#inspired by the concept art but like. i wanted to make it a bit nicer

[wildbasil]

the hermit (based on matt rhodes' inquisition multiplayer concept art)

[fedor-bortnik-fmp]

Forefront. Part 9. Adjustable Mannequin 1.2

While browsing the Lvl80 blog, I found some cool plugins for the Blender.

I decided to relax a bit and look for interesting stuff on 80lvl webpage. I stumbled upon a very cool plugin, created by Vertex Arcade (2024).

I have been looking for a familiar plugin like that for a while in order to build my own character references by using inspired content.

I am not good at drawing, so In order to draw some humanoids or other living entities, I usually drew them on a flat, front perspective - or by tracing the overall shape and drawing whatever I needed on top of that.

I was getting annoyed in using random sketches from the internet as a traceable material, so eventually I began looking for a professional drawing software, which would have combined the 2D and 3D workflows together - or at least make it easier to draw and sketch with the ideas.

For that - my eyes got stopped on MangaKa as a convenient software, since it pretty much had many features that I wanted from a 2D/3D drawing software - You could adjust the shapes of the characters for a better tracing, bring various meshes into the world and even generate lines in order to properly do perspective.

Upon trying it though, the software had its problems - Many features were locked behind a nasty paywall, the controls were not intuitive and overall software was a bit laggy and limited, so after some time I simply gave up with the software, and was even considering to use Blender instead of MangaKa.

With this new plugin however, I solved one of the biggest issues that I had, as it allows me to do familiar features that MangaKa had, but better due to nicer controls and more features. I will be considering shifting away from MangaKa and just using Blender with a prepared library of assets and plugins, since I can achieve familiar results while using Blender. It is especially nice that a person with a rich concept art background designed the plugin, as it becomes evident that the plugin has a direct purpose since the developer knows exactly what he needs from the plugin.

I tried the plugin a little and it is really good! You can change various body settings of a rig, and even us IK rig system in order to quickly move to various poses. Its nice!

I like the possibility of just building the necessary shape from a 2D reference, in order to then quickly draw a different shape from the model for the sketches. Lastly - it's really nice you can do various rig customisations by adding or removing extra limbs or heads.

When I will be shifting towards other programs like Maya, I still want to continue using Blender, since I really enjoy using it due to the intuitive controls and nice tools menu - perhaps I will be using Blender for light projects or concept designs in a year or two?

References:

Rutherford, A. (2024). Create Any Character In Blender With This Rigged 3D Mannequin. [online] 80.lv. Available at: https://80.lv/articles/create-any-character-in-blender-with-this-rigged-3d-mannequin/ [Accessed 29 Jul. 2024].

Pinterest. (2024). Justin R. Martin (@posereference) • Instagram photos and videos | Drawing reference poses, Drawing poses, Drawing poses male. [online] Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/770326711250554006/ [Accessed 29 Jul. 2024].

MangaKa 漫画家 (2023). MangaKa Pre Launch Trailer. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FUoF1MlaUE [Accessed 29 Jul. 2024].

Vertex Arcade (2024). Adjustable Mannequin v1.2 Walkthrough (Blender 4.0+). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2xJCZHdae4 [Accessed 29 Jul. 2024].

[thesunnyshow]

EPISODE 4: MILLY

Writing Blog URL(s): @bumblebeenct 

Name: Milly

Age: 18

Nationality: Welsh

Languages: English

Star Sign: Capricorn

MBTI: ISFP-T

What fandom(s) do you write for?

 I write for NCT, but I have written for Harry Potter in the past

When did you post your first piece?

Around the empathy era I’m pretty sure, 2018? I used to do moodboards only but I was inspired by other writers to give it a go

Do you write fluff/angst/crack/general/smut, combo, etc? Why?

I find that I stick to the fluff/angst tropes because they’re easier to formulate because I can relate myself to the scenario more. I also find that its also more interesting to write angst because there's complications to a story that take longer to form and you have to really think about the different emotions the characters are feeling.

Do you write OCs, X Readers, Ships...etc?

I write x reader mostly, but at some point in the future I’m thinking of writing an OC purely because the concept I want to focus on has a particular emphasis on name and I don’t think it would work with y/n

Why did you start writing on Tumblr?

I used to use Wattpad but it was very difficult to promote myself and I struggled to meet anyone through it. On tumblr it was much easier to orientate and the community was so much nicer. 

What inspires you to write?

My mutuals! And other writers on tumblr, everyone is so supportive and kind it’s amazing. Also the feedback I sometimes get from readers, it makes me really happy whenever I get a comment or someone interacts with a piece I enjoyed writing, or alternatively when someone supports a fic I wasn’t confident in as it really boosts my confidence :)

What genres/AUs do you enjoy writing the most?

School/ College aus because they’re very familiar and I am confident in getting the tropes and ideas right. But I also like works inspired by movies or songs because there’s so much to work from and it’s nice to see where you can take the plot and lyrics in your own story.

What do you hope your readers take away from your work?

That writing is for everyone, honestly at the end of the day I’m just a kid in my room writing stories about artists I’m a really big fan of. If you want to write you can, and you don’t have to necessarily be a “big” blog or writer to do it. 

What do you do when you hit a rough spot creatively?

Take a break, that’s my first port of call - usually in the method of food or I look at the inspiration material again, I listen to the song, read the lyrics, consult my friends and mutuals for help. It’s always good to be able to put something down to start again later when you’re struck with inspiration

What is your favorite work and why? Your most successful?

My favourite personally at the moment (since one I really like is currently, as of answering this question, unpublished) is ‘Remember Me’ purely because it was the work I was the most passionate about writing and it really let me explore a new field of writing, since a lot of my stuff had been fluff before. My most successful in terms of notes is my Mark one shot ‘Sugar and Spice’ and I’m very proud of it.

Who is your favorite person to write about?

Park Jisung, my ult bias, I have to convince myself to write for other members sometimes as I often resist the urge to be a Jisung blog. However I have been enjoying writing for Mark and Hendery recently, as my other NCT biases

Do you think there’s a difference between writing fanfiction vs. completely original prose?

To a certain extent yes, it really depends on the writer. For many fanfiction stories, including ones we may label “cliche” the only difference is who it’s about, there are countless amazing fics I’ve read which I would assume could be made into a novel, the only thing making it fanfiction being the characters themselves.

What do you think makes a good story?

Feeling! There’s nothing that really constitutes a “good story” as it’s all subjective, but if you can read a story and feel what the characters feel, or even just see the emotions the writer is trying to portray then it’s definitely a good story. I’ve cried while reading most of, if not all my favourite stories.

What is your writing process like?

I plan first in a little notebook so I don’t forget any of my ideas or plans and then I try to churn it out whenever I have access to my computer, my speaker and a comfortable blanket. I like to “get in the zone” and then write as much as I possibly can. I usually think of ideas as I write so the notebook helps me put them in order and make sure I don’t get too ahead of myself.

Would you ever repurpose a fic into a completely original story?

I have thought about it and honestly, I’m not sure. My fics are not series’ and they’re all very short - most of them under 4k so I’d have to turn the idea into a full length thing you know? But I have thought about doing the opposite with a very old original story of mine I’ve otherwise given up on but still holds a special place in my heart.

What tropes do you love, and what tropes can’t you stand?

I am a sucker for the enemies to lovers trope mainly because the character development in these stories can be so much more interesting and complex. On the other hand I’m not fond of “yandere” type fics, however I have read several well written ones which I cannot speak against because they were actually really good.

How much would you say audience feedback/engagement means to you?

I’d say a lot, in terms of how much I write feedback means a lot to me - it’s also nice to hear what people think of things you’ve written because it’s a different view from your own and sometimes can boost confidence. I am also open to constructive criticism if any writers have any tips or suggestions for future works I’m always open to listen. 

What has been one of the biggest factors of your success (of any size)?

When I see anyone interacting with my work it’s really rewarding and I love when people reblog with custom tags because it lets me know that people actually like what I do and to me, that’s a success.

Favorite color: Purple

Favorite food: Pasta

Favorite movie: Heathers (1988)

Favorite ice cream flavor: Cookie Dough

Favorite animal:  I would say bees, but I don’t think that counts so I’ll say dogs

Coffee or tea? What are you ordering?

Coffee, either black or a really fancy one with frothy milk

Dream job (whether you have a job or not)

 I’d love to be a singer honestly, but at the moment I’m working towards education I hope one day to be a lecturer

Go-to karaoke song

 Best Part by Daniel Caesar or Escape (the pina colada song) by Robert Holmes because it’s funny

If you could have one superpower, what would you choose?

 Stopping time because there’s so much you can do - except the question is, would I continue to age even if time has stopped?

If you could visit a historical era, which would you choose?

My mind goes to two extremes, I think either ancient Greece because why not and the 1950’s purely for fashion and music.

If you could restart your life, knowing what you do now, would you?

No, but I think if I could restart specific moments I would. There are so many good moments but some things you don’t want to relive even if you can change the outcome.

Would you rather fight 100 chicken-sized horses or one horse-sized chicken?

100 chicken sized horses, I’d be terrified of a horse sized chicken it would probably be able to eat me and I’m not about that life, tiny horses I can deal with. Kill them with Kindness or whatever haha.

If you were a trope in a teen high school movie, what would you have been?

A mix of quiet teachers pet and loud side character friend. The duality kills me, I can be shouting with my friends one minute but whispering the minute the teacher asks me a question.

Do you believe in aliens/supernatural creatures?

I’d like to, I think some are really cool and it would be amazing to live among them, but also some are dangerous, but I would love to see or meet some creatures. Imagine living with dragons man that would be epic.

What are some of your favorite hobbies and how did you get into them?

I really like reading, courtesy of Harry Potter, but I also enjoy singing and playing the piano which I started doing more often in secondary school when my piano teacher suggested I started to sing as well :)

Fun fact about yourself that not everyone would know?

I did Karate for about 10/11 years, and I’m a black belt *insert awkward smile here*

Do you think fanfic writers get unfairly judged?

A lot of the time yes, there is a stigma around fanfiction and often paints us in a negative light but we just happen to be a community of creative fans who want to share and support the people we write about. But I can see where the stigma comes from, sometimes it can be taken a bit far and I am aware that some things make the artists themselves uncomfortable. I think if people who judge fanfiction are referring to it as a single idea it becomes unfair because it is all different, but I also think that writers of fanfiction themselves have to make sure they don’t cross any boundaries when writing that could make readers or the artist (if they ever happened to stumble across your work) uncomfortable.

Do you think art can be a medium for change?

Yes in some ways of course. Art is not only a way to express what the creator themselves is feeling but it is also a way to teach others about issues, prejudices and ideals. For literature specifically it allows you into the shoes of another person you may not have understood before, in art pieces there’s a clear message and encourages people to educate themselves on certain issues which in turn makes room for change.

Do you ever feel there are times when you’re writing for others, rather than yourself?

Sometimes if i’ve been suggested or requested to write something because it isn’t an idea that comes for me but mainly if I am aware that someone is waiting for a fic or someone has said they’re anticipating it I feel like I’m writing for others, but I don’t particularly mind it because it almost encourages me to write to a better standard.

Do you ever feel like people have misunderstood you or your writing at times?

Not particularly, I'm often as clear as I can be when portraying meaning, or I will straight up say it in a different thread or to different people because I can’t keep secrets and I’m a sucker for a spoiler. Although I am constantly worried about the way I come off in messages and things like that - I am a terrible overthinker.

Do your offline friends/loved ones know you write for Tumblr?

A few of my closest friends and other kpop stans I am friends with irl are aware of my blog and support me as much as they can with what little information I give them. I think only one of my irls has my url because she reads and I send her my binge reviews when I do them.

What is one thing you wish you could tell your followers?

Thank you so much, honestly it’s cheesy but without them I don’t know where my blog would be. The amount of them surprises me everyday and I don’t think I believe it half the time. Also if anyone ever needs help or support or just wants a chat I’m open, its 100% likely that if you interact with me or my posts on the regular then I will recognise you when you come say hi, I’m not that scary I promise.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers who might be too scared to put themselves out there?

Just do it! It’s better to get your stuff out there and circulating to get a better idea of what people like and where your strong suit is, the more you put out the more you grow. But if you’re scared, talk to other creators, we’re always open to help and we can let you know what to do, it was something that helped me out :)

Are there any times when you regret joining Tumblr?

When I first started there was a lot of struggle with me trying to figure out my style and what I wanted to do, and it was a learning curve of what can I do, what should I avoid and who am I doing this for. Sometimes when I’m really down I will question why I do it, but I never regret it because it has allowed me to make some wonderful friends and be exposed to some amazing creations and get more into something I’ve always liked doing, writing.

Do you have any mutuals who have been particularly formative/supportive in your Tumblr journey?

I don’t want this to be too long, but I feel like it could be. I’ve met so many wonderful people and I love all of them so much, but in terms of being formative and supportive these are some of the people I talk to the most. @renjunwrites - I am a huge fan of Denise and to even be able to be in conversation with her about the stuff she writes is mindblowing to me, @nanasarea - nana was one of the first people I spoke to (before I joined discord) and was really accepting of my antics from day one. @glossyjaems - me and Louna have become very close recently and I can’t wait for our project to launch, keep an eye out for that. @mjlkau Anie is really one of the biggest supporters I have, always willing to read what I send her and give me support and love. There’s so many more people I’d love to mention but this would go on forever, to anyone ever involved in my writing process I’m thinking of you as I write this and I love you all (I feel really bad not talking about every single one omg).

Ending thoughts:

“We’ll be alright, I want to try again” - Try Again d.ear (ft. Jaehyun) because this is something I hold close, ‘try again, we’ll all be alright in the end’

BONUS: K-POP CONFIDENTIAL

Interested in your very own episode of The Sunny Show? Find out how to apply here.

[intransigent-boy]

My Top Ten Films of The Decade.

10. Her

Okay, so whether you like it or not, this movie is about the present. This movie tells a very powerful story with an embarrasingly personal narrative. You feel sorry for the main character, it makes you so uncomfortable. And the reason is, because we are all in some sense are like this guy, Theodore. We have better relationships online, and with our advices, than with real people. It’s a really bizarre conception, but we should face it, and ask ourselves: Where is the limit?  The script is just brilliant, but also has very controversial scenes. Joaquin Phoenix is simply the perfect choice for a lonely man, like Theodore. Melancholy everywhere, and great visuals. Arcade Fire made the music for this, and it was pure melancholy. Very interesting film.

9. The Place Beyond The Pines

Derek Cianfrance is an exceptional director. He can wonderfully create an atmosphere with great lighting techiques, unique musics, and of course with talented actors. This movie has a linear, but quite unusual story-structure. The main theme haunts you after you watched this. Legacy! 

8. Nightcrawler

Louis Bloom is something of a loner who is unemployed and ekes out a living stealing and then reselling copper wire, fencing and most anything else he can get his hands on. When late one night he comes across an accident being filmed by independent news photographer Joe Loder, he thinks he may have found something he would be good at. He acquires an inexpensive video camera and a police scanner and is soon spending his nights racing to accidents, robberies and fire scenes. He develops a working relationship with Nina Romina, news director for a local LA TV station. As the quality of his video footage improves so does his remuneration and he hires Rick, young and unemployed, to work with him. The more successful he becomes however, the more apparent it becomes that Louis will do anything - anything - to get visuals from crime scenes. The conception is just brilliant, and screams to your face, what kind of society are we living in. I think Psychopathy is going to be one of the biggest issue in our generation asides with mental illneses. And this movie reflects perfectly. You understand the character, which is geniusly performed by Jake Gyllenhaal. 

7. Inside Llewyn Davis

The Coen brothers' exquisitely sad and funny new comedy is set in a world of music that somehow combines childlike innocence with an aged and exhausted acceptance of the world. It is a beguilingly studied period piece from America's early-60s Greenwich Village folk scene. Every frame looks like a classic album cover, or at the very least a great inner gatefold – these are screen images that look as if they should have lyrics and sleeve notes superimposed. This film was notably passed over for Oscar nominations. Perhaps there's something in its unfashionable melancholy that didn't hook the attention of Academy award voters. But it is as pungent and powerfully distinctive as a cup of hot black coffee. This movie is about sacrificing everything for your art, directionlessness  (is there such a word?) , and finding the right path. Existential theme, with surpisingly good acting from Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, and Justin Timberlake. This is an Odyssey-story from the 1960′s America. What more you could ask for? 

6. Dunkirk

Reinventing a genre is quite exceptional. And Nolan did it. The best war movies of the last 20 years, including Saving Private Ryan and Hacksaw Ridge, have also placed viewers in the centre of battle. Nolan has not reinvented that immersive approach, but he comes close to perfecting it. The story structure is-again- brilliant. There’s no main character in the movie-just like in a war-but only  scared people. They want to go home. But they can’t. We’re with them with their struggle, and fears. We’re in the air, land, or water, it’s just a haunting terror.  And the soundtrack from Hans Zimmer is really remarkable. You hear it, and you recognize the movie. That’s what I call a score. Reflects perfectly, and holds the attention throughout the whole movie.

5. Hell or High Water

Another genre-twister masterpiece. This Neo-Western is just pure art. Hell or High Water is a film about a criminal  who commits the ultimate offence of putting his gorgeous and much nicer brother in a ski mask for several minutes of this film. Okay actually it’s about a career criminal brother and his he-wasn’t-but-he-is-now criminal brother who team up to commit a series of small-scale bank robberies across Texas, with the aim, finally – after several generations – of lifting the family out of seemingly inescapable grinding poverty. The part of Texas they live in is dying on its feet so career criminal is pretty much the only career left open that doesn’t involve serving in a diner or herding the few remaining cattle. It would’ve been easy for Hell or High Water to to turn out a cliche-ridden double bromance as there are quite a few movie tropes in this love story / revenge thriller, so it’s a tribute to director David Mackenzie that it’s actually a very touching, at times funny, at times quite brutal story. With a bit of grudge-bearing thrown in at the end to stop it being too redemptive. Memorable scenes, great acting, and a deromanticized western-feeling. After this film, you want to live in Texas, where everything’s slower, but sometimes you can chase criminals. It’s nice, isn’t it? 

4. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Martin McDonagh’s fiercely written, stabbingly pleasurable tragicomedy stars a magnificent Frances McDormand; watching it is like having your funny bone struck repeatedly, expertly and very much too hard by a karate super-black-belt capable of bringing a rhino to its knees with a single punch behind the ear. He’s a scriptwriter genius, it was shocking, how perfectly the dialouges and the actions were constructed. It is a film about vengeance, violence and the acceptance of death, combining subtlety and unsubtlety, and moreover wrongfooting you as to what and whom it is centrally about. The drama happens in a town with an insidiously pessimistic name – Ebbing, Missouri, a remote and fictional community in the southern United States, where the joy of life does seem to be receding. There is a recurrent keynote of elegiac sadness established by the Irish ballad The Last Rose of Summer and Townes Van Zandt’s country hit Buckskin Stallion Blues, a musical combination which bridges the Ireland which McDonagh has written about before and the America he conjures up here, an America which has something of the Coen Brothers. The resemblance is not simply down to McDormand, though she does give her best performance since her starring role as the pregnant Minnesota police chief in the Coens’ Fargo in 1996. It was brutal, controversial, and violent. 

3. Midnight in Paris

The definitive poem in English on the subject of cultural nostalgia may be a short verse by Robert Browning called “Memorabilia.” The past seems so much more vivid, more substantial, than the present, and then it evaporates with the cold touch of reality. The good old days are so alluring because we were not around, however much we wish we were. “Midnight in Paris,” Woody Allen’s charming film, imagines what would happen if that wish came true. It is marvelously romantic, even though — or precisely because — it acknowledges the disappointment that shadows every genuine expression of romanticism. The film has the inspired silliness of some of Mr. Allen’s classic comic sketches (most obviously, “A Twenties Memory,” in which the narrator’s nose is repeatedly broken by Ernest Hemingway), spiked with the rueful fatalism that has characterized so much of his later work. Nothing here is exactly new, but why would you expect otherwise in a film so pointedly suspicious of novelty? Very little is stale, either, and Mr. Allen has gracefully evaded the trap built by his grouchy admirers and unkind critics — I’m not alone in fitting both descriptions — who complain when he repeats himself and also when he experiments. Not for the first time, but for the first time in a while, he has found a credible blend of whimsy and wisdom.

2. Beautiful Boy 

This supersensitive and tasteful movie is all but insufferable, suppressing a sob at the tragedy of drug addiction afflicting someone so young and “beautiful”. It is based on what is effectively a matching set of memoirs: Beautiful Boy, by author and journalist David Sheff, his harrowing account of trying to help his son Nic battle crystal meth addiction, and Tweak – by Nic Sheff himself, about these same experiences, the author now, thankfully, eight years clean. Steve Carell does an honest, well-meaning job in the role of David and the egregiously beautiful Timothée Chalamet is earnest in the part of Nic, David’s son from his first marriage. This is like a modern-day Basketball Diaries. Honest, and Raw. Most underrated movie of the 2010′s, with an unquestionably important topic. 

1. The Social Network

Before Sorkin wrote the screenplay, Ben Mezrich wrote the book based on Mark Zuckerberg and the founding of Facebook titled: The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal. It was published in July 2009, and most of the information came from Facebook “co-founder” Eduardo Saverin, who in the film is played by Andrew Garfield. The screenplay that Sorkin wrote was blazing, he wrote the characters like they were in a William Shakespeare play, with a story full of lies, jealousy, and betrayal. I especially love how Sorkin balanced the story between 2003, 2004, and then 2010. It goes back and forth between the past when Facebook was just an idea for Mark, and in the current day when he is being sued by Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss for, in their minds, having stolen their original idea, and by his former best friend Eduardo for having him pushed out of the company. In fact, some of the very best dialogue (and the film is full of great quotes) happens during the deposition scenes. Well-recognizable, rapid-fire dialouges, wonderful directing, with Trent Reznor’s greatest soundtrack. The movie’s probably going to outlive the Facebook itself, and that’s just great. 

[i-will-physically-fight-you]

Awhile back, I came up with my own Sides--so this is art is VERY OLD, mind you. I wasn’t really sure if I’d share them with you guys, but then I saw @fanartfunart talk about sharing Side OCs, so I figured why the heck not??

tag list + explanation below the cut!

Art Tag List: @yourhappypappypatton @fandergecko @jade-dragon226-fan @allfavoritesaside

Muse (Creativity/Passion): Writers often talk about their muse—their source of creativity, of inspiration. So as a writer it felt appropriate to label my creative, fanciful side as Muse. I love how the name of Muse gives the impression of a free-spirited imp.

Her name is Calliope, after the Greek muse of epic poetry

Wears nothing but dresses and fancy shoes all day every day--no matter the occasion.

Going for a hike? Tree-climbing? She’ll grin and bear the inevitable blisters--loudly proclaiming that she’s fine.

 How dresses does she own? Too many.

Keeps her hair in a half-ponytail so that it’s pulled back from her face, but still loose and flowing in the wind.

How many ideas does she have? Too many.

She has the attention-span of a goldfish, much to Wisdom’s dismay. If Wisdom doesn’t supervise Muse, she’d never get a story finished.

 Always searching for that elusive Inspiration despite Wisdom being the embodiment of Shia LaBeouf (“JUST DO IT!!”)

Maintains a terrible sleep schedule because sleeping is the only time she’s not in motion, and surprise surprise she always comes up with the best ideas when she’s resting.

·Muse: *bursts into Wisdom’s room at 3AM* SCULLY YOU’D NEVER BELIEVE THIS

Wisdom: Muse, WTF? We’d never even seen the X-files.

Wisdom and Muse have a love-hate relationship. They quarrel often, especially about in regard to what the Future holds. Think Roman and Logan in “Why Do We Get up in the Morning?”

 Muse dreams of becoming a successful novelist while Wisdom sees that as a lofty, unrealistic goal and insists they try for something more practical.

But when they do get along, they are the Dream Team.

 Muse is a BIG FAT PERFECTIONIST. Anxiety doesn’t help in this department, try as she might. It often takes Wisdom and Ethics to convince her that rough drafts don’t have to look perfect.

Is very insecure of criticism, even constructive criticism like the kind Wisdom offers. Hates admitting mistakes.

·Prefers to live in her own fantasies than face cold harsh reality.

Wisdom (Knowledge/Curiosity): I picked Wisdom because for me the difference between knowledge and wisdom is that knowledge is “mass amounts of information” while wisdom is “understanding and putting that knowledge to use”. 

Goes by the name of Minerva, for its’ very on-the-point meaning, “Wisdom”

Unlike Muse, she’s practical with her choice of clothing. She tends to go on the business formal/causal side of things. 

keeps her hair up in a bun to make her look more “serious” but also because it keep her hair from becoming an annoyance.

 Wears glasses solely because they make her look smart.

 We all have a friend who pulls up IMDB to look up trivia halfway through watching a movie--that’s Wisdom

History is her focal point but has a general adoration of all knowledge in general.

 “Did you know...” and “Actually,” are common phrases uttered by her

 The others sometimes get annoyed by her endless spewing of trivia facts related to a conversation, but she literally can’t help it.

She loves learning new things about people and learning about different cultures. 

Unashamedly loves being the smartest person in the room--and has a big head from people regarding her as such.

 Because of this, she is insecure when she does get things wrong or she is not knowledgeable in an area.

 Will passionately debate you on a topic, but she is respectful and open to hearing others’ point of view as long as they remain cordial.

Understands that Fiction can be an important tool to convey ideas and concepts--which can have an impact on a human being’s life, but still sees things grounded in reality as being more important.

Ethics (Emotions/Morality): I chose Ethics because I wanted to pick something different than Morality and Ethics is similar enough but unique.

Her name is Felicity, meaning “good fortune/happy”

Tends to dress on the causal/sporty end of things. She will wear a t-shirt and athletic shorts any day over something a bit nicer. 

She wears her hair in a ponytail, but sometimes she opts for braids.

Wisdom likes to view herself as the one in charge, but really, it’s Ethics.

 Has a lotta love to give

 Surprisingly competitive—tends to get very emotionally involved with whatever she’s doing at the moment.

She suffers from second-hand embarrassment, which sometimes makes watching comedy very hard to watch for her.

 The Mom™ Friend, constantly fusses over the others’ wellbeing.

Good at detecting others’ emotions, but sometimes has a hard time discerning her own emotions. She is very empathetic, and takes on the emotions of the room easily

 She’s a big people-pleaser and as such has a bad habit of putting others’ wellbeing in front of her own.

 People-oriented, strongly believes in leaving a positive impact on the others around her.

She’s very intuitive, a good judge of character. Usually right eight out of ten times. It annoys Wisdom so much—gut feelings aren’t rational!

She has a bad habit of shoving her negative emotions under the rug and pretending they don’t exist.

Unconditionally loves all of Muse’s works, including the ones that even Muse finds cringey. She loves how fun it is to create things!! Plus stories can have such a positive impact on people.

Wisdom and Ethics often don’t see eye to eye. Ethics is often too emotional and needy in Wisdom’s eyes while Ethics sees Wisdom as being too much of a stick-in the-mud about things.

 Has a hard time letting go of things, very nostalgic for the good ole’ times despite both Wisdom’s and Anxiety’s protests that she’s viewing the “good old times” through rose-colored glasses.

Too Pure for her own good. While Wisdom is often pushes to explore uncomfortable topics, Ethics is in the corner hiding her face while sticking her fingers in her ears and humming loudly to block out the information.

 Always views the bright side of things, does her best to cheer up Anxiety to the best of her ability

 She thinks as long as they leave a positive impact in the world, no matter how big or small, the Future is very bright for them.

Anxiety: Pretty self-explanatory *shrugs*

Has yet to reveal her name, if she even has one.

 Self-care? Who’s she? Never heard of her

 She often keeps her hair down. Sometimes she throws it up into a messy bun but nowhere near the bobby-pin perfection that is Wisdom.

 Will mope around in pajamas all day if you let her. Soft, baggy t-shirts and pajamas pants are her jam. She hates dressing up because it makes her feel self-conscious.

Social Events tire her out. She can get overstimulated by the loud noises easily. Because of this, she loves spending copious amounts of time alone in dark rooms.

Will spend all day on Tumblr and/or Youtube if you let her.

 Isn’t fond of touch, Ethics being the only exception. Those two can often be found cuddling on the couch together watching cartoons.

She has a very volatile personality. Either she’s “Ehhh, this thing is very stressful so let’s ignore it and do this SUPER FUN RELAXING THING instead” or “THIS THING IS DUE IN A DAY WHY HAVENT WE WORKED ON THIS YET???”

 She is Exhausted™ all the time. She is bad at recognizing Sleep has a priority as in her mind, “Sleep is a Waste of Time when we could be Doing Things” but she also struggles with Insomnia

Overthinks every social interaction—rehearses what she says a million times.

As much as she enjoys indulging in Muse’s fantasies, they also terrify her. Creating can be very Stressful at times, and she does not like to work hard. Not to mention SHARING STORIES WITH PEOPLE?? WHAT IF THEY HATE THEM??

Hates the Unknown and Changes. Very inflexible.

Pursues the Comfort route like watching Netflix all day because she knows it’s a Safe option versus asking a friend to hang out, because of all the possibilities that could go wrong.

Like Wisdom, she thinks Muse is too idealistic for her own good, but unlike Wisdom she has a very bleak outlook on the future.

[houseofvans]

SKETCHY BEHAVIORS | KATY ANN GILMORE

Inspired by mathematics, architecture, perspective, and illusion of space, Los Angeles based artist Katy Ann Gilmore combines her love of art and math in the amazing work she creates–from sculptures to drawings to a recent mural at Vans HQ! Find out more about Katy Ann Gilmore, what artists inspire her, and her process for creating her insane optical art below! 

Photographs courtesy of the artist.

Introduce yourself? My name is Katy Ann Gilmore, and I live in Los Angeles. I’m originally from Indiana / Illinois, and I moved out here 7 years ago and fell in love with the area. I’m a big fan of being outside and hiking, so I make sure to take breaks and free my brain from the studio often. Although, I sometimes think of my best ideas on a hike. :)

I grew up making things, but in the mural Midwest, I didn’t really have an idea of what it meant to make art professionally. I’ve been keeping journals since I was 8, so it’s fun to look back and see how many times I wrote that I just want to “make things” for my job. I feel so incredibly lucky that I get to wake up and do that each day!

You recently did a really cool mural at Vans HQ. Can you tell us a little about how that came about, the process, and the idea behind the design? I had so much fun with that mural! Jamie from HQ reached out with an idea to have me interpret the “Off the Wall” slogan in a way that was inline with how I’d been using perspective and illusion of space. Another feature was incorporating the Vans checkerboard pattern, which I think combined pretty seamlessly as everything I do is based upon some sort of grid system. The idea was the grab elements of work and concepts in the past, and design something for this specific wall at HQ. As with all murals, I had everything detailed and planned out before painting on the wall.

In your works, you’ve been influenced by topography and distortions of space. First, how did you first get into drawing, and second, when did your art form evolve into what you’re doing now visually?  Also at what point, did this relationship with mathematics are art intertwine? I first started drawing heavily about 7 years ago. I had just moved to LA from the midwest for grad school, and I didn’t have a car, money, or a large space to work. That really limited me in materials and flexibility. I found that I had to make my studio wherever I was, so drawing was a perfect medium to explore. I took projects with me and worked when I could. I was working full-time at the same time, so I’d also use my lunch break to draw. Then, as life began to stabilize, I started working in more 3D/installation terms.

The same cycle happened again when I quit my full-time job in late 2014. I started focusing on drawing again as I didn’t have a dedicated space to make art, and started to use Instagram as a tool to push small drawings for purchase. I really credit those times focusing on drawing for providing the foundation for my mural work today. My work and drawing eventually began to mature as I started bringing in ideas and interests from the past about perception and the ways we engage with the environments around us.

Art and math have always been big parts of my life. I was always making something growing up, and also had a pretty heavy interest in buildings and architecture along with mathematics. The higher up in mathematics you go, the more abstract it becomes. You’re not so much dealing with numbers as concepts and problems. I really loved that, and particularly fell in love with non-Euclidean geometry. It’s been fun to see them naturally intertwine as I pursue ideas that seem interesting to me. I like that about art. Any interests that you have, no matter how seemingly disparate, can come together in what you make.

You’ve worked in various mediums from sculpture, installation to drawing and painting. Is there a new medium you’ve been meaning to explore but haven’t had the chance yet? Although it’s still sculpture, I’d love to create outdoor sculptural works at some point. I did my first outdoor mural last summer, and it was fun to think about how it interacted with the surrounding space. A big part of my process is spending time outside, so it seems natural to me to create work that will permanently live in an outdoor space.  I have a few ideas rattling around that I’m sure I’ll have the chance to make someday! :)

What’s the process when you’re creating your topographical visual artwork? Do you work from sketches to laying it out on a computer? What do you find to be the most satisfying part of the process? I usually start with pretty messy and initial ideas in my sketchbook. I take a sketchbook with me wherever I go, so when these ideas come (I tend to get a lot while driving, on a walk or hike, basically during any monotonous activity where my mind wanders), I draw them out. From there, I pick the winners to develop into nicer sketches. From there, I pick a smaller pool of winners to be made into shapes cut out of paper that are basically miniatures of finished work. Then, I’d sort and order those to see which ones I think will be most effective on a larger scale.

 I do my recent work on dibond (aluminum sheet with a plastic core), and create a file in Illustrator to have the shape cutout. Then the fun part starts! I get to actually make the work. This is the most satisfying and meditative part for me, seeing it all come together after so many steps. It’s a big planning process, so I’m simultaneously in the stages of sketching on piece, working on a finished piece, or drawing in Illustrator to keep work flowing.

Who are some artists out there that you find inspiring? I’ve been a fan of Daniel Arsham for awhile, and I’m also keen on Phillip K. Smith’s work. I really love how they both deal with spaces/environments as a whole to create an experience.

What’s a common misconception about artists? What has been your greatest obstacles and how have you overcome it? I think each career has a stigma attached to it, and unfortunately a common one about art is the brooding, emotional, starving artist. I don’t fit that mold, and I know tons of artists don’t as well. I’m sure you could find a brooding, emotional, starving accountant out there. When I talk about what I make, I reference how others in different careers approach their work. I treat it like I have any other job in the past. The hours are crazier, but more flexible, but it’s still a job. I love what I do, but obviously everyone has days where they really don’t want to work.

I intrinsically self-motivated, so it’s not too hard to push past that, but it does get frustrating when that assumption is associated with your personality. It took me a bit of time to realize that it was ok to just do my work as it fits my temperament and schedule.

What are you jamming to when you’re in the studio? What would folks find if they were to check out your most recent music playlist? I’m usually listening to James Blake, Nicolas Jaar, Darkside, or Bonobo...and most recently Loyle Carner.

We always like to know what artists would be doing if they weren’t artists? What career or profession do you think you’d be in? I’ve had this list of three careers that I would do instead for awhile now. These are half joking, half not. I’d be a paleontologist, astronaut, or some sort of engineer.

What are your favorite Vans? I really love the white Sk8-Hi’s. They’re usually my first go-to as they work with pretty much anything I wear.

What do you tell folks who want to do what you do as a career? The first thing would be to make things all the time. Make sure you have a stable avenue to provide an arena to make things, whether that’s keeping a full-time or part-time job (as long as it’s not too all-consuming and stressful...if that’s the case, find another job that facilitates you making work), living more frugally, or whatever else you can do to have the financial means to create work.

I think there’s something to be said about catering your life to have art at the center. I’m all for risks and jumping in (I quit a full-time job in late 2014, and while looking for another job, kicked art into full-time, made tons of financial sacrifices, and eventually that took off), but I think it is good to make sure your life is set up as a foundation for success in your artwork. Maybe financials aren’t a concern for someone else - it might be other life obligations. I think it’s just good to be aware of whatever those constraints might be, and don’t just work around them, but with them.

What do you have coming up that you’re super excited about? I have a solo show in May at DENK in Los Angeles, so I’m excited about that! I’m looking forward to sharing the new work I’ve been making!

FOLLOW KATY  Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr

[wemakepdx]

Keynote Speaker — Katy Ann Gilmore

"I like that about art. Any interests that you have, no matter how seemingly disparate, can come together in what you make."  -- Katy Ann Gilmore

Katy Ann Gilmore is a multi-disciplinary artist that brings together the worlds of mathematics and art. She pushes the boundaries of what you can do with shapes and intricate line work and transports you into spaces where dimension takes on an entirely new meaning. I can confidently say she makes me think math is way more cool than I would have ever believed was possible. We are so excited to hear more about her life, work and love of non-Euclidean geometry at the Disrupt conference - in the meantime, we had the chance to ask her a few questions. Check it out.

MB: We are so dang excited for you to come to Portland! Is there anything you’re looking forward to doing while your here?

KG: I’m excited to be up there! In general, I’m looking forward to seeing murals around the city, meeting all others involved in WeMake, and maybe getting out for a short hike or walk around the city!

MB: Can you tell us a little bit about your creative journey up to this point?

KG: I grew up making things, but in the rural Midwest, I didn’t really have an idea of what it meant to make art professionally. I’ve been keeping journals since I was 8, so it’s fun to look back and see how many times I wrote that I just want to “make things” for my job. I feel so incredibly lucky that I get to wake up and do that each day!

I was always making things, and I studied both art and math in undergrad. After graduating, I still wasn’t sure about the feasibility of art as a career, but I moved out to LA 7 years ago for grad school. I didn’t have a car, money, or a large space to work. That really limited me in materials and flexibility. I found that I had to make my studio wherever I was, so drawing was a perfect medium to explore. I took projects with me and worked when I could. I was working full-time at the same time, so I’d also use my lunch break to draw. Then, as life began to stabilize, I started working in more 3D/installation terms.

The same cycle happened again when I quit my full-time job in late 2014. I started focusing on drawing again as I didn’t have a dedicated space to make art, and started to use Instagram as a tool to push small drawings for purchase. I really credit those times focusing on drawing for providing the foundation for my mural work today. My work and drawing eventually began to mature as I started bringing in ideas and interests from the past about perception and the ways we engage with the environments around us.

Now I’m balancing between working on murals and studio work for shows. It’s a really fun mix, and I love that murals and installation projects are a part of it!

MB: Your work is such a great combination of logic and creativity - how do you manage to bring the two together?

KG: Art and math have always been big parts of my life. I was always making something growing up, and also had a pretty heavy interest in buildings and architecture along with mathematics. The higher up in mathematics you go, the more abstract it becomes. You’re not so much dealing with numbers as concepts and problems. I really loved that, and particularly fell in love with non-Euclidean geometry. It’s been fun to see them naturally intertwine as I pursue ideas that seem interesting to me. I like that about art. Any interests that you have, no matter how seemingly disparate, can come together in what you make. Focusing on both has led to a natural expression of ideas through what I make.

MB: Is there a project that you’ve worked on that is particularly memorable? What made it special?

KG: I really loved working on my mural last summer at Facebook Los Angeles. I worked on it for a month, and it was fun to commute out to their office near the beach. I really enjoyed the vive of the offices, and had a great time making the mural. It was a marathon of a challenge, and I’m so happy with how it came together.

MB: You work in a lot of different mediums - drawing, murals, 3D installations - how does your planning and process vary between them? What stays the same?

KG: For all mediums, I usually start with pretty messy and initial ideas in my sketchbook. I take a sketchbook with me wherever I go, so when these ideas come (I tend to get a lot while driving, on a walk or hike, basically during any monotonous activity where my mind wanders), I draw them out. From there, I pick the winners to develop into nicer sketches. This is where they could deviate according to medium. At this point is when I figure out the details of how I’m actually going to make it. Once I figure that out, it’s the most satisfying and meditative part for me, seeing it all come together after so many steps.

It’s a big planning process, so I’m simultaneously in the stages of sketching on piece, working on a finished piece, or drawing in Illustrator to keep work flowing.

MB: If you could collaborate with one person on any project, who would it be and why?

KG: I would love to collaborate with Phillip K. Smith III. I think his work is so intelligent and interesting.

MB: We have to know - what happened with your Nissan Maxima!?

KG: That was such a fun project! The car wasn’t really in great running shape without some major intervention, so after documenting it well, I kept the hood and the spoiler, but got rid of the rest of the car.

MB: What are you drawing inspiration from lately?

KG: Lately, I’m finding inspiration from taking time to read, hike, and recharge. I’m taking time to slow down and think about what I’m making, which I think has been important for my work. Specifically, I’ve been going back and reading about the mathematical study of topology (the study of properties of spaces that are preserved through twisting or stretching of that object or space).

MB: What do you find yourself doing when you’re not working?

KG: When I’m not working, apart from spending time with friends, I’m usually hiking or boxing.

MB: And finally, the official WeMake question: Why do you make?

KG: I’ve always felt an internal compulsion to make. I can’t remember a time where I wasn’t drawing, painting, or tasking myself with some project. I find that I’m most myself when I get into the zone and work through ideas in this way.

[ajtorres0]

I thought I'd talk about what this story was originally going to be. Shortly after graduating college, my then boyfriend, now husband, & I had the idea to make a videogame. Revenge & Forgiveness was that idea! Unfortunately, we couldn't continue it because we weren't coders, so we didn't really know how to put it together. We graduated on the side of making films, not gaming, so we were forced to end that dream. However, because I was taking longer to finish Valhalla The Call of Yggdrasil, my other WIP, my husband suggested I turn RaF into a novel. I loved the idea so much that I went back to look at our old concept arts to see what was staying in the book. There has been a LOT of changes since the videogame idea. For starters, the fairy Princess Adhnis actually has a name & a design now haha. Kaius was originally named Magnus & Vincent was named & I made him Kaius' older brother. The King was actually a LOT nicer before & I decided to make Alaia, who was also under a different name, Latin American inspired. However, the monsters have mostly stayed the same, I just added some in the book that never got concepted. My husband & I were very much inspired by The Legend of Zelda games & Kingdom Hearts, even a little bit of Super Mario to make the game. If you guys swiped the pics, you'll see some of the stuff we were able to do before we stopped. Unfortunately the concepts I made were lost, but while he was designing Kaius & the monsters, I did Alaia, Adhnis, Vincent, & level 1, which was the castle. Well, that's it. I hope you guys liked my little history of RaF. If you guys want to read my book before it's release on April 12th, I'm currently looking for #ARCReaders. The link to the sign up sheet is in my bio. Thank you for reading. The cover was done by @nicole.deal.art, go follow her please! The inside was done by @juliascottwrites of @evenstarbooks.juliascott also follow her please! #Bookstagram #Authorgram #Writergram #Book #IndieBook #IndieAuthor #YoungAdult #YA #YABook #FantasyBook #Fantasy #HighFantasy #RaF #Standalone #StandaloneBook #BookCommunity #BookNerd #BookLover #BooksAreMagic #BooksOfInstagram #BooksOfIg #BooksAreMagical #ARC #ARCReadersWanted https://www.instagram.com/p/CZwvtBhrXzG/?utm_medium=tumblr

[rayenemthreetwooneseven]

Final Project

This final project signifies the end of the module :( It’s been a fun journey, and I do feel like I've learnt a lot over the course of the 13 weeks! Hopefully whatever I’ve learnt can be seen in my final project. So  this is my personal brand guide.

Inspiration

So a little bit on the inspiration, I wanted to create a personal brand that reflected my own personality. Using geometric shapes and the colour scheme of CMYK, I wanted to sell the idea that though both the colour and the shape may be the raw foundation blocks of most designs, putting them together would create a sort of aesthetic that is uniquely me, messy but fun, dynamic and exciting. Logo

It first started out with the center of the logo, which are my initials, R S. I wanted it to link to the geometric shape, however no font that I used managed to encapsulate that cohesiveness with the other design elements. Therefore, I realised that adapting a drawn version of the “RS”, it actually fits quite well into a nice shape that is cohesive with the rest of the design. 

From there the next step was to integrate the colour portion of the design, the CYMK. It took me awhile but I settled for the squares in the end. The circles didn’t feel quite right, and as much as I tried, it made the over all feel of the logo weak, compared to the square design which is both cohesive with the design elements, at the same time quite bold and strong too. 

Workspace

This was the first project that I used illustrator instead of photoshop as I wanted to challenge myself to use this software, something out of my comfort zone. I have to say it was quite a challenge as I was not that used to the tools. But I managed ah and the elements were much more easier to edit with these tools. Most of the time, I played a lot of with moves these elements around, as even though the main idea was “messy”, it had to look nice as well, which was the main challenge.  I ended up using the fonts BEBAS KAI, and Avenier as I felt those two worked together quite well. The main focus was BEBAS KAI though, as it worked extremely well with all the design elements, and the general aesthetics I was going for. It can’t be seen in the screenshot, but my overall workspace was pretty darn messy, and in the future working with illustrator I would take that into consideration when designing, especially when there are a couple of different art boards.  I also used a lot of grids to help with the placing of the elements as well as text. Conclusion

Overall I’m still not quite happy with my design, I do feel there are a lot of room for improvement, but at the same time I’m not sure what else to do to make it look nicer. I do feel it was quite a challenge, to make “messy” look aesthetically pleasing, and I still remember all those nights just trying to add and take away elements to bring about that style I was going for.

But at the end of the day, this is my final result, and I do hope that it reflects all the hardwork that I’ve put into bringing the concept to life.

Thank you and signing off, ~Rayyan Safari

[mirron91]

So, this was an interesting spread. It’s a bit difficult to make out what all went on in it, but I’ll try my best to go over things as best I can. 

I had the feeling the other night to do a spread using my three decks. I thought I’d ask them to tell me three things about myself each that I should hear. 

I also wanted to make sure that I focused the energies right, so I pulled out what felt like an appropriate signifier card for each of the decks. Up at the top (the purple one way up there) is The Star from Shadowscapes. I love the art, I love the colors, it just... really resonates with me. And the Star is one of those concepts and cards that speaks to me a lot, so I wanted to include it anyways.

Down at the bottom left (I kind of wish I had flipped the Faerie Enchantment cards over, they look nicer that way, but the information is on the back) is Brighid. “Visualize Inspirational Dreams” is the phrase for her, and she has some fitting correspondences in the deck, purple, amethyst, star. Plus her symbol is a K, which is my middle name. :P So I picked her for the Faerie Enchantment representation.

The bottom right is Phanuel, the Angel of Truth from the Angelarium Oracle. Truth... that’s definitely something I’m looking for. The truth about myself, the truth about others, the universe, the gods, spirits, magic. What does the truth mean in each of those. Is the truth as really fixed as some seem to think it is? Is it all subjective? Many things on this matter I ponder. It also here I feel has an added feeling of making sure the truth about me comes out from the cards. Brighid kind of contrasts in making sure that the ideals come out, but Phanuel balances it so it isn’t more than what is actually so.

Alright, let’s get into it. I started with the middle, Shadowscapes. I wanted to start with the shadow, the blending of light (Angelarium) and dark (Faerie Enchantments). Note that both decks have both, more the vibes I associate with both. Anyways, for Shadowscapes, I got The World, The Emperor, and The Hierophant. Unfortunately don’t have the deck on hand, but there was something in the booklet that really spoke to me about it. It was something like... blending the different songs of the world into a harmony. There are meanings here, in this reading. It talks a lot about potential I feel, balance, love, a lot of things that really resonate with me.

I’ll actually try focusing on The World part of it first. So The World is a truth about me, something I need to know. Like other readings ( @thestarseedoracle knows the ones I mean. :P ), I have a lot of potential I guess. More potential than I am willing to accept sometimes, but that I need to. Possibility, miracles, magic, a blending of different strands myself. A song that shines, a light that sings. Just... I have the World in me. I can do what I need to, I can do what I want to. I have to focus on that potential, and stop being restricted by what sounds “reasonable”. And I’m close to achieving this.

Emperor, another favorite. Command, power, structure, order. A strong masculine energy. I have that in me, something that I kind of struggle with at times. I tend to see myself more like the Empress than the Emperor. But I have the Emperor in me, presumably along with the Empress because, you know, World. But I need to be willing to accept this part of me. And the potential it has. Be willing to use the powers of the Emperor where appropriate, be willing to know when it isn’t serving its purpose. 

Hierophant kind of surprised me, though I wasn’t sure who I expected to show up. Perhaps that’s part of why he showed up. I know that the cards are meant to show things I don’t see as much in myself. And this is definitely a card I may have difficulty with. Kind of a similar vibe to the Emperor too. Bridging worlds (another theme I feel came about a bit), spiritual practice, but more of an orthodox kind of thing. But I know that’s something I want to do. Be able to bridge the divine, and help bring it down here. A foot in both worlds.

Faerie Enchantments were a bit more focused. Branwen (Imbue Compassionate Feelings), Aibell (Balance Karmic Harmony), and Penarddun (Attract Empathic Love) were the three that came out. Like Shadowscapes, there are some consistent trends that Faerie Enchantments wanted to talk about. But some overarching trends too.

Branwen, part of the deck talks about how she bridged a divide between two different groups of deities. Light, and dark is how the creator interpreted the two groups, though I haven’t looked into Welsh deities enough to see how accurate that interpretation is. I feel like that was another recurring theme. One of being able to bridge worlds, no matter how different they seem. I can exist in both, I can live in both, or as many as I need. Acting with love is important for that.

Aibell talked about balance and harmony, concepts that kind of relate to that similar theme of disparate things. I know that I have that possibility in me, but it’s hard to really tell how strong it is. Of course the cards would talk about this. Karmic here talked about “dispensing justice” which I think is an important vibe too. To be willing to take action, and make my own calls, even if they seem... well, different I’ll say. 

Penarddun is talking about love. My ability to attract love, and why that is. Because I give out what I receive. I share love, as best I can, with anyone I meet. Yet at the same time pull off the Aibell karmic thing, I guess. I don’t know, mystery in the process of unfolding after all. There were some things on the cards correspondences I liked too, evening, butterfly, rose quartz. But I’m being reminded of that love that I have, because I sometimes doubt it. 

This leaves the last three. Angelarium. Azrael, Angel of Death. Gabriel, Angel of Heralds. Israfel, Angel of Song. The theme here I feel, is change. It’s rather clear here. The possibility to change things, to make things better, worse. 

Death isn’t something I’ve always been comfortable with. I’m still not, though more so than I used to be. But if I’m The World, then Death is there too. I’m being reminded that change is... change. It is loss, it is death. But that it is only through that things can change. Gain and loss occur, and I need to be comfortable with both. And to be comfortable with death more too, if I’m going to be doing all the things I want.

Gabriel is talking about Heralds. Bringing (wait for it) change. Possibility, growth, loss. I feel like here the theme is more about me being an active agent of it, again the push to be out there and doing things. It’s... I need to be more involved, in the World, so to say. But comfortable to be me too, which will not always be out there like that. It’s a process. To be willing to, comfortable with, inspiring others. The next one talks about this some too. There are very strong themes of acceptance throughout the cards. 

Israfel is the last card. I considered doing something looking at ways the cards line up, but this is kind of long as it is. Songs. I love music. I listen to it all the time. Apollon is a big (very big) deity for me, and I’m listening to music even as I write this. Hymmnos, a language I love, was created for music, and the songs it has are very moving to me. I love hearing the ways others express themselves. The way they share who they are. The words they use, the words they don’t use. I remember for a while I purposely avoided using the word “home” to avoid talking about where I live, because it wasn’t my home. For all of this love of language and songs, I don’t sing my own song. I don’t shine with my own light. But... I know I have to be willing to. I have to be willing to be me, and express myself. Take action, keep trying, keep being... me. Because I am a good person, even if I don’t think so. 

I doubt anyone is too interested in this, mostly for me. Did tag the person I thought might like seeing this. Though I’m happy to hear any other comments. 

[kittencaboodleextraordinaire]

“Ok, but I had a Johnny first, and mine is better”: Adventures in Cyberpunk with a snarky headmate

Warning: this post contains considerable discussion of a major plot point in Cyberpunk 2077 which is discussed in the promotional materials (trailers etc) but which is not revealed in-game until after the first segment of the main story (the heist). Those who wish to remain unspoiled may instead view this lovely picture I edited of four raccoons in a trenchcoat (inspired by Critical Role’s playthrough of the absolutely delightful ttrpg Crash Pandas, which I highly encourage everybody in existence to go check out).

This phenomenal piece of art is surely the high point of this post. It can only go downhill from here.

Anyway.

So as we all know, Cyberpunk 2077 was finally released a few days ago to the expected amount of drama and fanfare, and my partner and I have been playing it together, by which I mean he’s been playing and I’ve been providing helpful advice like “We should totally buy the awesome purple car what do you mean you want a motorcycle THE MOTORCYCLE ISN’T PURPLE”. It’s not, y’know, an amazing game, but it’s pretty fun and I have already found multiple characters to ship V with, which I’m sure we can all agree is the truly important thing here. Plus of course there is abundant opportunity to make innuendo at my partner so I am a happy kitten. Mostly. There is one aspect of the story that is proving to be a continual source of awkwardness and general highly disconcerting aura. Namely, Johnny Silverhands.

At some point (I fell asleep for this part so I don’t know exactly what happened), you end up fused with a chip containing the personality of Johnny Silverhands, some kind of sort of famous dude who died a long time ago or something like that. awards self 10/10 stars for that eloquent and informative summary of important plot elements I was totally paying attention to and wasn’t asleep for at all anyway the important thing is there’s a dude hanging out in your brain with you. This is kind of weird and awkward for me, since I also have a dude hanging out in my brain with me. His name is Jonas. Jonas, say hi. J: I’m not a zoo animal and I don’t do tricks, also I reject the idea that this adds to the post in any real way. However you are very lucky because I am bored and complaining at you sounds more fun than going back to sleep. Now I’m tired and it’s 3:30 am go to bed or write the rest of this by your own damn self. That’s basically the same thing I guess.

Jonas is a bit weird. I don’t really have any idea what he is, and it’s not really within the scope of this blog post to discuss it in depth. He is some flavor of alternate personality, he is one of my closest friends, and he is a pain in the ass, much like most of my other friends. Having Jonas around is uncannily like V’s experience sharing their brain with Johnny Silverhands. Now I have a few other friends who have multiple personalities, one of whom is watching playthroughs of Cyberpunk and has appropriately described the experience as “pretty fucky”, which about sums it up. However it’s made even worse for me personally by the sheer number of similarities between Jonas and Johnny and their interactions with the people they share heads with, for (the most obvious) example, their names are really fucking similar. Jonas has matured a lot since he started appearing about 6-7 years ago but Johnny’s snark, unhelpfulness, complete disinterest in being nice, and even his body language all scream of Jonas’s original behavior, which, let’s be honest here, he still does all that anyway, he’s just nicer about it because he likes me. When Jonas and I talk, we tend to picture him as standing (or sitting or leaning against the wall or whatever) somewhere in the room with me, much as Johnny appears to V. He’s not active all the time and until very very recently was almost never “in charge”, so to speak, much like Johnny. So what we have here is somebody who acts a fuck of a lot like Jonas, has a similar name to Jonas, and interacts with their host in a manner that is almost a perfect match to how Jonas interacts with me. Somehow all of this went over my head. Then something even more uncanny happened.

Now, Jonas was originally an extremely minor character in a vast series of stories that I have made up in my head and never actually written down. He somehow evolved, without any conscious effort on my part, from a bit character who was never meant to do anything besides show up, get scolded by the authorities, and leave, to an increasingly major character, to living in my brain with me. Consequently, while he generally shares my tastes and preferences in terms of food and etc etc etc, there is an extremely major way in which we diverge: Jonas, like Johnny, and unlike me, smokes. All the time. It is Very Important to him. As such, the fact that I do not smoke and have exactly negative one billion interest in ever doing so is a source of intense frustration to him. We have had m a n y arguments about this. He knows not to push it too much and respects that it is my decision but that is not about to stop him from complaining about it loudly and with great passion. So when we encountered a scene of V and Johnny having the exact same fucking argument, ending with the incredibly blatantly Jonasesque lamentation from Johnny “Nonsmokers are the fucking worst”, it was like getting hit in the head with a brick. Actually forget the brick, it was like being hit with an entire building, and then having Jonas stick his head out the window and go “Missed me? ;)”, and then yelling back “WELL IDK BUT MAYBE NEXT TIME YOU’RE PILOTING AN ENTIRE FUCKING BUILDING IF YOU COULD TRY A LITTLE HARDER TO MISS ME THAT’D BE REALLY NICE THANKS” and then having him wink at me and assure me that head trauma builds character. It fucking doesn’t and he knows it.

After that, it was impossible to not see Jonas every time Johnny came onscreen. I still enjoy the game a lot. The setting and story are both really really cool and the loot is A+, and I really love being able to hang out in voice chat with my partner, who currently lives pretty far away, and do something fun together and experience something new. But having my relationship with Jonas, which I still have a lot of conflicting feelings about no matter how much I genuinely believe he’s a positive force in my life, reflected back at me at every turn, is bizarre, surreal, and a constant reminder of issues that have been nagging at me for a while, many of which are explicitly being brought up by the game itself. Last night we were doing a mission where V and Johnny at some point start talking and V mentions how they seem to be getting along better and Johnny suggests that maybe it’s because he’s rubbing off on V. V responds with something to the effect of “Am I becoming more like you, or are you becoming more like me?”. Jonas and I have been asking ourselves the same question for years. The only answer we were ever able to come up with is “probably both”, but the question of how much and to what extent, and if you start blending together with somebody else that much, are you really the same person anymore, and on down the rabbit hole we go, can really eat at you if you’re the kind of person who cares about that sort of thing. Which I guess we both are. And frankly we are probably not even half done with the main storyline and I doubt it’s going to stop posing these questions. 

J: so I said I wasn’t going to have any more of this and went off in a huff but actually I changed my mind I have some stuff to say. 

this is obviously weird for kitsie, and I guess it might be obviously weird for me too but it’s weird in an entirely different kinda way. it’s certainly surreal, and a lot of the questions it keeps bringing up are a lot to think about. Johnny is a program on a computer chip designed to be a copy of the original Johnny’s brain. this raises the question, and this may or may not be addressed later, how real is he? and is he the original Johnny, just on a computer chip now, or is he a different entity who happens to be identical to Johnny? and how is a person on a computer chip embedded on somebody’s brain really different from a person who’s a subroutine in somebody else’s brain? am I real? am I a part of Kitsie that just thinks differently for some reason? are we two facets of a whole being that’s kind of both of us and kind of neither of us? am I just a hitchhiker? I really don’t know. I have a lot of memories and backstory. things I did in the past, before I knew Kitsie. are those memories real? they feel real to me but on the other hand they didn’t actually happen. are Johnny’s memories real? they did happen but he’s a brain scan so did they actually happen to him? it’s a lot to think about, but hard to stop thinking.

and then there’s the other concern, which is that this is a game for kitsie to enjoy with her partner, and whenever this shit happens it wakes me up and I end up feeling really weird, like I’m intruding. which I am.  and as wonderful and understanding as he is, I’m still very much something he is getting used to and having problems adjusting to and I really understand because fuck I’m having a problem adjusting to me too. and maybe it’s stupid but I feel bad for being the disconcerting aura of uncomfortable thoughts wafting through something that’s supposed to be a pleasant and fun evening without me in it. which frankly sums up my entire existence. fuck this I’m tired I’m out of here again go tf to sleep kit.

I had more to say but “what he said” pretty much sums it up.

In conclusion, I don’t really have any objection to the story itself. It’s an interesting concept carried out fairly well that under normal circumstances I would think was really cool, and certainly it’s been a unique experience anyway. And I guess if anything the fact that it’s so unnervingly on the nose is a sign they did a good job? I’m still having a huge amount of fun with the game and the massive backlog of sidequests combined with our minimal ability to focus means that the main quest only takes up a small portion of our playtime in any case. I just needed to get all this shit off my chest.

This has been tonight’s episode of the Kitty Rambles Podcast, I am too tired to think of any good way to end this so goodnight and thank you for tuning in!

[stereostevie]

By Danny Echevarria | 10/12/2020

I’ve often thought that if I hadn’t decided to pursue music production as a career, the only other thing I might approach with the same level of passion is cooking. Even in my life as a music maker, preparing food is an important part of my day, and something I get a lot of satisfaction from.

I’ve talked to quite a few similar-minded music producers/amateur chefs who not only share those twin passions but agree with me that the two disciplines have a lot in common. Both could be called a fusion of art and science. Both involve bringing together various elements and combining them in a way that showcases their individual strengths, while also creating a whole that is greater than the sum of those parts. Both require a discerning palette, or ear, to make snap decisions on the fly in a process that can be extremely time-sensitive.

Though I could make comparisons like “EQ is like salt,” or “butter and oil are like reverb,” I don’t think those sorts of analogies hold up in all cases. Rather, the similarities between music and cuisine have to do with the spirit with which we approach these crafts. Will this article help producers be better cooks or vice versa? Probably not! Even so, I take inspiration from the time I spend in the kitchen (and at the grill) into the studio, and my hope is that you can find some inspiration there too.

Ingredients Matter

There’s no substitute for working with high-quality ingredients – whether that’s a thick, fatty piece of salmon or a killer vocal take. But that doesn’t mean we need to work with top-shelf ingredients in every instance! In fact, sometimes cheaper ingredients are really what you want: chances are your favorite pizza place is using canned tomatoes, not fresh ones, to make their sauce.

The important thing here is to understand the role each ingredient plays in the recipe. Top-tier ingredients typically need less seasoning and usually deserve to be showcased. Lower-quality ingredients — and instruments, performances, and processing — still have a place in the kitchen, but will require different sorts of treatment, and will often be featured less centrally.

From the Kitchen to the Studio:

Don’t drown a great vocal in ketchup-y reverb

If your session includes the equivalent of a prime ribeye, make it the centerpiece! Use processing to accentuate its character, rather than trying to transform it — like a subtle rub of salt and pepper before it hits the grill.

If your centerpiece needs to be made from lower grade ingredients – like when a singer struggles to deliver good takes on the mic — seasoning (processing) will play a bigger role, maybe even transforming the part entirely.

Other times, lower quality ingredients don’t need to be masked but will serve a more supporting role. Are you working with pitchy backup vocals? Maybe each track doesn’t need to be tuned and polished — instead, treat the part as a garnish. Let it stay rough and “rustic” to add character.

A Great Recipe Helps … But Only So Much

You could look at websites like this one as being similar to your favorite sites to find recipes – a place where pros share tips and tricks they use in their own kitchens and studios. Learning from people who have honed their craft can absolutely help us make more informed choices, but in reality, it’s hard to replicate the conditions of a recipe writer’s kitchen: maybe you’re missing spices, or the recipe calls for a bone-in cut of meat, but all you have is boneless.

You can’t expect to follow a recipe to the letter if your ingredients or kitchen don’t match the chef’s intention. Great cooks and great producers alike know how to work with the tools and ingredients that they have. Adapting to changing conditions is a must if you expect to get a great result every time.

From the Kitchen to the Studio:

The most important tool in your kitchen and your studio is you! Pro tips and best practices will take you far, but you have to be able to discern when things are working as planned, and when they require a different approach.

Developing the ability to know when and how to adapt to shifting circumstances takes practice, but it’s a crucial difference between a master and an amateur. Don’t expect to call up a plugin preset or slap on some settings you saw in a tutorial video and be done. Use your ears to make sure your mix moves are working as intended, and be brave enough to admit it when they aren’t.

Don’t Overdo It; Don’t Underdo It

Always there for you when you need it

In cooking, this principle applies to cooking temperatures and times as well as seasoning: overcooking a piece of meat until it’s dry, or undercooking it and leaving bits raw; forgetting to add salt to make other flavors pop; drenching a stir fry in soy sauce, and then hoping that smothering it in sriracha will fix things (don’t act like you haven’t been there).

In the studio, you could apply this concept to everything from doing too many or too few takes, to leaving in ugly, muddy resonances, or dialing in too much compression. Just like you can’t “unbake” a burnt loaf of bread, you can’t “uncompress” a track that got slammed during tracking; similarly, adding salt when serving a dish is not the same as salting properly while preparing it.

From the Kitchen to the Studio:

Stop me if you’ve heard this one (from me), but the only thing that can guarantee you don’t go too far or not far enough is your judgment as a producer. To that end, approaching production with a clear sense of intention can go a very long way.

Know how many takes you need to get a solid comp — and stop there. Continuing to do unnecessary takes can be the sonic equivalent of leaving something in the oven after it’s done, each take getting dryer and more flavorless. Know when processing (like seasoning) needs to be overt and when it needs to be subtle, and learn how to tell when enough is enough.

Context Is Huge

If you’ve never had this, there’s still time

Remember my point earlier about how your favorite pizza place probably doesn’t use fresh tomatoes? That’s not laziness — the pizza we’re used to is supposed to have the flavor of canned tomatoes. On the other hand, can you imagine ordering a caprese salad and getting a canned tomato slopped onto some mozzarella?

The point here is that there is no absolute “right” or “wrong,” in cooking or production. Sometimes cheap ingredients are crucial, and nicer ingredients might be wasted in the same application. Other times, cheap, low-quality ingredients just taste … cheap, and low-quality.

From the Kitchen to the Studio:

Your favorite plugins, pieces of gear, and mix tricks will never be guaranteed to work equally well in all applications. There’s a reason a vintage U-47 might go for $15k — it’s a great mic — but that doesn’t mean it will sound great on every voice. It will simply be too dark and wooly for some, even if it is a coveted high-end piece of gear. Some voices are going to be better suited to other mics, even substantially less expensive, less “nice” ones. The mark of a good recording isn’t the value of the gear you used, it’s the sound coming out of the speakers.

It Pays To Experiment … But Don’t Ignore Fundamentals

Wild, previously unthinkable stylistic fusions and flavor pairings have become something of a standard in cuisine in recent years. Some of those unlikely combinations may seem to come totally out of the blue, but the ones that really work often follow tried-and-true formulas, even if they are executed in an unconventional way. Pay attention to the root flavors — or sonic elements — being combined, and you can see how fundamental principles are being observed.

Free your mind and the rest will follow

LA’s Kogi Korean BBQ offers a great example of this idea in action. On the surface, the fusion of culinary styles from different ends of the globe (Korean BBQ and tacos) may seem kind of wild, but consider the fundamental flavors at work.

Tacos: marinated meat, often fire-grilled, served with salsas that add a mixture of sweetness, acidity, and spice.

Korean BBQ: marinated meat, fire-grilled, served with kimchi and sauces that add a mixture of sweetness, acidity, and spice.

The specific ingredients and nuances are different, for sure, but the root flavors at work share important similarities.

From the Kitchen to the Studio:

Every piece of music succeeds or fails on the terms of the genre or tradition it belongs to. If you’re pulling together ideas from opposite ends of the record store, consider what sonic qualities you like most in those influences, and which ones might work together well.

Are you bringing together sounds from one genre that is driving and loud with another that is subtle and dynamic? Or one that is abrasive and noisy with another that is catchy and danceable? Combinations like the ones I just described have surely been done millions of times. The thing the good ones will have in common is a clear sense of what will be rewarding to the intended listener.

Over the course of this article, I’ve mentioned a handful of times that great chefs and producers alike rely on their judgment daily to make decisions that will get the best result out of the ingredients in front of them. Though talent and good taste are certain factors that influence someone’s ability to work at a high level, none of the greats started great on day one.

The ability to know when something is working and when it isn’t, and then to know what to do to fix it, is something that can really only be honed over time, after repeated failures and successes. Even someone else’s proven recipe will have serious limitations in the hands of a chef who isn’t prepared to make those sorts of calls.

The takeaway from this is that real practice in the studio, and finishing projects, are extremely important for any producer or engineer looking to sharpen their skills. There’s no way to tell if your recipe worked if you don’t take a bite (or listen) when it’s done … and you can’t take that bite if you don’t get to “done” in the first place.

Danny Echevarria is a producer and audio engineer born, raised, and based in Los Angeles. When he isn't tightening his mixes or sawing a fiddle on the honky tonk stages of the greater LA area, he can be found chasing ever-elusive fresh mountain air. Get in touch at dandestiny.com.

[styleemag]

1000 years by your art

Viola aka @pitypagn aka @faheej is a 16 year old SHINee lover, currently living and studying in Budapest. Being a prolific and extremely talented young artist, she has something  yet to draw and say about her ultimate K-pop favourite - 5HINee.

Tell us, please, about SHINee Fanzine project. How did the idea emerge? Who are the participants? How is the process organized? ^▽^

The fanzine started with a tweet by my friend Gib (Twitter @cat__boy ). He wanted to participate in a SHINee themed zine but there wasn’t any around, so he thought of creating one. (By the way, it would be really nice if more zines and artist collabs were organised in the fandom! We haven’t seen many collaboration zines, mostly individual artists’ artbook and older theme collabs by korean shawols that hasnt happened in a while.) I messaged Gib that i would support the idea and so did his friend Flo (Twitter @omjkt_), and we became an admin team of three. For our theme, we went with something I had in my mind since April; a project that celebrates SHINee’s 10th anniversary by making a collection of fanarts themed around their songs. The name ‘10 years by your side’ is also referring to their song '1000年、ずっとそばにいて・・・’ (1000 Years Always By Your Side). 

Gib and Flo organised the technical aspects like choosing a printing shop, looking up printing requirements, shipping options, setting up a Tumblr page with all the necessary information, asking a friend to translate to korean and making the actual application form. It’s a big work and involves a lot of discussion, so I’m glad we could work it out; three is a good number for organising a zine, especially for first-timers like us as we can discuss and ask each other things effectively, split up work, point out things that the others forgot and such.

About the participants; we decided to invite some artists and open applications as well. We came up with a list of about 20 people — mostly SHINee fanartists known in the fandom — who we would like to work with and simply invited them through Twitter. It was a really rewarding part of the organisation process as it got me to talk to some of my mutuals i really look up to but we haven’t talked because of language barriers; someone whose art I really adore actually told me I made their day with the invitation and I found out we’re birthday twins with another artist! Also, good language exercise, hehe. While inviting artists, we also promoted our application page, where we received over 120 replies (which is incredible) and ended up choosing 15 artists from them, making our number 36 with admins.

To distribute the songs, we made a document of the list of songs we wanted to include in the zine (so they make a coherent timeline of SHINee’s music and visual concepts through the years) and sent it to artists so they can sign up to the song(s) they would like to draw, or add others that they had in mind. Currently, everyone is working on their pieces and us admins are in the making of the design of the printed zine. We also have a chat with all artists to get to know each other and share work in progress pictures.

For what’s still to be done; after all the designs and artworks are edited into one, we will start printing and selling towards the end of the year. Until then, we will update our social media (@shineefanzine on Twitter and Tumblr) on how things are going and possibly previews of the artworks!

It seems like you are doodling all the time, cause you often publish works done in notebooks, on working sheets of paper. It creates a unique atmosphere of understatement, so what does it say about you, in your opinion? 6v6

Haha that’s actually not correct! It’s true though that my sketchbook is a checked spiral notebook (that’s probably 10+ years old), so I understand why it seems so! I kind of wish I could draw more in school but it’s simply not the best place for me as I’m occupied with other things, and I like to make more focused drawings lately. Which is also why I haven’t really used that sketchbook (and updated my Instagram where I put traditional sketches) in the latest months. I might get back to it again, as I need to make some studies and I can’t continue my summer break drawing work ethic with finished digital pieces almost every day.

Understatement is a really nice way to put it though, I’m glad it seems so! There are multiple reasons for my sketchbook, one is that I feel too pressured having to draw something nice if it’s on some expensive special paper. Also, it’s easier for me to sense depth, proportions and sizes (aka how close i am to the paper) if it has patterns on it, although when the print ink is too strong, it’s not very good for drawing. The notebook I have has a good paper and lightly printed so it’s nice to draw on. This is the technical part, and what I think this says about me…simplicity? Since I started doing digital, traditional art became secondary for me and that’s great in the quality that it provides me more freedom in it, in some way. That it doesn’t matter if I draw something badly in traditional as it’s not as important to me. This is more of an image I would like if people saw when they looked at my Instagram, that it’s carefree, not looking for perfectionism but has its own beauty in sketchiness and stationary tools. Also that the first and most important thing you need for art is, well, doing art, not professional art supplies.

Be it a pencil sketch, or a digital masterpiece, your artworks are professionally done. Do you have plans to follow an artist’s career?  ㅍ_ㅍ

Thank you so much!! I do! Since a little less than a year ago, I decided I don’t want to study anything I’m being taught (mistake of going to a school known for its math) and it would be much nicer to occupy and surround myself with art and artsy people. I am planning to start taking art courses later this year or next year, learn to make a portfolio and look up some art colleges. At this point, I would be the happiest to be an illustrator but animating sounds good too, I will have to see yet where I will go!

What role does fashion play in your life? Do you use it as a tool, an artist’s medium? `ㅂ´

I’m probably not fashionable enough to say that, haha. Or rather I’m not satisfied with my own fashion because I don’t have the wardrobe I would like to have, my own personal issues getting in my way. It interests me though, and I do have the nagging feeling to do better, the room to improve, the inspiration. I like simplicity, gray and dull colors, oversized clothes, simple and clean designs that are great in their quietness. I would like to be like that.

Fashion in my drawings is a bit of a different topic I know, but I would like to mention since even though I’m usually preoccupied with people in my drawings, it can be really meditative and nice sometimes to sit down and compose an outfit and fiddle with details. Also high fashion, it can be quite an inspiration for me.

What thing, or maybe person, impressed you most of all recently? ㅎㅅㅎ

Eastern Europe. It has an exciting aesthetic that isn’t celebrated enough, at least from what I could see. I really love the folk wear, and it feels like home. I would like to make illustrations based around it as well as my own country’s historical fashion, it’s beautiful. The other side is the ~dark~ post socialist aesthetic, big blocks of panel houses made of concrete that don’t age well. It has a grim and heavy feeling but it’s also something uniquely here. I don’t know, maybe only the grim feeling might appear in my art style, maybe I will abandon it for lighter aesthetics but it’s interesting nevertheless.

We are thankful to Viola ( @faheej​ ) for her fabulous creations and the talk. Design by Anna Maria ( @sh5untik​ ).

[a-merman-not-a-guppy]

BDRPWRIMO: Your character’s closet. Give 15 pieces of clothing with a little description of the “history” of the apparel.

I could not resist doing Finn’s closet, because he’s an artist, and he cares more about how he dresses than most of my guys, and honestly more than some of my ladies too. So I thought it’d be fun to get a glimpse into his closet, as he views himself as a canvas of its own. Especially since he’s not allowed to do the art elective this year.

Glasses: These are the first really notable thing that Finn wears. They don’t have lenses, because Finn actually has perfectly good vision, but they’re a form of safety blanket for him. He puts them on and he feels a little less afraid or vulnerable than he might have before. He started putting on glasses just to see what it looked like about a year ago, and now feels comforted by them. He has a good dozen pairs of similar looking glasses. The larger frames of course, and then the smaller ones that you see with the beret.

Berets: that goes right into the fact that Finn has a ton of berets. He has them of all different colors too: black, white, yellow, brown, red, whatever suits his vision of the day. He fell in love with them when his aunt had come to visit him one time after she had been in France. She had worn one and it absolutely captivated him. Finn begged his parents to get him some berets of his own. And honestly, now he feels like he looks pretty good with them on though he’d never admit to that out loud. It feels nice.

Patterned shirts: The ongoing theme here really is the idea that he can use himself as his art project. He likes the long sleeve button ups the best as they look nicer than regular shirts, but they also are another sort of protective layer. He doesn’t really feel the need to have his lanky limbs be judged. And these patterned button ups help with comfort and with his aesthetic vision.

Striped shirts: These are also largely long sleeved, and while the premise is simpler and less artsy than the patterned ones, Finn has an appreciation for stripes. He’s not sure when he started liking them, but they work well with his berets, and he likes wearing things that really work together.

Red sweater: Finn’s mom gave it to him for christmas last year, and he finds it so warm and soothing. It’s a simpler look, just read with no pattern or anything more elaborate, but he loves it for the fact that his mom gave it to him. He’ll put it on when he needs a bit more encouragement to face something that day.

Checkered pattern and suspenders: It should really just be said that every look is an artistic choice. But the suspenders he was kind of inspired by Matt Smith in his Doctor who days. Finn feels that it should be a little more noticeable than a simple button up with them, so he mixes the suspenders with a flannel. It’s his only real celebrity inspired look, but it’s one he really likes.

the 80s outfit: People have often misunderstood Finn’s intentions when he’s put on this outfit. He wears the bright orange under the button up and the belt because he thinks it’s fun. Finn chooses to wear this outfit when he’s his most cheerful and content to play around. People often think he’s trying to do some sort of costume contest or something, but it really is just a look that makes him happy and more bubbly and even if it confuses people Finn feels less of a weight to care about it because it just...gives him confidence.

jeans jacket with matching jeans: the concept sounds simpler than it is. Finn sees a lot of potential with jeans, because it’s easy material to add patterns and other decorations to them. This particular set was his first real experiment with it, and he drew all over both the jacket and the pants. It dismayed his parents at first to see, because they were nice and new clothes, but Finn liked it that much better with the lines and the little bit of uniqueness to them. 

butterfly jeans: He has more than just one pair of pants like this, but the butterfly jeans are the first example of Finn really sewing something onto a pair of pants in order to suit his artistic vision. He created these only a few months ago so he’s very careful with them, but he likes that he knows how to add shapes and other things to his pants besides simply drawing on them. 

Cardigan: Finn really likes how soft and comfortable cardigans are. He likes uniquely patterned ones, especially the one you can see in the picture. His aunt picked it out for him during her travels, as she knew he liked unique looking things. This, like the beret, he really really loves to wear, though he takes a lot of special care with the cardigan, and only wears it every so often so he can keep it nice.

Floral shirt: It’s another type of pattern, and Finn likes the softness of flowers. He likes to mismash this with other things, but he likes how cute it can be. These along with the patterned shirts tend to be what he wears most often. He likes cute things, and he likes feeling a little cuter when he goes to school or goes out to some place. 

necktie: Finn has a couple of neckties that are much more simple than most of his clothes, but he likes to put them with the louder looking things like his pants or the floral shirts to make it work. He first got into the idea of trying neckties with his look when he had to go to an important event for his dad and he had to learn how to tie one of them on. Though he wasn’t that into it with a neater looking suit, it gave him ideas to test the necktie out with other things. And when he did that...he was absolutely delighted by the results. Now he owns a good number of neckties so he can mix and mash as he pleases.

patterned pants: While Finn has a tendency to go for jeans and make them his own, he does have a few patterned pants just to switch things up a bit. They make him feel less at ease than the jeans or simple black pants might, but he does wear them on days he’s feeling a little bolder and he wants to try something really interesting. 

self-designed t-shirt: This is something he’s only recently started trying to do, and he’s still very nervous about it. But his discontent with not being able to do art this year has made him eager to find a way to channel his energy. So he’s made just a small number of doodles and put them on t-shirts. He’s very nervous about wearing them and only wears them very very rarely, but it does make him feel good to have them in his closet.

cat sweater: It was surprisingly a gift from his dad, and even though the cat is making a sort of scary face, Finn really really loves it. Because his dad clearly thought about the types of things he would like and made that purchase. It makes Finn smile every time he sees it, and he wears it on both really tough days and really good days cause it just warms his heart.

ripped jeans: Just continuing with his trend to mess with jeans. He can’t just wear a jean regularly, it has to have rips or cool decorations, or sometimes even both. He’s purposely cut holes in his jeans so it can look cooler, and then he saves some of the cut outs so he can decorate other jeans with interesting designs later.

[stripdownforamoment]

WEEK 19_ SKIN

London, 5 March 2019

This week there were some complications with the model's schedules and the photoshoots. Therefore, I have to rearrange my last shoot for next week and completely change the model. It was supposed to be a dance student from MDX and I now managed to work out a replacement with Wilson from our course- Illustration. Also, I just had to cut off some people completely from my cast because they could not do it this or next week and it the process was just extending itself too much. My focus now is to just finish this final shoot with Wilson to then finalize all my post. Review them and transcribe all the interviews, so then I can, at last, work on the photo and video editing and get to print and layout all my work.

This weeks theme -SKIN- ties up with both the model interview and with the artist interview. Ella talks about skin care as a beauty ideal in Asian culture and Sophie is a tattoo artist her self, as well as designing my first ever tattoo.  We will also get some insight into that project and learn a bit about her ideas on the topic of body image.

I would like to mention as well something related to my prosses with the reading analyses. In the past couple of week, it became apparent to me that I would need to put less time and detail into my analyses. I don't mean in any way to say that this part of my research is less important. However, I came to the realisation that in order for me to end all my post in time and have enough time to work on the practical side of the project, I would have to prioritise the interviews I am producing and the photoshoots. I will still write about the reading, to the best of my abilities, but expect less detailed analyses of the text itself. I will be commenting on the present themes in the context of my project.

            STRIP DOWN FOR A MOMENT with Ella Liu

As always I ask what is the models favourite body part, as she replied with " I don't know, I do like my air and my belly button".

*Image had to be removed*

"I would probably say my butt is the part of my body I struggle the most with. Because I don’t have a one." laughs.

" and I have stretch marks in my butt as well. I don’t mind showing it in this shoot because I know it’s the main goal of the project. But yeah, that would be the body part I am the lest confident with".

I agreed with Ella. It is very much the goal of the project to show or "flaws" things we are not comfortable with and allowing this yourself to stip down and open up. She goes on to say:

"When I was little, and till today, I was just a very small and skinny person. When you are a child you don’t care about stretch marks or not having a but. As you grow up you get aware of that. Media - or social media- and even the people in your life both forces responsible for shaping the way you think. They tell you what is perfect and what you should look like".

Ella explains, “ I would like to have a bigger bum, I think it would make the clothes look nicer. But also, it's considered attractive". She does express that in her opinion,  comments from people on her appearance are not necessarily a bad thing. “I don’t get offended because it shows a sign of love. Shows that people care about my health and well being. It shows that they have noticed a change in me. I know people get offended by comments about weight or appearance but I appreciate it“. “I think I look like a stickman  I have always been told that I am SKINNY and need to gain weight. But is not very a concern anymore, I think I am slightly chubby now".

Ella then explained that different regions from Asia have different beauty standards. But in China's “mainland”, specifically where she is from, -Benjamin- people don’t like "skinny skinny". "Is more about the shape". "They don’t mind your size specifically, but there are a lot of body trends".

She then tells me about this “leg trend” where you want to have straight smooth and long legs. She talks about the "thigh gap trend". The ideals of how a woman should look. She explains how it is truly desirable to obtain these trades. But Ella explains also, that "they don’t focus on butts or boobs as Western culture does. It not a very common trade anyways with Asian genetics". So people focus on other things like "the shape of your jawline, or collarbone, your hands…” "People focus on the tiniest thing!”

*Image had to be removed*

We then talked a bit about different beauty standards around the world. I shared that in Portugal makeup was not "a big thing" in the same way it is here in the UK or the US. It is becoming more popular now with all the Western trends from social media and Youtube. But, I recall many times back home,  people commenting on me wearing “too much makeup”. I think in Portugal it comes perhaps from a conservative religious mindset. There is this idea that wearing vibrant makeup is provocative and sexy. And Ella tells me she thinks in China is related to this idea of natural beauty. Skincare is very appreciated and the goal is to look fresh and youthful.

So, in contrast, I would say that in Portugal it is completely acceptable to wear foundation and things that are not very colourfull- like red lips and bold colours. As in China, the idea of covering your natural skin is what is less appreciated.

We talk about an instant when I was modelling for her. Ella is a photography student that I have collaborated with before. One day I had very bad skin for a photo shoot. That day we talked a bit about and how people, in general, should stop being so concerned if it's such a normal and natural thing to happen. I asked "Why do people still covering or editing this banish so much? If we know it's not the truth to be always perfect". Something that stuck in my head was how Ella explained to me that that’s just natural in humans because smoother skins usually mean a healthy body. She didn’t mean it in a negative way. Although there are some exceptions from people that are pron acne, it is true that stress and unhealthy eating habits contribute to pimples and less good skin.

That day "You said people should accept the way they are. And I say it's understandable for people to wear makeup and edit themselves or do plastic surgery because they want the best. I see where they are coming from" Ella recalls.

"Also, a lot of the times people get criticised by society by the way they look. But is good to learn how to live with what you have".

"In my culture, I feel like looks aren’t much of a thing, but then if you have a spot or a pimple or any like an allergic reaction in your face people really notice it. They will point it at you, ask if you are ok, like its some kinda disease or problem."

She tells me about her acne and how it is uncommon in her family to have “bad skin”. She grew up here in the UK and "it is not a big deal ". People have a better understanding and don’t comment a lot. But whenever she goes back to China to see her family "is a big thing and they really notice it a lot". But again she things it can be positive because it shows care and although people approach it to fix the problem the results are ultimately good. Back in England, she does that same with her friends and they help each other with skins tips and experience. “Sharing is Caring”.

* Image had to be removed*

Then she adds on to talk about the topic of skin, specifically SKIN COLOUR. In Asian culture, lighter skin is highly appreciated and wanted. “Pale smooth skin complements dark shiny hair”. Tanned yellow skin “ I think is a beautiful colour”. She does not understand this concept that lighter skin means CLEANER SKIN, something that is thought to be true in Asian culture. "Dark skin and tan skin is beautiful. The tan trend is getting to Asian counties finally".

Ella then goes on to tell us that “This is one topic I really hate. Because you like specific skin colour, it doesn’t mean you are westernising yourself! It´s true that in China girls try to be as pale as possible with skin protection or even wearing lighter foundation ar times".

"Here in England, I had this conversation with teachers and peers. They think girls are trying to look white, like western white, because of the modifications they do to herself.  People believe that Asians are trying to somehow transform into white people". "This is the thing I get really offended about. If you get a tan you are not trying to be black. But then people think Asians have a western beauty standard. I think is crazy and smallminded to think this way.”

“ I wish Chinese people could love their natural skin colour I think or yellowish skin is beautiful and it looks healthy. People just don’t see that and it's sad”.

Ella, although expressing some insecurities, had a positive attitude throughout the conversation. To conclude I wanted to understand where her insecurities come from.  She explains it comes mainly from her self and then she tells me how as a photography student it common practice to model to one another and is in those pictures that she notices some of her insecurities.

“In this high-resolution cameras, you can zoom in and see how your face looked like. Every detail. My pores are big, my eyebrows are so bad, split end in my hair. I look flat, I have no butt I have no boobs and my skin is dry. It's just all sorts of concerns”.  

She explains, when we look in the mirror we seem to always look better than in photos because “when we look in the mirror we are not actually seeing our selfs” you just see this one perspective of yourself. Depending on how you shoot your self and the lighting you can really make it look different- manipulation of appearance.

“ I would never trust pictures completely. Photography is always affected by all sorts of things”

            ARTIST INTERVIEW striping Sophie McPike work

Sophie McPike is an Australian artist an illustrator. I came across her art many years ago on Instagram. I am truly inspired by her work and style. A couple of years ago I decided to contact her to create a design for my first tattoo. In her work, we see a lot of beautiful curvy female figures and I thought this was perfect for my concept.

In an early stage of the design development I sent her an email that reads: "The main point of the design would be to incorporate one of your character/girls design surrounded by the flower designs you so beautifully creat. I love them. I would also like to add to the design of a traditional Portuguese element called " Coração de Viana". It is a typical Portuguese symbol used in jewellery and adornment. It's a representation of a heart and, in this tattoo, I want it so symbolize self-love. Besides my preference for a black linework piece, the rest it's up to you. I trust you as an artist. I love how you create great shapes and compositions so what is one of the reasons why I would love you to design my first tattoo".

I can proudly say I have a marvellous piece or Sophie's work in my own body. We still kept some contact with which is a privilege to me as such a big admirer and fan of her work. And recently, I thought about contacting her for this project. I was planning to do this post about skin and talk about my tattoo. I think it's very appropriate to have a little interview with Sophie and let you guys know about her though on body image and how it related to her work.

"Being a woman, a curvy woman, I have had a lifetime of being told that my body isn't beautiful or desirable or enjoyable to look at by media and whatnot. Not to mention a deeply ingrained shame that has lasted generations.

For me, loving my body is a daily struggle. I needed to change my mind as soon as a thought pops into my head. A way I have discovered how to combat these thoughts is to just draw women who look more like me - and to draw them in a way that elicits a sense of joy rather than shame. I believe that representation is so important - seeing work that I feel represents me and makes me feel less alone is so important for my mind. And how wonderful those other women can look at my work and feel support, acceptance and self-love - that is just the most wonderful icing on the cake! What first started as a way for me to diarise and communicate my feelings has ended up instilling a feeling of self-love in women across the globe, just makes me so proud and happy" _Sophie McPike.

            READINGS

For this week´s post, I tried to tie in three different texts to the best of my ability.  Bellow, you can read a short analysis of each piece.

BODIES  by Susie Orbach

In this book, the author talks about how we are constantly bombarded with add, or emails, or other forms of media with the intent to make us want to change our bodies. To consume products that promise will make us better . Susie asks "but why is that ?".

She then says in little girls online games “ they are being primed to be teenagers who will dream of new thighs, noses or breasts as they pursue magazines which display page after page of a look that only ten years ago had the power to evoke horror". At the same time, this is the society that promotes obesity. To then convince you to get thin again “ your body is a canvas to be fixed". She explains that our  "consumerist government" lives from this insecurity and from the money spent in the industries.

The text addressed a lot of this insecurity in our appearance and relate it to body modification and consumerism.  Topics that affect people throughout their entire lives.

She then talks about how looking around different parts of the world and the many “bodily gestures and decorations” and how bodies have always been an expression of time geography religion and culture. People always wanted to change and improve themselves. Decorating faces, lengthening necks, tattooing, binding girls feet painting fingernails. It was always a human thing to change even before the media. Show superiority and that we are evolved. Before it might have shown devotion to a certain religion or culture or even status. But now is a way to create insecurity and cash out.

FAT IS A FEMINIST ISSUE by Susie Orbach

The self-entitled,  anti-diet guide to permanent weight loss, is a very extensive text about eating disorder- in its very core.

I found it very hard to engage and I didn´t like its style that much. Which, to be frank,  I found weird because I share similar ideas with the text. However, maybe it’s the way it's presented with such bold statements that made me a bit repulsive to the content.

"What is fat about for the compulsive eater?" Pages 36 to 103.  I didn´t read the full chapter but I gave it a thorough reading. Once again, maybe I was just overworking my self with so many reading but I found this text not that interesting. For example, I engaged better with Susie Orbach other book BODIES for some reason. I think the format was easier to consume in the other book and the topic overall interested me the most out of the three readings. The theme was also, not as directly related to my topic as it was in BODIES. This was mainly about eating disorders and mental health and at this point, my project took a turn into IDENTITY so this theme felt a bit out of my comfort zone.

UNBEARABLE WEIGHT by Susan Bordo

The book by Susan Bordo felt to me, once again, very extensive. especially in the Introduction which was the part, I focused more into. This time the language was very advanced and at times even poetic. With made some points harder to understand and I would have to re-read it over and over. The text felt not completely clear to me.

It focused mainly on the feminist ideals and interpretations of the western culture and the way the body is used and portraited.  It talks about the "cultural expression of mind-body dualism". We seen this topic in other readings and artists work.  One of my previous reading talked about the classical idea of identity and how it was more spiritual, as the modern identity seams to be more physical.

The author examines the poem "heavy bear" by Delmore Schwartz. It explains that "this piece captures the dualism that is characteristic of western philosophy and theology". The poetry analyses was a bit too hard to engage for me. I struggled with all these complex terms and language. Perhaps because English is not the first language the text felt maybe too advanced for me. Also, very it felt extensive what makes it even harder to understand because it's not straight to the point.

Then the book talks about beauty ideals and the way women's bodies are used in society as an object. Also, Susan writes about gender and gender roles and society. I stopped there. I tried to further read it but because at the language, it was very hard for me. I was challenging my self to pursue with this reading but ultimately I realised it was unrealistic for me to real such extensive and complex text.  We do have a deadline for this project and I needed to move on to other texts.

                                             REFERENCES

Bordo, S. and Heywood, L. (2009). Unbearable weight. Berkeley, Calif.: University California Press.

Orbach, S. (2013). Bodies. New York: Picador.

Orbach, S. (1984). Fat is a feminist issue. London: Arrow Books.

[instarlightss]

construction notes

(Preface: It’s so hard to get neutral, consistent lighting in my room with the soft pink walls. None of these photos were taken the same day, however. )

Jyn/ Cassian’s Rebel Jacket with “bloodlines” Jedha outwear ; optional for RL

Boy, I would give a lot of crazy things just to see what the back of this jacket looks like on Jyn’s jacket! Just as I would give the same to figure out whose coat this is. Is it a smaller one of Cassian’s that he had before he had the Captain rank and pip? (Please say yes).

                                               「☽ ♦ ☼ ♦ ☾ 」

pattern suggestion:    Burda Young  7018 ; variant B

      This seems to be the jacket pattern consensus among most of the Jyn’s I have talked to. I highly recommend it because there is very few major construction alterations that are needed.

Pattern modifications:  

Widen the cuffs on the jacket

sleeve insert to install the bloodlines

change collar to Mandarin style

one pocket for chest

decorative stitching on yoke

horizontal decorative piece

remove back yoke and lengthen back panels

adjust fit (potentially) under vest

                                                「☽ ♦ ☼ ♦ ☾ 」

I did not start my jacket construction until the Rogue One costumes showed up at FiDM’s costume showcase where I could get a better read and better pictures. Their gallery has white walls, which is the most neutral lighting that the costume has been in display at in the post production tour circuit. Disney also sent along mannequins for each costume that were sized to their respective actor, so the fit is as it was during filming. This was particularly helpful for me since I am the same size as Felicity in height, and fairly similar measurements all the way around. 

Color before tea bath and wash of khaki acrylic paint on bloodlines.

Following a tea bath, I weathered the jacket with higher grit sandpaper. I did this along places where it might occur in wear. I.E. the cuffs, the pockets, along the back and waistband. Since the first row of photos were taken, I’ve since weathered the jacket more with paint washes in Sepia and splattered it on as well, for even more grunge. You can’t be dirty enough with Jyn Erso. Make sure to heat set when your paint has dried with an iron on low.

                                                 「☽ ♦ ☼ ♦ ☾ 」

Now there are three color options listed on the RL standards:

Dull sage green

blue-green

teal-gray heavy cotton jacket.

The debate on what a true color is for this is varying from one person to another. It’s hard to see an isolated kind of color and post production coloring makes it look different from one scene to another.

I rather like this red cast green, a dull sage green, because it is more reminiscent of WWII military wear, which is the overall inspiration theme costuming wise. With the color and in this shade it is perfectly complimentary in color to Cassain’s jacket. Shipping. I, personally, think that the most neutral kind of lighting is Yavin IV, outside of the control room,  which makes the color more accurate to the color of the costume at FiDM. 

                                               「☽ ♦ ☼ ♦ ☾ 」

Fabric:  I used Kauffman Monk Twill Pond from Fabric.com.

The Monk Twill has a very nice weight to it and the color “Pond” is very nice as a base color. To achieve the red cast to it, I put the entire coat into a tea bath using Irish Black Tea and something around 20 or so tea bags for four hours. Any kind of black tea will do the same, I just happened to have a lot of the Irish tea and I wanted to clear my tea stash. I then set the color with a vinegar bath. The overall effect came out really nice, dying the jacket and bloodlines.  Perfect for that army jacket vibes and coloring. 

Ideally, one could use cotton drill as it is the fabric most used in military wear but is only manufactured in white. During this point during my build I was not comfortable dying fabric or making any kind of mix to try to get a very accurate color. Since then, I think I’m a bit more familiar with it but I’m still not sure if I’d want to dye the color.

                                              「☽ ♦ ☼ ♦ ☾ 」

Bloodlines: I used a puffy paint base then hand embroidered  the bloodlines on them. This has been suggested online to cheat a Victorian Embroidery.

I believe the color was a subtle ivory, maybe 712. I did not split the threads, I used all six to get the full, puffy raised look. Afterwards, I put a ivory acrylic paint wash to darken and give the impression of dirt. The tea bath heightened the overall effect, it’s even patchy in some areas for extra grime. 

Sleeves: My bloodlines were made on an extra strip that I subtracted out from the original sleeve pattern. It has a finished width of 1 1/2 inches.There is a flat felled seam on the outside of the insert, and a decorative one on the inside butted up against the bloodlines. Make sure it’s centered to the sleeve. I added pleats to both sides of the insert because it looked like Cassian’s had some. 

The sleeves are not sewn all the way down there is about an inch or so left open for the cuffs, the way it is done on button down shirts. Make sure to pivot and backstitch at the top to sew it into place. The jacket is lined, but I opted out as this costume is already warm enough.

It might be helpful to line the cuffs but I didn’t do this either, I have a vintage Singer Ultralock so I was set.

Cuffs:  Keep in mind that I sized everything for my own measurements and you will need to adjust slightly to suit your own.

The cuffs on this costume top off the whole Rogue One extra-ness with it’s decorative stitches and felled seams. Seeing them in person was really helpful to get them as accurate as possible.

The finished height of my cuffs are 4 1/2 inches.  When making them I left enough room to fold down and make the extra decorative top seam and then top stitched it. At the bottom there is an insert with three decorative rows that measured at 1/2 inch. The height of the overall cuff should hit your gloves, not cover them. I closed them with large snaps. Just extend the length of the cuff from the pattern, I think I doubled it and added 5/8ths.

front details

decorative vertical elements: on both sides of the coat, I have no real idea what they are supposed to be besides another decorative element. Left side has zipper tucked under it. There are no seams showing on the pieces themselves, hide them on the back so that it will run down the middle. Finished length of mine are 12 inches. The piece is divided into three and has a decorative seam that marks each section, you should have two of them. Determine your width and make sure to jot it down for later.

These pieces are installed under the yoke and the waistband on both sides, the decorative stitching keeps it down in the middle section. Backtrack a few times on the stitching to make sure it’s locked in there.

Yoke: For the most part, follow the pattern for the yoke. You’ll need to add decorative vertical stitches, I found that it s best to base the width of each piece on the finished width of the aforementioned vertical element. The number will vary based on your measurement here. The yoke does something odd where it extends past the collar to look like a tab. I think the pattern might suggest interfacing the yoke but I did not do this.

Pockets: Use the flap from the pattern, widen it a little. You’ll need to draft two large pockets for both pockets, their corners should have sharp angles to them. They will rest on the chest area, their sides will butt up against the decorative horizontal piece.

The pocket will have decorative stitching. 

Closures:

One skirt tab for the bottom, the flat band is on the outer right end of the waistband, the tab itself is hidden in the inner. 

Detachable sports zipper with the zipper upside down in the inside of the coat.

Greeblies: The running assumption is that Jyn’s jacket has the same kind of greeblie as Cassian’s jacket above the right breast and pocket. I believe it is listed as an I.D.? Concept art of Jyn by Gyln Dillon shows her in the coat and it does have one, although there is no scenes in the movie that verify this.

I ordered one after I well after finished my jacket from Etsy, no one had reproduced them at the time, and it ended up being too big for the space I left open for it. I would recommend installing the pockets after having acquired made the case for the greeblie, should you choose to make it. I can’t imagine anyone dinging you for not having.

Back:

When I finished the coat on the first time around, I had not been able to figure out how to mimic the back pattern on Cassian’s. The  one distinctly noticeable difference, in the photos we have seen, is that Cassian’s waistband has tabs and an adjustable belt, I imagine this helped in fit as this is the coat that other Rebel troopers are wearing. Jyn’s does not have this. The other main design aspect to the back of Cassian’s coat are the shoulder gussets. I’ve never done them before and had zero ideas how to make them, nor any real say if they are on her coat variant.

That being said, the first fit without the gussets and simply following the pattern for the base construction ended up looking bulk and rather ugly under the vest. I was gutted, and rather pissed to be honest. It really needed some kind of cinching.

After taking a break from it for a few days, I hung it up on my mannequin to work on and had a happy little accident with draping. It created a dart that I tweaked slightly to have it curve at the top to mimics the cut and shape that Cassian’s has then eased it in to line up with the back panels of the coat. I sewed it down, replicated on the other side, then added extra top stitching. I’m really happy how it came out and it made the overall fit look so much nicer. Both with the vest on and with the vest off. Admittedly, I’ve worn it a few times out as a jacket.

misc. notes

Your going to want to put flat felled seams on every seam of this coat.