes into another aisle.  

Marinette stares at the space he was occupying for a long moment before shrugging and moving on. She decides she’ll find the blue later and starts looking for white lining. She pulls a bolt from the shelf, feeling the fabric between her fingers. It’s a little heavier than she would like, but if she can’t find anything else, she can make it work.

Adrien steps out from around the corner. “Would this work?” he asks, holding out a bolt of blue fabric.

Marinette blinks and takes it from him, running her fingers over the satin-like fabric. “This is…this is perfect, actually.”

He shrugs and puts his hands in his pockets. “I have a lot of experience with lots of types of fabrics.” He ignores the confused look Marinette gives him. She has questions, but mostly she’s just glad she doesn’t have to rethink the entire color scheme of this outfit.

Adrien watches over her shoulder as she chooses ribbon and nods as she rambles on about what she’s making. He doesn’t look like he understands what she’s saying to him, but he’s listening and that’s enough.

Marinette estimates how much fabric she needs and Adrien hums to himself as they get the fabric cut and check out.

“What did you think?” Marinette asks as he pushes the door open for her.

Adrien blinks in the bright sunlight and glances down the street before looking back to Marinette. “It was nice,” he says. “Overwhelming, but strangely calming.”

Marinette laughs. “That sounds about right.”

“Where to next?” Adrien asks with a tilt of his head.

✦ ✦ ✦

“Know anything about art?” Marinette asks as she pulls open the door to the art store.

“Hardly,” Adrien says with a crooked smile. “I don’t know anything about most creative things. I know music and that’s kind of where my creative talents end.”

“Music?” Marinette asks. He’s never mentioned anything about music before, though he hasn’t mentioned many hobbies or talents in general.

“Piano,” he specifies. “Took lessons for years, my parents insisted.”

Marinette leads him toward the markers and paints. “So you must be pretty good, huh?”

“Eh.” He shrugs. “Nowhere as good as my father would like me to be, but I’m passable.”

She rolls her eyes. “So that means you’re fantastic.”

“It really doesn’t,” Adrien says with a laugh. “But thanks for your faith in me.”

Marinette studies the brush markers, trying to decide what brand to get and how much money she’s willing to shell out today. Adrien amuses himself by uncapping some of the markers and trying out the testing markers while she Googles reviews on the internet. He’s flipping through an anatomy book when she decides on a set of markers and moves on to paper. She’s running low.

Marinette wanders further down the aisle where the sketchbooks and papers are. She feels someone’s eyes on her, but when she looks up, she sees a worker at the entrance. Marinette picks up a pack of watercolor paper and hums to herself. She still isn’t sure if she likes this paper, but she has very few options she can afford.

Adrien holds up a copic marker. “Why is this seven euros?”

She blinks at him. “Because it is?”

He squints at it. “It’s just a marker?”

“It’s a copic marker,” she says, like that will explain everything. Judging by the expression on his face, it doesn’t help at all. Marinette takes the marker from him and puts it back with the others. “It’s alcohol based and fancy, that’s why it’s expensive.”

Adrien looks at the case of copics in wonder. “Why would you spend so much on a marker?”

“I don’t know,” Marinette says. Adrien raises his eyebrows and she just shrugs. “I don’t usually use them. I don’t need nice markers and I don’t exactly have a lot of money to be spending on things I don’t need.”

“Fair enough,” he murmurs. He narrows his eyes at the copic. “That better be one magical marker if I’m paying seven euros for it.”

Marinette snorts. “Lucky for you, you’re not.”

Adrien gives her a lopsided smile. “Yeah, that’s true. I’m no Picasso. I think the best I can do is a stick figure.”

She elbows him lightly. “I’m sure you draw beautiful stick figures.”

Adrien laughs and for that moment, Marinette’s world gets a little brighter and her heart starts to sing.

✦ ✦ ✦

“Have you ever had pizza here?” Marinette asks as her and Adrien wait in line to order.

“Mostly I just get whatever will deliver,” he admits.

“You don’t leave the apartment much, do you?” she teases.

Adrien rubs the back of his neck. “I don’t usually need to.”

“Do you know what you want or do you just want the same as me?”

“Let’s go with the latter.”

Marinette orders her usual and pays before Adrien can offer, rejecting it when it does come. “My treat,” she says with a smile.

They sit in a booth by the window with their pizza and bags.

“Careful, it’s hot—” Marinette warns, just as Adrien burns his tongue.

“Ahhhh—” He sticks his tongue out and makes a pained expression.

She hides her smile behind her slice, but Adrien catches it and glares at her. She just shrugs. “I tried to warn you.” As she picks up her slice, someone catches her eye.

They’re watching her and Adrien out of the corner of their eye. They make eye contact with her and quickly go back to whatever they were doing on their phone. Adrien hisses in pain, bringing Marinette’s attention back to their table. “That was a mistake.”

Marinette opens her mouth to reply. The strange feeling of someone’s eyes on her passes through her and makes her freeze up and she looks back to the person who was watching them. They’re packing up their things and heading out the door.

“What is it?” Adrien asks.

Marinette shakes her head. “Sorry, I thought I saw someone I knew. I was wrong.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Been there, done that. I’ve walked up to people thinking I knew them before. I did not.” She winces. “It was incredibly embarrassing.”

“I can imagine,” she says, taking a careful bite of her pizza.

Adrien eyes her. “Am I going to burn my face off this time?”

Marinette snorts and lowers her slice. “I think you’re okay now.”

“If I die, my blood is on your hands,” he says seriously.

She rolls her eyes. “Pizza isn’t going to kill you, I promise.”  

✦ ✦ ✦

Adrien trails behind Marinette on the stairs, writing a quick email and carrying one of her bags.

“Come in for a minute?” Marinette asks as she pulls out her keys.

“Hm?” Adrien asks. He glances up from his phone. “Oh! Oh yeah, sure. I left my laptop on your table, anyway.”

She shakes her head as she unlocks her apartment. “You have to have more of your stuff at my apartment than your own.”

“It’s called minimalism,” Adrien says seriously.

Marinette frowns as the door swings open. She glances over her shoulder to Adrien. “I didn’t leave the TV on, did I?”

Adrien shakes his head. “We didn’t have it—”

“Hey!” Alya shouts from the couch.

“—on…” He trails off and hangs back by the door.

Marinette rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry, it’s one of my friends. Trust me, I regret letting her have a key to this place,” she stage whispers. She shuts the door once Adrien has stepped inside after a bit of hesitation. She leaves her bags on the table before joining Alya, and apparently Nino, in front of the TV.

Nino pauses whatever show they’re watching and returns to the Netflix home screen.

Marinette crosses her arms and leans over the back of the couch. “Why are you in my house?”

“Apartment,” Nino corrects lightly.

Adrien snorts from where he’s standing awkwardly in the kitchen. He puts Marinette’s bags down on the counter and closes his laptop before holding it to his chest.

“I’ve got a present,” Alya sings, holding up a box.

Marinette rolls her eyes. “Is this payment for breaking and entering?”

“It’s not breaking if you have the key,” Nino points out. He continues to flip through Netflix. “Can’t argue the entering though.”

Alya smiles brightly at Adrien, but Marinette doesn’t miss the way Alya’s eyes sweep over him, taking in as many details as she can. “Hey, stranger!”

Adrien lifts a hand awkwardly, still hanging back by the door.

Nino leans back and nods at Adrien. “Yo, join the party.”

“I should—” Adrien gestures to the door.

Alya jumps up from the couch and hops of the back. She grabs Marinette’s arm as she breezes by, dragging her over to Adrien.

“Alya,” Marinette hisses, attempting to dig her heels into the ground as Alya pulls her along.

“I’m Alya!” she announces, holding out her hand to Adrien. “Marinette’s best friend.”

Adrien hesitates for a long moment before he shakes Alya’s hand. “Adrien. Marinette’s…” his gaze slides to Marinette before snapping back to Alya. “Her neighbor.”

Marinette tries to keep her blush from burning too brightly.

Alya shakes his hand eagerly. “Great to meet you!”

“Nino!” he shouts from the couch. “But I was working all day and I’m tired so sorry, dude, I’m staying put.”  

“It’s fine,” Adrien promises. “I really should be getting back. Plagg needs to be fed.”

Marinette nods and pulls away from Alya. “Yeah, of course! Let me just— I’ll show you out.” Alya puts the box into Marinette’s hands winks. Marinette gives her a little shove toward the couch as Adrien pulls open the door.

“You didn’t have to show me out,” Adrien insists as Marinette quickly closes the door once they’re in the hallway. She leans against it so Alya can’t look out the peephole. “I’m sure I won’t get lost on the way home.” He gives her a small smile.

“I wanted the chance to apologize for…them.” Marinette waves at the door behind her. “Mostly Alya, but both of them. They can be a lot.”

“They seem nice,” Adrien says, and Marinette still can’t read him well enough to know if he’s being sincere or not. “What did they get you?” He gestures to the box Marinette is awkwardly holding.

“Pastries. They’re from my parents’ bakery,” Marinette says quickly. “Tom and Sabine’s— they’re my parents. That’s me, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, daughter of Tom and Sabine.” She swallows and glances down at her feet. That was a little too much rambling.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” Adrien repeats softly. “You have a beautiful name.” He’s smiling when Marinette looks up at him.

She bites her lip. “Th-thank you. What about you, what’s your last name?”

“Kersey,” Adrien says, the corner of his mouth lifting in a small smirk. “Adrien Kersey.”

“A nice name,” Marinette says, running it over in her mind. Alya will kill her if she forgets it, but Marinette is fairly certain it’s burned into her brain forever.

“Thanks, my parents chose it,” Adrien jokes. “I’m just stuck with it.” He pushes open his door. “You’ll have to take me to your parents’ bakery sometime. I bet it’s great.”

“Sounds good,” Marinette murmurs as Adrien lifts a hand and disappears into his apartment. When the door clicks shut behind him, she sags against her own door and lets out a sigh.

She really doesn’t know how to handle this boy.

Alya and Nino are staring at her when she reenters the apartment. Marinette feels her face burn as she closes and locks the door.

“Not a word,” she says, putting the box from the bakery down on the kitchen counter.

Nino mimes zipping his lips shut.

“No words?” Alya asks. “Are you sure? Because I have so many words.”

“Yeah, he’s hot,” Nino says.

Marinette glares at him. “Thanks for not saying anything.”

“Alright, now that we are saying things,” Alya says, twisting around on the couch, “where were you? You don’t leave the house without us.”

“I leave the house!” Marinette protests.

Nino raises his eyebrows. “To have fun?”

Marinette turns away to put her keys back.

“Oooo,” Alya drawls. “Silent treatment.”

“It wasn’t fun, anyway,” Marinette says. “I had errands to run.”

“That you decided to run with a cute boy,” Alya points out.

“That sounds like fun to me,” Nino muses.

Marinette glances over her shoulder at him. “Aren’t you supposed to be on my side here?”

Alya gives her an offended look. “I’m his girlfriend.”

“I’ve known him longer.”

“Touché, Dupain-Cheng,” she says, narrowing her eyes.

Marinette sighs. “Speaking of last names…”

“You got it!” Alya shouts, jumping up from the couch. Nino tries to shush her, and she grabs a pillow and covers his face with it. “Tell me tell me tell me— I want to Facebook stalk him.”

Nino pulls the pillow away. “Who uses Facebook anymore?”

Alya turns to Marinette with wide eyes. “Is he secretly a wine mom?”

Marinette stares at her for a long moment. “Why are we friends.”

Alya throws the pillow across the room.

Marinette bats it away and says, “If you want Adrien’s last name, maybe you shouldn’t be throwing things at me.”

“She has a point, babe,” Nino agrees.

Alya sticks her tongue out at him before patting the cushion next to her eagerly. “Come on, Mar! I’ve waited a literal month for this.”

“Hm…” Marinette taps a finger against her lips. “Maybe I should keep you waiting.”

“Marinette!”

“Fine!” She drops down between Alya and the arm of the couch. “His last name is Kersey.”

Alya yanks her phone out of her pocket and starts typing rapidly.

Nino leans forward to look Marinette in the eye. “How long do you think she’s going to be at this?”

“A long time,” Marinette admits.

“Wanna see what Disney movies are on Netflix?” he asks, picking the remote back up. “We put some takeout in your fridge for later tonight.”

“Sounds good to me,” Marinette says. “I need to do a lot of nothing before work tomorrow.”

Nino types in Disney and starts scrolling through the results. “Are Zoé and Dorian still arguing about that thing?”

“If you’re talking about that jacket thing from a few weeks ago, they’re over that. If you’re talking about fake leather, they spent like an hour ‘debating’ that on Friday.”

“Fake leather,” Nino says in wonder. “Why were they debating that? I thought this collection was all like…dresses and stuff. Flowy soft things. What does fake leather have to do with that?”

“Nothing.”

Nino stops clicking through movies for a second. “I don’t understand you people.”

Marinette sighs and sinks against the back of the couch, pulling a pillow to her chest. “Neither do I,” she murmurs.

[liliannorman]

Curiosity drives this neuroscientist and artist

When she was young, Christine Liu didn’t plan to become a scientist. But chasing her curiosity led her to love neuroscience, the study of the brain and the nervous system. She’s now a graduate student and researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. There, she studies what nicotine, the addictive chemical in tobacco and e-cigarettes, does to the brain. 

Christine Liu sells some of her art at a zine festival.Tera Johnson

Outside the lab, Liu makes art, including some that communicates science. As half of the collective Two Photon Art, with environmental scientist Tera Johnson, Liu makes self-published magazines that illustrate science concepts. And the pair designs and sells science-themed items such as jewelry and clothes. Liu also shares her work on Instagram (such as the posts embedded in this story). 

Liu isn’t yet sure if her future is in the lab or making art, but she knows that neuroscience will be a big part of her career. In this interview, Liu shares her experiences and advice with Science News for Students. (This interview has been edited for content and readability.)

What inspired you to pursue your career?

I pursued neuroscience because of a curiosity about how the world works. Even as a little kid, I was interested in how people experience things differently. So I would ask questions like, “Is the red that I see the same as the red that everyone else sees?” When I started learning about psychology and biology and answers to these questions that researchers proposed, I got more interested. In college, I jumped at the opportunity to get in the lab as soon as I could. And I quite like doing lab work. But I’ve been doing research for almost 10 years. So I might take the opportunity when I graduate to do art more seriously.

How did you get where you are today?

I grew up not really being that great at anything. It wasn’t like I knew I had a special talent in science and that I was going to become a scientist. I also grew up low-income. My family didn’t have a lot of money. As a kid, I spent a lot of time helping out around the house. I translated documents for my family and made sure that the rice was cooked before my parents got home. And I started working part-time jobs really early. In high school, I worked at a Jamba Juice and at a science museum. I did a bunch of jobs in college, too. 

My college applications weren’t very strong. So I didn’t get into the colleges in California I actually wanted to go to. Instead, I needed to apply last minute to the local state school. I went to University of Oregon in Eugene. It wasn’t on the top of my list, but there were a lot of opportunities in neuroscience there. I was really able to take advantage of them. I overcame a lot of what I thought were shortcomings in my ability and competitiveness to do science. 

When I started doing research, I was lucky to be in a lab with other female students. And I had done summer research programs with a diverse community of students and researchers. But when I started grad school, I was a little surprised at how few women and people of color I saw.

View this post on Instagram

.

everything matters

. Or is it that every thing is matter? Here are some molecule constellations! Molecules and constellations are very different in size but they have a lot in common too! The lines dont depict anything with mass, but rather a connection between two points. In the case of a molecule, it is a bond caused by very strong, but tiny forces. In constellations, the lines mean little more than a game of "connect the dots" with what we can see with our eyes from earth. Another thing that they have in common is that they are both quite pretty and fun to draw

A post shared by christine ramen liu (@christineliuart) on Jan 29, 2020 at 10:01am PST

I also wasn’t sure how to express myself — if I needed to conform more or if I could really be myself. But then on Instagram, I found all these women who were not compromising how they express themselves. They were doing incredible science. And they were wearing lipstick and doing their hair and being feminine. This was something that I hadn’t realized was missing in my life. I immediately tried to connect all of us on Instagram, and I created a group called The STEM Squad. (STEM is short for science, technology, engineering and math.) We now have over 1,000 people who identify with the gender that’s been underrepresented in science. We each share our experiences and support each other. 

How do you get your best ideas?

I get my best ideas when I’m taking a break. This happens for a lot of people. It’s like getting your best ideas in the shower or on a walk or right before you fall asleep. I find that when I’m taking care of myself and getting enough rest and social time, I come up with ideas I’m really excited about. Oftentimes, I’ll have a breakthrough in planning experiments when I’m not thinking about them. It’s the same for artistic ideas of what to draw or make. I think when I let my brain rest, it does its own thing in the background and ideas just spark. 

What’s one of your biggest successes?

What I’ve been able to do with my art in grad school has been one of my biggest successes. It’s brought me a lot of joy and connected me with people. It’s also given me an idea of how I might actually be able to continue doing art after I finish grad school. 

Labs in my research area can be competitive. Oftentimes, we don’t want to share our experimental results until we’re ready. So it wasn’t until this past year, my sixth year of grad school, that I presented my research at the biggest neuroscience conference. I presented it with a poster. But I’ve been going to this conference for the past four years because they have a section for neuroscience art. Presenting my art there was a big success. 

What’s one of your biggest failures, and how did you get past that? 

What I perceived to be a failure was when I worked hard in high school to try to be competitive for college. And I didn’t get into a school that seemed like a good choice for me. I was really sad. I thought I was a complete failure. A lot of my peers had gotten into great schools. But in the end, I realized that every failure is actually an opportunity to do better. I think if I had let myself get sucked into the narrative that I just wasn’t good enough, I never would have recovered. In the end, the University of Oregon turned out to be really great for me.

What do you do in your spare time?

I make art! Because research is really hard, there can be lots of failures. Experiments might not work. Or they might work and prove your hypothesis wrong. During a stretch of months when research feels like it isn’t working, I find it fulfilling to go home and draw, paint or share a piece of art. I really love painting. It’s one of my favorite activities. I love the colors and mixing them. And I like how it’s a little bit messy. I also do other things that keep me happy and healthy, like cooking and visiting my grandparents. 

View this post on Instagram

The sketch I made for the mural I’m working on at @missionscienceworkshop! The Mission Science Workshop is a really cool tinkering and science education space in the Mission and Excelsior neighborhoods in San Francisco. I’m excited to paint two walls adjacent walls to give some context for kids to learn about where different kinds of rocks are formed and whether fossils were found! I made this sketch in @procreate on my iPad and then mapped it onto a photo of the walls. You can check out the progress made during day 1 of painting in my story highlights!

A post shared by christine ramen liu (@christineliuart) on Nov 25, 2019 at 7:16pm PST

I also try to support other scientists who have artistic interests or artists who have scientific interests through The Stem Squad. We raise money through artists in the community who submit their art. We print it on shirts, hats or things like that and sell them. This raises money to give out awards for people who do volunteer work to improve inclusion in STEM.

What piece of advice do you wish you had been given when you were younger?

If there’s something that you really want to do, you have to take baby steps and start to do it as much as you can. If I had waited until someone invited me to join a lab, maybe I never would have started my research career. But because I was so in love with the idea of doing brain research, I emailed a bunch of professors and begged for a chance to work in the lab. Then I proved to myself that I can be a really great scientist despite my mediocre high school grades. 

Also, if I had waited until I had more time to make art or until I felt like a perfect artist before selling my art, I don’t think I would be where I am today. It took me a while to become comfortable sharing things that aren’t perfect and trying things even though I probably wasn’t the best person for the job. But taking the risk and putting myself out there and being willing to learn — I think that’s what’s gotten me the furthest.

This Q&A is part of a series exploring the many paths to a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). It has been made possible with generous support from Arconic Foundation.

Curiosity drives this neuroscientist and artist published first on https://triviaqaweb.tumblr.com/

[conanobrien1963]

It’s show time By Nicholas Kralev, The Financial Times Magazine, February 10, 2001

NEW YORK — Conan O’Brien has no regrets that the longest election in US history is over. True, Campaign 2000 and the 36 agonising days that followed were a gift from heaven for late-night TV hosts. They were courted by both Al Gore and George W. Bush, who made “nice-guy” appearances aimed at winning young voters (keener viewers of late comedy shows than the prime-time evening news). At the same time they had a ball firing jokes at the candidates.

But now, with a new president in office, “it gets even better”, says O’Brien, beaming at the thought of the mocking monologues probably being born in the writing room of his show, “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”, as we speak.

“Presidents get funnier all the time,” he says. “Nixon was a lot of fun for comedians — a good target. But Clinton may be the funniest. The bonus when you are finally president is that you don’t have to come on these dreadful shows any more.”

As “Late Night”, along with other comedy programmes — such as “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on NBC and “The Late Show with David Letterman” on CBS — makes media analysts ponder the impact they have on voters, late-night comedians feel on top of the world. Having had Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman sing Sinatra’s “My Way” on his NBC show, and made good use of all the negative points of White House contenders during the campaign, O’Brien says that his is “a good business to be in”.

The taping of “Late Night” has just ended, and we’ve swapped Studio 6A at NBC’s Rockefeller Centre headquarters in New York for O’Brien’s comfortable ninth-floor office. The 6ft 4in comedian has replaced his on-camera suit with jeans and a casual shirt, and is kicking off the post-production part of his evening with a cold beer. I notice that he’s neither as lanky as he used to be — his reported $2m salary has apparently made a difference — nor as carrot-topped as everybody describes him. “My hair is much more red on TV, from the lighting,” he agrees quickly. “It was never that red. It’s a misconception.”

Misconceptions are no novelty for O’Brien. Having watched him for an hour every night for seven years, millions of Americans have created an image of him based solely on “Late Night”. They expect him to joke and be funny all the time, and think that he’s kidding even when he’s serious. “Most people usually assume that I’m making a joke. When I try to complement someone sincerely, they think I’m being sarcastic. Sometimes I’d say, ‘You did a really nice job for me, thank you’, and they’d say, ‘Go to hell, how dare you, you are so mean’. And I’m just being nice.”

Another unpleasant consequence of having a job like his, he explains, is that, “when I walk around the street, since people see me only on the show, always smiling, they are not used to seeing me being just normal, and think that I’m depressed. I’m not — I just have this face, I’m neutral. I’m going to buy bread, or I’m walking my dog”. But he’s not, he’s quick to point out, one of those comedians who are “funny only during that hour they are on TV”, and “quiet and shy” in real life. “We always hear that Steve Martin, Woody Allen and others, who are really alive on camera, are introverted at other times. I don’t relate to that and don’t understand it. During the day, you’ll see me wandering in people’s offices, trying to make them laugh. I enjoy it.”

Most of O’Brien’s staff — about 60 people occupying the entire floor — are accustomed to his style. Some, however, never get used to the pressure of the daily deadlines and the speed, which often resembles that in a newsroom. “I have fired people who haven’t worked out,” he admits, “but not too many. I’ve had people murdered, but that’s a different story — it’s much easier.”

That, of course, is a joke. And it’s a perfect illustration of how others’ expectations of O’Brien sometimes force him to play the funny guy from the show, rather than be himself. His jokes, however, aren’t always easy to distinguish from his “serious speak”. To make it easier for me, he suggests holding up his hand when he’s serious. But things work out without hand intervention, as soon as I engage him in a meaningful, intellectual conversation.

If one keeps him serious for a while, the 37-year-old O’Brien can be thoughtful and philosophical about his job. Although now everybody takes his success — and his refreshing yet nervous boyish charm — for granted, it took nearly four years to prove himself to network executives, audiences and critics. After many 13-week contracts and reviews calling his show “lifeless and messy”, he finally signed a five-year deal in 1997. But when he started, in 1993, he was virtually unknown, and many people accused him of not having earned his big break.

“After the first tough years, I felt I’d paid for that studio,” he muses. “I bled for this show. I put my heart into it.” He says that he realised he was “in a lot of trouble” at first, but never contemplated giving up. “In such cases, you tend not to think too much — you just do. There was no time to sit around and worry. If you are trapped in a burning house, you don’t sit on the floor thinking what to do. You start running around, try to find an open window and get out. What kept me going was that I really wanted it to work. Deep inside I knew I could do this. I just needed time to develop the skills.”

Confidence was the key to his “dramatic transformation”, O’Brien says. “I used to live or die by what I said every night. If I had something funny to say, I felt like a hero. But if I didn’t get a laugh, I was visibly unhappy and upset. It took confidence to realise that not everything I say is funny. I learned to enjoy the mistakes as much as the success. Now I make fun of myself for not getting a laugh.”

Today, with the wisdom of an almost veteran, he counters the notion that the way to succeed in a job like his is to learn how to play a TV talk show host. “That’s not true. The way to succeed is to somehow figure out how to be who you always were, but in a very strange environment — in a studio, with cameras looking at you. My struggle was finding a way to take this part of me that was very natural and spontaneous, get control of it and make it look the same in this artificial surrounding.” Unlike on “Friends” and “Frasier”, where an actor plays someone else for half an hour, “on my show, it’s me for an hour every night”. So, inevitably, “people are going to see who I really am. I can’t invent a personality, but I can showcase the personality I already have”.

Although he has always liked performing, as a child O’Brien never though that it would become his profession. “I was very serious, and I didn’t know that you could do comedy for a living — it was something you did with your friends. My hometown was as far removed from Hollywood as you can imagine. I’d never met anybody in show business — or any famous person for that matter.” Born on April 18, 1963, in Brookline, Massachusetts (the Boston suburb known as John F. Kennedy’s birthplace), O’Brien was one of six children of a Catholic Irish family. His mother, Ruth, was a lawyer, and his father, Tom, a doctor, so Conan thought he’d do “something responsible”– “go to a good college, then law school, and then maybe get into politics”.

He followed his plan, but very briefly. He was a “smart student, with a good work ethic” and, after graduating from Brookline High School in 1981, he enrolled at Harvard, in neighbouring Cambridge. (“When I heard, as a boy, that there was Cambridge, England, I thought that they were copying us.”) He had written plays and sketches before, and performed them for his friends, but it wasn’t until he started working for the Harvard Lampoon, the university’s venerable comedy magazine, that he realised that “adults were taking this seriously”. He decided that if he could make $5 a day doing comedy, he’d go for it.

He eventually became the Lampoon’s editor — a position that helped him to get to know many of his fellow students. “Everybody assumes that only the smartest people in the world go to Harvard,” he says. “They don’t. It’s just a very unusual collection of people. A few years ago, when they caught the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, the news media were shocked that a Harvard graduate could be this weird, eccentric loner, who is bent on destroying society.’ I was the exact opposite: I said, ‘Of course he went to Harvard. I knew at least five future Unabombers when I was there.’”

Just before O’Brien left Harvard, the student newspaper asked him what he thought he’d be doing in 10 years. He said he’d have his own television show. He underestimated himself — eight years was all he needed.

He didn’t know exactly what he wanted to do after Harvard. He loved comedy and performing, but had no interest in acting. In 1985, he arrived in Los Angeles, where an acquaintance helped him to get a writing job on an HBO show called “Not Necessarily the News”. He also joined a local improv class — “Friends” star Lisa Kudrow was among his fellow students. Two years later, he began writing for the late-night series “The Wilton North Report”, but it had a short life, so O’Brien decided to move to New York. For three years from 1988, he worked as a writer for NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” (“SNL”). The show, featuring some of America’s top comedians, such as Phil Hartman, Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, helped him to make valuable professional connections. He appreciated the opportunity to create his own sketches, but when it came to performing he was allowed only fleeting appearances as a crowd member or security guard.

In 1992, O’Brien joined the staff of Fox’s hit animated series, “The Simpsons”, starting as a writer and producer, and moving up to supervising producer the following year. But he wasn’t happy there, either. “As great as the show was, I was speaking through all those other established characters, while at “SNL” I could create a whole new world, with no limitations. Another frustration was that “The Simpsons” had a much more controlled environment, because it’s animation. You can spend a year on an episode to get it right. I loved the show, but it wasn’t mine — there is a big difference between being the manager of a Hilton hotel in Hawaii and running your own bed and breakfast.”

His B&B chance came sooner than he expected. In 1993, late-night legend Johnny Carson retired from The Tonight Show and NBC sought a replacement. David Letterman, then hosting “Late Night”, was regarded as the heir apparent. The job, however, went to the little-known Jay Leno, and the deeply offended Letterman left the network, taking over “The Late Show” on CBS, which directly competes with Leno’s programme. The “Late Night” seat was now open, with no obvious front-runners. O’Brien begged executive producer and “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels to let him audition. He got the job immediately.

Having long been a fairly good writer but a “frustrated performer”, O’Brien had finally found the right combination. Although he would, for the most part, recite lines written by someone else, he could make a creative contribution at any time. But being in front of the camera made a world of difference. “When I wrote,” he recalls, “it was never over; I was always editing it in my head, torturing myself. Now, I can worry during rehearsals, but when the hour is over, the hour is over. It’s done, and there is another show to do tomorrow. It’s been good for me, because I needed to learn how to just let go of things — I’m obsessive and compulsive. I forget about what just happened and move to the next thing, and I do it as well as I can.”

With the initial scepticism forgotten, O’Brien’s show now attracts an estimated 2.5m viewers a night. Although “The Tonight Show” remains NBC’s premier forum for Hollywood celebrities — and, lately, for politicians — “Late Night” has had luminaries like Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone, Elton John, Sigourney Weaver and Helen Hunt. “The booking is a nightmare,” O’Brien complains. “Fortunately, we’ve been around long enough to get good guests. At the beginning, it was very tough, because we had to make it funny with unknowns. But no show can survive if it requires Tom Cruise or Madonna — those people have to be a nice, occasional surprise.”

O’Brien says that he avoids watching comedy on television: “It’s like a dentist going home and cleaning someone’s teeth for fun”. He prefers documentaries and “serious movies”. He’s cautious about trying to learn from fellow comedians, afraid that doing so would take away his “unique flavour”. Unlike broadcast journalism, for example, where “you can learn certain techniques, comedy is a very personal thing”, he says. “Once you start to alter too much who you are, to reach some professional quality, you lose what many people tune in for.”

His own celebrity is now part of the reason for “Late Night’s” popularity. He thinks that “it’s fair game for the media to ask about my personal life — I have nothing to hide — but I’m not an important historical figure, so it’s good to keep some things private”. He has been single since his last, nine-year relationship ended in 1999, though the tabloids have been speculating about new girlfriends. “I’m going out with Cher now. Please write this!”

O’Brien returned to Harvard last June, to give the traditional Class Day speech before the graduating class. “I was very much aware that someone else could have been speaking that day, and that no one might have remembered Conan O’Brien — a complete nonentity, who had graduated in 1985, with a degree in American history and literature, and had vanished. That keeps me humble. I feel really lucky — I’m the poster boy for luck. Getting this job was an extremely fortunate break.” (x)

[future-self-journey]

Mount Post-Mortem

Tools Used

First things first, I use pencil and paper to sketch out all of my concepts.

For the modeling part, since I learned to use Maya at school back in 2012, I’ve decided to continue on that way for this project.

Photoshop was a pretty obvious tool choice for me for painting the texture.

During my time working on my project I discovered 3D Coat, and decided to include it in my process since it is super super efficient for uv mapping and texturing.

Finally I used Maya to render some high resolution images of the mount, and then I uploaded the project on Sketchfab.

Complementary tools used :

Huge amount of WoW references : to take inspiration from already existing mounts in the game in order to get closer to Blizzard’s style and to understand how they make textures.

Youtube/CubeBrush : a lot of tutorials about modeling animal anatomy, about painting materials.

ArtStation and Sketchfab 3D-models : to understand better construction of the wire-frame and topology.

Maya plug-in “UV Nightshade” : it could help a lot organizing your uvs in maya.

Process

Concept idea, inspirations and intentions : I have been an avid WoW player for years and am constantly inspired to create artwork based off of the game’s lore. Ever since I started studying game art I’ve always wanted to make assets for World of Warcraft but never took the time or felt ready for it.

This exercise provided me the opportunity to create an asset from concept to final presentation within an art style I have always admired.

In order to create the best concept I could, I took the time to gather images that I could use as references and draw inspiration from. I gathered images of Shadowmoon Valley (vegetation, Draenei and orcs props), about cartoonish fox illustrations and real anatomy sketch of foxes and deers.

After that I made a reference image with my main inspirations :

Then I started to sketch a bunch of ideas for the mount, trying to not choose the final design too early. The more iteration you make, the stronger your final choice will be.

After creating several varied conceptual drawings, I created a more detailed sketch of the chosen drawing, keeping in mind that I could let myself change it if I thought of a better idea afterwards.

After creating the initial sketch, I created a basic colored version to test the composition. I didn’t want to waste time getting bogged down on small details that might change later.

Modeling in 3D : I started by making a block out for the body, and then adding the props on it. I worked on all the pieces a little bit at a time to make sure the proportions matched up well. Watching Youtube tutorials also helped me when creating the body since this was the first time I have modeled something animal related.

What methodology I will use next time :

Make a block out for the entire project

Check volume/sizing according to your modelsheets or your concept reference,

Add Detail once to every part of the model, but keep an eye on your polycount,

If your polycount allows it, add detail a second time on more important parts of the model.

UVs mapping : UV mapping can often be a long and drawn out process for some people. After some testing, I found that using 3D Coat’s UV unwrap tools was definitely the easiest method to use. I switched between 3D Coat and Maya’s UVs editor while painting the texture. At this time I also decided to add the halo part on the horns and the legs (last minute idea).

Texturing : The texturing process was a little messy for this project. I spent too much time focusing on the color and details of individual props instead of the harmony of the entire model. After a few missteps I was able to find a process that worked well and completed the texturing. Even after the model completion, I was able to gather the feedback that I had received online so that the next model I create will be even better.

What methodology I will use next time :

Make a greyscaled base, 

Insert details (still in greyscale) and check the contrasts,

Add the ambient occlusion,

Add color gradient layers for every distinct materials in the texture,

Add details as beams of lights and reflection on metal material.

Rendering and exporting to Sketchfab : Considering the mount is shadeless (because the lighting and shadow information is painted in the texture), it was pretty quick to set the render up in Maya and in Sketchfab . The final model has the following textures : 

I made a kind of a turn-over thing in Maya in order to have high resolution images of it for my portfolio. Since there were no light and the texture was 2K px, they were quick to do.

Sketchfab viewer link : 

https://sketchfab.com/models/0f7d31106f4f44ecb01b04bbd750d811

What went right ?

The final result looks quite well like what I had in mind at the very beginning, even if I changed/added a lot of things along the way.

I was able to get pretty close to the style used in WoW and have high hopes that I will get even closer in future projects.

Since I didn’t give myself a deadline on this project, I can’t say I failed at timing, even if I think this project took me a LOT of time (about few month on it). But regarding the fact that I almost started from scratch (on a knowledge and technique aspect) and that I had to re-learn a lot of thing through the way, it was normal for me to take that much time.

What could have gone better ?

This project was the very first personal work/concept I’ve done after 4 years break, so I forgot a lot about technique, shortcuts and methodology like I said earlier. So in consequence there is a lot of stuff I could have done better/quicker, here are the main stuff that made the journey longer and harder to me :

Time management : at first I was splitting my time between several projects, so I worked only few hours per day on the mount, I think this distract me a little. Sometimes it is better to focus on one thing to be more efficient. I also went back and edited several assets after watching tutorials, which cost me additional time.

Methodology : That is the big black spot in that project, like I said, I forgot a lot about methodology and how to start a project. So it made me lose time on almost every step of the project.

Conclusion and Closing Remarks

This project was a big jump into questioning my skill level, knowledge (or at least what I remembered from school) and capacity to keep going despite the difficulties.

It was a huge learning/re-learning experience and even if there was mixed feelings along the way, and even if at the end there is a lot of aspects about this mount that could be perfected, it was a successful experience for me.

Why ? :

I got back into my habits in Maya. I even learned new shortcuts I didn’t know back at school. Being comfortable with your software is essential.

I learned to use new software which simplified my life so much and will on future projects.

It forced me to search for new techniques of painting and I now understand better how to make textures quicker and more efficiently.

It helped me trust my instincts and taught me that sometimes not all advice is good to follow, and to trust a little more what I’ve learned in school even if this knowledge might be considered old-fashioned now.

It allowed me to meet generous people in the art community, who gave me encouragement, feedback, tips and helped me get through it.

Thanks to all the folks that helped me, followed me, watched my streams along the journey that this project was. I hope this post will encourage some of you to keep going if you encounter difficulties achieving your goal.

The harder, the better the result will be ! Or at least you’ll learn something from it.

Images /Tutorials /Artist I used as references :

Ashleigh Warner’s work on Warlords of Draenor - https://www.artstation.com/artist/ashdoodles

Coloring with gradiant maps by Marc Brunet -  https://youtu.be/wUeQsUJTz8I

Model a dog by Jeff Slominsky - https://youtu.be/j5aFJzn-ZYQ

My Pinterest board : https://fr.pinterest.com/mhagnusgame/p-vall%C3%A9e-dombrelune/

You can follow me on and see more of my work on :

Twitter : https://twitter.com/MhagnusGame

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/mhagnus_pauline/

ArtStation : https://www.artstation.com/artist/paulinep

DeviantArt : http://thegreenchick.deviantart.com/

Sketchfab : https://sketchfab.com/PaulinePouchtajevitch#

[ask-jungshook]

// HEYO! :D Here’s my version of the Meet the Artist meme that’s been going around! I got several admin asks as well, so might as well knock out two birds with one stone! 

Fun Facts & Q&As under the cut!

Sup! I go by Dissu! It’s my art/gaming nickname that was given to me by friends and pretty much just stuck with me to the extent that I respond to it as much as my real name haha

FUN FACTS! ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

My corgi’s full name is Lucas GNAR (the latter being League of Legends inspired-- his nickname is Lulu tho ;o) I’m a total nerd and gamer if you haven’t guessed by now HAHA

I carry backpacks over small purses because I easily lose/misplace small things. (Bags with shoulder straps always slide off my shoulders too) My other two bags are a winged backpack and a small crossbody.

I carry a pillow in my backpack so I can sleep on the bus on my commute to work (I have no more shame LOL) Lucas ate an eye off it when he was a puppy, so that’s why it has one eye LOL

I doodle on post-its because they’re easier to get rid of/scrap if it comes out looking bad. I don’t have any sketchbooks because for some reason I’m really bad at drawing in books??

I have a slight case of RBF, so I will most likely look :| even though I’m :D on the inside

I dye my hair because my hair is usually extremely oily and dyeing is usually the only way to counteract it. (But mad respect to kpop groups because holy shit bleaching your hair pretty much fries it 2/10 would recommend -- also grey hair is rly hard to maintain zzz) 

My average sleep time on weekdays is 5 hrs, but on weekends it’s 12+ hrs. 

I am a self proclaimed sparkling rock (because I’m really bad at expressing my emotions irl lol)

ASKS! ( ˊᵕˋ )♡.°⑅

BTS: JIMIN by a narrow margin, JK and NAMJOON are tied for a close second (Yoongi is forever my spirit animal though)

For other KPOP groups I follow currently:

Big Bang: TOP

Sechskies: Eun Jiwon

I mainly use SAI! (and PS for animation)

And it’s ironic because I’m like 99% sure I messed up my brush settings yesterday lol but here’s what I have right now. I pretty much use the default brush for all my sketches, lineart and coloring. (The only difference is just brush size) 

I’ve been playing around with my settings more and more just for fun/ trying out new things since I already messed up my settings /weeps (I should have had a screenshot of my original settings in hindsight . . . rip me)

Q__Q omgsjakhgsdlkg thank you guys so much (●♡∀♡) <333 You all give me motivation to keep on drawinggg! <3 (I’m also rly bad at expressing thanks but tytytytyty x100000, it means a lot)

Disclaimer: Just wanna add really quickly, take what I say with a grain of salt bc what worked for me might not work for everyone.

Don’t give up & practice A LOT!

I’ve never had any ‘legit’ art classes in the sense that the only art I got from school was one elective class in high school. The program I was in during HS and the field I’m in now are both devoid of creativity lol (Which is why people at my workplace are usually surprised to see that I draw) That being said, most of my art is mainly trial and error! But it’s a hobby that I enjoy a lot, so I don’t mind the trial and error aspect of it. I also really like the fact that you can like graduallllly see improvement the more you draw! :D Only recently, I’ve been actively trying to get better and improve since I have more time to do things now. (Legit school was probably the main reason why I couldn’t draw a lot -- exams man)

To elaborate a bit, overall I think I’m an average artist at best because there’s simply so much that I still need to learn. I feel like for me, I never fully grasped the foundation for drawing (mainly anatomy), so I’m trying to relearn that now that I have free time. (I think previously, all I drew was still-life, so I . .  . can draw fruit???? LOL) Like if you look at most of my older pieces, you can see that I have no clue how to draw clothing, body structure, or color theory. (The good thing is, that I know my weaknesses, so it’s a good starting block! haha)

But for art in general, it’s all about your foundation and how you build on it. If you don’t know how to break the body down by body parts, then there’s no way that you can free draw a person that looks perfect. So at this point, for me, it’s just a quest for learning & self improvement! :D

Another important thing is to step outside of your comfort zone! I strongly believe that you learn from failure especially for art. Like I think this year was the first time I drew a full body picture because I forced myself to step away from just drawing faces only. (LOL LEGIT I’VE ONLY DRAWN HEADSHOTS OF PEOPLE FACING LEFT FOR LIKE 99.9% OF THE TIME) While it wasn’t perfect, I definitely learned from it.

I also highly suggest iterative drawing! Which is basically drawing the same thing over and over, but changing small things with every repetition. That way, you can compare and see what worked and what didn’t and carry that forward!

Also, don’t expect like change overnight! That’s one of the things I think people have a misconceptions of-- especially something that new artists can get a bit down on, because they don’t ‘see’ improvement. But JUST KEEP ON DRAWING! Because improvement will always be gradual. (It’s very similar to working out -- like you’ll gain muscle tone over time & not overnight)

Like this is probably one of the first CG pieces I drew like YEARRRRS back (maybe 2009????) when I first tried digital art vs a WIP of what I’m currently working on right now (yes, dat’s a jimin) :

So clearly, getting from point A to point B for me happened over a lot of years and not right away, but just know that it IS possible if you’re willing to be patient -- and that improvement is there even if you don’t see it! 

Also I just wanna throw out there that improvement isn’t always going to be a upwards curve, it might stagnate/plateau occasionally and that’s OK! I think when I was still in school, I took A LOT of art hiatuses that spanned months so when I would get back into drawing, my art probably looked worse LOL 

But for me personally, what it comes down to in the end, is that:

1) You’re making art because YOU enjoy it. If you go into drawing with the intention of getting famous or having a lot of notes, then there really isn’t that much personal sense of joy if you’re basing your accomplishments by how many notes you receive. Draw for the sake of yourself instead of for the sake of others -- it’s a lot more liberating.

2) You’re basing your improvement against yourself, not against other people. Everyone is different and everyone learns things at different rates, so don’t feel discouraged if someone else is improving at a different rate than you are. I know a lot of people get discouraged when they see how fast others may be improvement-- I mean there was a point where I was like that, but ultimately, improvement will always be a battle against yourself only. (This applies to like self improvement lol not just art improvement)

3) Have a positive outlook & be patient. Basically going back to point 1, art should be something that you enjoy doing/something that makes you happy! Personally for me, I don’t see a point of calling something a hobby if you find no joy in doing it. I feel like in the past my main struggles were that I was unhappy about my art because I kept on comparing it to like REALLY good people HAHAHA & because I had like no improvement in the beginning, but then I realized that there’s not point of being sad over something I can’t control. Because all artists have their own story and all artists have to start out somewhere. (tbh sometimes, all you have to do is just change your mindset a bit) 

TLDR; Lots of practice, seek improvement, try new things, have a positive outlook (BE HAPPY!!!) & don’t give up! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و HWAITING!

 >___> I just realized that I wrote a lot in no particular order, so I’m sorry that it turned into one very messy essay LOL but hopefully that was kinda helpful? igotlazierastimewentonthololsosorryifthelastsectionmadenosense 

BUT I THINK I’M FINALLY DONE LMFAO! (Also bless, this cleared out several asks from my inbox) :D If anyone’s curious about anything else, feel free to message me (or ask me stuff once my askbox re-opens) -- I’m always free to chat! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

[doodlewash]

My story is not typical of many of the artists who have been featured here. I came to art late in the game. I didn’t draw and doodle much as a child. I didn’t study art in school or college. My path was very different.

I grew up in rural northern Indiana. I love the rural Midwest landscape, especially trees and fields. I went to college in Utah, where I learned to appreciate the desert landscape and mountains. I graduated and came back to Indiana and earned a Ph.D. in linguistics from Indiana University, where I taught for 26 years. During that time, we moved to forty very rural acres in Solsberry, Indiana. We had two children, made a beautiful garden, and I learned to weave and dye.

In due time, I started a side business selling hand-dyed yarn and handwovens. In 2011, I started blogging about our rural life and all the crazy things that happen out here. Those disparate activities taught me a lot of important things. As an academic, I learned to study and ask questions. To be a better dyer, I learned everything I could about color theory and color mixing. To be a better blogger, I learned photography and composition.

One day in 2014 on Facebook, I was tagged in one of those memes where you have to answer 20 questions about yourself and one of the questions was: If I had the time I would _____________. I found myself answering: If I had the time I would study painting. I had recently turned 50 years old and it had always been a secret dream of mine to be a painter.

I thought about that for a long time and then decided that just studying painting was a great way to start. I still study all the time: many different artists, styles and mediums. I study color. I study composition. That Christmas I got myself a little ‘how to watercolor’ book and did a few of the exercises. I let myself paint a lot and didn’t worry if it was bad. I painted the same scenes again and again. I took a few online Craftsy classes in watercolor and got a lot of encouragement. I took a watercolor class offered through the local community college and again got a lot of encouragement. The instructor invited me to join the local watercolor society, which I did.

I kept painting and painting and sharing my work with others. Someone suggested that I submit one of my pieces to the juried member show of the Watercolor Society of Indiana and it was accepted. At that point I got serious about watercolor. I took multi-day workshops with nationally known artists. I painted and painted.

What I like best about watercolor is also what is most challenging about watercolor. It’s unruly. The truth is, a lot of my life is that way. Our forty acres are big and messy and vulnerable to the caprices of nature. I spent years photographing and blogging about our life out here but I could never quite express the feeling of all that sky meeting all those trees meeting all the rest of rural Indiana until I started painting it. I love it when folks look at one of my landscapes and say, ‘Oh, that reminds me of home!’ I try to put as much home as possible in every painting. Things may not be tidy out here, but they sure are interesting. That’s what I paint.

The one thing that has made the biggest difference in my art has been my choice to be confident in my approach. Sometimes this means I paint confident garbage, but mostly it means that I am painting more and more good things. Using professional quality materials is a big confidence booster. I paint on Arches 140lb cold press paper. I use tube paint from Winsor & Newton, Daniel Smith, Mission, M. Graham and Sennelier. A single color can differ from maker to maker. It’s OK to experiment and try several different makers. Right now I really love how M. Graham and Sennelier have such intense colors and easily wetting paint – they are both made with honey and won’t dry on your palette. (As a beekeeper myself, I love that!)

Those are my beehives and I really do paint them bright colors like that!

My process is to gather several reference photos and then start putting together thumbnail sketches of the basic large shapes in my composition. I don’t try to make my painting match any photo. I might do a notan. Then I decide what colors to use. I might do a color harmony swatch or two. Or five. Then I dive right in on a 10 x 14 inch piece of paper and do the first draft.

This first draft is just that: a DRAFT. It’s not going to be perfect. I adjust colors. I take things out. I put things in. I pencil in possible corrections to the composition. I get a lot of feedback. In the end, this draft is usually a mess.

Getting feedback from multiple sources is really important to the process. It’s necessary if you want to find out whether or not you’re communicating what you think you are in your painting. It’s easy to get really focused on something and forget what else might be there. Feedback helps remind you about the whole painting. If they all say, ‘What’s that blob?’, then perhaps you need to work on it. But if one says, ‘Oh, I love that red shed’ and another says, ‘I don’t like that red shed’, then you know it’s fine, it’s just a matter of taste.

Feedback also tells you about the person giving the feedback. I once had someone spend 15 minutes telling me why a ½ square inch of my painting ruined the whole thing for her. It was a reflection of where she was in her life, her own issues and insecurities. I listened politely and she left feeling happy that she had set me on a better path with that piece. I did not make the change she suggested.

A great way to get feedback is to start a critique group. You can meet in person or start an online group. Find people who are interested in improving their art, not just getting positive feedback on any attempt. It doesn’t have to be watercolor – all art deals with color, shapes, value and composition. Find people who can give and take suggestions with grace and tact. Learn how to give suggestions with grace and tact. A good way to suggest a possible change is, ‘What if…’ or ‘Have you considered….’ Often, when I post a piece to my crit group, I do have an idea of what I’m unsure of in the piece and I come right out and say it. That helps focus the feedback on exactly the areas I want to work on.

Once I get some feedback, I make whatever changes I need to and start the next draft. As I work, I take the time to sit and look at the piece. See how it looks from 10 feet away. If your studio space is too small for that, then snap a pic, pull it up on your computer and take a look. If the painting works SMALL, it will work BIG.

Once a piece is finished, I set it aside and move on to something else. Then I come back to it after a few days/weeks to see if something jumps out at me. I make any changes and sign it, photograph it and frame it. Framing is an important step for me. It’s a way to give the piece some polish, to send it out into world, best foot forward. I use conservation quality mats and frame myself using ‘Best Practice’ techniques that I glean from professional framers and museums. Once the piece is framed, it is ready for immediate sale, shipping or exhibition. That saves a lot of last-minute fussing later.

My personal challenges these days are around color (always) and brushes. I try to take regular, everyday type rural scenes and paint them in an innovative way using unusual colors. I’m trying to work larger and that is forcing me to try new brushes and larger ones. My favorite brushes are the Princeton Long rounds, but I just got a size 30 round Mimik and I have to say I’m loving it for the big work. Every once in a while I try a piece using only a 2 inch flat brush. That’s a real challenge for me.

I will continue to study and paint and see where the art takes me. I hope my story has given you confidence to pick up a brush or pencil and just start. Wonderful things will happen, even late in the game. There are many paths to becoming an artist. I hope you find yours. And when you do, I’d love to hear about it!

Robin Edmundson Website Blog Facebook Instagram Pinterest Google + Twitter Etsy shop (hand-dyed yarn)

#WorldWatercolorGroup - GUEST ARTIST: "Many Paths Lead To Art" by Robin Edmundson -#doodlewash My story is not typical of many of the artists who have been featured here. I came to art late in the game.

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The Pavilion of Artists and Books is, without any doubt, this Biennale’s main curatorial statement and aims at discussing the place of the artist in today’s society. Taking place at the Central Pavilion in the Giardini, these artists’ works coalesce around the idea of ‘artistic practice’ as a professional one. To inject gravitas into these works and, probably, to insert contemporary artists into a several thousand years’ long art history, Chief Curator, Christine Macel felt compelled to link the Ancient Roman notion of ‘otium’ (firstly coined by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History where he linked the idea of retreating to a Villa with that of creating enough space and time to cultivate oneself in nature) with that of ‘creativity’. Although she states very clearly that ‘otium’ does not equate ‘idleness’, the visual evidence says otherwise.

It does not come as a surprise, then, that the show opens with Franz West’s Otium (1998) which is a videocassette tape covered with papier maché on a signed wooden base, all this on a plinth. In the film, screened in the following room, the artist appears in the lotus position levitating in front of an invisible audience with whom he discusses very simple concepts in complex terms. In the next room there is a 1973 photo by Friedl Kubelka of West, lying beneath a wall with his early drawings. At this point, the viewer is led to visually associate ‘having a rest’ with ‘being creative’. Franz West’s works are compelling and can hold themselves through their wit precisely because he never seems to take himself too seriously and proof of that are the pastel colours chosen and the humorous stance (with laughter included) that he adopts in his recorded performances. But this is not the case with the work of the younger artists placed nearby by Macel.

Almost mirroring the aforementioned photograph, we find a painted inkjet print by Frances Stark titled ‘Behold Man!’ (2013) where the artist is shown on a sofa, allegedly, alluding to Ingres’ Turkish Bath (whatever!). All through the exhibition, under the badge with the name of the artist and the work’s title there are bilingual explanations of the work by the chief curator which are not only badly written but quickly prove to be misleading in a way that contradicts the ‘professional’ goals of the show. The tone of the aforementioned text is as follows: ‘Frances Stark has since the 1990’s developed a personal style full of humour and frankness. She tackles private issues like her sex life, her neuroses as well maternity’ (sic). Worryingly, by saying this, Macel is unconsciously separating the private from the public spheres. She makes us feel that instead of allowing us to have a look into the artist’s moments of private self absortion without showing us that it is her job to do that, she is making the artist comes across as if she is deciding to pose (as a person with a life) in front of us. There is an inversion of priorities here and, at this point, I am struggling to understand what is the point of art for Christine Macel (and this artist, in particular). Is it an opportunity to fill a position from where value is automatically created (just because her jobtitle is that of ‘artist’)? If what I am shown are people sleeping, what is the point of me wasting my time and money here?

Well, the following pieces are just bad. Katherine Nuñez and Issay Rodriguez’s ‘In Between the Lines 2.0’, according to the explanatory text: ‘show how there is still a place for disused practices in contemporary life’. Seriously? A number of useless products are carelessly placed on shelves and from that we are asked to believe that this junk ‘is invested with symbolic value drawing on the current Zeitgeist’. At this point, the show insults the viewer’s intelligence by being pompous and silly but that silliness is conveyed thorugh the work and also through Macel’s explanations.

Next there is an artist bed by Yelena Vorobyeva and Viktor Vorobyev (‘The Artist is Asleep’, 1996) that does not seem to acknowledge Tracy Emin’s seminal work on this topic which shockingly is not here. At this point, the visual evidence diverted the discussion from ‘otium’ to laziness without even trying to be ironic about it. In front of our very eyes, the artist studio has been transformed into a bed and his ethos into a succession of pretentious lies.

But let’s remember that this Pavilion is not only dedicated to artists but also to…books! Besides, Christine Macel has invited the artists both in this exhibition and in the National Pavilions to host their Tavola Aperte (Open Tables) where they can discuss further the explanations of their work. It is as if discourse has displaced the visual evidence that artists are supposed to provide. If anything, artists and curators love to blah blah blah in VIVA ARTE VIVA but when silence is required, the images do not say very much. Similarly, Christine Macel’s pompose project titled ‘Unpacking My Library’, allegedly, inspired by Walter Benjamin’s essay published in 1931 ‘allows the artists to compile a list of their favourite books. This is both a way to get to know the artists better and a source of inspiration for the public’ (sic). This book will be ‘available’ at the Stirling Pavilion and one cannot but ask oneself what’s the point of this messy approach to books.

Well, in John Latham and Geng Jianyi’s room, they use books as physical material for a series of objects which are hung from walls, ceilings and displayed in minimalistic vitrines. It is with Abdullah Al Saadi’s Diaries that books and the artistic profession seem to collapse with a clinical display of tins filled with texts which, according to the explanatory text: ‘comprise 150 notebooks containing aphorisms and meditations, artistic projects and sketches written on rolls in homage to the discovery, in 1847, of the Dead Sea Scrolls’. Am I out of place if I politely ask myself: WTF? Unmoved, curator Christine Macel says: ‘Like the Dead Sea Scrolls, the artist’s journals evoke a memory that has not disappeared and becomes eternal’. I insist…WTF?

Next is the place of the literal and Macel, who has committed to show us visual proof of the problem of ‘artists’ and books decides to groundbreakingly include (of course, I am being ironic) paintings of books. Thus we have Liu Ye’s ‘Books on books’ (2007) which are charming mediocre trompl’oeils that find too much inspiration in Ed Ruscha analogous series.

In the next room, there is Ciprian Mureśan from Rumania and his self-explanatory ‘All Images from a Book on Tretyakov gallery’ and ‘All images from a Book of Giotto’ (2015). But why are we talking about books? Is Macel exploring the link between word and image? If that is the case, her explanatory texts are not doing her any favours.

Taus Makhacheva’s Tightrope (2015) video of a tightroper carrying 61 art works copied from a Dagestani museum between two mountain pics from open air to a black structure reminiscent of a black storage is next. Instead of (as the curator writes) ‘exploring the tensions between tradition and modernity, local and global pre-soviet and post-soviet times’, this choreography (?) comes across as an allegory of the fragility of show which is as pointless as handling art between two peaks. And if of pointlessness we are talking about, Philippe Parreño’s post-minimalist Cloud Oktas (2017) has no room in the curating script and belongs to a different show. Although it is interesting, I felt like I was in a different show.

From there we get to a room with works by Raymond Hains including three supermarket trolleys with computer monitors. This is the first time that the issue of the book is being questioned in today’s world without forcing the viewer to accept its materiality as enough justification. But it is far too late to be able to bring some sense into it all. Macel has asked far too much from the viewer and he wants to leave.

After that, everything goes downwards and the experience starts becoming annoying when we find a rather uninformed mega-installation by Hassan Sharif titled ‘Hassan Sharif Studio’ (Supermarket). In a way, it mirrors Hains’ Duchampian and Pop deployment of ready mades reflecting on the way art objects get commodified and allegedly put that ‘victim’ called artist in a compromised position.

At this point, it must be remembered that Christine Macel conceived this year’s Biennale as a book unfolding in 9 chapters. This first one places the issue of language at the very core of the exhibition not from the point of view of the relationship between text and image which might take us to the Ancient Roman discussion of ‘Ut Pictura Poesis’ or to Greek ‘ekphrasis’ but instead reduces text (and books) to the position of the explanatory device needed to understand the allegories that those ‘professional practitioners’ called ‘artists’ placed there for us to decode. It does not come as a surprise that preparing those text is the job of that self perpetuating bureaucracy called ‘curators’. J A T

  EXPLANATORY TEXTS DISPLACE ARTWORKS AS THE RELEVANT OBJECT TO BE DISPLAYED AT THIS YEAR’S VENICE BIENNALE’S FIRST ‘CHAPTER’ REMINDING US OF THE NEED TO HAIL THE WORK OF THAT SELF PERPETUATING BUREAUCRACY CALLED CURATORS The Pavilion of Artists and Books is, without any doubt, this Biennale’s main curatorial statement and aims at discussing the place of the artist in today’s society.