#can someone with actual artistic ability please draw this

[melbush]

this, but it’s eight, fitz and anji

[mayplantstarrwaters]

person who have never entered any fandom spaces in their life : Why aren't artists making beautiful art anymore?

[blackboard-monitor]

how i've finished inktober every year for eight years and counting

Every time I mention around other artists that I finish inktober every year (meaning I draw and ink 31 drawings, one every day in October), I get questions like "how???", so I figured I'd make a post about it on the off chance it's helpful to someone. Please note that all my advice is based on my personal experience and you're a different person so what works for me may not work for you, and you can do whatever you want forever.

What it boils down to for me is two basic rules: 1) keep it simple and 2) manage your expectations.

Tools

Paper/sketchbook

I started my first inktober in my journal at the time, and because I'm neurotic like that, I've had to do every subsequent inktober in whatever journal I was using at that point.

The benefit of this is that each journal has had a page size of A5 or smaller, which can be tricky when trying to get in a lot of detail, but on the other hand forces you to limit the size of your drawings to a pretty managable size.

Paper type can also be important! Last year in 2023, my journal was a Moleskine sketchbook (image 1), which was actually designed to handle some degree of wet media, which was a game-changer for me as an ink wash enjoyer. Don't get me wrong, I've been using ink washes in most of my previous journals as well, but inking is a lot nicer when your paper isn't constantly buckling (image 2) or pilling and the ink isn't bleeding all over the place, inclunding through the page (image 3). Pages that stay flat instead of buckling are also a lot easier to scan or photograph, if like me you want to post your art online.

In short, my inktober paper recommendation is to use a sketchbook no larger than A5, and go for one with nice, thick paper if you intend to use wet media.

Sketching

I sketch everything with a single 6H pencil that I got from my brother in 2019. Because the lead is so hard, it allows me to scribble to my heart's content without the sketch getting too dark or hard to erase. Sometimes I'll refine the sketch with a HB mechanical pencil, which shows up really nicely on top of the 6H lines, but I may skip that step if I'm feeling lazy or the first sketch is clean enough.

Inking

I've used a variety of art supplies in my inktober drawings. For the most part I've always stuck to greyscale, with the exception of a couple of red or gold accents some years.

My main inktober tools are a set of Micron fineliners in various sizes, and liquid India ink, which I use with a dip pen and with brushes. I usually mix up a mid-tone ink wash in a small bottle, and use that throughout the month.

Fineliners pros: portable, require minimal setup, can use on the sofa or in bed or wherever Fineliners cons: creating texture and filling large areas is a lot more time-consuming. In 2021 I did inktober exclusively in fineliner because I was tired and couldn't be bothered to deal with liquid ink, but I ended up spending more time than maybe ever on the drawings because it took so long to add texture with pens.

Ink pros: you can achieve small details with a dip pen as well as quick texture and fill in large areas with a brush and ink washes Ink cons: can be messy (protip from 2022 Liekki, don't spill ink water all over your laptop), usually you have to sit at a table of some kind, you need to wash your brushes and dip pens, if your paper isn't designed for wet media, it'll buckle or bleed

Pick your inking tools and techniques based on how much time you have!

Prompts/ideas/subject matter

I've always stuck to the "official" prompt list, because it brings me joy to scroll through the tag of the day on instagram and see how others interpreted the same prompt. Or, rather, it used to bring me joy to do this, until instagram's enshittification stole our ability to look at tags. Maybe I'll have some luck with that on Cara going forward; here's hoping.

As for ideas, sometimes they come easy, sometimes it's like pulling teeth and I have to enlist all my friends to brainstorm with me (sorry, y'all). When in doubt, draw the first thing that comes to mind when you read the prompt; don't overthink it (like I often do). I like to try to come up with a less obvious interpretation of a prompt, but this is also where I often get stuck and have to harass my loved ones for ideas. Sometimes it helps to relate the prompt to a tv show/book/etc. you're into; I've done quite a bit of inktober fanart, as well as art of various DnD cahracters from games I've played/DM'd. If all else fails, just look at what everyone else is drawing that day.

Time management

Be realistic about how much time you have in a day to work on inktober, and then set your expectations accordingly. If you only have an hour, stick to a size and level of detail that you can realistically finish in an hour. I've done some very quick scribbles in my years of inktober when I've been busy that day.

My personal philosophy is that I try not to plan too much ahead; I don't do any sketching until day of, and ideally I don't try to come up with ideas for a prompt or at least decide on an idea until the day before at the earliest. Containing each drawing in one day helps me have realistic expectations of what's doable. This does mean drawing late into the night sometimes after procrastinating or struggling to find an idea all day, but it's what works for me.

If your goal is to complete inktober, it's better to do a small shitty drawing in ten minutes than to fall behing by starting something way too ambitious that you'll never be able to finish in a day.

Secret third rule!

Accept the fact that you aren't going to be happy with every drawing.

Inktober was created as an exercise to practice inking. Think of your drawings as sketches, not finished masterpieces. Some of them will be bad, at least in your own eyes. Sometimes you'll put a lot of effort into something that just doesn't work out. For example:

To quote Joe Hills, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of practice. So you fucked up today's drawing. Tomorrow is a new day – that's the beauty of inktober. "Ever tried, ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." (Samuel Beckett) Progress isn't linear, either; some years are consistently mediocre, other years it's all over the place with a couple bangers and a couple really shitty ones.

Every inktober I've made drawings I love,

drawings I'm indifferent to,

and drawings that straight up suck.

And I'm at peace with that.

Thanks for reading what turned into a pretty long post, and I hope some of it was helpful. Happy inktobering!

[little-red-fool]

Hi, I’m Red, an aspiring character artist. I mainly draw my OCs and my art often includes erotic and grotesque themes, but I’ll occasionally do some fanart and talk about my characters (and if you have any questions about them feel free to send me an ask, I’ll try to answer it as best as I can).

I don’t generally try to cater to other people so if you don’t like what I draw, post or reblog feel free to block me, I don’t want to be harassed, if you harass me or send me hatemail I will just block you instead.

Also, contrary to what you might see on my blog I’m actually really shy and not very good at interacting with others so I’m sorry if I don’t reply to you or it seems quite awkward, it’s not something I’m very good at.

General info 👇

x 18 x He/Him x I speak English and Turkish

My Twitter

I try to tag everything to the best of my ability, including fandoms, character names, and some common triggers, I usually do it for the ease of finding things on my own blog rather than for other people to find my stuff in the tag search so I’m really sorry if I’ve been spamming a character tag.

Main Tags: x My Art x My OCs x OC Lore and Info x My Comic (update: I’m no longer making it a comic but I’ll keep referring to it as my comic for ease) x Asks

🚫 NFTs/AI 🚫

Do NOT repost/claim/edit/reference/use my art or OCs (even for RP)

Also please don’t tag my OC art/pictures as someone else’s/your OC or another character.

⚠️Content Warnings⚠️ x Blood/Gore/Violence/Decapitation/Flaying x Body horror x Corpses/Skeletons (human & animal) x Rot/Decay x Insects/Spiders/Snakes x Partial nudity x Somewhat sexual/risqué imagery, e.g. clothing, poses, character interactions (not explicit)

I freely use the block button so if you’re an art/character thief, use AI or are a dickhead you’ll be blocked, please be warned.

[starwars-art-events]

Art Event 4: Different Genres

Hello there!

This is an informal, for-fun art event, meant for any person who enjoys making art. This time, it's a two-parter: both a trade, and just a casual event for those who just wish to create art for themselves. It's a pressure-free event! No need to create a big masterpiece--just something you or others would happily enjoy.

The theme this time around is "Different Genres." You can choose any character(s) from any media(s) and put them into a different universe entirely. Make a clone a mermaid! Toss Thrawn into a K-drama! Hondo Ohnaka could sail the seas in the Golden Era of Piracy! Anakin Skywalker could be a Warrior cat! Whatever genre you can dream up, they could be in.

Types of art welcome:

Drawings (digital or scanned traditional)

Short comics

Short animation

Photo edits

Video edits (music or otherwise)

Music creation

Moodboards/photo collages

Quotes-and-photo collages

Other (contact moderator ASAP)

Dates to adhere to:

Deadline to join the trade: February 10th (There is no sign-up or deadline for free-posting individuals)

Dates to post: March 30th-31st

Rules:

For the trade: Joining requires creating art. To recieve art, you must create art! Simple as that. Many types of art are allowed (see above), and all can be adapted to how you wish to conceive yours.

You don't have to be "great" at any art to join! This is an informal event with no level restrictions. The important thing is that your art absolutely must have effort. For example, a moodboard should be cohesive, and it should contain enough photos that it could be worthy of giving as a gift. Make sure you are satisfied with what you are giving out (to your abilities levels, of course--don't expect the Star Wars Mona Lisa if you aren't to par with DaVinci's skills!).

This is an anonymous event. You will know who they are creating art for, but you will not know who you are recieving from! Until posting dates, please keep your art to yourself (or a trusted non-participating friend). In the words of Gandalf the Grey: Keep it secret; keep it safe.

Art should be created for your giftee based on things/characters/ideas they enjoy. Do a bit of "pseudo-stalking" (not real stalking) of their tags. See what the person enjoys, both in terms of mediums and concepts. If they have clone trooper OC's, base something off those guys! If they are a big Ezra Bridger fan, see what types of AUs they enjoy! If the concept of the Force makes them go wild, include that in your art! If you are at a loss for ideas, send an anon message to the person to see what they are interested in OR contact the moderator.

Please sign up only ONCE. You will recieve art from only ONE artist. The artist may wish to give you more than one piece of art, but it will only be from THAT artist alone. If you wish to make more art for someone else, arrange that on your own time, please!

If you need to drop out, that is okay! Things happen. You are able to drop out at any time. Please contact the moderator ASAP if you need to drop. Please understand that the other artists are putting their own time and effort into their pieces. The artist gifting their time and effort to you is no longer obligated to do so anymore. If you drop out, they are completely allowed to drop, too.

Important note: All skin tones and disabilities must be accurately portrayed. No skin tone should be lighter than the actor/character's actual skin colour. Disabilities must be depicted correctly. If not, you will be dropped. The same goes for respecting canon cultures. Please refrain from depicting Children of the Watch or Tuskens without their garments, unless the scenario is explicitly of situations where the removal of clothing/armour/helms is acceptable. Please cover the heads of Twi'lek women, and that of Mirialans. These requests are not only personal wishes of the moderators, but also just basic decency. Do your research portraying someone different than you. Do not fall prey to harmful tropes. This hurts others..

IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS, PLEASE DM THE MODERATOR. You may do so here, or at @engagemythrusters or @darlin-djarin.

Sign Up Form for Trade Here

Thanks, all!

[anjael]

DOTA SECRET SANTA 2024 - SIGNUPS OPEN

It’s that time again already!

As always, even if you aren’t participating, I’d be very grateful if you could signal boost by re-blogging!  I’ll also be cross-posting to my Twitter *here* so RTs much appreciated if you’re on there ~

What’s a Secret Santa?

For those who have never done a Secret Santa before, the way it works is you submit a gift request, which goes into a pool which is then randomised. The randomised requests are then handed out to the participants.

So basically, its Mystery Gift! Everyone draws/writes a Dota-themed gift for someone. You won’t know who it’s for, and you won’t know who is doing yours! Then at the exchange, the completed gifts are handed out anonymously to whomever they belong, via email.

Sounds good, where do I sign?

Send your email applications right here!   -> dotasecretsanta@gmail.com

What do I write in my  application email?

1. Your name / tumblr tag / most used social media - a link to your blog would also be helpful so I know who you are and can contact you if emails are not working or something. A link to examples of your work (art tag, etc) is also appreciated!

2. Preferred gift rating.  NSFW requests are totally okay as long as they are not offensive/racist/sexist but if you’d like something NSFW, please also provide a SFW alternative request as not everyone is comfortable producing such content. If you don’t mind receiving NSFW but would prefer not to submit it, please tell me and vice versa.

3. Your actual request!  If you prefer shipping/non shipping, please include this in your signup email. Please try to word your request so that it can be filled by either an artist or writer, if possible, as your gift-giver is randomly assigned!

Examples of requests (just for reference, there’s no required format)

- a pairing or your favourite character/s doing [something of your choice]

- an AU with [character/pairing]

Your requests don’t have to be seasonal-themed, request whatever you like!

4. Whether you would be able to pinch-hit (fill an extra gift if needed).

5. Whether you would like to remain anonymous to your gift recipient and/or on the master-post of entries (which will be posted up on Tumblr a few days after gift exchange)

———-   DEADLINES   ————–

Applications Close:  29th October 2024, 00:00 GMT

Prompts Sent Out to Participants: by 1st November 2024, 00:00 GMT

Gift submission: 20th December 2024, 22:00 GMT

(Please submit your completed gifts to dotasecretsanta@gmail.com)

Gift Exchange: 22nd - 24th December 2024 (TBC)

———-      RULES/GUIDELINES     —————–

- Don’t be a butt. (generally the best rule to live by)

- Complete the gift using your MAD SKILLS, whether that’s drawing or writing fanfic! If you have other cool magic abilities like animating or using SFM, you’re welcome to use those too!

- Please submit completed works only. Your gift should be fully coloured if it’s art (unless you are specifically doing a monochrome / inked piece), and properly formatted, spell-checked and at least 1,000 words if it’s a written piece.

- For written pieces, google doc links/word documents are fine for the email exchange, but if you want me to include your fic in the tumblr master-post please bear in mind you need to post it somewhere link-able such as AO3.

- if you are submitting NSFW art, AO3 hosts art too and can be a good alternative to tumblr/twitter restrictions.

- Please don’t post any completed gifts on your blog until gifts have been exchanged!

- if the deadline is approaching and you know you won’t be able to submit your piece in time, please tell me as soon as possible so I can arrange for someone else to fill your assigned prompt.

- I’ll be tracking the tumblr tag ‘dota secret santa 2024’. If you have any issues, inbox me, email me or DM me on Twitter! (link above)  

There’s also a Discord group - please let me know if you’d like an invite!

- GL HF!

[ladyinbooks]

Hi lady! I love your works so much! Rarely pure has bewitched me, heart and soul! I often find myself going back to certain paragraphs that had me kicking my feet the first time I read them. I would love to have a physical version of them, have you ever thought of printing them and selling them to fans?

Ahh lovely Anon! Thank you! ❤️❤️❤️🤗 I'm so pleased you're enjoying Rarely Pure - that makes me very happy indeed. I have a special place in my heart for Lysander and Aubrey (and, of course, Retvja) so you have made me a very happy Lady indeed! Thank you! (And I'm curious about those paragraphs you mention, so if you'd ever like to share your favourites, please do!)

What a lovely ask! You've got me smiling so much! The honest answer is: yes, I have thought about it. I have had lovely readers like you ask me this question before, and to be honest it always blows me away when I discover someone would actually want to buy one of my works as a physical copy. (It makes me so insanely happy.) I have thought long and hard over this over the last year, and I have actually come to a decision recently.

So, the answer is yes. Physical copies are not going to be an imminent thing, as I'd like to take my time and make sure they are something worth buying for people (my brain keeps picking up shiny thoughts like 'Hmm, maybe there should be a little postcard in physical copies'), but they are coming. I have a big birthday in a couple of years, and I have set myself a deadline of officially having something in physical print well before then! 😅

(I also need to find an artist for covers, because... well honestly if I can draw a stick man it's a good day for my artistic abilities! 🤣)

[llatimeria]

fear mongering about new tech stuff is so fucking frustrating because it leads to people completely losing the plot about what they're actually mad at and the real problems in the world.

like, NFTs are not bad because they're collectable and tradeable pngs. collecting and trading art rules and has probably existed since the first moment a human made a piece of art that could feasibly be handed to another human. NFTs are bad because cryptocurrency is a power-guzzling scam pitched by people smart enough to know it's worthless to people who want to pretend they're just as smart as those people because they have too much money.

AI isn't bad because it's a computer that makes art. that in and of itself is completely and utterly morally neutral. it's a complete nonissue and I can't believe the people who romanticize things like the Mars rovers and Voyager sattelites aren't all over COMPUTER THAT DRAWS THINGS FOR YOU or COMPUTER THAT WRITES A LITTLE STORY FOT YOU as a super cute anthropomorphizeable phenomena.

the problem with AI is that corporate behemoths, who either don't understand the technology or do and don't care, are firing actual people in favor of using AI and even this is nuanced. In creative fields it's obvious horseshit, but in every other field it's slightly more complicated horseshit - we should be striving for a world free from dumbass labor, but we also live under capitalism and a person's ability to feed themselves and their families is tied to the amount of work they do so, unfortunately, they depend on doing that dumbass labor that they probably don't like and would rather be spending their time doing literally anything else, like spending time with the families they're performing dumbass labor to feed.

Not to mention a lot of creative AIs were built with scraped datasets taken nonconsentually from artists and writers (and imo that's also kind of a nothingburger - are you really materially harmed by someone looking at your art and being inspired by it, even if that "someone" is a machine? why do you care if i don't care if my work is used in training data? what would you say if i told you that, if asked nicely, i'd enthusiastically give an AI programmer permission to use my art and writing in their training sets so they can better understand how these programs work?), a significant privacy issue -- creators should have the final say over what is done with their art -- and actively making their programs worse by including junk and irrelevant data. AI is dangerous because it's been unleashed on an unsuspecting public without enough caution and safeguards by its creators, but what's done is done and now we just have to figure out what to in this reality rather than getting stuck on what we should have done.

can we please. Just. keep ourselves on the fucking plot with this shit, before we get people thinking that it's evil to have your cancer diagnosed by a computer program who can catch it way faster than a human doctor could, or that it's a problem to SELL AND TRADE ART, or that we should really stop researching the shit that eases the burden of dumbass labor because some people reaaaallly neeeeeeed to do dumbass labor for money when we could just as easily have those people do less dumbass labor with all the time and energy we're saving offloading dumbass labor to computers instead of making a poor schmuck scan documents day in and day out

[mrghostrat]

Hello Mr ghost rat! I apologise if this is an incredibly stupid question and if this is an inconvenience to answer, please don’t feel pressured to even look at it! I was just wondering, how do you feel comfortable writing fan fiction for a tv show you have started more recently. (And by recently I mean less then 6 years since starting it and rewatching it a million times) like- and I’m so sorry if this makes no sense but I desperately want to write good omens fan fiction, and fan fiction for other fandoms I am immensely interested in, but I feel as though I am unworthy of writing these characters who I have only just met and may not understand to the best of my abilities. When I watch a tv show and I like it I go into a frenzy and by about a month since watching it I could tell you everything there is to know about the show the production the storyline the hidden meanings what happens and any time stamps during the film but I feel very guilty writing the characters even though I probably won’t ever know them better then I do now. The only thing I’ve ever felt comfortable writing fan fiction about is a tv show I started watching when I was 8 and have literally (and I’m not exaggerating) watched over 300 times since then I have merged with the characters and so I feel justified writing them. I have so many ideas for fics but don’t feel as though I have known anyone long enough to write them. Either way my question is, how do you do it? You write so brilliantly (and so much) for characters who you seem to have only met within a few years of writing? It’s incredible and I would love some advice! I’m sorry that this is so long but I would appreciate anything you would be able to tell me! Thank you so much 💛🐝

honestly you sound more than equipped enough to write good omens fan fiction! i think reading a lot of other fic helps, because you get a feel for how other people capture their likenesses in prose-- kind of in the way that it's easier to learn to draw people by looking at someone's art of them, to see how another artist interprets their face in a two dimensional way.

i guess i was a little terrified to write and release my first fic, but when you inhale the characters like we do, it's not the end of the world to simply try. writing for a live action series is a godsend actually, because you can close your eyes and picture the words coming out of david & michael's mouths and test if it sounds natural or not. that's also why i enjoy linking in so many lines and moments from the show (good lord + that's my point + etc) because it brings you back to their reality and keeps you grounded in canon characterisation.

at the end of the day, you can't do any worse than people renaming aziraphale to ezra/zira/az/avery.

[fanfic-gremlin-ft-trauma]

15 people, 15 questions

Thank you @transboyzuko and @kiki-strike for tagging me!!

1.) Are you named after anyone?

Nope. My parents nearly called me Isabella but they chose Sofia last minute (I’m glad they did bc it’s Portuguese and there’s also like a million Isabellas.)

2.) When was the last time you cried?

Thursday last week bc I watched a movie in class that I didn’t expect to be triggered by but Oh Well.

3.) Do you have kids?

I don’t even have a job 😭

4.) What sports do you play/have played?

I’m absolutely terrible at every conceivable sport and hate it with a passion but I did play netball for like, six years when I was really young. Still shit at it tho lol.

5.) Do you use sarcasm?

When I need to, yes. But not if I know it’s gonna upset someone.

6.) What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Their eyes. I don’t know why it’s so random but I’m always drawn to eyes, maybe it’s because they’re the window to the soul or maybe it’s bc that’s the centre of the face and I’m scared shitless of first impressions and always think about Eye Contact.

7.) What’s your eye colour?

Green but it shifts from forest green when I wear dark green clothes to lighter green when I wear (shocker) lighter green clothes.

8.) Scary movies or happy endings?

I cannot be paid or coerced to watch anything vaguely scary so I’m strongly on the happy endings side. I just want my fictional characters to have good lives man 😭😭

9.) Any talents?

Well, I am a bit of an artist. That’s quite underground though, I’m not sure if people know? (I’m not funny) No but seriously I draw, sing, act, write, play3 instruments, I can do accents? If that counts lol. My friends say my ability to be nice to anyone is a talent, which is sweet so I’ll add it :)

10.) Where were you born?

Idk I just was

11.) What are your hobbies?

Drawing, singing, writing fanfic (guilty pleasure), reading fanfic, playing instruments, history facts (yes I’m a nerd shut up)

12.) Do you have any pets?

Never had one :’)

13.) How tall are you?

5’7 and still getting taller

14.) Favourite subject in school?

English english english I knoWW we all hate writing essays but uh. I don’t? It’s kinda fun actually 😭 and I like analysing poems? Uh. My English teacher is a gift to the earth so maybe that’s why

15.) Dream job?

Psychologist. I’ve always wanted to help people (especially teens) with whatever they’re going through, neurodivergent people, queer and trans people. Literally anyone who I can help. I know it’s a hard job, and it takes a lot of work, but honestly? Seeing people happier or if I can help at least one person would be worth it :)

Tagging people who might already have been tagged uhhhh but it’s fine probably

@adriancatrin @haroldtea @please-dont-burn-out @electro-strike-zukka-time @erisenyo @divorcedzukka @strrwbrrryjam @sukiluvvs @sukidude @bonksoundeffect @blu3berrydraws @mike-queerler @myguiltyartpleasure @moncuries @marriedzukka

[fancyfeathers]

Father Like Daughter (Yandere William James Moriarty and his darling having a genius daughter)

Thinking about the siblings and cousins again…

Hyacinth eventually needs a wheelchair because of her condition, because most of the time it becomes far too painful and or difficult to stand for long periods of time. Most of the time she would slap anyone’s hands away who try to push her chair, even if they only mean to help her (as someone who has used a wheelchair for about a year of my life cause of a series of surgeries in my knees, so not push someone without their consent). Most of the time when people do try push her it’s because she is ease dropping on a meeting or snooping around the house, she’ll slap their hand away, especially if it’s Sebastian or James, they can handle it, and then go off on her own telling them she can do somethings on her own. Then the only ones who have her permission to push her if need be are her father, mother, Louis, Andrei, and Madeline, but not Eloise or Marguerite because Eloise has the build of a twig and barely lift or push anything over fifteen pounds and Marguerite because she accidentally made Hyacinth tip over backwards by putting practically her whole weight on the back of the chair.

Madeline goes horseback riding early every morning, before anyone even wakes up, like around four in the morning, so no one even knows she is gone. When she is in London she goes to St. James's Park along the paths there and since it is so dark and early practically no one sees her, then in Durham she goes along the old country paths that are practically empty minus the early morning farmer who she passes by every day who she smiles and waves at, but this is also how her father finds out because he is rather sociable with many of the locals and the farmer mentions a young blonde lady who looks an awful a lot like William who rides by every morning. Honestly William is quite impressed by his youngest daughter’s ability to sneak in and out completely unnoticed by the entire family and with a horse no less, because every morning when they have breakfast she is redressed in her nightgown. So one day when she is on the path through the woods she hears another horse coming up from behind her and she assumes it’s another townsperson but then she hears her father’s voice.

“Madeline, you are more than welcome to go riding wherever you please, but do tell me first in the case something were to happen to you… and do not tell me have been riding out in London at this early hour as well, it is not safe at that early.”

“…”

“You have, haven’t you?”

“…yes.”

Then Andrei is an artist, both with the theater, joining acting classes at university and attending talks on the theory of acting, who he normally takes Hyacinth along with, honestly if he could he would love to join the theater as an actor probably but since he has every intention of one day being the head of the family and the earl he lets those dreams go but constantly encourages his sisters and cousins to follow their own dreams, but for now he will enjoy the days of performing with his classmates at school and his sister. Then on the other side of the arts he is quite adept in music, learning from his mother to play the piano when he was barely three, and then quickly picking up the violin, cello, flute, guitar, to name a few, when Marguerite and their mother return from their travels during the time skip they return with a truck full of sheet music from all sorts of countries and even a guitar they bought him in Spain and a violin from Russia and they quickly becomes his prized possessions. Then lastly Eloise was the one who got him into the art of painting and drawing, the two have actually spent hours outside in the garden or the park with their paints or sketchbooks to do a scene of the outdoors and gossip, these sessions will go on for sometimes six hours and end whenever they are called inside for dinner or someone like Moran, James, or Jack comes to grab the two from the park because it is getting dark, but normally when they go out to the park either Moran or James comes along to make sure Eloise or Andrei doesn’t try anything too clever.

Speaking of Eloise, she just wants to be held by someone but has far too much pride to say sorry. She always distances herself from the adults in her life, even her mother when she gets into her teens, and the only ones she will listen to are her sister and cousins, especially Andrei and Madeline. But her snarky and rude comments towards the others in the family gets her in more trouble as the years go by and she learns to become more bold with her words, especially when William mentions the murder of an entire family, including the children, that is assumed to be the work of some Duke in York…

“I do not think you should be talking, father, especially since you murdered the one who had your name first when he was a child.”

The silence after that comment was so loud you could practically hear a pin drop, but Eloise just flipped to the next page in her book that she was reading. The silence is only broken when William stands up from his seat and pulls the book right from her hands.

“Go to your room, and Louis?”

“Yes”

“Can you grab the other books she has up in her room?”

After that incident Eloise was grounded for two weeks because of all of her comments, that was just the final straw. So instead of her books, she must actually talk to her family for a change, but this just turns to her and Andrei painting together.

Then Marguerite has a nasty habit of sneaking contraband items from around the house. Sometimes during late nights when people are asleep in the house, she steals a pack of cigarettes from her Uncle William’s study or from a draw in the kitchen where she knows Moran hides extra sometimes which she normals smokes with Andrei when he takes her out into town or with Eloise when she goes to her room to talk when most of everyone is gone on missions so they cannot get caught, these talks are normally rather deep, hopes, dreams, fears in life, and sometimes they loose track of time and have to scramble to hide the evidence when they see the carriage returning from the window, they only have been caught twice. Then she also often steals a bottle of wine from the cellar, but this is not something she often indulges in, mostly something she does to mess with her father because no how hard he tries he will never find it because it is hidden under a loose floorboard underneath her dresser. But somethings she does open a bottle to split only with Hyacinth when either of them have had a particularly horrible day, Hyacinth’s illness acting up or Marguerite getting in trouble and judged by other nobility, most of whom she has never met, for her lack of ladylike behavior in public.

[flightyquinn]

AI Haters, Please Read to the End

I see people celebrating every time something bad happens in the AI art world, and that makes me very sad. Because I am partially colorblind, and have ADHD, clinical depression, and other health issues that I'm less comfortable talking about. Because I can't work, and rely on family for housing and government assistance to afford essentials. For someone like me, the barrier to entry on art is high. I'm never going to own a drawing tablet, I can't get professional lessons, my focus sucks to the point where it's hard to follow tutorials no matter how much I want to, and even if all of that could be sorted, my own eyes are against me.

But I still have ideas. I still have pictures in my head that want to get out. Characters that want faces, scenes that want to be expressed, and the like. I'm still creative. I just can't properly express that creativity. Nor can I pay someone else to express it for me. However, I can tell an AI what I'm trying to depict. I can tweak the settings, make small changes, spend hours on end generating and re-generating, tweaking and re-tweaking, and making small edits that are within my power to do, until I have a picture that satisfies my need to bring the thing in my head to life. That's not "stealing". It's not pushing a button and letting the computer do the work for me. That's me having my own ideas, and trying to use the tools at my disposal to turn them into something that other people can see.

Plus, there's one other thing I can do. This is a picture I generated with AI that I'm actually quite proud of.

And do you know why? Because it started as this.

I fed my terrible MSPaint rough as hell doodle into an AI, and told it what the picture was supposed to be. And I tried again, and again, and again, until I was able to refine the result into something that I was happy with - which took a whole lot more than just pressing the button again, let me tell you.

This is my idea, from start to finish, and my shitty art became something that actually looks halfway decent. Yeah, I'm aware of the wonkiness and AI jank. I know the jawline's weird, his eyes don't match, and there's something up with his ear. It's not perfect, but it's a whole lot better than what I could do on my own.

Look, when it comes to stopping the commercialization of AI art, I'm right there with you guys. Fuck corporations that want to replace their whole art department. Fuck people who want to impersonate other artists, or take commissions to turn someone's description of what they want into a prompt. Hell, fuck the people who take the first result they're given without trying to refine it at all!

However, I don't want AI to die. AI is an accessibility option. AI is a tool that lets me go from saying for years, "I wish I could have art of my first D&D character, I have so many fond memories of him." to having that one picture. It lets me stop stealing every time I want a character portrait for a new TTRPG that I'm starting up. Because you know what? I don't have the ability to be a "real artist", and I never will. There's too many barriers for entry.

...and my situation is mild compared to what some people have to deal with. Sure, there are people who find ways to make traditional art despite disabilities, but that's an exception. It could be the rule. Why shouldn't it be?

As far as "theft" goes, I have yet to hear one explanation of why it's okay to use references, but not AI, that didn't boil down to "it's different when we do it". And what about collage? Is a collage art, or is it "theft?" What about sculptural works that use reclaimed objects? They didn't create that. They just decided how it would be arranged. Hell, what about pieces like "The Fountain" for that matter? That's a big problem I have with all this hate. If you applied the same standards to other things as to AI, then there's a lot of things that currently are art we'd have to say aren't any more.

If you have a problem with AI, why not work to make it better, instead of trying to deprive people who rely on it for self-expression of a creative outlet?

[queenimmadolla]

Ya know im getting really sad that all these fan arts im seeing have reader being white. Like can someone show me how they make these fan arts? I wanna make some with poc.

They’re just drawing themselves, fam. This is fanart of fan inserts, much like in writing, it’s just them. See, when it comes to writing poc (black for example) characters, it’d be blasphemous to expect white writers to write as a black person because they have no idea what it means and is to be a black person. One minor slip up, and they would most definitely be eaten alive. They would not know what they’re doing, which is why it’s their due diligence to make sure not to white code their reader for inclusivity, that’s what we’re asking for. There’s a way to do that.

Imma be real with you, there’s no fucking way to do that with fanart as the reader has to physically be depicted. No way. I’ve seen people do those bland characters where it looks like it’s the stick dude from the restroom sign and it’s nice, and appreciated but it’s not necessarily aesthetically pleasing to the eye because I don’t really see it as reader hugging Eddie or something, I see it as a stick figure hugging Eddie, so I understand why that’s not taking off. And I understand your frustration, trust me, if I had art skills, I’d be drawing myself and OCs with Eddie. You don’t see POC art, because POC artists aren’t drawing or posting, that’s the unfortunate reality of it.

Just like when I started writing because I got tired of reading white coded reader inserts, poc people have to do the same thing with their art. I can rant on and on about POC inclusivity, but it’s not gonna do shit if POC aren’t gonna step up to the plate and involve themselves. We have to put ourselves in these spaces, we cannot rely just on these white writers to not mention pale skin (which they should know better about). I can count on my hands the amount of POC writers I’ve come across in this fandom. It’s very sad. Especially when I’ve seen a couple of POC readers expand on some fic ideas, drabble, blurbs, etc and they’re really good fucking ideas and writers but they just don’t post. Like baby, you’ve got all the ingredients, just throw it in the fucking oven and cook it please!

So if you’ve got even an ounce of artistic ability in you, I am definitely encouraging you to draw POC reader in fanart. Begging actually, lol.

[creaturefeaster]

this post is sponsored by uppsulka

This post has nothing to do with Uppsulka I just had this doodle sitting for like a day. I just wanted to talk about my last post-- that ask about CQ’s story and the likes. I’ve gotten a handful of messages about it since I answered it (+a couple replies on the post itself) and I wanted to clarify a couple of things.

Please, if you’re worrying that I’m overworking myself, or pushing myself to put stuff out that isn’t ready yet, know that I am certainly not under any pressure to put things out before their due time. I share lots of tidbits about the story on this blog of course, but you may notice that any actual, physical writing for the story is virtually nonexistent on this blog. If I wanted to, I could have shared the drafts long ago, but I’m taking my time and making it perfect (for me). It will be out when it’s ready, and you don’t have to worry about outside pressures/lack of quality.

Another thing! Some of the messages I’ve gotten were in response to some of the tags on the post, as I am known to ramble quite a bit in the tags from time to time. I mentioned the possibility of me seeking out artistic help in the future. The amount of people wanting to help is heartwarming, it really helps me realise just how many people want to see this story come to fruition. However there’s still a long road before the real, official art for the story will come into play.

Finding the right people to help with such a personal project of mine, if I so choose to go down that fork in the road, would be an arduous process in making sure I know and trust those people and their abilities. (I’m also really picky about how my style is drawn, if people were to help. But that’s a discussion for another time) Not everyone has all the time in the world, either! This is a long term project. Keep in mind this story has been developing for over a decade, and while it’s only the last handful of years that I have really kicked everything into overdrive to try and fully piece it all together, it’s still probably got a while to go before I could ever consider it complete. So please, keep all of this in mind.

As I continue structuring and polishing the written story, I wish to release it in divided chunks. When any given chunk comes close to its finish, I’ll be having beta readers scour the texts for a little bit. Placeholder sketches would ideally be littered throughout the story as needed, but by beta reader’s judgement, more or less may be added. That right there, once the beta reading is done, is the end of the road to visuals-ville. That is to say, that’s when I’d start actually drawing out the things that I need.

So now you have some insight on how the process would work. Was it all necessary to explain? Probably not!!! But if I didn’t ramble so much, I don’t think I’d be able to write this story, either. It’s so big x_x.

All of this could be (and probably should have been) summarized to this:

For those who want to help, for those who truly enjoy the content I create for my universe and want to see more of it, I just ask for your support. Seeing likes, reblogs, reading the tags or comments people add onto the content I share, they really, really help keep me motivated. Every piece of fanart makes my day, whether I comment on it or not, I’m always behind the screen getting all giddy and excited that someone cares about the characters and world I’ve poured my heart and soul into. All the asks you guys send, while I can’t always answer all of them, it lets me know there are still people who are interested in the world and want to know more about it. That’s what keeps me wanting to write. So if you want to help, that’s how you can do it right now.

[starwars-art-events]

Art Trade 2: Put Them In Situations/Make Them Cozy

Hello there!

This is an informal, for-fun art trade event, meant for people who enjoy drawing for others. It's a pressure-free and casual trade! No need to create a big masterpiece--just something others would happily enjoy.

The theme this time around is "Put Them In Situations OR Make Them Cozy." You can select to either participate in making art of a character/multiple characters in peril/a sticky situation/comedically painful situation, OR you can choose to give them the comfort you feel they deserve. Both of these require SCENES this time! You will create art of the whole picture. What's happening? Who is it happening to? A snapshot (or a few!) of the scenario!

(More below the cut!)

Types of art welcome:

Drawings (digital or scanned traditional)

Short comics

Short animation

Photo edits

Video edits (music or otherwise)

Music creation

Moodboards/photo collages

Quotes-and-photo collages

Other (contact moderator ASAP)

Dates to adhere to:

Deadline to join: October 1st.

Dates to post: November 4th-5th.

Rules:

Joining requires creating art. To recieve art, you must create art! Simple as that. Many types of art are allowed (see above), and all can be adapted to how you wish to conceive yours.

You don't have to be "great" at any art to join! This is an informal event with no level restrictions. The important thing is that your art absolutely must have effort. For example, a moodboard should be cohesive, and it should contain enough photos that it could be worthy of giving as a gift. Make sure you are satisfied with what you are giving out (to your abilities levels, of course--don't expect the Star Wars Mona Lisa if you aren't to par with DaVinci's skills!).

This is an anonymous event. You will know who they are creating art for, but you will not know who you are recieving from! Until posting dates, please keep your art to yourself (or a trusted non-participating friend). In the words of Gandalf the Grey: Keep it secret; keep it safe.

Art should be created for your giftee based on things/characters/ideas they enjoy. Do a bit of "pseudo-stalking" (not real stalking) of their tags. See what the person enjoys, both in terms of mediums and concepts. If they have clone trooper OC's, base something off those guys! If they are a big Ezra Bridger fan, see what types of AUs they enjoy! If the concept of the Force makes them go wild, include that in your art! If you are at a loss for ideas, send an anon message to the person to see what they are interested in OR contact the moderator.

Please sign up only ONCE. You will recieve art from only ONE artist. The artist may wish to give you more than one piece of art, but it will only be from THAT artist alone. If you wish to make more art for someone else, arrange that on your own time, please!

If you need to drop out, that is okay! Things happen. You are able to drop out at any time. Please contact the moderator ASAP if you need to drop. Please understand that the other artists are putting their own time and effort into their pieces. The artist gifting their time and effort to you is no longer obligated to do so anymore. If you drop out, they are completely allowed to drop, too.

Important note: all skin tones and disabilities MUST be accurately portrayed. No skin tone should be lighter than the actor/character's actual skin colour. Disabilities must be depicted correctly. If not, you will be dropped. This is the personal wish of the moderator, but also just basic decency. Seriously, do your research portraying someone different than you. Do not fall prey to harmful tropes. This hurts others.

Depicting clothing for characters of specific religious/cultural backgrounds MUST be done with accuracy. For example, you must properly helmet Children of the Watch as they are shown in canon. Do not depict them out of armour in public settings. Same goes for Mirialans--make sure they are dressed appropriately, as shown by Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee. There will be NO "situations" regarding them being forced out of clothing/armour. NO THEMES OF SUCH XENOPHOBIA ARE ALLOWED.

NO NON-CONSENSUAL THEMES ARE PERMITTED.

IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS, PLEASE DM THE MODERATORs. You may do so here, or at @engagemythrusters OR @darlin-djarin.

Thanks, all!

[anjael]

TLHOD SECRET SANTA 2024 - SIGNUPS OPEN

Yes, it’s that time again!

As always, even if you aren’t participating, I’d be very grateful if you could signal boost by re-blogging!  I’ll also be cross-posting to my Twitter *here* so RTs much appreciated if you’re on there ~

What’s a Secret Santa?

For those who have never done a Secret Santa before, the way it works is you submit a gift request, which goes into a pool which is then randomised. The randomised requests are then handed out to the participants.

So basically, its Mystery Gift! Everyone draws/writes a gift for someone. You won’t know who it’s for, and you won’t know who is doing yours! Then at the exchange, the completed gifts are handed out anonymously to whomever they belong, via email.

Sounds good, where do I sign?

Send your email applications right here!   -> tlhodsecretsanta@gmail.com

What do I write in my  application email?

1. Your name / tumblr tag / most used social media - a link to your blog would also be helpful so I know who you are and can contact you if emails are not working or something. A link to examples of your work (art tag, etc) is also appreciated!

2. Preferred gift rating.  NSFW requests are totally okay as long as they are not offensive/racist/sexist but if you’d like something NSFW, please also provide a SFW alternative request as not everyone is comfortable producing such content. If you don’t mind receiving NSFW but would prefer not to submit it, please tell me and vice versa.

3. Your actual request!  If you prefer shipping/non shipping, please include this in your signup email. Please try to word your request so that it can be filled by either an artist or writer, if possible, as your gift-giver is randomly assigned!

Examples of requests  (just for reference, there’s no required format):

- something with your fave pairing / a particular scene

- an AU you’d like to see (please provide some details)

Your requests don’t have to have any particular theme, request whatever you like!

4. Whether you would be able to pinch-hit (fill an extra gift if needed).

5. Whether you would like to remain anonymous to your gift recipient and/or on the master-post of entries (which will be posted up on Tumblr a few days after gift exchange)

———-   DEADLINES   ————–

Applications Close:  29th October 2024, 00:00 GMT

Prompts Sent Out to Participants: by 1st November 2024, 00:00 GMT

Gift submission: 20th December 2024, 22:00 GMT

(Please submit your completed gifts to tlhodsecretsanta@gmail.com)

Gift Exchange: 22nd - 24th December 2024 (TBC)

———-      RULES/GUIDELINES     —————–

- Don’t be a butt. (generally the best rule to live by)

- Complete the gift using your MAD SKILLS, be it drawing or writing fanfic! If you have other cool magic abilities like animating, you’re welcome to use those too!

- Please submit completed works only. Your gift should be fully coloured if it’s art (unless you are specifically doing a monochrome / inked piece), and properly formatted, spell-checked and at least 1,000 words if it’s a written piece.

- For written pieces, google doc links/word documents are fine for the email exchange, but if you want me to include your fic in the tumblr master-post please bear in mind you need to post it somewhere link-able such as AO3.

- if you are submitting NSFW art, AO3 hosts art too and can be a good alternative to tumblr/twitter restrictions.

- Please don’t post any completed gifts on your blog before the gift exchange date!

- if the deadline is approaching and you know you won’t be able to submit your piece in time, please tell me as soon as possible so I can arrange for someone else to fill your assigned prompt.

- if you’d like to remain anonymous, please tell me (there will be master-posts of all the submissions a couple of days after exchange)

- I’ll be tracking the tumblr tag ‘tlhod secret santa 2024’.

There’s also a Discord group - please let us know if you’d like an invite!