#i haven't even looked at ltd recently

[littlestarxmilkyway]

So Ever Crisis now has a FFIX collab, and WotV is celebrating its fourth anniversary with a FFIX collab. Between these and everything else on the Nvidia leak coming true, I actually feel like the rumored remake will actually come to fruition.

I've been anxious over a potential remake though. I can't think of who at SQEX would even be right to lead that project anymore. Is anyone who was a creative lead on it even there anymore? At least Itahana is there for art and/or character design. Hopefully! If they let him!! (Not the same, but he's the last bit of IX will I can think of.) But besides that angle, what and who is there?

Even imagining Square making it a Playstation exclusive just makes me so sad, because it's something I can see them doing. (Praying it won't be PS5 exclusive at the very least! That certainly didn't help XVI!)

As much as I felt all that, I've been pleasantly surprised by SO2's remake, and I'm hoping the IX remake would be shown that same level of care and detail.

[themasterpostblog]

Pencil/2D Animation Resources Masterpost

5/10/24:

Hello, I broke into my old account so I could make a little masterpost of resources I come across for learning pencil/2D animation. (Free or affordable classes, places to get tools, videos to give insider insight, etc.) I may not be able to get everything included, so if you think of something, you can reach out and suggest things to add! I will be updating this over time, with notes on when it was last recently updated. And maybe I'll end up giving the old blog a refresh too. I likely won't be making new masterposts outside of this one any time soon, nor updating any old ones. It's been SEVERAL years, and the internet is a different place. I would assume most of the old links are out of date by now, unfortunately. I hope that this list is helpful to you as well, and if I'm incorrect in anything I list, I'm learning too! So please be patient with me and feel free to reach out with a correction. It's not finished yet, but Tumblr deletes my posts before I finish them, so I'm starting with posting the skeleton and slowly updating this)

Find a Community to Learn From!

(recommended groups to lurk/join/make connections and ask questions)

What Tools Do I Need?

PDF Guide to Animation Desks, as written by David Nethry

(next line)

Where Do I Get Tools?

(Places where you can buy art supplies, software, etc)

Cartoon Supplies

(Online seller who carries Ingram Bond paper, lightboxes, storyboard pads, blank cels, etc. See also: Lightfoot LTD, which is identical in every way to Cartoon Supplies and for the life of me I'm not sure the difference, though both are equally recommended along side each other.)

Jet Pens

(Ah... I love window-shopping this site. If you love stationary like I do, you'll be on this site for hours adding things to your cart... and inevitably removing them because it's not feasible to spend hundreds on pens and sticky-note pads.)

Dickblick

(I've found they have good prices on name brands, but I haven't purchased from them yet. Often, I'm too overwhelmed by all the choices.)

Improve Your Art/Learn the Basics!

(anatomy classes, starter tools, etc)

Aaron Blaise (Co-Director of Brother Bear)'s Online Classes

He runs very good deals on the classes occasional, but you can also do a year's access to all classes and keep what you download, which is very useful! They're short, quick lessons, and tend to veer into more "helpful tips" than teaching, from what I've personally noticed, but it's well worth the price if you get them at a good deal!

Inside Look at the Industry -- aka: the Special Features:

(behind the scenes stuff, etc)

Books are more useful than you might think!

(Richard Williams Animator's Survival Toolkit, etc) (check out gently used copies of these books on Thriftbooks for a good deal!)

Nifty Free Resources

(Things like height charts, references, color wheels, blog posts, videos, etc)

What Artists Can Learn From Aladdin's Incredible Color by J. Holt [VIDEO]

(spacing for formatting)

The Art of Color Theory: Guide for Animators, Designers, and Artists (Animator Artist Life)

(space for formatting)

Free software!

GIMP

(A classic, GIMP is an old friend of mine. The first software I downloaded for art, I used to use it almost entirely to create animated GIFs for the Warrior Cat forums. Ah, how time has passed. Nowadays I can't even remember how to animate a GIF on there, but such is life. I still use it to this day for digital art, even having Corel Painter. Before GIMP, I animated the old fashioned way -- MS paint and Windows Movie Maker. With determination, I scripted and animated a handful of Warrior Cat characters frame by frame. Each frame of Hollyleaf or whoever it was blinking was the likely source of death for our old computer, may she rest in peace.)

Storyboarder

(Storyboarder is a free software with which you can use to create professional and clean storyboards. It also provides printable storyboard templates so you can do you work traditionally and re-upload it easily into the software! It also works with Wacom tablets. Check it out! It's actually super cool.)

Pencil 2D

(A free, open source software. Simplistic design, switch between raster and vector, and best of all, again, it's free. I haven't used this one much yet, but I've seen it positively talked about by many! I'll update with more research when I have the chance.)

Krita

(I haven't used this one yet, so I can't speak on it either! But it's going on the list so I can come back and research it later. My poor laptop is not going to handle this many downloads lol.)

OpenToonz

(I also haven't tried this, but see above, haha.)

Blender - Grease Pencil

(Blender is well known for 3D animation, but they added a 2D feature called Grease Pencil as well.)

WriterDuet

(Free for up to 3 projects, very simple, but upgrades to a $10 a month plan, which is... eh, I'll keep my Scrivener for now. I used to write scripts in Microsoft Word or the Notepad on PC back in the day, I don't think I personally need the fancy features.)

Trelby

(A free screenwriting software, very basic and simple, good for beginners.)

Keep an eye out for

(Humblebundle occasionally does software deals -- a good art bundle at a discount can give you an easy start!)

[40sandfabulousaf]

大家好! Out of compassion for Palestinians, I'm using a photo of my watermelon snack instead of an exercise one to begin the post. If Israel really opens new aid routes into Gaza instead of paying lip service, it takes time for food, clean water, blankets and medicines to be distributed to the masses. How many innocent civilians would've starved to death by then? Let's not forget that the majority of the population has had their homes destroyed.

China didn't even come close to doing what is being done to Gaza in Xinjiang and hypocritical nations, especially those which continue to arm Israel, accuse it of genocide. Please, just WHO is committing genocide? People in Xinjiang are well fed and sheltered against the elements. In Gaza, Palestinians are destitute, suffering from malnutrition and starvation, live in makeshift tents and are constantly in fear for their lives. The double standards under the rules based order are abundantly clear.

When boycotts of MacDonald's, Starbucks and other American brands began as a result of this Gaza war, several mainstream media tried to downplay the effects the boycotts will have on these giant conglomerates. I sniggered when I read their claims and my skepticism was right. Since then MacDonald's sales plunged in the Middle East as well as other Muslim countries. Starbucks has been similarly affected. Whilst MacDonald's is taking over all its franchisees in Israel hoping to exert better control on their PR, I think they're missing the point. As long as the US continues to arm Israel in this genocidal war, it's likely these boycotts will continue no matter their PR spin.

Moving onto food, noodles are very popular on social media, and rightly so, because they're so delicious. There's much more variety than the few types content creators are slurping down though. 1 of them is bee tai mak in Hokkien or lou shu fun in Cantonese. Both refer to short rice noodles with a springy QQ texture that resemble udon. I love them and when my usual breakfast haunt serves them, I'll usually order some. These noodles come in 'black' (with dark soy sauce) or 'white' (without) and both taste great! If you're visiting my country and looking to veer of the beaten culinary track, bee tai mak is something you might want to try.

I haven't shared as many cooking videos lately. The war in Gaza is something I follow closely. The level of starvation there is so acute that it would be insensitive to feature content from creators residing in countries which continue to arm Israel. I just can't bring myself to do it. The sight of civilians reduced to mere skin and bone haunts me at night. Recently, there was a New York post article attempting to frame famine in Gaza as a myth. In this part of the world where people are well read, we don't buy into their propaganda. Suffering shouldn't be trivialised, that is immoral. 下次见!

[albertcapraro]

July 4, 1976 - The Daily Oklahoman New Fashions Previewed (Excerpt) By Joan Gilmore Women's Editor ONE OF THE more wearable, feminine, and fashionable collections is that by Albert Capraro, one of the First Lady's favorite designers. Betty Ford was wearing a Capraro design last September when she and the president were here for the opening of the State Fair of Oklahoma.

The young (33), personable (he smiles a lot), bearded (see photo) designer told me in an interview following his showing, "As lifestyles become more active, complicated, clothes must be more simple."

His collection, originally 80 designs but edited down to 60 for fall, is in a size range of 4 to 16. "I don't feel I design for a specific age woman," Capraro said, "I have customers who are 19 and others who are over 50."

ABOUT HIS most famous client, Betty Ford, Capraro said, "She wears things beautifully and confidently. Mrs. Ford has a gorgeous figure and wonderful stature, so she carries clothes very well. She has marvelous legs to show with slit skirts." Capraro doesn't believe her recent mastectomy has had any effect on her fashion appearance or choice of clothes. "I haven't had to do any special designs because of that," Capraro said, adding that "Plunge (necked) dresses are all right (with Mrs. Ford), but her modesty keeps her from too deep a neckline."

Among Capraro's other notable clients are the $5 million woman Barbara Walters, U.S. Ambassador to England Anne Armstrong, Paulette Goddard, Polly Bergen, Luciana Avedon, Tatum O'Neal ("My she's precocious," he said in the understatement of the year) and Miss America-turned-sportscaster Phyllis George.

When the current Miss America, Tawny Godin, appears in the September pageant, be sure to check her clothes. Capraro has done what he calls her "finale" wardrobe for the Atlantic City stint.

AND WHAT does Capraro's fall 1976 fashion collection look like? It's softly tailored, and it has mixed textures. It features wrappy stoles and. slim chesterfield coats. It includes jumpsuits and skirts. He does several tunics over pants similar to those he did this past season. "I'll continue to do some version of the tunic as long as it doesn't add bulk (in the figure) and as long as it gives versatility to the wardrobe," Capraro explained.

For fall '76, Capraro, whose collection is manufactured by Jerry Guttenberg, Ltd., likes darker tones for day wear. He puts navy against caramel and ginger, and he also favors loden and leaf greens, tweedy browns in minichecks, and gray, black, and rust. For evening his color palette includes corn-flower blue, rose, flame, emerald, jade, and tigers eye.

Incidentally, Guttenberg, who's pretty personable himself, will be in Oklahoma City on Aug. 9 to do a benefit for the Oklahoma Museum of Art, but more about that later.