#i’m planning on majoring in printmaking actually

[indigo-flowers09]

Been meaning to do this but i’ve been drawing him so much recently so… meet my and @mossimiff ‘s son :3

This is Lino! his full name is Linocut but i call him lino… If it’s not obvious lol hes based on linoleum block printmaking! I wanted to make more Ink (not really ship) kids based on different art forms and mediums :3 and since we both took a printmaking class together last year and Cross is known for his knives, Lino exists!! >w<

this is just my design btw, i think Kade has his own :3

i’ll rant about him in another post if anyone’s interested….

[merziggy-printworks]

An Updated Introduction

Figured it was high time I updated my intro post given I've actually accomplished my goal of Being A Vendor since I established this lil art-centric Tumblr.

So welcome to my portfolioblr! This is where I share both finished images and work-in-progress shots of my art. I'm still a pretty small fish artist all things considered - I've vended at GeekCraft Expo twice, 2D Con once, and a handful of little pop up events. I still do not have an online storefront and am I sure if that is in the cards.

Most of these images represent the things that helped me survive. Between major life events and day to day stress, I feel I should pay homage to the things that helped to quell the ever-present anxiety and dread over the current state of the world. These things may not be popular currently, but they have a special place with me and I hope with others.

I’m a printmaker by trade, focusing on linocuts - a type of relief printmaking using carved linoleum (think rubber stamp but bigger). The linocuts I plan on selling are all hand-carved and printed, then hand colored with Copics. I’ll be getting prints made of the colored version for sale, as well as selling limited runs of the hand-pulled black and whites. I’ve also been exploring making charms using polystyrene (shrink plastic).

Appreciate you stopping by and hope you see something you like!

[sarita-daniele]

Hi, angel! Hope you're doing alright 💓 (hola ángel! También hablo español :) ) I was wondering if you could give some advices in starting out in an arts career?

Hola amigx, ¡perdón que nunca vi tu mensajito! I’m not on my Tumblr very often and definitely forget to check my messages. Luckily my favorite causita @luthienne told me you’d messaged me! 

I don’t know what arts discipline you’re in, so feel free to let me know if the advice I have doesn’t apply to you (and ignore it!). There are so many ways to build an arts career, but I’m happy to share some things I’ve learned through trial and error along the way. 

(Outrageously long post below break!)

Educate yourself in arts technique, but also study widely. 

Techniques are important in art, but only as important as the concepts behind them. When I was younger, I wowed people by drawing near-photographic portraits, but that technical talent and skill alone couldn’t make me a professional artist. Memorable artwork has not just a how, but a why. It isn’t just the object but the story behind the object, and the meaning of the object in the world. Art is about what interests you, what makes you think, what you most value and want to change in this world. So as you build an arts career, learn the techniques behind drawing, woodworking, casting, writing, music-making, whatever your discipline is, but take time, if you can, to also study history, sociology, anthropology, ecology, linguistics, politics, or whatever else you’re drawn to conceptually. Study as widely as you can. 

The studio art program I went through (a public university in the US) was very technique-forward; we signed up for classes according to technique, like printmaking or small metals, learned those techniques, completed technique-based assignments. Then I did a one-term exchange at arts university in the UK that was very concept-forward. We had no technical courses, just exhibition deadlines, and what mattered in critique was the concept. Both of these schools had their strengths and flaws, but what I learned was that, to be a practicing artist, I needed both technique and concepts that I genuinely cared about and could stand behind. If I could go back and change anything, I would probably take fewer studio courses (after graduating, I couldn’t afford access to a wood shop, metal shop, or expensive casting materials, and lost many of those skills) and more courses in sociology, Latin American studies, linguistics, ecology, anthropology, etc., because my artwork today centers on social justice, racial justice, Latinx stories and histories, educational access and justice, the politics of language, and community ethics. 

And please know that whenever I talk about seeking an education, I’m not talking solely about institutional spaces. College career tracks in the arts (BFA, MFA, etc., much less high-cost conservatory programs) are not accessible to everyone and aren’t the only way to establish an arts career. You can study technique and learn about the world using any educational space accessible to you: nonprofits that offer programming in your community, online resources, Continuing Education programs. And of course, self-education: read as much as you possibly can!

Know the value of your story. 

I come from a Cuban/Peruvian family and grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. My father’s family fled political violence surrounding the Cuban Revolution and came to the U.S. when he was a teenager. My mother was born in Brooklyn to Peruvian parents on work visas and moved back to Lima in her childhood. I grew up with these two cultures present and deeply embedded in our household, in our language, our food, our sense of humor, our sense of history. And yet, some residual assimilation trauma still affected me. I drifted towards the most American things, the whitest things, English authors and Irish music, in part because I enjoyed them but also because those were the things I saw valued in society. I wanted to fit in, wanted to be unique but not different, wanted to prove that I could navigate all spaces. The reality of marginalized identities in America is that our country tells us our identities are only valuable when they can be seen as exotic, while still kept inferior to the dominant, white American narrative (note that this “us” is a general statement, not meant to make assumptions about how you identify or what country you live in). 

But as an artist, all I have is my story, and who I am. I wasn’t willing to look at it directly. For years, I avoided doing so. It turns out, though, that I couldn’t actually begin my career until I reckoned with myself and learned to value everything about myself. To fully acknowledge my story, my history, my cultural reality, my sense of language, and my privileges. So I encourage young artists to look always inward, to ask questions about themselves, their families, and what made them who they are. 

The reason for doing this is to understand the source from which you make art.  Sometimes, however, for marginalized artists, the world warps this introspection into a trap, pigeonholing us into making art only “about” our identities, because that work is capital-I-Important to white audiences who want to tokenize our traumas. This is the white lens, and if anything, I try to understand myself as deeply as I can so that I can make art consciously for my community, not for that assumed white audience. 

Know that your career doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s, or like anything you’ve envisioned up to this point. 

As a high schooler I imagined that a life in the arts meant me in a studio, drawing and making, selling my work, getting exhibitions near and far, and gaining recognition. It was a solitary vision, one with a long history in the arts, rooted in the idea of individual genius. My career ended up completely different. Today, my arts projects involve teaching, collaborating, collecting interviews and oral histories, and creating public installations, rarely in traditional galleries or museums. 

As you work towards an arts career, figure out what does and doesn’t work for you: the kind of art you like and don’t like, the kinds of spaces that feel comfortable and those that don’t. I always thought I wanted to be part of traditional galleries, so I got a job working in a high-end art gallery in Boston during my grad program. Once in that space, however— even though I found the space calming and the work beautiful— I realized that there was something that I deeply disliked about the commodified art world. I didn’t like that we were selling art for over $10,000, that our exhibitions were geared exclusively towards collectors and wealthy art-buyers. The work was often technically masterful, but didn’t move or connect with me on a deeper level, and I realized that was because it wasn’t creating any change in the world. I liked work that shifted the needle, that made the world more inclusive and equitable, that centered marginalized stories (that gallery represented 90% white artists). I liked artwork that people made together, which drew me to collaborative art. I liked artwork that was accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy, which drew me to public art. I liked art exhibited in non-institutional spaces, which led me to community spaces. Since I was in an MFA for Creative Writing, I liked interdisciplinary art that engaged performance, technology, text, that was participatory and not just a 2D or 3D object. Figuring out all of these things led me to apply to my first major arts job: as a teaching artist in a community nonprofit that made art for social change in collaboration with local youth, in a predominantly Latinx neighborhood. 

My career path didn’t look like anything I expected, but I love it. The bulk of my income comes from teaching creative writing and art classes for nonprofits, working as a core member of a public arts nonprofit, and freelance consulting for book manuscripts. I love being an educator and consider it part of my creative practice. I love that I’m constantly collaborating with and talking to other artists. I love working with books and public art every day. I publish poetry, fiction, and literary translations, and exhibit artwork I’ve created in the studio and through funded opportunities. 

Fellow artists tell me often that I’m lucky, that my “day jobs” are all within the arts. But there are downsides to the way I’ve chosen to structure my career. I’m constantly balancing many projects, and my income is unstable. It’s difficult to save and plan towards the future,. I get by, but financial instability isn’t an option for many artists with families and dependents, with debts, medical expenses, and just isn’t the preferred lifestyle for a lot of people. I know artists who worked office jobs for years to support their practice and gain financial stability. I know artists who had entire careers as lawyers or accountants before becoming artists full time. I know artists who teach in public schools or work as substitute teachers. I know artists who are business owners and artists who work in policy and politics. I know artists who work in framing stores and shipping warehouses while being represented by galleries. These are all arts careers, and I admire every one of them. So as you build your career, don’t feel like it has to look like anyone’s else’s, like there’s anything you “should” be doing. Focus on the kind of artwork you want to make and what kind of work-life balance is best for you, then structure your career around that as best you can. 

Any job you use to support yourself can connect to an arts career!  

I get asked often by young people looking for jobs what kinds of jobs will best propel them towards an arts career. I believe that any kind of job can connect to and support an arts career, and I know that some suggestions out there in the arts world (like “get an unpaid internship at an art gallery!” or “become a studio apprentice to a well-known artist!”) assume a certain amount of privilege. So I want to break down how different kinds of jobs can connect to your art career: 

1) Jobs that allow for the flexibility and mental capacity to create. My friends who work restaurant jobs while going to auditions fall into this category. Who work as bartenders in evening so that they can be in the studio by day. Who dog-walk or babysit or nanny because the timing and flexibility allows for arts opportunities. My friends who are Lyft drivers or work in deliveries. These are often jobs outside of a creative field, but they can be beneficial because they don’t drain your creative batteries, so to speak. You still have your creative brain fully charged, and some jobs (like dog-walking) even allow for good mental processing (you can think through creative problems). As long as the job doesn’t drain you to the point where you have no energy at all, these kinds of jobs can be great because they allow time and space for your creative work. 

2) Jobs that place you in arts spaces, arts adjacent spaces, or spaces where you can learn about material/technique. My sculptor friends who work in hardware stores, quarries, foundries, or in construction. My printmaker friend who interned with graphic designers. My writer friends who work in bookstores and libraries, artists who work in art supply stores. My friend who worked with her dad’s painting company and got to improve her precision as a painter, which she then took back to the canvas. My teen students who get paid to work on murals or get stipend payments for making art at the nonprofit I work for. My filmmaker friends who worked on film crews. Friends who worked as theater ushers, in ticket sales, or as janitorial staff at museums. All of these jobs kept these artists adjacent to their artwork, whether through access to tools, materials, supplies, or books, through networking and conversations with other artists, or through skillsets that could enhance their art. 

3) Jobs that deeply engage another interest of yours, that bring you joy or can influence your work in other ways. If there’s a job that has nothing to do with your art but that you would love, do it! First, because I believe that the things we’re passionate about get integrated into our art, and second, because any job that gives you peace of mind and joy creates a positive base from which you can create. My friend who worked at a stable because she got to be around horses. My friends who worked at gyms or coaching sports because it kept them active. My friend who worked in a bike repair shop because he was obsessed with biking. An artist I knew who worked at the children’s science museum because she loved being around kids and planetariums. An artist who worked at a mineral store because rocks made her happy. If you have the opportunity, work doing things you like without worrying about whether it directly feeds your arts career.

Because believe it or not, all jobs you work can intersect in some way with your art. You’re creative— you find those connections! A Nobel-Prize winning poet helped his dad on the potato farm and wrote his best-known poem about it. Successful novelists have written about their time working in hair salons and convenience stores. A great printmaker I know who worked in a flower shop began weaving botanical forms and plant knowledge into her designs. The key in an arts career is to see all your experiences as valuable, to find ways that they can influence your art, and to be constantly thinking about and observing the world around you. 

As for me, I worked as a tennis instructor, a tennis court site supervisor, an academic advisor, an art gallery intern, and a coffee shop barista before and during my work in the arts!

Let go of objective measures of what it means to be good. 

I was always an academic overachiever. Top of my class, merit scholarships, science fair awards, AP credit overload, the whole thing. On the one hand, I grew up in a house where education was valued and celebrated, and my parents emphasized the importance of doing my best in school— not getting good grades, but working hard, doing my personal best, and reading and learning all I could. I loved school. I loved academics. And I’m not saying this to brag, but to lay the groundwork for something I struggled with in the arts.

It is jarring to be an academic overachiever and enter an arts career. I thrived off of objective value systems: study, work hard, get an A. If I worked hard and learned what I was supposed to learn, I earned recognition, validation, and opportunity. 

And then I entered the arts. The arts are entirely subjective. We hear it over and over— great artists get rejected hundreds of times, certain art forms require cutthroat competition, etc. —but it’s hard to understand the subjectivity of the art world (and the entrenched discrimination and commercial interests that affect who gets opportunities and who doesn’t) until you’re trying to live as an artist. That you can work hard on something, give all of your time and physical effort and mental and emotional energy to it, only to have it rejected. That what you think is good isn’t what another person thinks is good. That there is a magical alchemy in the act of creation that can’t be taught, or learned, but must be felt, and that you can be working to find that light while actively others try to extinguish it. That you can be good and work hard, yet still not get chosen for the awards, the exhibitions, the publications. If you chased being “the best” your whole life, you’re now in a world where there is no “best”, where greatness is subjective, where the idea of competitive greatness is actually detrimental to artists supporting each other, and where work that sells or connects to white, cishetero traditions is still the most valued. 

After struggling with this for a long time, I came to the conclusion that the most important thing to me now is making the art I want to make, the art only I can make, whether or not it fits what arts industries are looking for or what’s going to win awards. If I make art I believe in from a healthy mental and emotional place, doors will open, even if they aren’t the doors I expected. So try to let go of any sense that worth comes from external validation. Learn to accept critical feedback when it is given kindly, thoughtfully, and constructively. Surround yourself with friends and artists who who can talk to about your work, who build up your work and help you think through it rather than cutting you down. Don’t believe anyone in the arts world who thinks they get to be the arbiters of what’s “good” and who has “what it takes”. People have probably said things like that to the artists you most admire, and if they’d listened, you wouldn’t have experienced art that changed your life. 

Work to gain skills in basic business, marketing, and finances for artists. 

Many artists (at least where I am in the U.S.) go through an entire arts education without receiving resources or training in the financial side of the arts world. Your arts career will likely involve some degree of self-promotion and marketing, creating project budgets and grant proposals, artist statements and bios, sorting out taxes, and other economic elements. I can’t speak to other countries, but for artists in the U.S., taxes can be extremely complex. If you’re awarded a stipend, grant, fellowship, or employed for gigs or one-time projects, you’ll likely be taxed as an independent contractor and have to deduct your own taxes. Through residencies and exhibitions, you may pull income in multiple states and countries, which can also affect taxation. If you’re an artist who doesn’t have access to resources about finance and taxation in your arts program or who doesn’t independently have expertise in those fields, I recommend finding ways to educate yourself early: online resources, low cost courses, or even just taking your financially-savvy friends out for a coffee!

ANYWAY SORRY FOR THE LONG POST I HOPE SOMETHING IN THIS DIATRIBE WAS HELPFUL I HOPE THERE WEREN’T TOO MANY TYPOS AND I hope you have the most wonderful, fulfilling arts career! <3 

[greylunar]

Hey!! I'm a hot mess right now who cant enjoy art anymore so if you could help me solve this out I would appreciate but i understand if you can't so here's the deal: Is being rich while people are starving unethical? And if so how can I enjoy my favorite artists, rich people, knowing this? I mean it's obvious you want you and your loved ones to live comfortably but there's a point where is just too much, right? And all these big artists that I love they are way above the threshold of too much.

This is probably my favorite ask I’ve ever gotten only because I wasn’t really expecting anyone to ask me about this particular political and philosophical question, and I, an anarcho-socialist English major, have some thoughts on the subject, to say the least. Let me preface this by saying there’s no right answer to this question, as much as I wish there was one, and I can only give my opinion and how I’ve chosen to go about my life. That said the majority of people on this site are still pretty young. I’d encourage you to take my opinion with a grain of salt and ask other people you trust and read more theory so you can form what you think is the right way of going about consuming art for yourself! Regardless, I’m really proud of you for asking this and interrogating these sorts of topics within yourself, it can be hard to maintain the balance of keeping hope while attempting to live ethically within capitalist society, but the fact that you are trying is commendable, and it’s my hope that more people asking questions like this will bring about the change we wish to see in the world c: 

Alright, answer under the break!

For starters, yes, I do believe being rich is unethical. While there is a multitude of reasons for this being the case, the one you brought up (hunger) is more than enough reason on its own. Now, no one rich person could end hunger, or at least not permanently. Estimates on how much it would cost to end world hunger range from 7 billion to 265 billion USD annually according to the IFPRI, which sounds wild right off the bat, since those are two unfathomably different numbers, but basically the difference boils down to the 7 billion dollar approach aiming to reduce malnutrition to World Health Assembly goals in about 15 years, and the 265 billion plan aiming to actually end world hunger (reach a “zero hunger target”) within about 20 years by targeting the sources of hunger, mainly being poverty and agricultural infrastructure. 

So when you hear people say things like “why doesn’t Bezos end world hunger” one short answer is that he can’t. But the fact that he can’t doesn’t really matter because what really matters is he’s not trying. Without getting into liquidizing stocks and all that nonsense, if the ten richest people in the world made a one-time donation of 60 billion each, we would have enough and then some for the first two years of that zero hunger target plan by that alone. And the “poorest” of those ten billionaires would still have a net worth of 15 billion, which is still an unfathomable amount of money. 

I say all of this to point out why it still matters to say the rich aren’t doing enough to end world hunger, and not to say that this is my ideal plan for solving it (which involves a lot more social restructuring and abolishing the value-form). I think if someone wakes up with billions in assets it a capitalist society in which the median “living wage” (which includes covering basic expenses, building savings, and having “fun money”) in my country is roughly $67,700, they must have woken up on one of those days and thought “oh hey what if I ended hunger in my home town” or “oh hey what if I funded a food co-op in a food desert nearby” or maybe even “what if I fucked around and tried to end world hunger” and then they didn’t. They turned around and went back to sleep, or went to a business meeting where they continued to exploit their workers or did whatever it is they do that I will never understand. And I think that is unethical. 

Here’s the thing, and I’m sure some people will disagree with me on this one (I’m more than happy to read anyone’s replies and take them into account going forward) there’s a difference between corporate wealth and celebrity wealth. Do I fucking hate looking at pictures of Drake’s mansion? Yes, completely. Do I think that, like Mark Zuckerberg, he should be tried for crimes not limited to aiding and abetting ethnic violence in Ethiopia and failing to remove a militia event in Kenosha in which people planned to kill BLM protesters and then did, proceeding to lie about it in order to continue to profit off of the traffic and internet buzz white supremacists provide his site with? No, because Drake is not Mark Zuckerberg and there is a difference between what crimes it takes to make and uphold a 170 million dollar net worth versus a 98 billion dollar one. While I’m not jazzed to say the least about millionaire celebrities lounging in their wealth, in a way they are a very successful worker being rewarded by a capitalist society in exchange for a service they provide. So yeah, I feel more comfortable cheering on John Boyega for succeeding in a system set against him than I do any corporate capitalist.

That said, there are ways to support the art you love and strive to consume art more ethically. Support local artists, black artists and other creators of color, artists who support sustainable printmaking or give part of their proceeds to charities you care about. In terms of music, for every band you like that has problematic views there are thirty small bands with similar sounds you can support if you go looking. If you find a band you think is doing great work, support them on Bandcamp or buy a CD, and if you really want to listen to Kanye’s Power because its just that kind of day, listen to him on Spotify, where they’re literally paying people jack shit for it.  If you’re going to participate in a capitalist society (and if you’re not, let me know how since I haven't figured that one out yet haha), reward the people you feel good about supporting. 

Speaking of which! One of my favorite rappers noname has an online bookclub that uplifts POC voices by featuring two books a month.  It’s awesome, noname is awesome, and I feel good whenever I listen to their album for the thirtieth time because telefone is the best. There’s art out there for you to feel good about loving. Sometimes it just takes a little digging to find.

I think my last note is going to be this: art is human. Art isn’t capitalist. People have been making art before capitalism and they’ll be making art after, art is an expression of the pain and hope and past and future of us, and we need it. To try and cut yourself off from consuming art to distance yourself from capitalism won’t work, because we need art to be human, and it was never capitalist in the first place. You aren’t evil or unethical for wanting to consume art, that’s the most natural urge in the world. It is a sign that our system is unethical if it makes us feel guilty for the things that make us human. So consume art, love it, love the people who make it, because its the good stuff. It’s the stuff that makes the rest of this more hopeful and more worth it. I know this can all feel like so much sometimes. But you’re not alone. There so many people out there working to make the world better and brighter, and making art to get us through it. I love you, and I hoped this helped even a little bit and I’m sorry its so long haha. I hope today is a little better for you than yesterday, and tomorrow’s even better than today c:

[taylorscottbarnett]

Hello to new and old followers

So I figured I’d give a shout to people, do a little bit about me, since I haven’t in a while. I’m an assistant manager at a local, family owned coffee shop, I’ve worked for them for the past 11 years. It was my boss who encouraged me to go back to college and finish my degree, saying I was far too smart to just work at a coffee shop. I sling coffee and tea, manage the social media pages, and handle maintenance and upkeep. I’m a Graphic Design major. My focuses being graphic design, printmaking (traditional, digital, and 3D), Jewelry and Metalsmithing, and Ceramics. Art and design has always been a very big part of my life. I also study constitutional law in my spare time -- because it’s good to be well-rounded right? Oh and I do quite a bit of studying finance as well as lots of historical writings. The Federalists Papers, Anti Federalist Papers, speeches, biographies, etc. I hold subscriptions to The Economist, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Kiplinger Personal Finance magazines, as well as nearly a decade-old subscription to The New York Times.

You can follow me on Instagram, @nerdyfordesign twitter: @nerdyfordesign and even here @nerdyfordesign -- for a blog I’m going to start this fall on my college studies. I spend a lot of time preparing for my future. I write about current events here, and occasionally past political events, and constitutional law. I’m attempting to spend my semesters growing my Instagram account as a launchpad for building my name in design circles -- although twitter tends to be exclusively towards current events. I’m putting a lot of time into trying to make my degree as versatile as possible post-college. Making notes on ways to apply my degree in different areas, trying to make sure I know ways to apply things I learn in one medium to others, building a design bible or sorts of ideas or plans I can’t yet do because of financial, or space, or time limitations that I want to revisit in the future. I also spend a lot of time trying to get my financial house in order -- or grow it. Laying the groundwork for my post-college plans -- like moving from Kentucky to Massachusetts. Or replacing my 2011 Dodge Avenger (when it finally bites the dust -- I’ll drive it into the ground but I plan on buying a far more eco-frendly ride to replace it with.) Or buying up design equipment, I replaced my under-powered PC a few years ago, purchased a drafting table, and have picked up two Epson printers so far. Eventually I’d like to grab a 3D printer and a Glowforge or two (sadly these things cost lots of money so I’ve not taken the plunge in either -- being an assistant manager at a coffee shop looks like a glamorous lifestyle, but I’m not exactly rolling in dough currently). I favor both Acorns investment app and Coinbase for my investing needs. You can find Acorns here: https://share.acorns.com/leonfellpool

and coinbase here:

https://www.coinbase.com/join/barnet_j44

You dont have to use those links, a simple search will find you both platforms, and both have android and ios apps, however if you do decide to use either to sign up, I’ll receive a small referral bonus, and that would get me slightly further towards my goals. (I dont have any stake in any of the other things I’ve listed, I just think they are good reading). Acorns is a wonderful app to “set it and forget it” for building wealth over the long-term. They also offer an extremely low-cost IRA option and a checking account. It’s the platform I’ve used to try and save money for replacing my car or maybe being a homeowner one day. You can also find me on Redbubble @leonfeloni for art and design pieces I’m selling. A lot of my fall semester will be focused on building that store with works to sell.

I’m also passionate about people considering using folding@home. It’s a platform that allows you to lend some of your spare processing cycles when you are not using the computer to projects trying to find cures to illnesses. By “Folding” they are referring to running simulations of proteins (not the whey kind) to find cures for things like COVID, Alzheimer's, etc. It runs in the background when you are not actually using your computer, but it’s powered. Look into it and see if it’s something you’d consider joining. Especially if you have an old laptop you never use, you can just power it up, boot F@H and set it to stay awake when your laptop lid is closed and just let it run. I have two laptops in my bedroom setup just to do that, once I realized I wasn’t really using either that often currently. Anyway, that's just a little update post thing about stuff.

[i-did]

2+4

2. did u prefer dinosaurs or monsters as a kid?

4. ya’ll r gonna hate this but ur major actually says a lot about u as a person. whats ur major?

2) Okay so I was a huge monsters kid. I loved pretending I was a monster with my best friend, we would pretend we were wizards or vampires or werewolves every day in elementary school from the time we met which was the summer before 3rd grade, until 6th grade when we stopped having classes and lunch together. We weren't best friends after that really since we never saw each other really, but it was so fun. We had huge world building and lore and an ongoing story, and we didn't like the word merman so we called ourselves "mer-peeps" as in like merpeople. We even like made up names for alternate world foods and everything, if I'm ever nostalgic, it's for 3rd grade recess or those after school programs for "at risk youth" i spent a lot of time in as a kid.

4) so in currently out of school because the pandemic, and before that I was a transfer student, so at my first college as a freshman I was a double major of art and lit, and planning on applying to have an emphasis in creative writing, and then at my second college I was an illustration major with a minor in writing.

I've been doing a lot of lino carving tho in my free time in quarantine, so I might re-apply and change my major to whats called an "independent major" where you design your own path, so I can have an emphasis in illustration, printmaking, and maybe ceramic because I loved it, with a minor in either writing or comics. If I get a masters (even though I definitely don't have the money for it) I would get a masters in comics because they have comics major only as a masters degree for some reason.

My major is me just doing things I like because I don't have any plan to be honest, my original plan was to drop out of high school/not go to college and start an apprenticeship as a tattoo artist right away, but the guy who was currently my tattoo artist on my body convinced me to go to college if I could, and my family values education a lot since its not something everyone has had the privilege to do. So now I still don't know what I'm going to do with my life but I guess I'll have fun lol. (And debt but eh)

[yumenosakiimagines]

heyhey!!!! for the ask game: natsume (bc ofc), mayoi, nagisa andddd yuzuru please!!!!

Hi hi! How are you, ghost-chan? Natsume, coming from you? Who would’ve guessed? 😹Thanks for asking! 💝

Natsume Sakasaki: do you have any piercings? If so, how many? Are you planning on getting more? If not, would you like to have some?

I currently have 7 piercings! My lower lobe piercings are stretched to a 00g, or 10mm, and I have two upper lobe piercings on my right ear, and one on the other one. I would like to get two helix on my left ear once this whole things ends! DON’T READ THE NEXT SENTENCE IF YOURE BABEY PLS AND THANK U. I also have my nipples pierced and getting them done was one of the worst experiences of my life

Mayoi Ayase: are you easily scared?

Not really! I’ve been watching horror movies since I was like seven so I’m pretty sure I’ve lost all sensitivity to scary things lol. I’m the type to hide and jump on people to scare them haha  

Ran Nagisa: what’s your favorite gemstone and why?

In no particular order, amethyst cause it’s my birth stone, jade cause it reminds me of Banana Fish and opal cause it looks sooooo pretty in body jewelry!

Yuzuru Fushimi: do you enjoy drawing? How about other forms of artistic expression?

I haven’t really thought about this in a long while actually. I used to love drawing but I kinda lost that spark once it became my job, if that makes sense? Like, I still enjoy doing it but it also stresses me out a lot whenever I have to draw for college assignments and commissions. Quarantine has also made it pretty hard for me to get inspired to draw for myself but I’m still trying so it’s okay! Other forms of artistic expression I enjoy include woodblock printmaking (that’s actually what I’m majoring on), and watercolor painting, but I rarely do the latter anymore. I’ll show you guys some of my enstars related drawings someday if you’d like

[hopeworldfan]

masterpiece

summary: you were a fixture in the art department and taehyung is the cute transfer student.

pairing: taehyung/reader

word count: 1k+

genre: fluff, college!au

warning: none

“You have to come.” Your best friend pleaded as you walked side by side across the sprawling campus.

“Lisa, I already told you I was coming.” You reminded with a laugh. “I’ve never missed an art show that you had work in, you know this.”

“There was that one time-”

“I was literally throwing up my internal organs, I would have thrown up all over everyone’s work.” You said quickly, cutting her off before she could bring up the one time you did miss.  

“Okay, okay, okay, I’m just so nervous! And excited! This is gonna be a good one, I can’t wait for you to see!” She gushed happily.

Your best friend was a dedicated art major and you, being a dedicated best friend, were always there give her some support when a piece of hers was in a gallery. Not that it was a chore, you loved art! It was so pretty, and you loved how it was able to evoke so many emotions in people. Sure, you didn’t understand the technicalities and couldn’t have an educated discussion about pieces, but you loved just admiring them.

“Make sure and wear something kinda cute!” She shouted in lieu of goodbye as you parted ways and you just waved her off. You knew the drill already.

“So, (y/n), when are you just gonna give in and become an art major?”

“Look, Joseph, you do not want me in any of your classes I promise you.” The professor in front of you laughed before patting you on the shoulder.

“C’mon, you spend enough time in the studio with Lisa, drop whatever stuffy major you have now and come to the art side!”

“(y/n), you’re finally just becoming an art major?” Gaither, another one of the art professors, asked, having heard the conversation you were having with Joseph. “I think printmaking would really suit you.”

You dramatically sighed and rolled your eyes. Yeah, you were a constant fixture around the art department. Your best friend spent so many hours there and the two of you were like two peas in a pod, so you just studied while she worked on whatever project she had due. Because of this, the art professors became familiar with you and always joked about converting you to the art side.

Even though you couldn’t do anything art related to save your life.

“Alright, alright, stop harassing the poor girl and let her enjoy the exhibit.” Emilia, the department head, finally said, shooing the two professors away from you. “You look gorgeous tonight (y/n), I hope you enjoy the exhibit.”

The elderly woman smiled before moving onto mingle with the other attendees. You had a whole wardrobe specifically for art gallery events. It was the only time you ever really had a chance to dress up, so you usually ran with it.  

“(y/n)! There you are! Come look at my paintings!” Lisa squealed, grabbing your arm and dragging you across the gallery to where her exhibit was. Despite having seen the paintings before, in all of their stages of completion, you still gasped. Your best friend truly was talented.

“Oh my god they came out so good!” You gushed and she beamed with pride. “You really pulled out all the stops, you are that bitch. Picasso who? Van Gogh who? You just ended them.”

She giggled happily before hitting you on the arm. “This is why I love you. Now I have to go mingle and shit, have fun!”

Before you could breathe, she was gone, and you just shook your head. She’d always been like that for as long as you could remember, all part of her charm.

You perused the gallery, stopping every now and then to admire works or chat with some of the professors and artists. They all knew you since you were around so often.

One particular work caught your eye and it literally stopped you in your tracks. It was breathtaking.

“Wow.” You breathed and heard a chuckle from beside you. Turning your head, you were stunned for the second time in five minutes. The boy standing next to you was the most beautiful boy you had ever seen in your life. And that wasn’t an exaggeration at all.  

“I’m guessing you like the painting?” He smirked and you struggled to find your words.

“Yeah, yes! It’s gorgeous!” You complimented quickly, trying not to seem as flustered as you felt.

“What do you like about it?” He asked curiously and you internally groaned. You were going to make yourself look like an idiot in front of this super-hot guy. Just your luck.

Taehyung had noticed you from the moment you walked into the gallery. He had only been at this college for a semester, having transferred for the art program. He’d seen you around before, hanging out in the studios, chatting with professors, even sitting in on lectures.

He thought you were captivating. Your laugh, your smile, the way you carried yourself. He’d always been too nervous to talk to you before, but then he saw you admiring his painting and took that as his opportunity. Not to mention you looked stunning tonight.

“So, I’m not very eloquent when it comes to art stuff, but umm, I really like the colors.” You smiled, and it was true. You loved the colors! Your best friend always teased you because that was your go-to compliment and what was often the criteria for if you liked something or not.  

Taehyung’s heart fluttered. You were so adorable.

“Colors are good, they can make or break a piece. I’m glad you like the colors. I’m Taehyung.” He introduced and you blushed when you took his offered hand.

“(y/n), and I’m assuming this is your piece?”

“You are correct.” You were at a loss for words when your best friend suddenly bounded up to you.

“(y/n)! Oh, hey Tae!” She greeted happily. “You have to come see this piece it is spectacular!”

Before you could protest, she was dragging you away from the very attractive artist you were talking to and you internally groaned.

Taehyung was feeling much the same way, having wanted to ask for your number. Next time.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had such a hot classmate!” You hissed when the two of you were finally back to your shared apartment.

“What? Who?” She replied, head tilted in confusion.

“Taehyung! He’s the hottest guy I’ve ever seen!”

“(y/n), you know I don’t see people in terms of attractiveness.” She shrugged and you groaned before flopping down onto the couch.  

You were especially conscious about how you looked the next day, knowing you would be joining Lisa in the studio and hoping you would run into Taehyung again. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there and you his your disappointment by burying your nose in one of your many textbooks.

A few hours later you finally decided to call it a day and bid your best friend farewell. You weren’t really paying attention to where you were going, so you were rounding a corner when you ran right into another person. You squeaked and braced yourself for impact, but it didn’t come. Instead, an arm wrapped itself around your waist, keeping you from hitting the ground.

“Oh shit, you alright?” That smooth, deep voice sounded vaguely familiar and your face turned a thousand shades of red when you opened your eyes and saw Taehyung’s face only inches from yours. His glasses were a bit skewered and he seemed a little flustered.

“Holy shit, oh my god I’m sorry, I should have been paying more attention, making sharp turns around corners is a stupid thing to do.” You blabbered, trying to make the situation a little less awkward as you avoided eye contact.

Taehyung chuckled, his own face turning the slightest shade of red at the proximity of your bodies. His arm was still around your waist and he was acutely aware of how nice you felt in his arms.  

“I’m actually glad I ran into you, though I didn’t plan on it being quite so literal.” He said, letting you go and fixing his glasses. You adjusted your shirt and adjusted the strap on your backpack before looking up at him.

“Why?” You asked bluntly before quickly backtracking. “Oh, that sounded rude, I didn’t mean-”

“Do you wanna get coffee or something, sometime?” He asked, cutting off your word vomit. You froze, blinking dumbly at him and he was the one to start backtracking. “I mean, unless you don’t want to which is totally cool too, I-”

“I’d love to get coffee.” You said shyly and his boxy grin made your heart skip a beat.

[gardeniaresilia-archive]

Thanks for the reply! I’m planning on studying art in college so I’ve been asking people about their experiences. Have you done many traditional art/graphic design classes yet? What kind of classes have you taken? Do you enjoy the way art classes are in college? Sorry if I’m bugging you or asking too many questions

No, no! You’re fine! I’m gonna put this under a read-more because this is super lengthy (don’t worry I put a TLDR at the end to spare you). And...my university is not an “Art School”, it’s a US State-Ordained-University with Liberal Education and all that shiny extra stuff that just happens to have a Bachelor-in-Fine-Arts program.

***I should start this by putting a disclaimer that these are just experiences I’ve had that are exclusive to me and my time at my specific school, and that this (hopefully) isn’t the experience around the globe.***

At my school, the Art program is super underfunded. In the entirety of the Bachelor of Fine-Arts (to be referred to as BFA) before being divided down into the emphasis studies, there’s 120 of us, and half of those students are pursuing Graphic Design, including myself. A measly 10 students of that 120 are pursuing Art Education.

To get in to the program at my uni, you need to finish some prerequisite courses then do the “Post-Foundation Portfolio Review”, where you submit twelve works, six of which were from these courses and six more that you’ve done during your time at college (high school work is not allowed), as well as a sketch book. You hang up the works on a wall, and you have a talk with two professors in the program about your work, what you wanna do with your time in the program you choose, your interests in the field, etc. Make sure to study some terms and be able to answer questions using art terms (you’re allowed cheat-sheet notecards and they have a pamphlet available beforehand so you’re prepared). I’ll leave this at this for now, but if you have deeper detail questions about my specific experience doing this feel free to ask!

To put it into perspective, we had two Graphic Design professors for 60 students, but one just took an Administrative position as of this past spring and can only do one class/semester starting this fall. However, between the two, a lot of people disliked him so it’s not a huge loss to the students in terms of personality. He was a stickler and it was his way or the highway in terms of grades so...nyeh. It’s just unfortunate because the other Professor is a kind soul who doesn’t deserve potentially putting on the full classloads every semester, and I don’t know if we’re getting another professor.

Anyway, my school has the following emphases/focuses under the BFA: Art Education, 2D Studio, 3D Studio, Graphic Design, and it used to have Interdisciplinary Arts (AKA “other”), but that didn’t have enough interest so that went away, but they still offer the oddball classes like Animation (which I’m taking this fall!!) and 3D-Printing.

To sum each Emphasis:

Art Ed is exactly how it sounds. Learn to be an Art Teacher, learn crafts to do with kids, learn how to make lesson plans.

2D Studio is your traditional media that includes Drawing (which charcoal... personally bleugh), Painting, Printmaking, Figure Drawing, etc.

3D Studio is the Pottery and...whatever else those funky 3D Studio people do. They’re all cool people though.

Graphic Design, my area of study, is things like Typography, Package Design, Logo Design, Photography, etc. That’s almost entirely on a computer and making a printed finished product.

As a BFA at my uni, you’re required to take some history classes, and if you’re not an Art History Major/Minor (which doesn’t fall under the BFA I think) you’d have to take classes from the other focuses to make you, and I quote “a more well-rounded student”. Which, for me I don’t mind. I like drawing, and I can get headaches from working on my devices all day. Therefor, staring at paper absentmindedly laying down hues and shades can be really cathartic and good rest from those harmful blue lights and whatever. I’m also not required to take a language because the BFA credit load is massive compared to a lot of the other non-fine-art or art-related Majors.

To get down into my studies even farther, we’re required to take classes around Typography and doing letterwork type things, as well as classes just titled “Graphic Design I/II/III” which is just doing random graphic projects. Some of these have included making paper booklets, posters, decorative-yet-working UPC/barcodes, etc., and I’m moving into the higher levels, which means I can kinda take what I want. In it’s higher levels, my university offers Package Design, Company Identity/Branding (IE creating your own brand 101), and a few other ones. 

Critiques I’ve had with my Graphic Design classes include putting up proofs on the wall to talk about, then open floor with the rest of the class and Professor to talk about and give advice. Then when the final is due, you generally mount it and submit your process book (a binder that you keep all semester with all your WIPS/proofs and studies and inspirations from all the projects), put it up on the wall again, talk about it sometimes, then turn the mounted project in and move on to the next thing. There isn’t much actual homework other than the projects themselves and the prep assigned with it, but some professors assign extra busywork, some don’t. Critiques aren’t also super formal either.

My traditional art classes range from working with charcoal to working with ink, paint, whatever else. You can either be working on a flat table at times or with an easel, and the projects can be either really specific or really random. I’ve really only taken drawing-oriented classes up until this point, and I have a love-hate relationship with most of my professors. They know what they like and know what they don’t, and they generally dislike the “anime” artstyle. I’ve developed a slightly more cartoony looking style for when I am allowed to not try to do realism. Realism and still-lives are going to be a prevalent thing. Especially in the lower level classes. From what I understand you can get jiggy with it in higher classes kind of, but I don’t know.

Critiques include putting up only the final, talking about the process and using art terms and trying to sound smart, and then open forum discussion about the piece. It’s not suuuper formal, but still.

Last but not least! Make friends! Because friends can help critique your work before formal critiques, help make your processes look good in the “formal” critiques by saying “yeah I watched them do this, it was super cool seeing it go from sketch to this!”, and plus you get into this hilarious relationship of going to art stores together and buying each other cute art supplies and paper for projects and it’s a good time.

TLDR; my school has my program severely underfunded, Professors are all generally also real artists pursuing jobs and freelancing outside of teaching, be ready to bow down to what your Professors want to get a good grade, and generally don’t draw in an anime-style. Also try to get good at faking being able to public speak because trust me, you’ll need it. And make friends, not enemies because these people will be your connections as well as people you’ll see a lot.

Aaaaaaaand yeah! Sorry this is super long! If you have any specific questions about experiences (I’ve had lots of good and bad times in my two years at uni so far) and stuff like that feel free to drop another ask!! I love asks!!!

[visionshadows]

Sidgeno college au

Geno’s work study is in the bookstore. It’s not that bad really. It’s only 12 hours a week and most of the time it’s pretty slow once people get their books for the semester. His friend Sasha got a work study in the coffee shop across the street and he’s constantly busy so Geno’s pretty happy with his gig.

Two weeks into the semester, a quiet guy with a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes slides a sketchbook and pencils across to Geno along with a used copy of Introduction to Line Drawing. Geno checks him out and slides everything into a reusable bag with the University of Pittsburgh’s logo on it.

“You have Dr. Martin or Anna?”

“Hmm?” The guy looks up at him, surprised.

“Am art major. Anna much more fun but Dr. Martin better technical drawer since he is painter. Anna is printmaker.”

“Oh, I’m just auditing the class,” the guy fumbles with a piece of paper, handing it over to Geno. He takes it and looks at the name, nodding.

“You will enjoy. Anna lots of fun.”

“Thanks. Maybe I’ll see you around.” The guy gives him a warm smile and Geno’s heart flutters as he watches him walk away. The view is just as good from behind.

Geno does see him around but it’s mostly because he goes and bugs Anna because Anna loves him and is also Russian so she tells him which session the guy is auditing. She tells him not to bother him because the guy is recovering from a serious head injury and using the class to help him with his spatial awareness. Geno’s not great at listening though.

The guy says his name is Sid and Geno sits next to him in the quad and they draw together. Geno is actually a sculptor at heart, but he tends to spend a lot of his time drawing so it’s not a hardship to sit with Sid who is funny and sweet.

It takes a few times for Geno to realize that Sid is Sidney Crosby of the Penguins and he’s taking the class to help recover from the concussion he suffered that winter. By then, Geno considers Sid a friend and makes sure he stops drawing when his forehead gets wrinkled and his eyes are pinched.

Geno shares an apartment with both Sashas and little Zhenya. Everyone is an artist so there is a lot of mess and art supplies everywhere. Only little Zhenya cooks and he only cooks Russian food and macaroni and cheese. Sid loves it though and he spends whatever free time Geno has there with him.

Sasha tells him they are dating like high school children and it is fascinating to watch. Both Sashas like to sit in the kitchen eating little Zhenya’s food and pretend to work on homework while Sid and Geno listen to hockey and work on line drawings.

Sid kisses Geno on the day he’s allowed to skate for the first time after the concussion. It’s quick and soft and Sid steals the kiss when he’s leaning over to steal Geno’s eraser. Geno stares at him in surprise before taking Sid’s face in his hands and kissing him for real.

“I have an apartment,” Sid says haltingly one day. Little Zhenya is lounging on his bed on the other side of the room Geno shares with him. He’s got headphones on, but he’s still in the same room as Sid and Geno while they’re trying to make out. “I don’t just live with Mario and his family. We could go there.”

“Oh,” Geno’s eyes widen. “No roommates?”

Sid shakes his head. “I mean, that’s why I’m living at their house right now. Because I live alone.”

“Yes. We go there. Can we go now?”

Sid shrugs and looks over at where Little Zhenya is bopping along to his music. “If you want.”

Geno scrambles to his feet, pulling Sid along. “I’m pack a bag. So much privacy, Sid. I’m blow you on the couch.”

“I hear that,” Little Zhenya says from his bed. “You so gross, Zhenya.”

“Fuck you,” Geno says good-naturedly. “I see you fuck Nastya in the kitchen.”

“Oh my god,” Sid groans, hiding his face. “I’ll go get the car started.”

Sid doesn’t audit any other classes. He’s not actually very good at drawing and he doesn’t really have any desire to paint or sculpt. But he likes to curl up on the couch next to Geno with a sketchpad and doodle little hockey players. When he starts playing again, he keeps a sketchpad in his carry on bag and keeps it up. It’s relaxing and he likes how it gets him out of his head.

Geno is head over heels in love with him. He’s so busy himself with his classes and his final project for his senior year but he can’t help but notice that Sid is drawing plans for houses and all of them have a hockey rink and a huge studio.

The playoffs are awful for the Penguins and the series against the Flyers is just so bad. Sid’s temper is razor thin and everyone is a mess and they get booted early. Geno’s not sure what he’s supposed to do especially when he’s spending 12 hours a day locked in his studio trying to finish his sculptures.

Sid’s emotional and angry and he shows up at Geno’s studio in a rage. He yells, not at Geno, but in general, shouts out all of his frustration of the last year, his concussion, how bad hockey was. Geno lets him and carefully chisels away at bits of stone.

When Sid is done, he collapses on the floor and Geno sits next to him, gathering him in his arms and holding him close.

“I love you,” Geno murmurs, pressing a kiss to his temple. “You do better next year. I know you will.”

Sid nods, his face buried in Geno’s neck. He clutches tightly, his breath still coming in short pants. Geno runs his dusty hand through Sid’s curls, rocking him in the small, cramped studio. He can’t make it better. He can’t change how the playoffs went.

But he can do this.

[greyscaleproject]

Hello!

Okay not poetry or an essay or anything today - this will just be some thoughts about my life currently if anyone cares and is reading this. 

(Stay tuned it gets less dumb, although a little Hallmark-y after I ramble about my life.)

On the 15th (of May, 2018) I moved out of my freshman dorm and into my first apartment. This was a stressful experience, as it would not all fit in the car in one trip, Boston traffic, and needing to get to work later in the day. However, I made it, got to work and everything. The next morning was my last final, and I woke up half an hour before it was supposed to start, I threw on shoes and ran to get on the T, ended up getting to my exam half an hour after it started, but I wrote four pages in the hour I had remaining and finished on time, feeling good about what I wrote. 

My room was a complete mess when I left to catch the bus back home, and I finally got back to my apartment last night at about 8pm. I spent most of the night unpacking belongings and putting clothes away and cleaning. After I finished with the stuff I needed to organize in my room I took some photos (including the above) because my room looked pretty, and I was excited. I went to bed at 1am, which is the earliest I’ve actually chosen to sleep in months at this point. 

This morning I put away all my other non-refrigerated food, finished cleaning, and decorated. My room is now adorable with plants and flowers and so nice and sunny, although the kitchen is on the inside of the building and has no windows, so its hot and dark in there. 

So, now for less of a dumb journal entry: It’s incredible being 19 years old and having my own apartment, having my own job, paying all my own bills, and actually being completely independent. I am legitimately running my own life at this point; my parents have no control over me anymore. 

It’s so freeing realizing this deeply, rather than just strictly rationally. I am on my own. For most 19 year olds, this would probably be a terrifying realization. Most 19 year olds have not gone through what I have in my life, and are probably, especially in our current political and economic state, clinging to their safety net and welcoming moving back home for the summer. 

So much has happened to me even this school year that my current position is an absolute blessing, and I am so so grateful for where I am. Ten months ago I was somewhat timid, anxiety-ridden, barely stable enough to be out of a psych ward, and had no clue what I wanted for my future. I didn’t even know what major I wanted to be in (although I really should have - there was really only ever one option for me because I’ve loved printmaking since high school). Now I am outgoing - although still mostly introverted - healthy, happy, planning ahead, unashamedly myself, and self-sufficient enough to be able to live on my own.

Considering where I was at the beginning of my senior year of high school, when I didn’t think I would make it out alive to graduate and had no hope for my future, I am now a very different person. At my core, I am essentially still me: same values and morals, same inner personality, same sarcasm, same empathy. BUT: I am no longer afraid. I am not afraid of the future, and I am not afraid of myself. I am not afraid to wear what I want where I want. I am not afraid to speak my mind. I have realized my attractiveness and now own it. I used to scare people in high school to a certain extent (including myself), and people respected me because I was smart, but not because I fit into their circle. Now people actually legitimately think I am cool and interesting, and I am valuable for more than just my good grades (especially because most of my classes are pass/fail and not letter grades) and people in my major above me tell me I am creating good work, which makes me all warm inside. I still haven’t quite found a group of my kind of people yet to be friends with at school, and my few friends are from work, but as my section in my major is pretty small, I’m sure I’ll find my group when we all officially begin our major classes.

Long story short, when people say “It gets better,” it’s not just some catch phrase neurotypical people say to make themselves feel better. It really really truly does get better. I am always going to struggle with bipolar and anxiety and I will be on medications for the rest of my life, but this doesn’t mean I can take ownership of my life and live it in exactly the way that I want to to fulfill my happiness. I do not need to live my life for others for it to be valuable. Yes, of course, I will face struggles - I’ve been doing this all year - but it doesn’t mean the struggles won’t be worth it in the end and that I should give up right now.

The future is still very uncertain for me, as, like I said, I really am on my own. So far, my only plans are to complete college and officially move to Mass if I am able to take the room one of my coworkers is offering my in the apartment she and her friends have. The trick really is baby steps. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it can be scary, but take it a step at a time until the road ahead seems clearer. Sometimes, you will just be thrown into situations, and yes, it will be scary and maybe even traumatic for a while, but you will get through this, and you will come out on the other side, ready to take on anything.

Have courage, do you, and always be kind and have empathy. You never know what someone else is dealing with. Just know that you are not and never will be alone in your experiences, and that it will get better.

Shoot me a message if you ever want/need to talk - I’ll try and be on the internet more now that I’m not in school.

xoxo, Emma

[adellsculpture]

Moving Sculpture + Time as an Element

The human face contains 42 muscles, and is capable of making over 10,000 expressions.

Happiness, Sadness, Fear, and Anger are four of the most basic facial expressions that humans universally make. 

My sculpture has 4 ‘true’ sides expressing those 4 basic emotions. It is able to make up to 64 unique facial expressions, and it can print them all onto paper, or cloth. 

Circumplex 64 - Woodcut MDF, Wood, Steel, Acrylic, Ink - 6.5″x 6.5″ x 9.75″ - September 2020

Circumplex 64 - Woodcut MDF, Wood, Steel, Acrylic, Ink - 6.5″x 6.5″ x 9.75″ - September 2020

Circumplex 64 - Woodcut MDF, Wood, Steel, Acrylic, Ink - 6.5″x 6.5″ x 9.75″ - September 2020

Circumplex 64 - Woodcut MDF, Wood, Steel, Acrylic, Ink - 6.5″x 6.5″ x 9.75″ - September 2020

REFLECTION:

One fundamental rule I took from 3D Design and Sculpture 1 that I’ve kept in mind is to make sure every side of a sculpture should have an interesting composition. This sculpture should have multiple “faces.” When the word “faces” came to me, I thought of the human face. Almost every human being shares the ability to show emotion. So I took my concept into that direction. 

In recent works I’ve made, I have used a theme of emotion, and psychological elements. I intended for this piece to be thematically cohesive with the other works I’ve made. 

I have been practicing a minimalist lifestyle for the past few years. I am not perfect at it by any means. I’ve fallen off the wagon many times, and I do have a few glaring contradictions to that philosophy. But one thing I’ve stuck to when it comes to minimalism is the idea of function over form. Anything I own should have a function. This sculpture was created to have a function: to make more art. Printmaking was the perfect direction for me to go into.

As a PDP major, I have spent many days in the studio studying and working on printmaking. Woodcut printmaking is a relatively new thing to me, but I’d made Linocut prints years ago. It seems to be the same process, so I took to the carving pretty well.

A new skill I’ve obtained is Woodcut carving, and block printing. Something I had a good idea of how it worked, but never attempted for myself. I find wood carving to be meditative, and satisfying. But little slips can be punishing. It’s something I would love to work on more.

Being a Lab Tech has definitely given me plenty of time to work on my piece. If I did nothing to move it along, I wasn’t using my time wisely. Having the sculpture facility definitely helped me make my sculpture in a good amount of time.

PROCESS:

SKETCHES

The original sketches I made were of a much different sculpture. The original sculpture was simply a movable sculpture that could be spun around to make combinations of silly faces, and that was about it. I thought of it as a standalone piece.

As time went on, I thought about the possibilities of combinations of faces, and what I could do with them. Printing seemed like a logical evolution.

This was the sculpture before I painted it.

This is after.

The lazy Susan bearings that would be sandwiched between the 3 layers. I accidentally bought a third one. Might use it for a later project.

STRUGGLES: 

The only real struggles I came upon were my lack of experience in the Sculpture facility. The last time I worked in a sculpture studio was at FloArts 6 years ago. And their sculpture facility was nothing AT ALL like this one. So the first bit of my time was watching demos and making sure I was using the equipment correctly. I learned how much wood the table and miter saws eat, and quickly figured out a way to avoid losing the measurements I originally planned for it.

SUCCESSES:

This is the first sculpture I’ve made in 6 years, and it feels good. It’s a small one, so it was a good way for me to dip my toes back into thinking in the 3rd dimension, rather than 2D. I’m excited to see what I come up with next.

THE NEXT STEP:

Actually making prints with it would be a great thing. My intention is to print on fabric, so that I can sew all the sheets together and create a large quilt with all 64 combinations, and display the sculpture alongside it. 

[artstartart]

Artist Spotlight: Taylor Bielecki

Get to know one of our Pratt artists from the February 2020 Collection on ArtStartArt.

To get us started, share more about yourself and your artwork.

I am a Pratt MFA who focuses on drawing and painting, specifically influenced by cinema; Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch, and Werner Herzog. I am also jumping into printmaking a bit more again and use dramatic angles, night scenes, to put the audience at street level and take them to the places that may often avoid especially at night, but those carnivals, roads, alleyways sometimes offer some of the best imagery.

Tell us about your first experience creating.

It was around when I was 6 years old, I'd be watching X-Men, Pokémon, or yu-gi-oh cartoons and always wanted to create my own characters, trading cards, or heroes, so I would sit there and pause the show to try to copy the characters and make my own book. It would drive my mom crazy because I would still have the same show on the TV for hours. Ever since then I've always drew my heroes and role models, and I'm working on a comic project. Also, once I found my love for Painting at Penn State, everything just really opened up for me art wise.

What has been your favorite part of art school so far?

Having the opportunity to have a studio with all the other MFAs o the same floor and really build awesome friendships. The community is absolutely awesome, the great conversations, critiques and gallery trips really help push our work to the next level. Thanks to this great community of peers and faculty, I come to my studio always inspired ad ready to try out a new idea.

What are you currently exploring in your work?

I am really trying to push my compositions and distance in the pieces. I want viewers to feel as if they can really enter the piece. Acting like my own director I am exploring many night scenes, rain reflections, and inspiration from my travels around NYC, trying to push my color palette and kind of continue my version on the nocturn painting tradition.

What excites you about ArtStartArt?

I really appreciate the opportunity to join this amazing community of artists and get to show my work to a whole new audience. I am also really excited to get to learn more of the business side and get some great experience in getting a good handle on the selling and shipping processes that ArtStartArt is helping us all with.

If you had to choose another major besides art, what would it be, and why?

English, I actually have a BA in English too. I love literature and to write. I have my first artbook out ad hope to self-publish more with short stories with each of my pieces.

What plans do you have for the future of your art?

I hope to become an art professor and teach art someday and continue to show my work in exhibitions. Now that I am experiencing the NYC art scene it is one of my dreams to have a show in a gallery here too. I have a lot of options, freelance, teaching, and everything and I am really grateful and excited for all these opportunities.

Describe your idea of artistic success.

Seeing the reaction of someone who is really excited to see or own a piece of my work. Making someone smile and inspiring someone to chase their dreams like my teachers, professors, family, and other role models have done for me, means the world to me. Helping someone to see that anything is possible and to never give up is my idea of artistic success.

Rapid fire questions for Taylor:

Favorite quote: Nil Desperandum (Never Despair)

Guilty pleasure: Magic the gathering, Yu-gi-oh, or Vanguard trading card collecting.

Last album you listened to: Ozzy Osbourne's Ultimate Sin album

Last TV show you watched: Chicago PD, currently obsessed with the show.

Best piece of advice you’ve ever received: "Above all else, Always be kind, A great Kindness is better than winning,

Behind the Scenes with Taylor:

We asked Taylor to share some images that encapsulated the creative process

VIEW ALL OF TAYLOR’S WORK FOR SALE

[ghostsontelevision]

What's it like being an art student?

oh geez, that’s quite a question! my experience is a little different from what you’ll normally hear just because i’m attending a liberal arts college and majoring in studio art (specifically illustration) as opposed to going to Actual Art School, but i’d imagine its not that drastically different?

in general being an art student has been really fun! i tend to really love a lot of the assignments (or at least tolerate them-- i don’t think i’ve ever gotten an assignment i straight up hated), so it’s been nice having classes where i haven’t dreaded doing the work for them. its also nice cuz its usually not writing, so i can get away with listening to podcasts/watching shows while i work. the work isn’t necessarily easy-- it still takes a lot of time and effort and i still need to get out of the habit of procrastinating-- but its stuff like drawing album covers or character designs or storyboarding so its been fun.

(i’ve also been really lucky because the past year my illustration classes focused on storytelling, character design, and worldbuilding, which are my three favorite things.)

if you’re wondering specifically like, what i’ve had to do as an art student, i’ve had to take life drawing (so yes i have had to draw naked models, which i know is a lot of people’s #1 concern about art school lmao, but we also like genuinely studied anatomy and skeletal structures and stuff), art history classes, and electives. my electives have ranged from jewelry and metalsmithing (which it turns out i’m very incredibly bad at) to visual studies (which is like, art with social/political concepts and meanings behind it, which i thought i was very bad at but i did ok) to printmaking (which i love so much, its super fun). if you can i highly recommend taking as many electives as possible because you get to try out things you might not have an opportunity to otherwise. like printmaking involves a lot of equipment and machines and stuff so its probably not the kind of thing i could just pick up casually at home, but at school i have access to materials and training so its something i could find out i liked, if that makes sense. so yeah, try everything. i don’t know if you, the anon, are planning on pursuing art in school but if you are try any class that even looks vaguely interesting and can be fit into your schedule.

(also be prepared to pay $2.50 for one (1) sheet of paper.)

the best thing about being in art school is the people tbh. i’ve met a lot of people who i completely respect as artists and whose feedback i value immensely, and its really nice to just be able to stroll over during class and look at their stuff and talk about art (among other things. we have been asked to stop talking about whether mr fantastic would use his powers to be better at sex but thats just because our profs are afraid of the truth). its also nice to have someone you can message at 2 AM like “hey i can’t figure out whats wrong with this piece pls help” and then they respond because nobody ever sleeps. also i’m facebook friends with my profs and one of them keeps posting euphemisms for boobs so thats a thing. also most of your profs are gonna insist you call them by first name. i don’t know some of my profs last names.

(some of these people are @doorstoplord, @redspectreinc, @havoc563, @plifet, and @moonsapph, also other people who maybe i forgot and am v sorry about forgetting)

if you have any more specific questions pls hit me up, as you might be able to tell by this short essay i’m more than willing to talk about this kind of stuff lmao

[m00gle11]

Thoughts on art comps

I’ve been meaning to do some reflection on my comprehensive project and how it came into being, but it’s been hard to sit down and take the time to do it. Well, now I’m opting to do this instead of my homework, so here goes.

From my artist statement, because probably 2% of people actually read them when the show opened:

           My project consists of a single silkscreen print of an imaginary town, accompanied by a branching-path narrative "book," which takes the form of 45 individual digital prints. The screen print features a sprawling, densely layered beach suburbia. The illustrations feature details extracted from the larger screen print, which allows the viewer to closely inspect and make sense of the cityscape. I intend for both the large print and the print series to be visually overwhelming: in the screen print's miniscule detail, and in the print series' meandering layout, inviting viewers to get lost in this fictional world.         Much of my work stems from a nostalgia for the media from my childhood, particularly books, cartoons and video/computer games geared towards a young audience. This project is largely influenced by print and media from the 90s—in the textual style of gamebooks, which offer branching paths for the reader to decide on multiple possible endings, and in the visual style of 8-bit games, especially "Pokémon" and "The Oregon Trail.” There are many contemporary influences as well, including: children's television shows “Steven Universe,” “Arthur,” “The Aquabats! Super Show!” and more recently released, the role-playing computer game "Undertale," through its nostalgic 8-bit style and complex writing. Children's media in particular has a simplicity, security, and innocence that I try to emulate. There is a sense of magic in the imaginary, in creating a fantastic and dreamlike world cast in pastel colors and where animals humorously act as stand-ins for humans.             My illustrations are packed with detail and a sense of playfulness, likely inspired by the Where's Waldo? books. The density sets up an interactive experience for discovery by the viewer. Everything is drawn from imagination, however, there are many obscure cultural references. This town is rooted in my ideas of Americana and kitsch: plastic lawn flamingos, unconventionally decorative buildings, tropes such as a UFO abduction, etc. There is a certain charm to what may be considered tasteless, fanciful and overdone, and I draw attention to their irony: the symbol of the lawn flamingo is exaggerated into an existence far beyond its role of suburban decoration; the impractical, decorative giant donut on the roof falls without warning; and the UFO reveals an unexpected alien form.             My goal is to make art that elicits positive feelings by evoking senses of nostalgia and humor. The style and subject may be naive and childlike, but there are complexities that demand closer examination. In the print series, the writing can be absurd and non sequitur, at times shifting into a metanarrative. It asks the reader to consider ethical choices, although this rarely impacts any endings. There is tension between the 8-bit narrative text and the "cute," pleasant aesthetic of the images. None of the endings are overtly violent or gruesome; deaths are lightened, tamed, and made absurd enough to work with the overall whimsical tone. However, the writing challenges the notion that this is an idyllic utopia.

And so, that’s the concise version of what I’m about to say. I guess I’ll start by saying: I never intended to be an art major, or to seriously pursue art. I drew silly comics and made birthday cards for my friends, having always been a doodler, but I didn’t have access to any formal training. I didn’t have AP Art at my high school. I find it weird that other people do. 

I started my etsy my senior year in high school and did a variety of crafts for it that were largely unsuccessful. I experimented with a lot of different mediums, but I never really got good at any one thing. I see that now as my blessing—I love learning new skills and trying to grow as much as I can. 80% of what I do is self-taught. I’m actually pretty proud of that. I’m a designer-illustrator-printmaker-zinester-publisher(working on it)-sculptor(ish)-crafter-entrepreneur. Maybe a writer? (I definitely put that on the backburner—I knew I wanted to major in English and I was really interested in creative writing, but I never got the chance to take a class in it....) I feel like to be an artist these days it’s necessary to be multi-talented. Part of it is because I’m just trying to survive as an artist. Another part of it is I genuinely love finding ways to use my creativity and imagination. Another part of it is I care about accessible/affordable art and I don’t believe that selling thousand dollar works in a high-end gallery would ever make me happy.

The past few years have been a hell of a ride. I’ve been focusing on printmaking at school, working on comics, making tiny clay dogs, etc. And it just feels really weird to think of how much I’ve grown. I can’t pretend that it feels utterly bizarre and egoistic to call myself an artist sometimes. I’ve been really lucky though, and I know that I work really hard to do what I do.

I had the ambitious idea to do a branching-path narrative zine a few months prior, but I would get stuck thinking about what sort of subject matter and setting could be compelling enough. And then suddenly it was time to decide on a project for comps as fall semester started up, and I was planning to build a 3D miniature town. I love miniatures, dioramas, cityscapes, etc. I was inspired largely by: Sean Chao, Yoskay Yamamoto’s installations, a diorama of a bunch of birds in the LA Natural History Museum I saw once (which I tried googling desperately but to no avail), fictional worlds like in Animal Crossing, The Simpsons, Arthur, and of course, Steven Universe. And yet I hadn’t built anything to that effect before, and as I was experimenting with paper buildings from templates I found online, I was realizing quickly that none of this came from any of my studio art practice or knowledge from school, and really, comps should be about what I’ve learned over the past few years, so I abandoned that idea. To build a huge diorama would require some technical practice, otherwise I’m convinced that it would have just looked like a child’s project. And as much as I am invested in children’s media, it’s frankly insulting to call my work “childish” or “naive,” two terms that kept cropping up to describe my “aesthetic.” (I mean yeah I can’t draw realistically and yeah my colors are typically pastels, but that doesn’t mean my artwork is like that of a child’s, or somehow inferior and not “real” art?)

I thought about my interests, which revolve around print culture, books, and children’s media. I had just bought a diptych risograph print by my favorite artists in Tiny Splendor, Kenny Srivijittakar, which really inspired my project as it was a weird (slightly apocalyptic?) beach cityscape (Tuff Town). So I started drawing digitally (even though that’s something I haven’t learned in school either, oh well), hoping for a huge scale project, a series of multiple giant prints that together would form a large map of sorts. Well, I spent ages trying to finish drawing just one, which was 20x30 in. so that idea got scrapped. 

(finished digital illustration—cropped into equal sections for the book where you start in the far left center and travel to the opposite side, then up or down and back towards the left—and converted into a silkscreen print)

Then, after weeks, it was finally ready to screenprint. I figured that silkscreen printmaking would allow me to do something I learned in school. And yet it was also the biggest challenge I came across. I took silkscreen printmaking my very first semester at Oxy, three years ago, and haven’t touched it since. It was difficult, and I wasn’t happy with the work I produced then, but it was in that class that I knew I had to become an art major. And so I did. Thus, It feels significant for me to return to it, and it also made the most sense as a means to reproduce the image I had drawn digitally. Well, no matter how many hours I spent in the studio, I could not get it to print right. I won’t go into all of the horrible details, but essentially the ink was drying up as soon as I printed just one, and so I only managed to get one half-decent print, and that’s the one on display. The professors kept asking me why I chose to do printmaking when it’s a medium suited for churning out multiples, but I just physically couldn’t. They wanted me to wallpaper the room with these prints. I wasn’t really sure what that would mean, but I couldn’t do it anyway. So here we are, with probably a month or so left until the show opens, and all I have is one single print to show for myself. Even though it took ages to draw, it didn’t feel like enough (everything I do never feels like enough). So then I started working on cropping sections of the image into a book, and the rest sort of fell into place.

(also didn’t anticipate my colors being that far from what I intended)

As mentioned in my statement, I wanted to draw on the visual/textual style of early videogames, because I LOVE pixel art and I love being immersed in other worlds. I like things where everything is nice and happy, and that’s what draws me to children’s media. But I also want it to be weird and campy. When it comes down to it, everything in this project is really just a bunch of things that I like, with a lot of hidden references that probably no one except for me would get (Temmie from Undertale, The Aquabats, some bunny versions of Karamatsu fishing with a love letter as bait, etc). But I wanted this to be interactive, where viewers notice certain details and feel a connection to it. That’s my favorite kind of art, that which is accessible and relatable and makes you go like “oh! this person is a real human being who also likes this—game/TV show—I wasn’t expecting to see that type of cultural reference and humor in a piece of art.” Okay well maybe that isn’t your reaction, but that’s how I feel when I identify with something. Maybe it’s just something to do with fan culture though. Discovering that you have mutual interests. And for a lot of ~fine art~ you likely wouldn’t find that. Probably because it’s copyright infringement on some level. But anyway, it’s nice to know that artists are real people and not some edgy/misunderstood person placed on a pedestal?

(cropping from the top right corner—still laughing at Fresh Flamingo Scent and Flamingo21)

Even if it does rely on pretty obscure cultural references, the image still boils down to a pleasant little town with anthropomorphic animals walking around wearing clothes. I wanted it to be funny and silly. I’m honestly really unsure where all the existentialist writing came from, but I guess it seemed like the easiest and funniest road to go down?

I wanted it to be a book, but I also wanted it to be displayable, for multiple people to view it at once, rather than feel like it’s a precious object that a single person had to handle at a time. This became one of the most difficult issues, the question of how to display this “book.” I thought about it for a really long time and AB came up with some complicated diagrams and mock-ups with me during a late night at the studio. I was leaning towards an accordion fold book that stretched across the wall, but the issue is that options A and B for a gamebook cannot be in a linear book sequence. Gamebooks solve that issue by relying on scrambled page numbers, but that was not suitable for displaying everything at once. Option A would go down and then there would be an entire sequence stemming from that, while option B would continue to the right and then go down, right, down, right, right, etc. It very nearly took that format, where it was either down or to the right with multiple accordion folds. My prof liked the idea of The Book as a Sculptural Object and Installation, but the book would have been impossible to close or to read, really. So I designed it to form a perfect grid, where each option branched in a particular direction indicated by arrows, and when I installed it, I connected each page with color-coordinated washi tape (with flamingos on them) so that the direction might be more obvious. A week before the show, I was still drawing new pages to fill up the missing space to create the grid, then I sent all of the files off to Catprint (my go-to printer). It ended up being 45 pages long, and granted, many of the new illustrations are pretty sloppy, but I am for the most part pretty pleased with the writing.

Then it was installation day, and a whole slew of problems arose. I didn’t know the best way to adhere them to the wall. I opted for blue tape because it was on hand, but they were falling off by next morning. I was advised to do these difficult but professional methods, or buy obscure expensive materials, or to just stick a tack in it, but I didn’t want to puncture them and I didn’t have the means nor the money nor the time to do much else, so I just bought different types of mounting squares and hoped that they wouldn’t be so strong so as to tear the paint off the walls. You’d be surprised how complicated it can be. So I had everything ready to go, and then I was told that the grid layout was a bad idea, not to mention lopsided because I eyeballed it, the washi tape was the wrong shade of color, etc. etc. I did my best to compromise with my prof who was pushing for a more immersive experience, so I installed a second set of prints to make it more installation-like and utilize the full space I had. I wasn’t really happy about it because it felt utterly redundant to have 2 sets of the same prints right next to each other, because you’d start reading when you walked in and then get to the other standalone wall and think that’s a separate piece. I kept nervously asking viewers if it made sense and if they could figure out the direction of the writing, which they could, thankfully. Or so they said.

In the end, though, it worked out. The opening was lovely and many friends and strangers said incredibly nice things about my work, and they laughed and followed along and were impressed that I was able to do all of this in a short amount of time. I can’t say how much it warmed my heart to have that validation from peers and professors, and I am so thankful that my project was, for the most part, entirely my vision and what I truly love and care about, and that I got to do something so silly and personal. I’m also pretty impressed with myself that the writing came fairly naturally to me and I never spent too long getting stuck.

So thanks for reading this, if you actually did, and I’m not really sure anymore why I wanted to say all of this for the world to see, but I think it’ll be good for me to look back on.

Edit: the prints are finally compiled and bound into a 52 page zine with directional page numbers. Snag a copy from me in person, on my etsy, or my new shop for my new PRESS. I can’t stop thinking about the projects I want to do and zines I want to publish but alas I must first finish school. Honestly, it’s my pipe dream to be able to run and live off my own publishing press, making books and prints for myself and other people. In the meantime though if anyone knows who will hire me for design/publishing/illustration/etc... :^)

*EDIT: I’ve had to replace every instance of the words “choose your own adventure” with “gamebook” and “branching path narrative” because of intellectual property infringement, including replacing the covers for the latest edition... you live and ya learn

[a-h-arts]

Ebook version doesn't provide Digital Product Key As I have just started my course, I haven't yet had chance to really pursue this edition to make a fair judgment call on the overall quality or coverage of the course topic. HOWEVER, I do issue a caveat. If you are purchasing or renting (in my case) the Ebook version; beware it DOES NOT provide a Digital Product Key so you can use the book in Hybrid courses utilizing online resources (i.e. InQuizitive) There is no mention of this in product details - otherwise I would have gone for a new print or ebook from the publisher directly and gotten the key with the book. So if you are planning to use the ebook version and will require access to online resources, for an online or hybrid course you may want to look elsewhere. Go to Amazon

Introducing Art This book is used as a text book for a course for a course I am taking at George Mason University, Introduction to the Visual Arts. As a text book, it does a good job of helping me review what the professor has presented in class. It has wonderful photographs of important works of art, and it has good descriptions of how each piece of art was created. As I write this review, we are only half way through the course and the book, but I have found one error. This concerns printmaking and the way drypoint is created, hardly a major catastrophe, but it does make me wonder if there are other minor errors about technical process. Go to Amazon

Understanding Arts Textbook I was required to have this book for an understanding visual arts course. Understanding that because this book deals with art explains why this book is so expensive, yet comprehensive. It's comprehensive because as well as defining art vocabulary it gives more of a background to art history and the different forms of art in various cultures worldwide. This textbook definitely hurt my bank account, but after this class is over I'm sending it right back to Amazon for store credit. They make is easy to understand art through examples and such. I am glad that I was assigned to such a comprehensive textbook but now I have to memorize all the artists and titles of art for my exam. This book is great for college students, both students who are interested in art and those who are required to take a course to understand the arts. Go to Amazon

interesting and fun This was a required textbook for my art class. It is easy to read and really explains the different concepts of art. I Mary half way thru bit and have actually learned a lot. My daughter enjoys looking thru it and seeing what mommy is learning as well.... I will be keeping this one and not selling it back at the end of the semester. Go to Amazon

Missing pages! Ordered this book for rental, arrived in decent condition. Sat down to take a test and realized pages are missing from the very first unit. Very crucial pages of art work that I was quizzed upon and needed to have been able to see. Go to Amazon

Emphasis on multiple applications of Art; that, it makes you look at things differently. I got this book like new, and it's great for my class. It covers not only different art types from all over the world but walks through the how and why art is used. I don't care much about art, but this book covers in detail such a wide variety of art's applications, for example industrial, in aesthetics, spiritual, prehistoric, historic, communication, graphic design, and multiple medias, and more it makes you look at things differently. Go to Amazon

Excellent textbook Learned a lot about art. Required textbook for art appreciation. Goes into details about styles, materials, and history. I really enjoyed learning more in depth about featured pieces of work and their artists. Go to Amazon

I got this book for school and it looks like the real book but there’s typos all through out ... I got this book for school and it looks like the real book but there’s typos all through out it and it is missing like have the letters in certain words. Also at the end of the book it Has print that is printed over again so you can’t read it. Now I have to buy another book and my class has already started. ☹️ Go to Amazon

Poor condition As described Good Five Stars Five Stars A lot of the pages are separated(ing) from the spine. I keep 2 rubber bands around the book... Great book Better than I thought Falls apart Great book that is easy to understand