#classical mode

[shortnasties]

2686. The Classical Mode

This is “The Classical Mode.” You don’t have to. 

At the beach, I live next door to Jimmy the Artist. I call him Jimmy the Artist because he was an artist a long time ago but is now just an 80-year-old slugabed who sits in the sun and drinks beer all day. You can’t argue with that kind of life. 

        Jimmy the Artist reclines in his tattered beach chair on his sandy lawn and says, “Jimmy Buffett would kill himself for my life.” And then he sips long and slow from the frozen mug that holds his beer until he nods off. 

        One time I was curious enough to look up what kind of art Jimmy the Artist did all those years ago. It didn’t take long before all the paintings started popping up. Ones I even recognized. It seemed he was a master of the classical mode. Things you’d see alongside Monet and Manet and Mozart or whoever. 

        I wondered what led this man down this road, to this very point of lazy, vacational longitude?

        I’ve never asked him. They tell you not to ask an artist what it means. It’s just best to not say anything. Which is the hardest art to master.        

[capsyst]

Here’s a breakdown of my animation.

Once I created the cave set in 3D, I retextured all of the blocks to be a wireframe so I could more easily keep the proportions correct as the camera moved through the scene. I began with a simple box person body. Not only did this help me make sure the proportions were correct but the different angles and sides of the character helped me eventually keep the characters features in the right places later. It’s very rough, but it was a good indication that I was on the right track.

Then began the tedious process of refining the animation. I did a new pass over the original animation with all the features of the character. It’s more detailed, but it’s just as rough in a lot of ways. I wasn’t trying to ensure elements were consistent frame to frame, so you can see a lot of the linework is very wobbly and inconsistent.

Once that was done I went back and did a cleanup phase. This helped smooth out all those inconsistencies and I worked on making sure the animation was smooth and flowed nicely. This became the basis for the final inks and color.

When I’d gotten far enough into working on the scene I went back to the 3D model and rendered it out in multiple passes. I did a flat lighting pass which you see here, and then a shadow pass. I combined the two in Premiere, added some color adjustments and then rendered it out to be used as the background for the final product.

I imported the finished rendered background into Procreate Dreams and began the final coloring. I’d already previously decided on the desaturated colors that would make them fit in this cave environment, so coloring was actually a breeze.

The final two elements that really brought it all together was a shadow layer and a glow layer for the torch. The shadow layer was tricky, but it definitely helps make it seem like the character is interacting with the environment.

As previously mentioned I thought I was going to import this into Procreate and animate it there since I like the Animation Assist tool in Procreate more than I do with how Dreams works. But ultimately because so much of this animation was tied to the movement of the camera I ended up animating ALL of this in Procreate Dream.

I’m really proud of my work here. If there’s anything you wanna learn more about how I worked or anything please feel free to ask, I’d be more than happy to talk about the process more!

[nickolashx]

Still Wakes the Deep (2024)

Still Wakes the Deep is a horror video game developed by The Chinese Room and published by Secret Mode.

You are an offshore oil rig worker, Cameron "Caz" McLeary, fighting for your life through a vicious storm, perilous surroundings, and the dark, freezing North Sea waters.

All lines of communication have been severed. All exits are gone. All that remains is to face the unknowable horror that’s come aboard.

[realidadposts]

[feza-creations]

//STATS// 3.18.2024

[weak-hero]

Lucy and Norm after learning the truth about their father and vaults:

[faygos]

roxy doodle!!

[pinceauarcenciel]

And here's a better view of all the paintings in my Precure Museum pieces that also were printed as postcards for the @precure20f zine ✨

It was really fun to do, so I hope to complete the collection with all the existing series one day (; ω ;)

※ Fanart and Classical paintings referenced + details (long list under the cut):

- Tropical-Rouge! Precure © Toei Animation > Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus - HappinessCharge Precure! © Toei Animation > Alphonse Mucha, The Times of the Day - Smile Precure! © Toei Animation > Edouard Bisson, The dance of the nymphs - Hugtto! Precure © Toei Animation > Eustache Le Sueur, The Birth of Cupid - Go! Princess Precure © Toei Animation > Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas - Delicous Party♡Precure © Toei Animation > Claude Monet, Le déjeuner sur l'herbe - Futari wa Precure Splash☆Star © Toei Animation > François Boucher, Pastoral Subject - DokiDoki! Precure © Toei Animation > (Cure Ace) Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio), Madonna del Granduca; (Mana, Rikka, Alice, & Makoto) Georges de La Tour, The Card Sharp with the Ace of Diamonds - Suite Precure♪ © Toei Animation > Pierre Auguste Renoir, Julie Manet with Cat - Kirakira☆Precure à la Mode © Toei Animation > Pierre Auguste Renoir, Luncheon of the Boating Party

Repost of my works is forbidden!

Whispers: If you like my work you can support me on ko-fi (link in my bio!) (•̀ᴗ-)✧

[rocketqueen1989x]

you can tell Duff is on dad mode

(GRACE IS SO FUCKIN PRETTY !)

[greenheartart]

Day 14 - Fierce

Some people dress up to look stylish. Stretch dresses up to inflict psychic damage.

[crazymecjc]

✨daniil dankovsky’s fun steppe vacation✨

[flibbleynova]

[capsyst]

Here’s my second big Procreate Dreams animation! Really challenged myself hard with this one!

Remember that storyboard I did for a Minecraft character meeting the Warden? The beginning of the storyboard involved several shots showing the character running away from mobs until they reached an area the mobs wouldn’t step foot into. I decided to make that chase scene into one continuous shot.

I modeled up a cave in a 3D animation program and moved the camera around to what I hoped would be an appropriate path. Once rendered I imported this into Procreate Dreams and began animating on top of it, using a grid to be my guidelines to help me keep the character proportional.

After a rough animation was done, I went back and refined it. Then I inked and colored it. Finally I added a shadow layer on top and a glow layer for the torch. Took me about half a month (15 days) to complete.

I’m really proud of this one. I thought I would animate it in Procreate like I did the last one, but because of the nature of needing to match the art with the background I found it was much easier to just animate it entirely in Dreams.

I’ll post a breakdown later when I have a chance.

Hope you fellow Minecraft Story Mode fans enjoy this!

(Fun little fact, all of the sound effects are from Minecraft.)

[raykat]

bending shapes and twisting bones

[jinglebunns]

art from my Kirby Rabbit AMV that i still like 🐰

[aleksanderscult]

Was Aleksander power-hungry or wanted power to use it for the protection of his people?

This question is one of the most hotly debatable in this fandom and I decided to clear this out not by analyzing his words through the POV of other characters (who don't believe him and therefore the reader finds him a liar) but through his own perspective in "Rule of Wolves".

So let's take an objective look inside his own thoughts and find out.

His very first thoughts were how could he reclaim his powers, describing the whole experience as somewhat painful and confusing to him. His second were about Alina.

And these are his third ones. He explains how utterly worthless Nikolai and Zoya are to save Ravka. How immature and weak. Aleksander finds himself to be the only one able for this task. His powers, experience and general abilities are testament to that.

But note how he calls Ravka "his country". From the carved woods decorating his bedroom to his knowledge of "every pebble and branch" of it, this country is special to him. He loves it, feels a connection to it and wants to protect it.

(You just can't call the Darkling "unpatriotic")

He displays bitterness for his loss and Ravka's new state just verifies to him that his plans would only prevent this decaying fate.

Yuri: "Sankta Alina who gave her life for Ravka"

Aleksander: "Am I a joke to you?"

And indeed is he?

Aleksander displays a very strong resentment for the lack of recognition he has gained. His statement: "I gave my life for Ravka" probably doesn't only allude to his death from Alina's hands but also his total commitment in the protection of the Grisha and Ravka that lasted for centuries. He gave his life away by pushing his personal happiness and well-being aside and wholly dedicating his life and skills to a selfless goal. He wasted years, allies, soldiers, endured otkazat'sya Kings that rule him, a bitter mother and his own immortality only for others to hurriedly erase any memory of him once he's gone.

So it seems that his desire to be seen only stems from his long-awaited and secret wish for his actions to be recognized.

Based on the last screenshot, he views his actions as justified not because of a "power-hungry nature" but out of his efforts to help others. Whether these actions are justified or not depends on the reader.

I believe this is one of the most concrete evidence that Aleksander truly cared about the Grisha.

He felt intense anger for those who were ignorant and apathetic towards the Grisha's fate and he himself cared about who was gonna sit the Ravkan throne.

No matter how much humanity he shed as the years passed, it seems that he didn't shed all of it by the time of these books.

Apparently Aleksander had two main goals in this book:

- To protect his people and country as he always strived to do.

- For others to finally give him some credit and have their acknowledgment that yes, he has done something for this country all these years.

In order to help the Grisha and change their fates he needed to be in a position of strength, hence his desire to take the throne. He views himself as a fatherly figure towards his people. A protector and guardian.

But he also wants to become a Saint and king. For people to look up to him. So many Saints had done less than half in comparison to Aleksander and they still won people's love. Now it's his turn and he thinks he deserves it.

I'm adding a short parenthesis here.

His concern didn't only extent to the Grisha but to his blind, otkazat'sya followers as well.

He cared about what would happen in the battlefield and seemed ready to create nichevo'ya to protect them. Merzost is extremely painful but this "selfish" villain is ready to use it to protect his naive but innocent army.

A hundred of years ago Aleksander refused the King's gold as payment for his services. Instead he opted to plead for the construction of a palace. A home and haven for all the Grisha that were hiding out of fear from the persecution against them.

He saw his chance and took it to make the lives of his people a little better.

So this whole "the Darkling created the Fold out of his desire for power" was bullshit after all.

He wanted power but only to use it to end the wars. Ironically, the result of it (aka. the Fold) only aggravated the problem.

And the Darkling's dream never came entirely true. He gave them a home but never a safe life. Ravka was almost always at war, Grisha were never accepted, the Ravkan kings never paid much attention to the Grisha's problems regarding their role in society which placed them almost at the bottom of the food chain.

All these things worried Aleksander and pushed him to action both when he created the Fold and when he started the Civil War.

The Darkling has a very different mentality than those who don't have the burden of immortality on their shoulders.

Aleksander uses time as an advantage and has a remarkable patience. He bides his time and strikes when he sees the opportunity, leaving other people to die since they're only just a part of a whole. He probably thinks: "Well, I'll meet plenty more new otkazat'sya in the future so why should I be concerned for this bunch here?"

But the bleak future of the Grisha make him stop and think. They're the only reason why he stays and fight and why he proclaimed Zoya a Saint.

So it's obvious that Aleksander only used power for the benefit of his people and country.

- When king Yevgeni offered him a handsome reward, Aleksander turned it down and chose to appeal for a better future for the rest of the Grisha.

- When the wars didn't stop coming and Grisha were again getting killed, he tried to use merzost to augment his powers and put a stop to it.

- When he tried to use the Fold as a weapon with Alina at his side, he did it to place Ravka in a stronger position in comparison to his enemies.

- He viewed Nikolai and Zoya dangerous to the rest of the country.

- He was concerned of what would happen to the Grisha if Demidov became king.

- He was determined to save Ravka and lead it as their king and protector.

- Even though he thought of leaving, he stayed out of concern for the Grisha (again).

Contrary to the people who say that the Darkling began selfless but by the time of these books became selfish, it seems that he never lost his selflessness. He still kept thinking about others and his last moments he was unrepentant for his crimes since he did them for others not for himself. It's true that he had pride and an ego but rightfully so. No one else was as powerful or as capable as him to make a change and, honestly, no one else made a decent effort but him.

He also displayed a strong bitterness for the fact that others were so quick to forget him and his actions. He felt wronged that after all he had done, none wanted to acknowledge his own part in the protection of Ravka. He wanted to be seen and appreciated. His anger and indignation came from a place of injustice as he saw it. Whatever he did was labeled as wrong and people only feared him, never feeling gratefulness or love towards him. The Darkling wanted others to give him his due for what he went through, did and tried to do. Recognition after so many years of feeling invisible and hated.

It was something that even his enemies admitted about him:

The strongest evidence of his yearning to shield his country is how he willingly gave his life for it at the end. He would be tortured forever but at least his people wouldn't forget him and he would have fulfilled his desired role as a protector of his country.