#even though most of my digital stuff looks better than the traditional bc I have access to a bunch of transformation tools

[off-mozzarella]

Thinking about how I went from artistically gifted kid who was pretty good at copying pictures to mediocre artist who basically struggles to draw a face every single time 🥴

[leonenjoyer69]

I really love your art, and I've been wondering what your art process is? Also what art program you use?

THANK YOU SO MUCH, I'm glad so many of y'all like my stuff hehe :333

I did kinda go into my art process and style in this post, doing a quick headshot doodle and giving some personal tips, but! I can always share a little more :3

Okay, so I do most all my art traditionally, bc honestly I'm not very adept at digital art lmao. Most the time I just doodle headshots and such, but whenever I do half/full bodies I just,,, rawdog the poses bc I'm too lazy to look at references 💀 this is usually what my art looks like before I go back and fix things up and erase guidelines and such:

I'm a very messy artist, but hey, it's clearly got it's charm cuz y'all like it :3

The program I use is usually IbisPaintX on my phone (occasionally I'll use MSPaint on my laptop tho), and most of my digital art is done in one of 3 ways--

1- The traditional drawing is imported, I extract the line art, and just color it under the sketch. I like this bc it's easier and I really like the paper texture, but it does wash out the colors a weeee bit and it's hard to color pick from, and the lines are sometimes a lot lighter than what I want, but it's easy and I'm lazy 😋

Here's a good example that shows the impact on the colors and the paper texture :3

2- I import the traditional drawing and then actually do real line art over it. Always looks better, but far more time consuming. Usually I do this for more serious pieces (or sometimes I just feel like it honestly) like this one-

And 3- fully digital. Ngl, this usually only happens when I have an art idea and don't have access to my sketchbook or if I don't feel great and don't wanna sit up to draw. But, they're usually always the vaguest doodles ever that I plan on doing traditionally later, but they just somehow keep evolving. I've done VERY few solely digital drawings, and one I just did I can't even show bc it's for a server art trade that hasnt been revealed yet, but I can give this one:

Uh, fun fact, when I do fully digital I like doing line art the long and hard way by just... Erasing and cleaning up my sketch lines, instead of going over them on a new layer, so yeah 💀

Otherwise, most my traditional art is done in my sketchbook (or on copy paper) with normal number 2 pencils! though I do also have a knack for drawing on random paper in pen. Im a pen doodle enjoyer, one of the best things you can do to improve at art quicker, I swear it.

That's all I can really think of, so!! Thank you for the ask, and I hope my answer is good lmao

[tangerinegod]

Hello! I am sorry to bother you but I am a senior getting ready for college this year. I am in the US and I wanted to major in the same thing you did, do you have any possible tips for me? I still haven't even looked for colleges that would be best for animation majors so I figured if you were up to giving out any tips/saying any basic ideas if you wanted to/if you had the time to then maybe I'll have a better idea! I apologise for if I sound weird! I'm tried to word it correctly but I can't 😿

hi!! i’m totally down to share my experiences! someone else also had some questions so i’m going to put them all together in this post haha, hopefully this helps! it’ll get pretty long so apologies ahead of time but art school is a lot to think about so i wanna be as helpful as i can around it, its a lot of time and money. I’m gonna put it all under a read more cus it is really really long!

i wanna start off with the fact that I had the privilege of attending school in a financially stable environment, my parents were/are really supportive so w merit scholarship i only came out with around 20-30k in debt and i also had housing support my entire time in school. they were ok with me focusing on academics so i didn’t hold a retail job unless i was out of school like summer/winter break. Ofc though i regularly take commissions/do merch/cons to try and pay for all bills that arent rent cus i did want to be financially independent where it was possible. I also did try and work during the semester but everytime i did my body would deff start to breakdown from the fact that i didnt wanna compromise schoolwork with jobs.. so just read ahead know this experience is from a student who was able to attend focusing only on school work for most of the time!

the biggest thing is knowing art school is not required to become a professional in either freelancing or industry! there are a huuuge amount of online tools and classes these days that provide the exact same education and for cheaper too. i think it depends on what experience you prefer/can handle/want but it’s definitely possible to make art/animation art your living without higher education. the thing that college will for sure give you though is the ability to meet deadlines, work even when you dont want to, and connections with peers+teachers. i think the connections part is invaluable because you’re basically coming out with a network of people you already know and who know you! 

also its good to know if you want to attend/can handle art school! it’s a lot of time and energy and students get burned out really fast. the best piece of advice i got before going was ‘if you draw every single day, even if its for only like 5-10 minutes or a doodle for a whole year you should be fine’ consistency is super key because you’re attending school to draw, and you’ll have to create work for stuff you aren’t excited for at some point or another. burnout is extremely real and the only reason i didn’t experience it was probably because i got super into drawing naruto fanart again inbetween sophomore and junior year! it helped give me something to draw seperated from school which is the only thing i was drawing for since i had entered rip. a heads up id also consider myself a workaholic so i fit in ok with the ‘art school’ environment but it is suuper unhealthy. if you are fantastic at managing your schedule then it’s definitely possible to take care of yourself! freshman year i got 8 hours a sleep a night and only pulled all nighters for some second semester finals at the end. sophomore year + up though i ended up prioritizing hw over sleep and like for sure, definitely shortened my life span. there’s another q down below where i’ll go more into detail but ya, be careful w ur work balance!

another tip especially for animation is knowing for a fact what type of animation you’re looking to go into, and what the school is offering. I didn’t think i’d get into art school at the time so i only applied to two places + decided if i didnt get into either id attend community to get credits out of the way while building portfolio. honestly? i did not do a lot of research LOL but like i did end up having the chance to tour and stuff! just know that each school will have a very different curriculum. The main differences are schools that prioritize 3D (cg animation, cg modeling, ect) and 2D/traditional (hand drawn, ‘oldschool’, digital or traditional based) this is a huge difference so make sure you do research for it! in most cases a 2D/traditional program will also offer 3D since it’s at the forefront of the industry animation wise rn. My school taught 2D but like hand drawn on physical paper 2D, frame by frame. while it was a good experience it’s super outdated because digital tools make it way faster + easier! i’d recommend looking for a program that is digital 2D over traditional 2D. 

if after your senior year covid is still affecting campuses in the US to keep them shut down i’d recommend attending a community college to get credits and then transferring into school. one of the negatives is paying money for gened classes when ur not there for them; if you can get them out of the way sooner and cheaper there is absolutely no negative + you could graduate earlier or use the extra time for better work or to work a job! 

these are all the general tips i think i’d give on like a broad basis of attending or not to think about? let me know if u have more q’s! someone asked q’s im answering below that go more into personal experiences + work culture so heres those:

- how many hours a week do u spend studying, in class, otherwise making art? like how much of ur life does it consume?

I was basically working on art.... 24/7! since i wasnt working a job at the same time i crammed as many credits as possible into my schedule so on avg i did 18 credit semesters (around 6 classes) art classes go for 6 hours and non art go for 3, so i’d spent around 30-35 hours in class a week! hw wise it varied on the class but combined it would be around 35-50 hours a week... im guessing? on average studio classes would have 8-10 hours of hw, maybe 5 for a light week, and gened classes 5 hours w them all combined. or this was probably how things were before junior year? junior+senior year i had thesis + everything else ontop.. i’d spend around 30-40 hours on thesis a week with other classes ontop of that bc my film was super long cus im a dummy! 

- is it hard going to art school n realising that altho u were probably quite talented… so is everyone else? Like. all of a sudden. ur not special and everyone seems as good as u, you know? More generally, how do u deal with comparison?

kinda?? i think instead of the idea of like you vs others it feels more of like a competition at first to be the best. this varies hugely on school culture though; my animation year was really friendly with each other and get along extremely well, so my answer to this is v different than some others who attended different schools. i think that the idea of ‘comparison’ only lasts a portion of the first year because at some point you realize that it’s not a who’s better as much as its a ‘these are my coworkers’ type thing? like healthy competition 100% because we’re all working to improve but i think most of us learned pretty early on that viewing each other as peers going into the same workforce helped a lot. also at some point everyone develops their own style/starts to develop their artistic preferences so there isn’t a way to compare whos 'better’ anymore? i dont think there ever is tbh because style is appealing based off of an individuals preferences. If anything realizing everyone else is also amazing makes you wanna work harder ig? or thats how i felt! it’s inspiring to be surrounded by so many people who create such amazing work. 

- is there a lot of workaholic culture? all nighter culture?

100000% there can be a workaholic and all nighter culture. i know people who avoided it and thats honestly fantastic because i fall super easily into that pit. sometimes i’ll pull all nighters on a personal project just because i really want to finish it... i am definitely considered a workaholic all the way through and its not healthy rip... i’d estimate at the worst i was pulling 2-3 all nighters a week and only 4-5 hours of sleep on the nights i didn’t? that was only for one year tho, after that i was like yeah ok this is really bad for my health in the long run LOL so i tried to cut it down to one all nighter a week and around 5-6 hours of sleep the rest of the week! by senior year my decision to cram in full semesters paid off and i was able to consistently get around 7 hours of sleep a night + no all nighters minus finals since my schedule was lighter despite thesis 😭 while there is that culture i don’t think people view it as like a badge of honor or something to be proud of anymore which is good, we mostly view it as a flaw of the art school system and something that needs to be fixed!!

- are you glad u did it? how did u know it was what u wanted?

i am glad i did it! i’m definitely in a limbo right now of if it was worth both my time, money, and my parents money rip but i think with what i got out of it i definitely wouldn’t be as far skill wise or knowledge wise when it comes to the art industry. i would say it was only worth it for be because i had so much support going in though so i was able to focus so much on improving. if i had only been able to put in part of the effort and not make full use of the resources provided i would honestly have a different answer.. 

i knew it was what i wanted when i realized i really couldn’t see myself pursuing a different profession happily! despite all the bumps and stuff im fully in love with drawing still and feel honored that it’s a field that can provide a living. my second profession choice was to go into culinary school? and third option i think going was into music cus i was also a band kid hehe.  

- how do u cope with ur hobby becoming ur job? how do u deal with art going from something u do for fun to something u do on command constantly?

i think seperating work art from personal art is important! in my case im doubling naruto into being personal work so i have something to fall back onto that isn’t work related. its been a hyperfixation for 12+ years? so drawing it at this point is just like personal art imo. some people have hobbies outside of art and only draw for their job! i think after attending classes for so long the idea of hobby turning into job feels extremely natural? also i enjoy doing it so thats a huge plus! 

sorry this is SO long but i hope i answered your guys’ questions! if you have more just lmk!

[laracroftsleatherjacket]

Flower Asks: all of them >:3€ (forgive me)

(this is so many omg but I’ll allow it only bc i love u)

Alisons: Sexuality? 

     Gay af (ace lesbean)

Amaranth: Pronouns/Gender?

     Waman (she/they)

Amaryllis: Birthday?

     November 2nd

Anemone: Favorite flower?

     Funnily enough anemones are one of my favs but i think my top favs are chrysanthemums and morning glories but I really love many flowers and flowers in general

Angelonia: Favorite t.v. show?

     As of right now, stranger things duh

Arum-Lily: What’s the farthest you’d go for a stranger?

     Like favors or? I mean I really do try to be a kind and helpful person but if I don’t know somebody or haven’t at least seen them a couple times before I usually don’t do much bc of anxiety 

Aster: What’s one of your favorite quotes?

     "The extraordinary is in what we do, not who we are.” Lara Croft mostly bc I cant think of anything else right now and that stuck with me

Aubrieta: Favorite drink?

     Like a really good cup of black tea with cream and sugar or sweet tea

Baby’s Breath: Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

     Never been kissed before but I definitely have someone in mind I would kiss ;3

Balsam Fir: Have you ever been in love?

     Hell yeah I am right now and I don’t think I ever have been before now

Baneberries: Favorite song?

     Oh hard question... currently really digging We Fell In Love in October by Girl in Red 

Basket of Gold: Describe your family.

     My family is supportive (for the most part) and very loving, even if they express love in weird ways sometimes. We also like to joke around a lot and make fun of each other but in a good way? Like we all have a good time mostly and I get along better with everyone since I started college

Beebalm: Do you have a best friend? Who is it?

     My girlfriend is my best friend uwu I also have a lot of good friends but yeah

Begonia: Favorite color?

     Purble but specifically like a pastel purple and purples that lean more towards blue than pink

Bellflower: Favorite animal?

     Lynx! I love so many animals tho and I also like many cats and domestic cats in general

Bergenia: Are you a morning or night person?

     Night!

Black-Eyed Susan: If you could be any animal for a day, what would it be?

     Probably would love to just be a loved house cat who gets to lay in front of the fire all day or a lynx bc i love them

Bloodroots: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

     A veterinarian (or a special agent lmao)! I also still plan on being a vet tho even tho I get discouraged at least once a month 

Bluemink: What are your thoughts on children?

     I mean I like kids and I was a camp counselor for a summer, but I dont really want any of my own

Blazing Stars: What are you afraid of? Is there a reason why?

     Oh god so many things.. Biggest thing would maybe be death/dying? Like if i think about it too much like the possibility of there just being nothing after death freaks me out. That and throwing up/nausea 

Borage: Give a random fact about your childhood.

     I played soccer and then I was a competitive swimmer so i was kind of an athlete? even tho i hated sports

Bugleherb: How would you spend your last day on Earth?  

     I think I would like to go to waffle house, have the perfect cup of tea, spend lots of time with my loved ones and pet my kitties, play video games with my gf, and sit under a tree in the mountains preferably on a warmer day in the fall and watch the sunset 

Buttercup: Relationship Status?

     Very happily taken

Camelia: If you could visit anywhere, where would you want to go?

     Always wanted to visit Norway

Candytufts: When do you feel most loved?

      Really big long hugs, good morning or goodnight messages, and I also really love cards 

Canna: Do you have any tattoos?  

     I have 6 

Canterbury Bells: Do you have any piercings?

     Yup! I have an industrial, orbital, and 3 earlobe piercings   

California Poppy: Height?  

     5′2 or maybe a little less

Cardinal Flower: Do you believe in ghosts?

     Yeah I think so, but I do also get freaked out easily lmao

Carnation: What are you currently wearing? 

     Red flannel, jeans, fuzzy socks, and big dyke boots  

Catnip: Have you ever slept with a nightlight?

     Yeah I did for a long time and I still sometimes sleep with one or like a bathroom light on if Im sleeping by myself in a new place

Chives: Who was the last person you hugged?  

     Either my mom or my dad I dont remember technically who was last bc my parents are visiting me at college

Chrysanthemum: Who’s the last person you kissed?

     Again, never kissed or been kissed! but maybe soon... :0

Cock’s Comb: Favorite font?

     Font? I like the font in Night in the Woods?

Columbine: Are you tired?

     Pretty much always either sleepy or tired lol

Common Boneset: What are you looking forward to?

     Christmas, getting to see my gf again, and Magfest!

Coneflower: Dream job?

     Like a veterinarian but having my own practice and also being able to take in injured wildlife if possible

Crane’s-Bill: Introvert or extrovert?

     Introvert for sure

Crocus: Have you ever been in love?

     Oh repeat question, hell yes

Crown Imperial: What’s the farthest you would go for someone you care about?

     Depends what it is but I would go pretty far for somebody I care about and Im also a crazy person and would drive/travel no matter what distance for someone I love

Cyclamen: Did you have a favorite stuffed animal as a child? What was it?

     Yup! I had a ballerina bunny, named Bunny because I was very creative and I still have her

Daffodil: What’s your zodiac sign?

     Scorpio

Dahlia: Have you done anything worth remembering?

     I think so? I did a lot of cool stuff with my GS troop like our bronze award project and going ziplining and to sliding rock. 

Daisy: What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment?

     My GS gold award for sure, that shit was hard work and stressful af

Daylily: What would you do if your parents didn’t like your partner(s)?  

     Umm??? I would tell my dad to eat shit and die and I cant imagine my mom being anything but sweet and supportive so I dont even know

Dendrobium: Who is the last person that you said “I love you” to?

     You! This morning uwu

False Goat’s Beard: What is something you are good at?

     uhh Im pretty good at making sense of stuff in my science labs and reasoning and im sometimes good at art? I feel like I do traditional better but Im getting better at digital

Foxgloves: What’s something you’re bad at?

     bad at not being impulsive sometimes and bad at dead by daylight 

Freesia: What are three good things that have happened in the past month?

     a little over a month but officially got a girlfriend who i love very much, my gf came down to visit and we got to chill on the mountains together, and I had a pretty nice birthday 

Garden Cosmos: How was your day today?

     Good! Got breakfast at a diner with my parents and got coffee and a donut at my fav coffee shop so thats all i really need in life tbh 

Gardenia: Are you happy with where you’re at in your life?

     Yeah Im happy even tho Im stressed with school at times 

Gladiolus: What is something you hope to do in the next year or two?

     Get a job after graduation and hopefully get into vet school on the first or second try

Glory-of-the-Snow: What are ten things that make you happy/you’re grateful to have in your life?

     My kitty, mom, wonderful gf, sister, dead by daylight, heated blanket, apartment, waffle house, my sisters kitty, and my dog

Heliotropium: What helps you calm down when you feel stressed?  

     Donuts, coffee or tea, blankets, video games, and loud music

Hellebore: How do you show affection?

     Hmm... I really like to draw art for those i love, tell them how much i love them even though i can be bad with words, and i just try to spend a lot of time with the people I care about no matter what we are doing

Hoary Stock: What are you proudest of?

     uhhh trying to open up more? and Im really proud of my gf 

Hollyhock: Describe your ideal day.

     Going to waffle house. Go to a mountain and hike a little, sit on the top with girlfriend. Admire beauty of mountain countryside. Admire beauty of girlfriend while they admire the beauty of the mountain. Then warm up together with hot chocolate and play video games

Hyacinth: What do you like to do in your free time?  

     I like to doodle and do the arts, play video games, and I like to bake sometimes

Hydrangea: How long have you known your best friend? How did you meet them?

     uuuuuuh I have a good friend I’ve known since kindergarten or first grade when I first moved to where I currently live

Irises: Who can you talk to about (almost) everything?

     My gf uwu and my mem

Laceleaf: How many friends do you have?

     probably like less than 10 

Lantanas: What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?

     I think its really cute especially when you compliment my laugh

Larkspur: What do you think of yourself?

     ??? I think I am an okay person? And I try to be a good person and be kind and polite to people

Lavender: What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

     Umm... I mean I like that Im kind? and Im not fake and I try to be a good person     

Leather Flower: What’s your least favorite thing about yourself?  

      I hate that I procrastinate and that I can get frustrated easily at myself and at situations like crowds and traffic

Lilac: What’s something you liked to do as a child?

     I liked to play ‘restaurant’ with my sister with our littlest pet shops

Lily: Who was your best friend when you were a kid?

     I had a really great best friend named Rachel :c

Lily of the Incas: What is something you still feel guilty for?

     Losing a lot of friends and for being distant for a long time 

Lily of the Nile: What is something you feel guilty for that you shouldn’t feel guilty about?  

     Cutting off a friend that was bad for my mental health and who didnt treat me well even though we were best friends for a long time 

Lupine: What does your name mean? Why is that your name?

     My name is literally my parents ship name... like they even told me they chose my name by putting their names together lmao but I mean I like my name so i guess its okay..

Marigold: Where did you grow up? Tell us about it.

     Small town in new jersey when I was really, it was nice and family was closer. Then we moved and that was difficult but I ended up adjusting and it was good, had a decent amount of friends and the schools i went to were good

Morning Glory: What was your bedroom like growing up?

     For a long time I shared a room with my sister and we had a bunkbed and I had the top bunk of course, when we moved out of the apartment and into a house I got my own room and it was baby blue only because I told my dad that no, I didnt want a fuckin pink room and that was a whole thing lmao

Mugworts: What was it like for you as a teenager? Did you enjoy your teenage years?  

    It was good? but also sucked a lot. I had a lot of issues with my mental health and struggled for a long while with something. I was bullied and stuff at home wasnt always that great. And i got outed so that was fun. Other than that I enjoyed swimming competitively and I got into art

Norwegian Angelica: Tell us about your mom.

I love my mom!! she is the most Mom mom and is so sweet and always there for me. She helps me out so much with so many things and I just love my mom so much

Onions: Tell about your dad.  

     I mean I love my dad? And hes better than he used to be, but he still doesnt help with shit and irritates me a lot. 

Orchid: Tell about your grandparents.

     I never got to know my grandfather on my moms side bc he passed away a few months before i was born and I sort of knew my grandmother but she lived far away and passed away 10 years ago. I usually see my gramma on my dads side the most and I try to visit often and help her out with stuff and I love her even though she can be a bit... racist and shit.. and I sometimes see my grandpa and step grandma but they can be strict about weird shit and always ask a lot of uncomfortable questions

Pansy: What was your most memorable birthday? What made it be so memorable?

     I dont really do much on my birthdays? Ive had a lot of nice birthdays and it usually involves going out to dinner or having a nice dinner at home and having birthday cake and playing games like jenga or yahtzee.

Peony: What was your first job?

     I did some petsitting for a while but my first real job was being a camp counselor/tower belayer/lifeguard at a girl scout camp

Petunia: If you’re in a relationship, how did you meet your partner(s)?

     Met online after following them for a long time and drawing some arts for them, but didnt really start chatting until stranger things 3 came out bc I saw they had just watched it. Didnt meet irl until fursonacon and I just remember seeing them walking up to my car when I got there and just being like .... oh no.  I had already had a crush but at that point I was just heart eyes      

Pincushion: How do you deal with pain?

     Its a little fucked up but depending on the type of physical pain I like it? Like getting tattoos and stuff.. emotional/mental I just curl up in blankets and listen to sad music lol

Pink: Where is home?

    I feel like I have many homes? I feel really at home in the mountains, at home with my family, and when Im with my girlfriend

Plantain Lilies: If you could go back in time, what is one thing you would stop/change?

     Every event no matter how shitty shaped me into who i am today and Im pretty content and lucky with what I have today so maybe nothing?

Prairie Gentian: Who is someone you look up to? Describe them.

     My GS leader Miss Kristin. So incredibly kind and outgoing and just willing to do whatever she can to help others. Shes so adventurous and outgoing and made my gs troop so amazing. She is such a wonderful lady and shes basically like another mom to me.

Primrose: Describe your ideal life.

     To be with my SO in a nice cabin in the mountains with a nice fireplace. Its cozy and we have pets (especially kitties but also maybe a dog and chickens and such) and life is okay and we’re happy

Rhodendron: What is something you used to believe in as a child?

     God and Santa Claus (i was so heartbroken (over santa not God lmao))

Ricinus: Who’s the most important in your life?

     My girlfriend and my mom

Rose: What’s your favorite sound?

    My gfs voice and their laugh c: and I also really like the sound of thunderstorms and rain

Rosemallows: What’s your favorite memory?

Sage: What’s your least favorite memory?

Snapdragon: At this moment, what do you want?  

     To see my gf again and for winter break to just be here already I am so done with school lol

St. John’s Wort: Is it easy or difficult for you to express how you feel about things?

     Difficult? I try really hard to express how I feel but I usually mess up and I get anxious but I try my best lol

Sunflower: What is something you don’t want to imagine life without?

     Any of my loved ones and my cat 

Sweet Pea: How much sleep did you get last night?

     I wish I got more sleep but it was an okay amount

Tickseed: What’s your main reason to get up every morning?

     Good morning texts from my gf and my gf in general

Touch-Me-Not: How do you feel about your current job?

      I dont currently have a job but I occasionally do art commissions which is usually fun and gives me something to do 

Transvaal Daisy: What’s your favorite item of clothing?

     Any of my flannels and my leather jacket (also not mine but my gfs hoodie they gave to me to borrow)

Tropical White Morning Glory: Describe your aesthetic. 

     mountains, cabins, flowers, fall, flannel, small coffee shops, pastels 

Tulip: What would be the best present to get you?

     Im not one to be picky about gifts? I just love anything that someone put some thought into and thought I would like or reminded them of me but i feel bad if it was something expensive or anything lol

Vervain: What’s stressing you out most right now?

     Final exams and graduation

Wisteria: How many books have you read in the past few months? What were they called?

     0 lmao I used to read a shit ton but Ive been picky about what books I want to read lately 

Wolf’s Bane: Where do you want to be in life this time next year?

    Working towards applying to vet school and maybe thinking about moving out depending on a lot of things.

Yarrow: Do you know what vore is?

     Unfortunately

Zinnia: Give a random fact about yourself.

     I like collecting pins, pennies, and postcards which is funny to me

(So in conclusion,,, I love my gf)

(wow that was long as hell and took forever but done!)

[creamybeemovie69]

Bc @clanwarrior-tumbly made a sappy post about Shawn x Anti I now gotta do my own cuz they’re adorable and soft and I love them

They literally first started talking bc Shawn has incredible aim due to having really steady hands and anti walked in on him throwing darts and a picture of Joey Drew

Anti respects the fact that Shawn will always put JJ first

Anti’s polyamorous panromantic/ Pansexual and Shawn’s a poly gay boi

Good lORD the gay jokes between these two

They have nights were they just sit on the bed drawing

This doesn’t bc Anti can’t draw

But he’s trying

Really hard

They’re both very bad tempered but Shawn definitely takes the crown

After they overcome their stubbornness and temper moments they’re actually pretty chill around eachother

Only Anti knows about Shawn collapsing and stuff when JJ was younger and Shawn made him promise not to tell JJ

After Henry got all the others out of the studio him, Shawn, Thomas and Allison were the only ones that knew what happened

So Wally wasn’t aware that him and Shawn weren’t technically together anymore

Shawn has to explain to Wally what happened, and as much as it hurt them both they figured there’d be better off this way, as Shawn couldn’t find it in him to deal with the fact that Wally doesnt remember what happened afterwards

It hurt Anti a lot because Shawn grew even more distant from him then, and he thought he wanted to be with Wally more than him, but it was really because Shawn was scared to get so attached again, as everyone he loves seems to leave him

Travis ran away, his mum died, JJ, Jack Hunter and William went off to war, celine and Damien went to Canada and then he lost Thomas, Grant, Lacie and Wally in the studio and it seemed to only then click with him that he really couldn’t keep anything good

Anti isn’t good with words, so (ironically, the guy who can’t talk) JJ had to explain to him that he’s got him, Thomas and Lacie back now, and that he was scared of a relationship with Wally, which is why it took so long for them to get ‘married’ and why they didn’t get to do all the stuff they wanted to do when they had the time

That’s when Shawn finally takes off his wedding ring

Anti is surprisingly cuddly? Shawn prefers his space so it kind of results in Shawn’s hand on his shoulder and Anti cuddling up to it in ridiculous ways when they sleep

Anti just kind of picks Shawn up and puts him down whenever he feels like it, just because he can and it’s funny picking up someone twice your size effortlessly. Ask JJ. He does it too.

I’ve mentioned before that literally all the Flynn’s (and one Jackson) are ridiculously tall and all well above 6 foot. Trevor was 6.5, Travis was 6.10, Shawn’s 6.7 and JJ’s 6.4

Very very tol bois

(Anti loves it bc he gets piggy backs and gets carried everywhere and definitely has a size kink)

Shawn’s not really as old fashioned as JJ’s for some reason, despite Shawn being a 20s boi and JJ being a 30s-40s boi

I mean like he doesn’t get modern technology (which is great because his bfs a glitch) and really the only one he gets is a digital drawing tablet because he practically drooled over the idea of not running out of art supplies and he still balls to the wall talks in all forms of indecipherable 20s slang but he’s not really traditional, so things like PDA and their first time weren’t really as awkward as Anti thought they’d be

Despite Shawn not really making plushies anymore Anti still has a shit ton of plushies Shawn’s made

They don’t argue? They kind of got past that bit at the beginning

Although Anti still has a hard time dealing with Shawn’s constant nightmares, episodes, etc. Bc JJ’s the only one who can calm him down from them

He’s not really jealous, but he hates the fact that he can’t help Shawn when he gets like that. He’s still grateful someone can though

Shawn actively seeks Anti out afterwards though

They didn’t really sleep in the same bed for a while because JJ and Shawn shared a bed for so long

Anti’s a slacker. Any task he gets is done quickly and he’s done a half arsed job of it, so the fact that Shawn’s a workaholic drives him insane

He doesn’t understand until Shawn explains the whole “yeah I pretty much died for JJ when I was 18” situation and he figured out it’s more a bad habit than a need to get things done

Anti will not leave the room in the morning until he looks gorgeous. He just won’t have it. So Shawn walking out the room in a half buttoned dress shirt and paint stained slacks with no attempt to comb his hair drives him n u t s

JJ and Anti rant about Shawn’s lack of presentability

He doesn’t know it bc I mean he can’t hear anything but Shawn has a really pretty singing voice that Anti adores

Anti only ever hears it if he’s standing outside the door listening to him sing while he works or when he sings in sleep, so he purposefully stays up to hear it most nights

Late night conversations don’t happen because Shawn hasn’t spoken the language since he was 9 yet still struggles holding a sentence in English not Irish.

He also talks in his sleep, but again it’s in Irish so Anti doesn’t understand it

It still results in Anti answering back like “really?” “Sounds interesting” “what happened then?” And things like that and he normally gets a response

Sometimes Anti has random moments were he apologises over and over and over about what he did to JJ in his power hour to Shawn but Shawn’s not good with words so he’s like “are you fucking serious? It’s JJ, if he cared that much, he’d break everything that’s breakable in your body and then some.” And Anti’s like “oh shit yeah” and that’s it

I made no attempt at keeping this short and I don’t care :)

[flockofdoves]

4, 9, 25!

omg.. these are all questions when looking through it i was like. i have a lot of Thoughts abt those ones fdkgjhdfkg. thank you angel!!! also please don’t feel obligated to read All This

i’m kinda embarrassed i wrote this much but i’m not good at editing things down after the fact

4. do you like your name?  is there another name you think would fit you better?

i do! chiara is my birthname and at times through my life i’ve wished for a more androgynous/masculine name but i guess like. my name and its pronunciation and spelling and what it meant to my mom in naming me has been consistent throughout my life i don’t feel like myself without that. if i grew up in italy i’d probably feel differently though bc at least in the north its become like . italian “maddie” lol i get so confused when i go there bc all of a sudden i’ll be hearing my name everywhere

chiaroscura i came up with as a melodramatic kid after i got excited about reading the tale of despereaux that the rat character chiaroscuro had a name so similar to mine and i thought it was cool he shortened it to roscuro. i liked the art style too and it helped people know how to pronounce my name sometimes. no one irl really called me roscura but i’ve been going by it online in addition to chiara since i was a tween

i’ve tried to go by other names throughout my life like cj and arie (pronounced in 3 syllables ah-ree-ay) and rio but none of them really stuck outside of very specific contexts even if i wanted something more androgynous i think i’m just ingrained with this. i’ve thought about having it be chiaroscuro instead but chiaro for short just seems dumb. idk. and even if roscuro sounds fine roscura isnt just Me me its also a name i really associate with like uhhhh.. some dissociative alter stuff so i wouldnt want to take that away from her idk

i was sure when i was younger i’d want to change my middle and last name. my middle name is anne lol so thats very common and i thought it was boring and didnt feel like Me and too feminine etc but in the past couple years with my nana (dads mom) dying and her name was ann and then also my grandma (moms mom) is annette and my moms own middle name is anne i guess even if i dont like it without context i can keep it for history

similarly with my last name. its anglicized swedish and i have no connection to that part of my family and when i was having a really difficult time with my dad i didn’t want it but now that hes died and our relationship got better towards the end i’m more okay with it.

not sure what i’ll do if i ever get married. also have considered changing my name if i ever have trouble with how fucking stupid i’ve been with being openly a communist/disabled/gay/etc online with my full name since i was 11 lol but i doubt that

9. are you an artist?

lol. i’m not sure anymore tbh :( i at least drew stuff almost every day of my life up until like a bit over a year ago now and even if i didn’t think i was any “good” compared to my peers in like . high school AP art who went on to art school and stuff it was a big part of my identity but i let myself fall out of it even when i’d never let depression do that before and just didn’t get that momentum again. i stress about it almost every day since then i keep saying i’m Finally getting back into it but beyond like . art therapy when i was in a php program or the couple sculpture classes i took before i had to drop out of even part time classes and then a few sketches i still haven’t really provably picked things up again. and its not just digital art or cartooning its also my other creative passions like making clothing and cosplay and making stories i feel like a shell of a person without it i’m tired of saying i’ll Soon get back into it. got as far as sketching something for an actual traditional art thing last week so maybe if i finish that i can prove to myself again. i think i have trouble and why i stopped is i wasn’t doing art because i enjoyed the process anymore, i wanted the final product to be good and got discouraged and fell into a grating routine to make art. i need to learn how to enjoy that process again (or just? let myself? idk) i really need to learn that with making comics because i don’t have much proof at all that i can make things beyond like. 6 pages long. and of course with webcomics you’re constantly learning and growing in developing them thats part of the medium. i want to be able to call myself an artist again even if its hard to see that right now. i almost started drawing before i started answering this right now. i hate that i keep pushing it off. i’ve definitely said this before, but it has to be soon

25. could you live as a hermit?

i think this past 9 months has been the closest i’ve ever been to a hermit and its made me very confident that i absolutely could not lmao. i’m so sick of this i need to see proof of life beyond this place and with irl interaction with loved ones beyond my mom on a regular basis stagnating here for even a few months longer is just too much i don’t even feel like a real person anymore and thats concerning on multiple levels lol. its wild to me i even got to this point and kind of ironic that i feel the most isolated i’ve ever felt once i moved to one of the biggest cities in this country. right now i’m sustaining myself by chasing hope of a way out with the start of maybe actual concrete steps towards just . seeing people i love again irl. but honestly even that is freaking me out because realistically it might take longer to get out of this than i’d like to and i really can’t handle being in this situation more than a few months more.

also just in a general sense i think humans need to collaborate and provide for each other. individualist fantasies of just providing for oneself and not having to care for others both jsut . tend to not actually be accurate and can be pretty reactionary. so many people are so isolated in many ways under capitalism and that makes divide and conquer easier but to ensure a future where that won’t be the case we need to build community/dual power/solidarity/etc etc. i feel a bit guilty i’m not putting my actions where my mouth is with that as an individual right now but i guess it makes sense how i got here when so much is structurally at play. its weird intellectualizing that balance sometimes.

i’m so sorry this turned into some fucking . vent tumblr therapy session jesus christ fdgkjhd

[cryptidofthekeys]

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately? 

❌ What's a trope you will never write? 

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

<3 - Mitch

I absolutely do listen to music when im writing most of the time! The music choice is all dependent on what im writing at the moment,, if its fluff I pick relatively calm, relaxed, or cute music ...if its angst I pick m u c h darker ones,, also unrelated bc i havent played this while writing, I’ve been playing that new fetch song that came out from kyle allen music, I fucking LOVE that song, it scratches so many itches in my brain

a trope I would never write? ...Mmm that’s a hard one tbh,, there’s not many tropes I won’t write- I guess if uh it counts as a trope the only thing I feel hella uncomfy writing would be anything amnesia related but thats all I can think of

and . . . . :) o h, one of the questions I was so looking forward too... I’m feeling HELLA generous too tonight so fuck it, you get sneak peeks of t h r e e stories! I’m going to be giving just the LAST paragraph of each that was written sooo!!

-------------------------------------------------------

First up that im most excited about personally is JLOT Chapter 3: Eventually everyone had finished their drawings and it was time to present them to Sun which Virgil didn’t know they’d be doing, he looked at his drawing and felt a little… Nervous, the thing was… In his spare time, Virgil was technically an artist, he loved to draw things, granted he was definitely better at the more… Digital stuff rather than traditional …Also better with literally everything else BUT crayons, he looked down at the drawing he made, it was just a picture of Sun, how he used to look actually…

------

Blue pupils in the whites, fully yellow with no paint missing, he was grinning of course but even though he used to be able to make facial expressions, he was still usually grinning if Virgil was being honest, he also put a bunch of stars, and little squiggles around Sun …And maybe an accidental heart that he quickly corrected into stars out of embarrassment. Virgil was tempted to draw Moon as well but he didn’t figure Sun would like that so he decided against it.

-----------------------------------------------------

Team Hell No - Horror Movie Night: “Whatever! Finish the damn horror movie yourself, you prick! I’m going to bed!” He yelled and that’s when Kane’s laughter died down a little, Daniel turned and started walking toward the bedroom, Kane calling out “Oh c’mon Daniel! It was just a harmless little scare! I was just messing with you! …Daniel! Come back!” He called out the other’s name but then the bedroom door slammed shut and that caused the man to groan and then sigh …Okay… Maybe…Maybe he did push it that time, maybe he pushed it a little TOO much tonight…

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Annnnd finally... IWTDFD Chapter 2: “(Y/N)!!” They both screamed, scaring you out of your hysterics, before they both took a deep breath, Steph holding her hands out in front of her “Now, look, you didn’t even let us finish…” She saw you were about to speak again and held a finger up “Ah- ah ah! Ah, no, let us finish…” Hunter nodded “You are going to be in a match with Kane, but look, we’re not going to send you out there just by yourself, we aren’t stupid (Y/N), we know what we’re doing” Stephanie then spoke up “So please, just, trust us, trust us and let us help you because I know as well as you do that you want to put a stop to this, you want to live your life in piece so trust us”

----------------------------------------------------------

I was feeling hella generous tonight but I also must warn in case of excitement,, I got me some yugioh dvds coming in like the next week so consider this a heads up to all my friends/followers for my story content gfldkfgjdls it might come to a halt when these arrive bc I WILL let my brain be consumed by the media

[the-space-case]

Also!! (It's the Bill's jumper slut here) I recently got into digital art but I am,,, really bad. Can I get any advice for it? Like with colours and shininess and backgrounds because ugh background and stuff? Idk what exactly I want advice on but please help because I am,, really bad and you are definitely the opposite of that

Yo!!! Thats a lot. Digitial art? Just as hard as traditional; it has its own rules. I can give you some tips but the most important thing out there is ehhhh TWO things.

1.) USE REFERENCES, DRAW FROM REAL LIFE. I hate doing this because I feel like a cheap printer, but think of it this way if you do too; if you use references and draw inspiration from real life, you’re making a base for what you make later one. Practice drawing one thing often enough and you have it memorized so you never have to look at it again/can warp it to your own exaggerated devices. You can’t draw anatomy if you don’t understand it! You can’t draw perspective if you don’t observe it critically! You can’t walk until you crawl yadda yadda yadda do as i say not as i do lmfao

--this is helpful for basically everything, including backgrounds and colors and shininess

2.) LEARN FROM EXAMPLE. There’s tons of artists from around the world who put their portfolios online. There’s tons of youtube videos based on learning art! Check out art throughout history, even! Check out your favorite styles, be it traditional or cartoon, and observe what you like about them specifically. Test it loads of them yourself; after awhile of trying style after style your personal preferences will develop.

Aside from those two, here’s some of my personal tips. They might not work for you! I’m not a professional here, these are just some things I enjoy doing with my art.

COLORS:

-if you use a color once in a picture, use it again to balance it out.

-made a character and colored it in but having trouble deciding on the bg colors? Use the ones already on your canvas/in the character. unite that canvas under one palette. Even just an abstract shape in the bg of one color is better than a blank; make it the least used color in the character if thats the case, or at least one not near the edges.

-try analogous color schemes or monochrome schemes to get a feel for colors you dont normally use. 

- try coloring without lineart too, thats a fun exercise. 

-sometimes if you put yellow next to blue it looks green. either decrease the intensity of said blue or adjust the yellow; same with other odd pairings. your brain is weird just go around it.

-if two colors of the same intensity are right next to eachother your brain might blend the line between them; again depends on if you want it but it happens with painting so i mean have at it i guess. 

SHININESS:

-make sure you know the direction where light is coming from; that dictates where lightspots go

-putting lightspots against areas of intense color makes em pop

-try making them not just white, but also pastels or just intense color. It’s good to experiment! 

-A hard lightspot gives an area a smoother, almost rubber like or wet texture. making it jagged makes it look a bit more leathered? Again, experiment as to what you like best. I enjoy putting a hard blot of white on a darker bg and then airbrushing around it to make a nice glow effect. 

-if the lightsource is anything but white, make lightspots that color. 

-BACKGROUNDS:

-I prefer to use references for backgrounds. rough out a few examples of various angles or object placements if you need to. I actually made a sort of room scheme for the parlor in Recovery, as seen below:

(its ok they can be shitty and still be useful)

-know that for bgs there’s the foreground, mid-ground and background, and it makes more sense to have all of them haha

-also good: make your characters interact with the bg/environment! Really brings the whole thing together. 

-most digital art programs have grids available; use those for making buildings and such, much easier than dragging over a bent-out-of-shape ruler and hoping for the best. 

MISC:

-if you know you’re bad at something in particular don’t shy away from it. Don’t avoid drawing hands bc you feel like you’re bad at drawing them! You gotta practice that shit, even if its hard/you dont like it. 

-generally if you’re going to draw something hard just do it with enthusiasm; a sort of fuck-you to despair. 

-if your wrist hurts stop until it doesn’t, Repetitive Strain Injuries are Bad and so is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. 

-flipping the canvas after drawing one eye lets you draw the other one without making it crooked, but if you’re lazy like me you can just...copy-paste it and reverse the layer and also maybe transform it to fit LMFAO. Still though flip the canvas just in case. 

-for some reason if you’re drawing a stack of objects start in the middle or do the contour first it helps with sizing. 

-draw at least once a day unless in pain lmfao

-Praaactice makes Peeeeerfect

-tbh anything goes in art, i’ve seen cheese with hair stapled to it in a museum just do what you want just get the basics down first makes things easier haha

[douchebagbrainwaves]

IT WAS PRESUMABLY MANY THOUSANDS OF YEARS BETWEEN WHEN PEOPLE FIRST STARTED TRYING TO TALK ABOUT ABSTRACTIONS

Would nerds feel at home? In fact, users expect a site to improve. Most visible disasters are not so alarming as they seem. As a founder, you have to face the fact that they have a hard time getting software done. It seems unlikely this is a coincidence. The other reason you need them is to make it convertible debt, but which didn't convert except in a really big round, like $20 million. No one is sure what research is supposed to be important. This essay is derived from a talk at the 2006 Startup School.1

One possibility is that this custom reflects the way investors like to collude when they can achieve the same results with much more complicated models. A survey course in art history may be worthwhile.2 Users prefer it not just because it's not currently the fashion. That's not what makes startups worth the trouble. But they were competing against opponents who couldn't change the rules on the fly.3 Usually from some specific, unsolved problem the founders identified. You can lose quite a lot in the brains department and it won't kill you. Words seem to work, just as the record labels have done. Those are interesting questions. It would be safe to be default dead if you could do all the work yourself, you need colleagues to brainstorm with, to talk you out of stupid decisions, and to cheer you up when things go wrong. Real startups prefer to work hard. They don't know how much they'll need to.4

The third part, incidentally, is how you get cofounders at the same time as the idea. To the extent there's a secret to success, it's not to be in the grip of a project you consider your life's work from.5 Choosing a marginal project is the startup equivalent of my eight year old outfielder, because whenever a fly ball came my way, I used to write papers for my friends. We take it for granted most of the great programmers he wanted. Much to the surprise of the builders of the first digital computers, Rod Brooks wrote, programs written for them usually did not work. I find myself repeating is pump out features.6 Sort of like slashing holes in your clothes or putting a safety pin through your ear, which were all wrong, so that few people with exact minds have taken up the subject.7 The only way a startup can have any leverage in a deal, you'll be a grad-school dropout, and you don't have to worry about novelty as professors do or profitability as businesses do. Nothing is more likely to turn out to have practical applications. Instead of asking what problem should I solve? But even to people who do.

They like the idea of inhabiting a world ruled by intelligence. The whole field is uncomfortable in its own skin. If they take you up, in one sense of the phrase or the other. How many little startups are Google and Yahoo—though strictly speaking someone else did think of that before? None of the ones we've funded have had a founder leave.8 No, you can't start a startup for real you're not a student anymore. The point is, you'll learn something by taking a psychology class. In math and the sciences, you can have a fruitful discussion about a topic only if it doesn't engage the identities of any of the questions they did. Don't try to make them take off, and it's missing when there's just one mistake that kills startups: not making something users want. So for all practical purposes, there is no limit to the amount of work that could be done in this area.9 Quite the opposite: the two dovetailed beautifully.

Beware, because although most professors are smart, but no smarter than you; they're not as motivated, because Google is not going away. The way to come up with more. Maybe it's just because knowledge about them hasn't permeated our culture yet. What if it's too hard? If someone with a PhD in computer science can't understand this thermostat, it must be more noble. Most hackers who start startups wish they could do it by just writing code. It didn't work out as I'd hoped. Try to learn something about everything and everything about something. This is the way the world is going. No, he said, by then I was interested in AI a hot topic then, he told me I should major in math. This is sometimes referred to as runway, as in How much runway do you have left?10

But there is a step beyond thinking of yourself as x but tolerating y: not even to consider yourself an x. I have to keep repeating it? For nearly all of history the success of a society was proportionate to its ability to assemble large and disciplined organizations. How often does it happen that a rule works for thousands of years, then switches polarity? Because the point at which this happens depends on the people rather than the topic, it's a mistake to conclude that because a question tends to provoke religious wars, it must be more noble. Apple's competitors now know better. Hotmail was still running on FreeBSD for years after Microsoft bought it, presumably because Windows couldn't handle the load.11 As a rule their interest is a function of growth. No one thought to go back and debug Aristotle's motivating argument.12

And not just the benefit but the cost. So starting a startup can be part of a good life. They may be trying to make you learn stuff that's more advanced than you'll need in a job, it may not just be because they're academics, detached from the real world.13 Once both parties realize it's a waste of time. The reason, I realized, is that they'll be able to refuse such an offer if they had bad table manners. For example, philosophy talks, among other things, about our obligations to one another; but you can learn when you need to impress are fairly tolerant. Could a trend based on them be that powerful? And nearly all the rest, including me, remember it as a period that would have made their lives easier. I told the fearsome Professor Conway that I was interested in AI a hot topic then, he told me that what he really liked was solving problems. Whereas the who else is investing? In workouts a football player may bench press 300 pounds, even though he may never have to compromise or ask anyone's permission, and if it's no good they may never come back. VCs.

Bargain-hunting among investors is a waste of time, which judging from the circumstantial evidence must have been made by every smart person who studied a little philosophy and declined to pursue it further, but for the moment the best I can offer is the hopelessly question-begging advice that if you make a conscious effort. Those are actually the elite of failures. One of the standard pieces of advice in fiction writing is show, don't tell. It's not that people think of grand ideas but decide to pursue smaller ones because they seem safer. Almost everyone's initial plan is broken. It would be safe to be default dead if you could get startups to stick to your town for a million apiece, then for a billion dollars you could bring in a thousand startups in town, the VCs wouldn't be trying so hard to make something people want. I find myself quoting? It is. That's the downside of it being easier to start a startup, there's always some disaster happening. Since fundraising appears to be 1968, when Nixon beat the more charismatic Hubert Humphrey.

Notes

Users had been campaigning for the first year or two, because the kind that has a word meaning how one feels when things are from an interview. Good news: users don't care about.

Hackers don't need its reassurance.

But in practice is that there's no other word that came to work your way up. Make sure it works on all the poorer countries. Inside their heads, which handled orders. One of the problem is poverty, not economic inequality as a percentage of startups that has a title.

A P successfully defended itself by allowing the unionization of its workforce in 1938, thereby gaining organized labor as a high-minded Edwardian child-heroes of Edith Nesbit's The Wouldbegoods. I'm not saying it's impossible without a time machine, how little autonomy one would say that it even seemed a miracle of workmanship. Some of the 1929 crash. This is everyday life in general we've done ok at fundraising is the least correlation between the top startup law firms are Wilson Sonsini, Orrick, Fenwick West, Gunderson Dettmer, and should in some cases the process of trying to work than stay home with them in their early twenties compressed into the heads of would-be poets were mistaken to be room for another.

In my current filter, dick has a power law dropoff, but he refused because a part has come unscrewed, you don't go back and rewrite journal entries over and over for two weeks. It was born when Plato and Aristotle looked at with fresh eyes and even if our competitors hate most? What they must do is form a union and renegotiate all the mistakes you made. The CRM114 Discriminator.

This probably undervalues the company does well and the opinion of the techniques for discouraging stupid comments have yet to find a kid. They're common to all cultures with long traditions of living in cities. The idea is the precise half of the venture business.

The only people who did it lose? A doctor friend warns that even if they can be fooled by grammar.

For most of the present that most people, but most neighborhoods successfully resisted them.

Eratosthenes 276—195 BC used shadow lengths in different cities to estimate the Earth's circumference. Every language probably has to grind.

There are some whose definition of property without affecting and probably especially those that will be silenced.

Comments at the wrong ISP. If you want to live in a in the country turned its back on the economics of ancient traditions.

And I've never heard of investors caring either.

They may not be formally definable, but nothing else: no friends, TV, go ahead. The shares set aside an option pool. Give us 10 million and we'll tell you alarming things, they tend to be actively curious. But which of them.

Thanks to Emmett Shear, Fred Wilson, Robert Morris, Emmet Shear, Sam Altman, Lisa Randall, and Jessica Livingston for sparking my interest in this topic.

[coreytravelogue]

Edmonton, AB Canada - May 22, 2017

Victoria Day long weekend is done and I am sitting in the same spot I normally am sitting at Edmonton International Airport, awkwardly next to the people who call people up to board. This long weekend was needed, I needed some time out of the bubble that is Vancouver, even Newfoundland feels like a extension of the bubble as I am normally just staying in the house in Newfoundland.

Every time I come to Edmonton International Airport it differs slightly from when I did before. The airport looks a hell of a lot nicer than it did 2 years ago but still doesn’t feel the same however I keep having to remind myself that the airport I went to a lot as a kid wasn’t this one but the one downtown. I remember that one mainly for the arcade under the escalators that you could always find me in when we were there. My parents never had to worry about me getting lost, they could always find me playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X Men or The Simpsons at that arcade.

This trip however wasn’t like any other time I have came here, I didn’t buy nearly anything outside of food. In fact I think I spent more on food than I did on stuff which for me is very strange. A lot of that has to do with the death of HMV Canada though. If HMV was still in West Edmonton Mall they most surely have taken a bit more of my money. All I bought was a phone charger, vinyl sleeves, brown shoe laces and electric toothbrush heads......that is about it.

I got to meet my friend here in Edmonton that I hadn’t seen since I was here. Both of us have changed thankfully for the better, I am less resentful and more over the past than I used to, she is always her cheery and smiling self. I didn’t even really party all that much however to tell you the truth I have rarely partied in Edmonton technically which seems very strange, beer is extremely expensive in this city.

Friday night when my friend picked me up and dropped me off at the Commercial Hotel I decided to just call it a night because I wanted to be up early to get in as much done as I could. The hotel was very cheap and it looked cheap but the room and bed was clean and that was good with me. The only crap things was the heat (which is more the weather than me) and the walls were too thin.

First part of the morning was for me to figure out how to get bus change for the weekend so I bought some toothbrush heads to break the 20. Went on my way to the good old West Edmonton Mall for the traditional fun. 

One thing I tried to do this time was to try and eat healthier though I didn’t entirely succeed with that but I did make more healthier choices than was planned. First mission was breakfast then find a charger since I found out Friday night I forgot my phone charger for the second time in a row to Edmonton. I bought a booster juice and a egg wrap then bought vinyl sleeves and a phone charger. The plan was to head to the water park at 12 and spend about 3 hours there, by then my friend would be done her work and then come hang out with me at the Spaghetti Factory. Found nothing worth buying so I went on to the waterpark and had my 3.5 hours of fun.

There was a new ride since I was there, it was a sideboard ride some digital game tied to it. Took 1 hour to get on it, I got the 9th highest score in the top 10 of that day on the first and only shot. I could have spent more time bettering my score but with waiting 45 minutes a shot at that I had no time for it, the old toilet bowl slide as I call it was always fun, all the slides were fun but the wave pool wasn’t quite as wavy this time around. By the time I got out I was ready to meet up with my friend and walked around the mall a few times waiting for her till she had to cancel. Decided to go on my own to the Spag Factory but it was also too busy. So I decided to have a steak with lobster sauce in a near empty bar and glad I did. I got my phone charged, got something to eat and relaxed my feet.

I met up with my friend for breakfast that morning and shot the shit before she had to let me go to go for a doctor’s appointment then sleep and I spent the rest of the morning exploring downtown Edmonton for the first time truly since long before I moved to Vancouver. Parts of it had changed but not all of it. I walked down old 107 street, the street I went up and down when I would go to Animethon for a couple of years. The hotel I stayed at was still there but under a new name and management. One of the biggest surprises was that this old cafe was still there called The Local Press where I remembered having one of the best chicken sandwiches I ever had but they didn’t have it on the menu and I decided not to bother if I couldn't have that.

I decided to go back to Whyte Ave and try to start writing but I only got 2 pages done but I do feel like I am in the proper head space to start working on the book steadily. I had the best potter beer I ever had and I have had a few over the past few years but it topped them all; Hawaiian Coconut Porter. It was the coconut that made this beer good in all honesty what is normally a strong malty taste. I had about 4 of those and one local Witbier which wasn’t that great but then outside of Driftwood I don't think Canadians are good at wit/weizen beer period. Also had some pretzels which were awesome and some jumbo prawns. I could have continued but was getting drowsy and slightly drunk.

I elected go back to the hotel and sleep it off thinking about what I wanted to write in my book next.

Morning came and went as I went to a vegan cafe and had vegan eggs, hash browns, toast and this vegan sausage which as awesome and something I should try and find when I get home.

So that was my trip in a nut shell, no real partying, no real progress but just a break from the world. Things will start to get a lot more interesting for the rest of the summer and I am super excited and ready for it. I hope to have at least two more adventures before the year is done, should say 3 if you count meeting my love in the next few weeks. This is going to be the most exciting summer I have had since my made my short film in 2006, that wasn’t exciting but it was fun, in terms of excitement purely not since I was still a kid who didn’t need to work and looked forward to summer days full of television, candy and video games. That is when I was a kid, now as a adult I am excitde for a special someone to stay with me and to have fun exploring Vancouver and maybe other parts of BC with. Things have definitely changed. Exciting times, boarding time now. Shazbot nano nano.

[kayroseoldblog]

iPad Pro w/ Apple Pencil vs. Wacom Cintiq Companion

Hello everyone!For Christmas this year, I received an iPad Pro 12.9in and an Apple Pencil!

As someone who has been practicing digital art for almost 10 years now, I thought it made sense to throw my two cents into the internet about this tool. I also included a few other people's thoughts on each device to try and make the review as well rounded as possible!

Keeping in mine that my Cintiq Companion 1 is three years old now, and my iPad is the latest 2016 edition, you can take this review with a grain of salt if you like.

Let me first start by listing the tools I have used to draw with...

Drawing Tablets I've used:

Wacom Bamboo Tablet (No longer available)

Wacom Intuous 4 Tablet (No longer available?)

Wacom Cintiq Companion (First gen, 2013, Windows 8)

and now:iPad Pro 12.9 w/ Apple PencilDrawing 

Programs I've used:

Photoshop Elements

Corel Painter

Sketchbook Express

Paint Tool Sai

Fire Alpaca

Photoshop CC

Procreate App

Medibang Paint App

The Cintiq 

I've had a Wacom Cintiq Companion v1 since 2012-2013 ish, and I have always loved it. I took to drawing directly on the screen pretty fast, and since beginning to use it, I've always had a slight disconnect when returning to regular drawing tablets. I'm just not as used to it anymore, but I do use them in a pinch.

The Cintiq has an amazing Tempered Glass screen which gives the texture of the drawing a really nice feel, though it seems to make its accuracy suffer, it's very easy to tell that you are drawing on a SCREEN and theres a bit of glass between you and your drawing, but you hardly notice it when drawing usually.

However, Wacom recently, in my opinion, has been going down hill with its portable tablets...I haven't tried out/seen anyone usng the Mobile Studio, but maybe that one is better! Sure looks promising!

My cintiq's charger has been broken for some time now, and after doing some research I found out that any tablet manufactured before July 2014 has a really bad charging problem...and Wacom will fix it for free, but it's been known to just be a band-aid fix. Many friends have said this about their external drawing tablets from Wacom in recent years as well. It makes me miss my old Intuos 4!

My Cintiq has a battery life right out of the box of between 8-10 hours. I use photoshop extensively to draw, and sometimes switch between that and other programs, making 8 hours about the max I can get out of it. After a year or so, that went down to 5-8. So I wouldnt use this more at home than on the go.​

Pros:

OS is up to you (Mac or PC available)

Desktop Applications (Creative Cloud, etc)

Pen w/ eraser on back- Comes with Stand/Case/Pen in one cost

Sort of Portable

Custom Brushes/Downloadable Brushes

Can use on its own w/ no external monitor​

Pressure Sensitive

Cons:

Heavy heavy heavy!

Very thick

Fan gets loud

Included stand is pretty bad

Calibration is off near the edges (Granted, not many people draw near the edges)- Wacom usually has problems

Horrible Battery life

Takes a long time to charge

Screen resolution is odd

Colors are always slightly off

While my review is of the Cintiq Companion 1, I've noticed not much difference in my friend's Cintiq 2, aside from the battery charge lasting a little longer, and it being a bit lighter in weight, but they had this to say:

"Haven't used the iPad so i'm biased - t's the industry standard, I like having the touch keys while drawing, i like the texture of the surface, and it's powerful enough to run Adobe programs without lag, I also like that it's fairly portable if you don't mind the weight. The color on screen I think is sliiiiightly off bc whenever I transfer it from there to my phone or elsewhere something is just... off with the colors. Cintiq is powerful. Use it if you're like professional, because Adobe programs and other stuff. Plus it's a laptop. But if you're just looking for something to do digital art on, the iPad is cheaper and will do it for you from what I hear.  I enjoy [my cintiq companion 2], it does what I need it to and that's all I asked for."

The iPad Pro 12.9in w/ Apple Pencil

Now to be fair, I've only had my iPad for a week and a half, but I think that's even more impressive, because I love it WAY more than my cintiq

The battery life of the iPad is already way longer than my cintiq ever had. I've charged my iPad once since unboxing it. (it was unboxed at about 70%) and thats with extensive drawing every day. Apple says it gets between 10-18 hours of life depending on what you're doing, and boy is that true The downside is that this thing takes FOREVER to charge again, but for how long it lasts, I suppose it's a small price to pay.

The Apple Pencil has an amazing battery life and charges incredibly fast. I've topped it off once since getting it, and it charges fast. Charging it for 15 seconds supposedly gets you another 30 minutes of life. I haven't tested that out, but I wouldn't doubt it honestly. I was able to charge it from 12% to 100% in just 20 minutes, and that's the only time I've had to charge it!

The Apple Pencil feels great on the iPad, and glides really nicely and naturally. It didn't take me long to get used to it at all, it's very much like drawing on the cintiq screen which I liked. However the pressure sensitivity is even more accurate, and the ability of the pencil to draw exactly where you put down your tip is INCREDIBLE. It's very much like drawing on paper.

The size is also great, as it's like drawing on any A4 paper if you draw portrait, and the real-estate of the screen drawing landscape is even nicer. The resolution is much more comfortable than the cintiq's, and I don't feel like I'm drawing in a super cramped area. (Though this all depends on the App you use, I'm not a fan of Medibang Paint as I feel like everything is so squished!)

The Apple Pencil also has the ability to draw tilted. The cintiq's stylus has this too, but it's not as accurate or helpful. This is what makes the Apple Pencil a PENCIL and not a stylus.

However, the Pencil and iPad, which are sold separately, don't come with anything to hold the Apple Pencil in, so I had to buy a sling for it, which was only 6$, but still. It's an expensive item and you're going to want to keep it, not lose! Before buying the sling, I was constantly worried about misplacing my pencil. I don't mind not having a stand as the iPad Pro is so comfortable to draw with it in your lap, sitting anywhere you like. If you're looking for a stand for it, they're pretty cheap on Amazon

Pros:

Better Pressure Sensitivity/Accuracy

Amazing Battery Life

Extremely Portable

Cheap or free Apps W/ Great Quality. Bridging the gap for Photoshop.

Pencil feels great to draw with

iOS Updates

Custom Brushes/Downloadable Brushes

Feels more natural to draw on

No Lag

Cons

Pencil/Tablet sold separately 

Slow to charge

Case/Accessories all sold separately (I'm told Mobile Studio Cintiq will also have everything sold separate)

No Desktop Apps (Photoshop, Creative Cloud, etc)

No cursor to show how big your brush is (in Procreate at least)

ONLY compatible with iOS for iPad

Not a full computer

I was lucky enough to have professional Comic Artist, K. Lynn Smith of "Plume" give me her thoughts on the iPad Pro as well!

"Pros, extremely fun to draw on, it replicates pencil and paper perfectly and it's portability is amazing. You can draw anywhere. Cons: not a lot of storage space on the iPad, sometimes the airdrop goes wonky, and though the programs available are amazing, there are some options not available...like assistance in drawing a perfect circle or stamp/clone tool. "

You can read Plume here!

The Final Word

In all Honesty, I think I'll be using my iPad Pro for most of my digital work from now on. Between all the apps and features, especially with ProCreate, this tablet is really bridging the gap between a Ciintiq and an iPad. Procreate specificaly is missing a few things such as a crop tool, and a text tool. It also doesn't have quite as many ways to edit as Photoshop does, but it's got most of them and enough that it doesn't bother me. You can also save your files from this app as JPEGS, PNGs, PSDs, and GIFs, to name a few.

My Cintiq is currently on it's way out and wheezing its way through life , but I don't think I'll be totally getting rid of it in case I need to bring something from my iPad over for photoshop, but honestly, I do that with my traditional work already so that really isn't an issue to me.

If you're looking to get into digital work, I recommend the iPad Pro 12.9 and Apple Pencil over the current Cintiq Companions. When adding in all the things you'll need, it comes out to the same price as a Cintiq Companion.

While the Cintiq and Wacom ARE the "Industry Standard", you really cannot tell the difference any longer, and I know of many professionals who use strictly the iPad Pro 12.9! Most studios/Art Directors care about what the work looks like, not what you made it on. (unless you're animating!)