#hopefully this is moderately coherent lol

[not-xpr-art]

Art deep dive #3 - How important are the "rules" of art?

Hi!

So it's been a longgg time since I did one of these, but I've recently noticed something in the way people talk about art online today, especially the idea of 'art rules', that I've found interesting so... let's talk about it!

(just fyi this is a series where I ramble about art-y things and pretend I know what I'm talking about lol)

How important are the "rules" of art? ~

If you're an artist you've probably heard some version of the phrase 'you need to learn the rules in art in order to break them'. Effectively this refers to learning the basics of art like anatomy, colour theory or perspective before you completely do away with them to create something stylised, deconstructive or even abstract! Even beyond this particular idea, I hear so many artists online (as well as in school) talk about the importance of learning the 'art rules'.

And to some extent, I agree with this sentiment! I think you need to have some understanding of how to draw things, and more specifically knowing why we draw things certain ways. An example of this is the 'don't use black in shadows' rule, which is referring to the fact that there are no true black shadows in nature, and using other colours as shadows can keep your work from looking too 'flat'. And despite me knowing this, I have definitely used black as shadows in my work, especially when I want to create some intense chiaroscuro or drama! But I know that when I want to create something realistic, using black in the shadows would probably be a bad idea lol!

But the thing is... What do I actually mean when I say 'art rules'?

Who decides what rules make up the way things should be drawn/painted/sculpted/etc and why should we follow them in the first place?

There's certainly a set of rules for how to draw things in particular styles (as in, if you want realism you probably need to follow some specific proportions lol), but those don't apply to all forms of art! Similarly when it comes to something like colour theory, there are colours that will help you create a harmonious work, but that isn't always relevant!

Abstract and conceptual art (amongst others) are forms that don't necessarily require a sense of balance or even artistic integrity. Much of the last century of art history was specifically about throwing away the old ideas of how art 'should' look and be made. The Dadaists and works like the 'Ready Mades' of people like Duchamp challenged the idea of 'art rules', and as chagrin as I am to agree with anything Duchamp has ever done, it WAS effective in completely reshaping the art world.

So we know that much of art doesn't have to rely on art rules. However, when I look at the online art community, and even my own experiences within art education, there seems to be a return to the idea of 'learn the rules first, break them later'. Those rules being the things I mentioned earlier (proportions, anatomy, perspective, colour theory, etc), things that make up the basic art education that's been taught in art schools for hundreds of years.

Except... I haven't really answered the who or why have I lol?

There's obviously no one individual guy who one day was like 'I'm gonna make up some art rules for people to follow until the end of time!', but rather the things we now consider the 'basics' of art can mostly be traced back to Antiquity (as in Ancient Greece). And I do consider it integral to say that the things that are globally seen as 'art rules' are things that have specific origins in Western countries of Art History.

It's no great secret that the History of Art has a racism problem, and the fact that the majority of artists considered part of the 'canon', and the ones who were venerated and taught as part of art education for many years are white men from western and central Europe...

Art from other continents don't always have the same ideas of 'art rules', and when these were first introduced to Europe, they were written off as 'naïve' and 'primitive' because they didn't conform to the European idea of 'art'. And in a way I think that this (obviously) racist ideology has fed into our current concept of 'art rules' pretty much entirely revolving around Western standards of art (which usually positions realism above all else, with the significance and symbolism of art become less important).

Let's next tackle the 'why' of art rules. I've already mentioned why you would follow rules in a practical sense, but beyond that is there any reason for following these 'art rules'? I think fundamentally it all comes down to what we consider the purpose of a particular work of art. If your goal with a piece is specifically about creating a realistic work, then it definitely makes sense that you would follow them. But art that is more instinctual or personal, or art that is abstract, or even art that is pattern/purely aesthetic based, all have very different intentions for their creation.

So why, in 2023, do so many artists (and art schools) still push this idea that art has a rigid set of rules that you have to learn, and only once you've learnt them can you then completely disregard them? Rules that we know stem from European art history and also only apply to a certain sort of art. I think in a way it all comes down to a way to quantify what 'good' and 'bad' art looks like. If there are really no rules, and you don't need to have basic understandings of anatomy or perspective in order to be an artist, then I think to some people it means that can no longer say that in order to be an artist you need to put in a certain amount of 'effort'.

In conclusion... Is there even a conclusion to this lol?

Personally, I think that there's definitely value in learning the Western ideas of art rules that we consider the 'basics' (things like anatomy, perspective, etc) if you want to improve your realistic drawing skills, but don't think you need to learn everything about art rules in order to become some accomplished or 'real' artist lol

Art is first and foremost about creativity and expression, so really just have fun with it!

~

I hope you enjoyed this mini (informal) essay! I actually haven't written one of these deep dives for over 2 years lol!

Btw, let me know your thoughts on this and whether you agree with it lol!

If you liked this feel free to check out those other one, or my art advice tag (where I attempt to give advice to beginner artists lol...)

[randomkidstarfic]

do you have any advice for a baby author? I'm not very good at writing but I would love to get better and your writing is so wonderful I would love any tips you could give

Hello! Hopefully this doesn't get too long, but it very well might lol.

Edit: Hi, this is incredibly long and very craft centric. Apologies in advance.

There are a lot of very simple things that make your writing more coherent, because honestly sometimes formatting is a big part of readability. Some of these might sound very simple and straight forward and honestly a lot of them you might already know, but maybe some will help!

This first one is going to sound silly, but you'd be amazed how often new writers do not do this: Break your stuff into paragraphs. Potentially even smaller paragraphs than you think they should be. How you paragraph can be a stylistic choice, but on the whole, breaking paragraphs just increases the coherency and readability. On the stylistic side, I tend to use single line paragraphs for emphasis or for the reader to sit on a line. I usually preserve long winded paragraphs for character contemplation, and moderate paragraphs for description of action or scenery. (Long, unbroken paragraphs are also a stylistic choice, but not one I tend to use and we're not really talking about style, I just have a tendency to ramble)

Break your character dialogue into paragraphs. I have seen many a writer (myself included) have lines of dialogue from separate characters sprinkled into a single paragraph. Sometimes this gets confusing and interrupts the flow. If you're writing dialogue, everyone's actions and words should be their own paragraph (again, unless you're going for something stylistically unique, then do whatever. It's a very flexible art, but things should be done with purpose)

(another simple piece of advice that's been beaten to death, but bear with me) You don't have to say anything after a line of dialogue unless you're attempting to portray a specific tone or emotion. The last person who you are referring to in description or dialogue is still the subject, and therefore the speaker unless indicated otherwise. If there's only two people in a conversation you can write dialogue one after the other without any indicators because there is only one person they could possibly be talking to and responding. We know a lot of things via context. (now, sometimes if you are writing very long strings of dialogue between two characters, it can be good to interject with actions or tone indicators so we can keep track of who is speaking.)

Now, if you're writing a conversation between more than one person this can be tricky, and you do need indicators, but indicators (meaning 'said' and every other variation) can get really repetitive after a while. My personal trick is to add an action before dialogue instead of an indicator afterwards. In a conversation between a lot of people this helps you know who's speaking before we read the dialogue, and eliminates confusion. (of course, you can also simply said 'so and so said, "dialogue," or some other variation. Also, you can do whatever feels right.)

I'm not bulleting this next point because it's going to be long and involved, and is, again, another piece of writing advice that had been Beaten to Death. That is the classic advice of "Show Don't Tell," (I know, everyone's tired of this, but bear with me) I feel like a lot of new writers hear this but it's never actually explained what this is and how it works and why we do it. (And I'm not going to lie to you all, the way it's been beaten to death annoys me. It's been portrayed as some Holy Unbreakable Rule and you're writing will be Bad if you're not doing it all the time. Don't fall into that trap. I personally don't ascribe to that ideation, however Show Don't Tell is a valuable writing tool and there is a reason why it's emphasized.)

So. First off. You have to tell us things to show us stuff. You tell me someone growled when they spoke to show me their angry, you tell me their leg is bouncing to show me their nervous, you tell me they stay out late and don't go home during the day to show me that home is not a fun place for them. What you shouldn't tell me is 'Character was angry,' 'character was nervous,' 'character lived in an abusive house.'

Now, ya can tell me things. I'm not going to tell you it is inherently bad writing. But telling us these things strictly though actions and context clues so that you are painting this picture for us in details alone, is often more effective, and usually more impactful. It's really easy to tell us that someone was angry, but I will feel it if you show it to me. What are they physically doing? What does their voice sound like? How are they physically feeling and how are their actions influenced by that?

Readers will usually pick up on these things, this is the type of things that gets us engrossed in characters and stories and writing. You can give a little detail, and from that detail we get a plethora of information.

To use an example in my own writing, (Assuming you've read Bet on Me, which I assume everyone here has, lol) For a very long time I don't tell the reader outright that Blackstar had been abused by his father. It does eventually explicitly come up, but the reader already knows about it before that point. We know that because of the way he moves around his house, how nervous he gets to see him, and little things he won't do. And through telling you his actions I am showing you his situation.

In a lot of drafts I pretty much tell you everything. Then I comb over and I examine 'how can I show them this?' and expand the simple phrasing into actions. (honestly, this is why all my shit is way too long, lol)

So, the next time you find yourself writing 'they were angry,' take a a second to build the scene in your head and practice showing us that anger.

Sprinkling in little actions between dialogue will clue the reader in on how the person is feeling during a conversation. I tend to indicate that Kidd is nervous when he starts tapping his fingertips to his thumb, and when Blackstar is a little nervous he brushes the hair on the side of his head. Be consistent and repetitive with these actions and your reader will pick up on them. I have an original character in an original work who wiggles his nose whenever he's annoyed, and even if I don't explicitly tell you he's annoyed or even if he doesn't say anything about it outright, we know he's annoyed when he wiggles his nose because I've given you the context clues over the course of the story to indicate that this is what this means. (this is a small tidbit of advice that I use in my writing, personally. Everyone has their own preference.)

Another reason why Show Don't Tell is such a Thing is because telling us how a character is feeling or telling us outright what a situation is can actually interrupt the flow of the narrative. (Depending on what you're going for). I once wrote a short story about an old gay couple in which one of the men has Alzheimer's, and I never tell the reader they're a couple and I never tell the reader that one of them has Alzheimer's. We get this information strictly through the way they interact with each other and how their conversation goes over the course of the story. If I were to say these things outright instead of letting the story carry itself, I would be disrupting the scene and interaction I've built, and the reader would come out of it with far less thought having already been told what themes you're meant to be thinking about.

(sorry I keep using my own stories as an example, I am about to bring up a piece you can go and read, lol, everyone who's ever taken a writing class has probably read this piece. I had to read it every god damn year for four years.)

Said Piece is Hills Like White Elephants, by Ernst Hemingway. That's a link to it. It's very short. Very dialogue heavy.

So this piece is good for a lot of things, but mostly it's praised for the impeccable demonstration (in my opinion) of how to use dialogue effectively and (to an extent) realistically.

In this piece a man and a woman are having a conversation. Never once in that conversation do they actually say exactly what it is they're talking about. The scenery and surroundings are described in a way where you get an idea of what kind of environment they're in, and the dialogue itself tells you why they're there and what's happening.

As I mentioned earlier, they never say what they're talking about, they're just talking about it. Because here's the thing. If two people are talking about a thing they both already know about, they're not really going to mention it outright. The two people in this piece already know what this conversation is about, so neither of them are actually ever going to mention it. They are already aware of their situation, we, as the reader, have to put it together.

This is sort of another example of 'Show Don't Tell,' because what you're showing us is that these people are already familiar with the subject of the conversation or the situation itself.

To go back to Bet on Me for a second, there are a lot of times in which Blackstar mentions to Soul or someone else that he can't do something (like take long showers or set alarms), or asks to stay over at someone's house. In response Soul and the others never ask him why because they are already familiar with this situation and already know the reason why, so they'd never have a reason to explore that.

(I've given up on bullet points)

Another funny thing about dialogue is that if you listen to people converse, they don't always directly respond to what a person has said. Sometimes they skip back a few steps to something mentioned way earlier in the conversation, or don't answer a question that's asked directly.

Brief and Lame Example:

Person A: "Is tomorrow garbage day?"

Person B: "I've already taken the garbage out."

End of Example.

The question asked was not the question answered. We sometimes assume the intentions behind a question and answer according to that. Writing dialogue like this can actually make it feel a little bit more like a human conversation instead of everyone having a perfect retort or response to everything being said. (of course, again, how you write dialogue can also be a stylistic choice, and depending on the conversation, sometimes it is straight forward.)

Okay, I sincerely apologize, this is getting incredibly long. I'm going to end it here with a few tiny things.

Practice really does help, and paying attention to how someone in a book crafts their writing can help you craft your own. The more you learn about writing techniques and styles the more you'll be able to identify them and integrate those techniques to improve your own writing.

Don't throw away your first draft. First drafts are meant to be bad. You don't have to be a person who write a "perfect," first draft. Those people do exist (theoretically) you don't have to be that way, and no one has to be that way. Having a Shitty First Draft does not make you a bad writer. It simply makes you a writer. (that is a link)

People don't speak perfectly, you'll get better dialogue out of less perfect phrasing. Putting a period in dialogue, or writing it how it's said is not a crime (writing an accent or something is it's own animal, it gets distracting and doesn't usually actually add anything. But using a period instead of a comma to communicate that something was said in a curt or unsure manner is perfectly acceptable and is, overall, a stylistic choice.)

A lot of stuff in writing comes down to style and personal preference when we get down to the nitty gritty of it. Write, keep writing, don't be afraid to experiment, pay attention when you read stuff (specifically published books, not that those are all inherently better written than fanfiction, but fic does have it's rep for a reason.) And pay attention to the interactions around you. (I will also heavily advocate for a lot of research when going into a personal subject you are not personally familiar/affiliated with such as specific mental illnesses or experiences.)

Read dialogue aloud to yourself.

Sorry this was A Lot, and probably a little rambly. I love talking about writing. Please feel free to ask for clarification or follow ups. I am by no means an expert on this, a lot of this stuff is just taken from my own personal writing journey or experience plus what I got from school. (And I still barely know how to use commas correctly.) Everyone has their own perspective on things, I honestly can't say these are "rules," by any means, and I'm sure there are people out there who disagree with me about a lot of this stuff. I mean, honestly, I've still got a lot to learn.

At the end of the day writing is a very flexible art, and you'll usually find your style simply by doing.

Thanks for the ask!

[kirby-the-gorb]

reply roundup, vaccine edition!

special edition reply roundup to respond to all the thoughtful things you folks had to say about my Vaccine Woes now that I’m somewhat able to put together a coherent thought again (130 hours later lol).

very wordy and contains discussions of coronavirus, vaccines, chronic illness, and ableism. I got a lot of Opinions and y’all have been very kind, no one has said a single bad word to me about it, but I still gotta give Knowledge, I’m sure you understand XD

also there were some comments on day 3 that belong in the regular roundup, hopefully this reminds me :T

and for clarification, [this tiktok] is how I feel about vaccines in general aside from the whole “I’m chronically ill and any significant change can function as a bulldozer to my fragile internal ecosystem” thing. I am strongly pro-vaccine and I know they are 100% safe for able-bodied people. I am just also not able-bodied anymore.

on [day -1]:

@a-passing-passerby said: Hey. You shouldn't get the vaccine if it's not for your best health. You should talk to your doctor about any adverse risks because of your special condition. Don't be pressured into taking the vaccine if you're immunocompromised or something similar. (No one should be forced to take a vaccine, especially if it's against your health.) And I like your drawings. I hope to see more. Funny boyo go poyo. I hope things go well for you.

no one individual was sitting me down and going “get vaccinated or I’m never speaking to you again” or anything like that, it’s just the perpetual ignorance towards the disabled and the way that makes people as a group regard “~The Unvaccinated~” as some kind of maliciously ignorant monolith who needs to be bullied into submission. and I did speak to my doctor, they of course were all for it because it reduces the risk of me getting seriously ill from exogenous viruses, even though it comes with a bunch of other risks of its own that frankly they as an individual have only a moderate grasp on at best (which is still better than their profession as a whole, tragically). and we did what we could to mitigate those other risks, even though obviously what we could do was limited and I was functioning very independently in that regard.

in order to have a viable alternative to the chronically ill having to choose the lesser of two evils for the sake of their own lives, we have to get society to like, remember we exist at all. cuz otherwise with the aggressive vaccine mandates being put in place instead of social distancing and other preventive measures, it’s either get vaccinated and make myself bed-bound for apparently at least a week in addition to the risk of anaphylaxis and/or permanent worsening of my chronic illness, or don’t get vaccinated and be even more house-bound for reasons that have nothing to do with me, possibly forever. (I, personally, was not at a very high risk of catching covid anyway, because I stay home all the time and my wife is in healthcare but strictly forbidden from seeing covid patients, meaning she’s got all the high standards of workplace sanitation and regulation without the additional exposure risk. but those of us who can’t control our own exposure risk to such a degree also have that to weigh against.)

(but thank you for being in my corner, and I’m glad you like the drawings. he will evidently keep showing up every day come hell or high water :> )

@hollow026 said: As a fellow chronically ill human, I know your pain. Getting my vaccine knocked me down for a couple days, but it does get better. I hope you find a comfy spot to cuddle up and wait it out! I wish you plenty of rest and many blankets!

I’m glad it only took you out for a couple days, and thank you <3 I got myself a heated blanket back in april which has been very nice to have. (it’s all those blues and pinks and purples I really like)

@maybeifitalk said: I'm really sorry that's all happening. I guess every time I see a vaccine mandate, I assume it excludes people for whom the vaccine would be harmful and therefore the mandate is actually in favor of those who can't get vaccinated cause herd immunity. I guess I believed more in the government's ability for nuance than they deserve 😅

most vaccine mandates have an exception for a negative PCR test within the past 72 hours, but that 1000% requires substantial advanced planning for damn near literally any activity. (my state only requires vaccines for ticketed events, which that I can at least sort of be at peace with, but my county requires vaccines for events, restaurants, museums, etc.) and I’m guessing the at-home mail-in tests aren’t going to cut it, due to the length of the turnaround, which means you have to physically go out somewhere to get tested, which can be A Massive Problem for the chronically ill. that means without getting vaccinated I’d have to plan everything at least a day in advance and heavily gamble on not running up a crippling spoon debt getting tested, and there would be no wiggle room for rescheduling.

and honestly, herd immunity was a pressure point people used for a while to get others vaccinated, but the concept at play of “the immunocompromised” or “the sick” is always some distant other sitting in a nursing home looking sad, rather than “hey if 8 of our 9 family members and our three best friends get vaccinated, and we have it outside and wear our masks when we’re not eating and sit at separate picnic tables, maybe we can have a very small wedding ceremony without killing me or my stepdad [who had cancer and also wasn’t vaccinated at the time]”

@melodiousramblings said: Your blog brings such a smile to my face all the time and I love your Kirby art. Sadly we live in an ableist society and no one takes the time to care or even consider those with chronic illnesses. I hope the vaccine doesn’t hit you too hard and take it easy! Don’t push yourself! Sending good vibes!

god it gets under my skin sometimes. and I know how easy it is to be ignorant of it! I was almost completely ignorant of it until I got sick enough to notice! but that just makes it worse! thank you for your commiseration and kind words <3

@midget-vigilante said: I’m pretty sure there are accommodations in place for those with immune disorders? Plus, there have been plenty of studies that show unless you have an allergy to one of the ingredients in the vaccine, it’a safe. It’s more dangerous to actually have COVID-19 with an autoimmune disorder than to get the vaccine. This isn’t to shame you or anything, and of course you shouldn’t listen to random people on the internet, but I hope this makes you feel better!

you’re right, actually getting covid would be worse for me than getting the vaccine. but that doesn’t mean the vaccine is just a half day of feeling a tiny bit under the weather for me like it is for abled folks. and the problem with the allergy thing is the nature of the disorder I have. my mother who probably has the same thing has a legitimate allergic reaction to the sun, which would sound super fake if I didn’t know better. a blogger I follow with the same disorder wept with joy when she got to eat a grape for the first time in many years because her illness was under control enough to reintroduce foods to her diet. this isn’t me going “oh no I’m not sure if it’s safe I heard there’s mercury in it???” this is me going “okay my body reacts very strangely and often very negatively as a basic rule. some people with my disorder go into anaphylactic shock from things they could handle fine before just because there were too many other normally-fine things pushing them up towards the threshold. this vaccine negatively impacts abled people enough that they experience distress about it, which means it’s gonna take me to the cleaners. that’s a lot for me to put on myself and this is a really garbage situation. there should be other options here and there aren’t and that sucks and I don’t want to go into anaphylaxis which is a pretty grounded concern.”

as for accommodations, there’s the negative test exception mentioned above, where I also go into why that’s not really much of a workaround for us. thank you for trying to reassure me though, I’m sure it’s important info for others out there <3

@hermitfox said: oh no, I only wish you the best! Hopefully the vaccine won't be too hard on you, that sucks. we vaccinate the healthy so that people like you are protected after all...

yeah, that is ostensibly the idea, but a lot of people’s image of “the immunocompromised” or “the ill” is grandma at the nursing home, not another 20-something at the concert. and because everyone’s mental picture is so limited and outdated, rules written to match it do a lot of harm in their own right, even when they’re meant to protect.

@zer0cracy said: Even if the work slows down or stops, we're not going anywhere. Good luck with the vaccine!

thank you <3 I know no one else is demanding I draw every day, but I am! I want me to draw every day. I don’t want to break my 1237 day streak lol

on [day of]:

@ceylonsilvergirl said: I hope it stays mild for you

@maybeifitalk said: I hope you stay more or less okay 🥺

well I didn’t go into anaphylactic shock which is technically a positive! getting to read the nice thoughtful comments people were leaving did help me feel emotionally better, thank you <3

on [day 1]:

@maybeifitalk said: 💕💕💕 I'm not sure what you need to hear rn, but what would help me is remembering that this too shall pass! It's cheesy but it helps me 🥺. I like the phrase "we'll gather lilacs in the spring again" which means just about the same thing to me UwU. But anyway, hang in there. I hope the next few days aren't terrible.

that’s a very sweet phrase, thank you for sharing it with me <3 I am the reigning regent of optimism and I know the bad times never last, but sometimes you do have to sulk a little bit I think lol

@theraphos said: Hope you are well soon!

@ceylonsilvergirl said: So sorry you’re having these reactions

@hermitfox said: D: I hope you'll get well soon! You're so strong!

@thunderjaw-bussy said: I hope things ease up for ya op, your art always brings a smile and a happy squee to my day every day <3

@writingdesaster said: get well soon!!!

thank you all <3 <3 <3 I’m not completely better yet but I went back on the extra preventative measures and I can still sit upright and put words together so I’m counting that as a win for today.

from the ask box:

anonymous said: Hey, please take it easy and don't feel pressured to even make art. The most important thing is that you take care of yourself and get better. Trying to keep doing things when you're not well is not worth it. Remember, we can wait :) You just take care of yourself!

you’re right, I have a bad habit of trying to still get stuff done even when I really shouldn’t XD I promise I only draw what I feel up to drawing though, a circle with a smile on it isn’t very taxing. thank you for the reminder and support <3

anonymous said: I'm sorry to hear all of that, I know it may not mean much, but I hope you feel better soon enough, or at least good enough for it to not be stressful for you if that makes sense. :)

that is a good way to think about it! it’s gonna take a while yet to recover back to where I was the day before the vaccine, and I’ll never not be chronically ill, but I want to be well enough that I can do the things I want without distress someday. and right now I can’t wash the dishes, but I can play little games on my ipad without hurting, and that’s still better than what it was.

@thunderjaw-bussy said: Heya I've been keeping up with what's going on with ya and I just want to say that 1) i've always adored your art (I actually have very chipper and happy song play in my head whenever I see your art of the gorb! :D) and 2) I hope your pain eases soon. Much love and good vibes to you <3

that’s so cute that the gorb gets his own little theme tune, thank you for sharing that with me and for the support <3 still incapacitated but not in pain -thumbs up emoji-

anonymous said: I give you virtual ice cream to feel better. Eat it. Or else.

I love virtual ice cream, thank you :> I hope it is the kind with bits of stuff in it. like cake or cookies. that’s the best kind.

[pippindot]

One of our only clips from yesterday that doesn't contain a million mistakes 😂 Only a little falling off the contact in the middle there.

We had our last lesson with this instructor. Pip was great in the early part of the lesson and her energy trailed off again as it got warmer. I'm the same way so I don't blame her.

She slipped off of basically every 2o2o, so clearly I need to keep practicing at home (haven't been). Did have some success with having 6 weave poles mixed into a sequence (with the channel wide open). We even did a few curved entries, which was exciting. I had another one of those handling miracle moments seeing how she snapped in toward me when I dropped my arm--amazing what dogs can understand!

I am proud of her willingness to get jumps further away from me, she didn't used to have that and it's really neat. Still amazed when she takes a jump line ahead of me, it's my favorite thing. She is doing well on the teeter at the low height, we will have to continue to work on that at our next place. We had a mini challenge this time for doing a Tunnel to Teeter to try and get her to collect onto it. First time she blasted right off the end but the second time she moderated her speed well, so hopefully lesson learned there.

Still can't flip her into a tunnel, that caused me several problems because I kept setting us up wrong. In watching our clips, I think I do a good job rewarding asap and not getting snippy/disappointed with her or myself whenever something goes wrong. That's something I've prided myself on and I want to keep it up. I don't want her to know if something has gone wrong, because most of the time it's my fault anyway!

I don’t know. Not a lot of coherent thoughts at the moment. Certainly not our best showing but my teacher offered to send her notes over so I can give them to my next instructor so we don't get put back in baby class on leash again lol. It was fun to do some little sequences, even if they rarely went 100% right that day.

[tumblunni]

anyway i chugged my medicine and also some headache pills and hopefully i will be better soon cos its just embarassing how annoying i was yesterday having a big ol whinefest over a dumb videogame its just like when a lot of stuff stacks up at once, the last thing is gonna knock you off the edge, even if its a tiny stupid nonsense. and then everyone will laugh cos it looks like the nonsense is the only problem you actually have.. yeah.. BUT WHATEVER I’M GONNA GET BETTER SOON IT WAS DEFINATELY JUST COS I DIDNT HAVE MY MEDS PROBABLY and i mean yo if i can calm down and have a chilled out relax day then that means that tomorrow i could write a more coherant post about stuff like why i think soriginal sun and moon’s lusamine plot was better, and how i’m moderately sad that my headcanon for some random sinnoh guy is now even more unpopular but meh now it can be an AU or something if its unlikely to ever be real. I mean it could be fun to try and make a big post explaining why the idea came to me and trying to show the appeal of it? I could doodle some charons as a farewell sketchdump I guess. or I could just be confident enough in myself to not drop characters I love just because other people disagree with me, lol. I’m so weird and dumb, and i can’t ever talk about my headcanons unless they’re like.. possible to be canon?? No self confidence bunni, even about dumb fanworks... also I’m working on designing a random vampire grandpa oc for another story or whatever, so at least i can keep gremply grampleing even if its outside this one particular fandom. And who knows, maybe I will find another game with the holy grail perfect grump gramp that we all truly deserve!