#just being an artist myself i have a little fixation on properly crediting people

[finchie-finch]

Heyo!!! X3

I suppose you could call this my personal blog, so salutations are in order!

You can call me Finch, but I also go by Ollie!! I'm a self-taught artist with no set style, I just like creating art for the joy n whimsy of it :3

Incase you're wondering about specifics; I'm a 13 year old FTM enby, living on Earth, using she/he/they pronouns ((mainly they/them))

Possible questions y'all may have::

Why did you make this account ?

For a long time I've felt that images can express my emotions and passions more than words, especially since I've been mentally disabled my entire life and have never been the best at regulating my emotions physically or verbally, that only a piece of artwork that I've poured hours into will even begin to scratch the surface of the depth of my likes and dislikes and most importantly feelings.

What are you planning on posting on this account ?

Obviously my art first and foremost ((all of which I can guarantee is all by me, including my profile picture! There will be little to no reposts on this blog, an if there is any they'll properly credited art sources such as AI disturbance filters and programs)) but also I want this to be my drawing archive; there's few feelings worse than losing my OGs to time imo ":3

+ a note to people who use human made art to input to an AI to make new art::

I use an AI disturbance filter on all my published art, don't even fuckin' think about it or else I'll bite your goddamn face off

Cats, not much to it, I've just always loved animals but especially cats! I currently have two rescue cats, both male, their names unironically Mario and Luigi >:3

Videogames are another one of my passions, more like a favorite pass time though; it's been my hyper fixation for years, about a decade probably

I like plushies n soft warm blankets fresh from the dryer because that's how I build my forts (I like to refer to myself as having a packrat mindset)

Ever since I was a lil kiddo I've had a passion for LPS, I remember as a child wanting to be one of the many LPS-Tubers and spending my free time writing scripts for my videos (which were never published publicly, only shared with close family, and the little that remain are archived)

I luv soft colors, as they don't tend to strain my eyes as much as bright colors do ((tho I also like bright colors, just in moderation))

Uneven things ((mostly items/furniture)), one abbreviation: OCD

Cliffhangers, I need closure!!

Being noticed in public— zoinks, not my thing lol. I have horrible social anxiety, always have, nothing new ^^"

Last but definitely not least, a list of ppl in need (I myself can't donate but I hope some caring adults may find my account and be able to help in some way, no pressure though it's your money so it's your choice what you do with it), this list is only a very small fraction though; please tell me of more ppl to add:

★ https://www.tumblr.com/m430235341

[eksperimentgaj]

Tagged by @lewanarta​ @maciek5ot​ and @fht-drawings​ Thanks ❤️

I’ve created... something. Turns out finding orange stuff is harder than it seems 🙃 It’s such a bad mood-board lol

Create your own mood-board. Go to Pinterest and search:

- favorite color + aesthetic

- favorite color + outfit + aesthetic

- favorite color + shoes and choose one that goes with your style

- favorite color + an accessory you like

- type a word that identifies you + “quote” and choose one that goes with you  (what am i???)

- favorite celebrity + favorite color (if you don’t find search favorite cartoon)  (can’t think of any, have a cat)

- type your favorite hobby (it would be easier if i just did damn photo myself) 

- favorite color + aesthetic again

- favorite color + favorite word + aesthetic (suddenly i forgot all the words)

Tagging @marsilainen Whoever else would like to, can feel tagged as well

[defdaily]

[TRANSLATION] Bling Magazine March 2017 issue x GOT7 JB

-all translation credit goes to ahgawings-

Q.You’re gracing the March issue of [Bling], how does it feel?

Firstly, I’m truly happy.  [Bling] is a magazine I’ve known of since a long time ago. I picked up knowledge of fashion and music from here and I’m able to see how people from various cultures live. On the other hand, I’m being careful too. I should have done better. Did I come out well?

Of course. You did really well.

(laughs) That’s great.

Q.I’m curious as to what type of music gets most of your attention usually.

Because I’m an idol who does K-POP, I don’t have prejudice. I don’t pick out genres but I think my interest is in hip-hop and R&B. I’m also interested in the Future genre.

Q.When did you start making music?

When I b-boyed, I learnt of the hip-hop culture, and that’s when I started thinking that about doing the music aspect too. Even if I wasn’t in an idol group, I think naturally I would have involved myself (in music). I entered JYP officially and started singing practices and after learning of music properly, I think that’s when I started making music. About 5-6 years ago.

Q.What’s the meaning of your other name, ‘DEF SOUL’?

I’m a huge fan of ‘Musiq Soulchild’. I was watching the music video for ‘Just Friends’ and in the last scene, the word ‘Def Jam’ appeared; it is also the name of a famous hip-hop label. I was curious about what it meant so I looked it up and it meant ‘cool music’. In slang, ‘DEF’ means ‘amazing’. (laughs) I was also wondering what name to use for b-boying so I used ‘DEF SOUL’.  It’s also the name I used in music distribution, but lately I’ve shortened it to ‘DEF’. Please remember it!

If you encountered ‘DEF.’s’ Soundcloud without any prior information, you could be mistaken into thinking that it’s music by an overseas artist; that’s how refined the songs are. There’s also a sexy feel to it.

There are many people who mistakenly thought that these are songs that did not make the cut as GOT7 songs. About the sexy feel, that’s probably due to the content of the lyrics? Usually for full albums, the content of the songs are connected following the flow of the songs. I wrote the lyrics thinking of it as one official album. There is a narrative arc. The door opens and you enter the room, things happen, you leave the room and walk out – I wrote it all as a love story. The lyrics for the second song especially, is a little sexy (laughs).

You’re receiving unexpectedly good responses.

That’s right. Honestly, I didn’t expect this much. I needed a channel to release the songs I made. Shall I say it’s a method of release?  I just wanted to make songs of a style I like and let whoever listen to it.

Seems like it is a different feeling from when GOT7 records good results.

Rather than joy or a sense of accomplishment, I was just happy. This is the start and I didn’t think it’s something amazing but in getting good response to the things I’ve made, it made me feel great to the point that I kept laughing (smiling) about it.

You would be really busy, are you usally the diligent (early-riser/hard-working) type?

When the time for me to be like that calls for it, then I am. But when it’s time for me to relax, I really relax. I can sleep up to 20 hours in a day (laughs). In matching to (our) schedules, I move about feeling tensed so I think when it’s time to rest, I really release it all.

Would we be able to see a ‘DEF. stage?

It would be great if there was an opportunity for it. When it comes to starting something new, I’m not afraid. I’m of a mindset that I should try something even if I were to fail.

Is there any artist in which you’re influenced musically?

Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Bryson Tiller and DVSN and I hope to be influenced. I’ve also thought of collaborating with them. I really like D’Angelo but I think I’m still lacking in far too much to be able to work on something with him. Feels like a wall I can’t overcome.

Is there any artist that you think is suave/cool visually?

I don’t really know but from the looks of it, I think ‘Beezino’ is really cool. Just that person. His music is great too.

You’re overflowing with talent. I think you’d do really well as a model too.

I really like having good opportunities in doing photoshoot. It’s fun. However, for models, it’s about height so I don’t think I can make it (laughs). I did acting at the start too but later on, if there’s an opportunity, I’d like to try it. I also like taking photos. Not taking photos of people but I think there’s a charm in taking photos of things that comes into my sight when I’m walking around.

You’ve achieved the cool dream of exceeding as an idol and becoming an artist (singer-songwriter). Is there a dream you’d definitely want to achieve for yourself as ‘you only live once’?

Firstly, it would be to keep doing music with the people I’m doing it with now. And as the words itself, to live life with fun. To live life without any discomfort or worries in my heart is my dream. Even if it seems really simple, I think it’s hard.

Is it not your dream to meet D’Angelo?

I think just meeting him would be an honor itself. When I first joined JYP, I barely sang. Should I say it was a fixation on b-boying? The trigger that made me think I must do music is his music. ‘The reason I started music is you,” I want to tell him that.

Lastly, some words.

I don’t know if I did well today. Firstly, the fans would have already known about this but to the people who don’t, I wanted them to learn of ‘DEF.’’s music. I am confident in saying it myself that it is good music. I hope you give it a shot. I’m really happy that I’m able to be on a cover of the magazine that I’ve seen often since I was a high school student. As GOT7’s leader, and through ‘DEF’’s music, I will show you various sides of myself step by step, so please anticipate it! I love [BLING]!

-all translation credit goes to ahgawings-

[zalacozasseveralrealms]

The Ring

The Ring

Some of you may have noticed the small silver ring I wear on my right hand. If you have seen it, you may also be aware that the ring is uneven in places, varies in thickness and width, and bears a faded etching of the simple Roman numerals XXI. The ring does not easily tarnish, which likely gives up the game already—the material is not pure silver but rather an alloy of silver and copper called shibuichi (Japanese for one-fourth). I do not remember the exact ratio of silver to copper in this particular trinket, but I am inclined to think it closer to 60 Ag: 40 Cu based on its luster, tarnish, and malleability. If I haven’t given myself up again, my chest does swell with some pride in the fact that I can say I know these things about this ring because I created it myself. My silver ring is my first successful metal cast and, in my own calm, objective opinion, the finest piece of jewelry I have had the pleasure of making. [Someday, I’ll tell you all about the event that was the bronze gummy bears.]

In my mind, I am not very good at meeting new people and making friends. I also am fully aware this is not true (more on mental illness and cognitive dissonance at five). So when my close friends Denise and Andrea encouraged me to take an art class at Mat-Su College to fill up some elective credits and meet interesting new people, I jumped at the opportunity. Little did I know that I was being led to a place I would never leave.

For background, Denise and Andrea are both amazing people and artists. I have learned more about life and art from them than I have pages to write on. Both are friends with and students of Casey, who at the time was the Beginning Metalsmithing and Jewelry Making and Casting instructor at Mat-Su College. Andrea and Denise recommended I take Casey’s Beginning Metalsmithing class for fun and personal fulfillment, so I registered. At the time, I had minor experience with the physical arts and almost no experience with jewelry, as my arts focus before then was on piano and writing. Quite simply, I was allured by the idea of shaping metal.

I’ll be honest—I have always had a fascination with metal. It may have something to do with my fixation with shiny things or on large-scale machinery and other things with moving parts—my mother likes to remind me periodically that I loved tractors, bulldozers, backhoes, etc. as a child. I also have a very strong attachment to the early 20th century ocean liners.

Over the course of the semester, we had to complete safety competence demonstrations and fabricate several projects to demonstrate our grasp of the various metalsmithing techniques we had learned. We learned how to form jump rings from copper and brass wire, using silver solder to complete the ring joints. We learned how to form twist rings, twisting multiple strands of metal wire together to form a ring and again seal them with solder. We learned how to cut shapes out of sheet metal with jeweler’s saws (don’t get me started on them). We learned how to file a piece of metal into the right shape and thickness, then buff it to a shine with metal polish. One of the most unique projects was to turn a length of copper pipe into a “box” with a lid that could hold water. I still have that box.

Eventually, we were offered the option to try lost wax casting. For those of you unfamiliar, lost wax casting involves first creating a model of your intended jewelry piece using carving wax. You must then affix a large rubber plug called a sprue base (the sprue is the channel through which the metal will eventually flow and which you must also shape from wax), which corresponds to a specific size of metal “flask” (essentially a short metal tube of several inches in diameter and length). Once you have attached the wax to the sprue base, you attach the flask to the base and then very carefully pour investment into the flask. Investment is a kind of plaster that will form the mold. This entire apparatus must then be placed in a kiln to “burn out” the wax and create the negative space in the mold where the metal will flow.

I was incredibly excited to try a cast. I had seen more experienced classmates cast some truly incredible things—one gentleman, known for his intricate work, liked to cast fully-functional Pez dispensers Now, I’m not the most adept at jewelry making nor am I one for baroque sensibilities, so I decided to start simple and cast perhaps the most quintessential of trinkets: a ring. I chose to cast in silver, and though I did not have any of my own (nor could I afford any, being a lowly college student), I had excellent friends who shared some silver and copper with which to mix shibuichi for my ring. I was told that the ideal metals for casting were gold and silver—gold because of how cooperative it is, and silver because it is cooperative, hardy, and cheaper than gold. I’ve never had a fondness for gold. Silver is harder, prettier, and in my mind, more functional. So, I cast in silver.

When you first cast, they tell you how intimidating a forced-oxygen acetylene torch can be, and rightly so. The torch can bring bronze, a very stubborn and uncooperative metal, to its melting point in just a few minutes. You must wear a tinted face shield to protect your face and eyes (staring directly at the flame can cause eye damage and heavens forbid the metal splash you in the face). You must wear thick heavy gloves on both hands, as the heat from the proximity alone can bake your skin. You must pay close attention to where you hold the flame as you lower it into the crucible (the clay pot in which your metal resides), which in this case you are holding in your non-dominant hand at the end of a long, caliper-like device. You must maintain constant, even heat on the metal so that it all flows properly and together before you transfer the metal to your mold, which in this style of casting will be sitting on a vacuum machine to ensure the metal is “sucked” all the way into the mold and fills it properly. They will tell you repeatedly that the process is incredibly dangerous and that anything can go wrong at any step.

What they will not tell you about, at least until after you have experienced it yourself, is the deep, visceral thrill of holding such annihilative force in your hand. There is a heavy responsibility coupled with sheer wonder of creation through destruction that must be experienced to be understood. I will never forget my first time holding the forced-oxygen torch. To know you hold in your hand the power to shift something that until that point had been immutable, the ability to melt metal, conjures a feeling both bizarre and perfect, complete and terrifying, thrilling and pure. In that moment, I was powerful, I was strong, I was adept, I was a creator.

Once the metal is poured comes the wait. I remember the wait distinctly as well. During the minutes after a pour, the caster is left in a state of suspended animation. The room seems to pause as the metal flows and cools. My thoughts flowed like that same hot silver in my mind, racing from excitement to trepidation to certainty to a radical loss thereof. I was making something. I had made something, even if it didn’t turn out the way I intended.

The minutes ticked by. Finally, Casey gave me the go-ahead, and I grasped the flask carefully in what must have been the largest set of pliers I have ever seen and dipped the entire thing into a bucket of lukewarm water. The investment sang. Or at least, that’s what I want it to have done. In reality, it hissed and spat angrily at me, as if to say “This is mine! My precious!” It was somewhere around 1000 degrees Fahrenheit; could I blame it for being a bit cranky? Slowly but surely, the investment began to fall away in chunks, revealing first a length of sprue that descended inward from the plug on the outside. I was on pins and needles.

It all happened so fast, but it sure didn’t feel that way at the time. Slowly, slowly, the body of the cast emerged—and what should my eyes behold? A tarnished, near-blackened hoop of silver at the end of the stalactite of sprue. I dumped the metal into the water to cool for several seconds before I plunged my hands greedily into the now-hot investment and water mix, searching diligently for my creation. My fingers brushed something hotter and harder than the surrounding flotsam and I knew I had found my creation. I wrapped my fingers tightly around the sprue base and pulled the entire thing from the water for all to see. There in my hand was my first cast, a complete hoop of silver with a barely perceptible “XXI” engraved on one side. I had forgotten that I had carved my age into the wax model, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had turned out in the metal, even if minutely.

After hours and hours of cutting, filing, buffing and polishing, I had a ring that not only shone, but fit my finger perfectly. That is perhaps the greatest triumph—not only had I succeeded in what was essentially a personal experiment in art, I had created a functional piece that I could wear every day with pride.

I could go on about how this ring symbolizes my never-ending commitment to personal perseverance or serves as a reminder of a time of solace and wonder in my younger years. Really, this ring’s meaning is a bit simpler. Many of you know I struggle with demons from an abusive past and a mentally ill present; my days are often dominated by wild emotions, fear, lack of confidence, and an incomplete picture of who I am or what I stand for. This ring shows me that I can make things. I can create things of value and meaning. I see myself in its warm, glowing reflection and recognize the face staring back. I feel the Roman numeral 21 etched into its side and am reminded of the years of life and love so many invested in me.

No one shaped the wax for me. No one poured the investment for me. I melted this metal. I poured it into the mold. I cut and filed and buffed. I listened to my teacher and friends, absorbed what I could, and used that knowledge to create something meaningful. As funny as it sounds, this is my Ring of Power. It validates me. It reminds me that I am worthy. And that is why I will forever respect and champion the arts. Art saves lives. It certainly saved me.