#and then i'll add in a few more flowers and stuff once the art pieces are set up

[feyspeaker]

Hii me again. I'm not sure if I sent the ask I'm talking about on anon, so maybe that's why you didn't see it? It partially got answered with a recent ask you got anyway so no worries. I was just wondering if you use 3d in your process and if so, how? I've seen other illustrators use it to varying degrees and it seems like a really helpful tool to push your work.

Oh that's so weird! No I periodically go through my asks in chunks and I didn't see anything like that. I've had a few people in the past few months send me asks that looked like the second half of something else with no context, so maybe it's Tumblr fuckery. Sorry!!

I recommend learning Blender so you can help sculpt shapes and render lighting onto them in order to get the weirder/more complex shadows right. You can also apply colors onto the things you sculpt in order to see how the colors act in different lighting. It's pretty much an invaluable tool to me as it keeps me from having to problem-solve too much. I did a lot of digging around in my house to build references to photograph but it was just impractical to achieve the things I want to a lot of the time. I still do that, and you would not believe how many goofy photos I have of my husband in the poses you've seen me paint Astarion in lmao...

I do think that it needs to be used in moderation if you are a more beginner artist- I think that using 3D is DANGEROUSLY close to becoming a massive crutch for a newer artist and improper usage or over reliance on it can lead to stiffness or artificial looking colors. You need to be able to train your eye to create compelling compositions by bashing things together, and train your hand to replicate/add/subtract as needed from your references with an organic feel.

I will say this as a total committer of this crime myself in the past, it's VERY easy to tell when an artist relies too much on, for example, Clip Studio Paint posed models as bases for pieces without a good enough grasp on their fundamentals. And I also used to prickle when I saw more advanced artists warn of this, so I do think maybe it just has to run its course sometimes, because I know that using 3D for reference seems like an easy-button.

I've taken a lot of in-person classes for live figure drawing and painting, as well as just totally done drills, basically, on sketching and painting from life before relying too much on static imagery/3D/etc.

I often fret over every piece I do looking too stiff even still.

You have to do a LOT of the boring hard stuff the old fashioned way. And I regularly go back to it over and over when needed.

For example, I recently did a stupid amount of rose petal/flower studies deconstructing and painting ugly little paintings/doodles over and over because I know that I've been horribly weak at painting flowers for years (actively avoiding them). And I've been doing a lot of floral stuff lately due to that.

Whenever I start a new piece in new territory, I know it's going to mean several 3AM nighters where I have two other tabs open on Photoshop where I test out different textures or do a couple of studies. I'm working on a piece of my OC right now that has a lot of gore/medical instruments and I've been working on testing out different methods for shiny metal painting and some anatomical studies. I'll come to a snag in a painting and go "here we go" and work through it one piece at a time.

My Halsin piece, "Secret Spot" in the hot spring, was a massive undertaking with a lot of these moments. The Karlach x Dammon piece took 3 times longer than it should have due to me just having to go back and fix things knowing I could do better after doing some studies.

Ultimately I personally find art tutorials to be quite useless overall once you get to a certain point, unless they are teaching the use of a tool/software because you HAVE to figure out what works for you. And even then I use Blender like a monkey with a keyboard, I suspect, because I've just bruteforced through it, so I could probably use a tuneup from a good teacher on that haha. I hope this helps some, and sorry if I overstepped if I sound preachy.

[seekingthestars]

i spent literally all day working on one (1) part of my acnh island and i'm now regretting my choice to flatten my island bc at this rate it will take me four thousand years to finish the whole thing but also that one part is pretty cute so :')

[hollythyst]

Plant Logs or Grimoires

As a green witch, I find it absolutely a necessity to have a record of my plants, my interactions with them and a lot of useful information. Recording it all is a fulfilling way to dedicate time to my practice, and get a future use out of it. So, as promised a whillleee ago (sorry 'bout that), here is my layout for my plant based grimoire, and some extra stuff I include in mine.

Lay out :

First page:

This is basically my cheatsheet for that plant.

It has its name, it's nickname locally, where I personally can find it (in my garden on a store brand), how long it takes to dry from fresh, how it's smells and how it tastes. I also include a little dried leaf or flower for when I need a reminder of how it looks or need to compare it to a mystery plant.

Second page:

Folklore and local significance.

This is where I slap all the folklore and local stories and opinions I can find. Now this might take up more than one page, that's okay, most of these will.

Just make sure to source your info, whether it be from a wiki page or from the crazy old lady down the street. Guys, I cannot stress enough getting stories locally, especially if the plant is a local one.

And if you don't have an old lady down the street, ask your fam! Why did your mom give you ginger when you felt sick? Why does your uncle swear by lavender? Find out.

Third page:

Science shit.

Witchcraft and science goes hand in hand, not at each others throat. This is the page or pages where you try to understand the inner workings of the plant and its behavior. Why it is this color, why it grows like this or that.

For example, dandelions. Yes, we all know them for being the most stubborn plants ever that will even survive in the cracks of concrete but. They can only do this because they have long and thick tap roots that allow them to reach nutrients and moisture that other plants cannot. So for me, they are not only plants of resilience, but plants that embody the idea of taking opportunities that others wont in order to succeed.

Knowledge=understanding=accuracy.

Fourth page:

The fun part.

This is where you collect all the conclusions your path with this plant has lead you to. All the folklore and opinions and science equal this page or pages.

Experiment with the plant. Cook it, clean with it, burn it, dry it, go nuts. This page is where future you will go to to remember why you use the plant the way you do, or why you use it in this ritual or spell.

This is the page of your own personal association with the plant, and the experiences that lead to it.

Fifth page:

This is where I chuck all my recipes and spells that I develop or use that use the plant in question as a major or main ingredient. I suggest leaving a few pages for this, even once you've moved on to the next plant, because you'll add and develop this section as you evolve on your path.

Others I suggest adding in:

An envelope, either for each plant or for the entire notebook. It's an easy and subtle place to keep any notes or misc stuff that you want to organize later without destroying by accident.

An art page. If you're an artist or writer, add a page where any poems or pieces you create about that plant can be placed. Go wild, hell, put quotes if you'd like.

A page for your aspiration as a witch. This is where I put my promises to myself and my plants about my path and my actions in it.

And that's that! Later on maybe I'll post some pictures of this as it is in my plsnt grimoire, but for now I am not brave enough.

Until my next post, stay healthy my onions, and don't forget to bloom!