#melody basri

[swordsandspectacles]

Drawing this and just… picturing Anathema FRANTICLY shushing everybody, while also going “oh my fucking god you guys look at these two”

Julia’s going to have the WORST crick in her neck

Mum says I can ramble AS MUCH AS I WANT in the readmore. You’re trapped here with ME.

And ooh look we have progress shots and the original reference that’s fairly sexy

My toxic trait is putting so much texture into lines only to blur/chromatic abberation/add noise until it’s all just a soft fuzz.

Pouring one out for the lineart of Julia’s hair tho. Loosing that’s a tragedy.

Drawing this didn’t take much brain power, it was mostly ‘see ref, become obsessed, work on this between comms’

It became a FIGHT once I got to colour/shading/light though. I wanted some streetlight-y look but also not quite that and?? Spent well north of an hour and a half (about half the total work time) pushing and pulling. The bright blue/orange/red is of course what saved it in the end. This was as far as I intended to take it but I’m glad I put the extra time in.

Also as I’m sure is blindingly obvious— playing with the idea of sidestep Mel not bleaching her hair. You have no idea how much blonde Mel ruins the composition it’s so bad

She looks like a diFFERENT PERSON—

[aurriearts]

(image desc in alt text) mel for @swordsandspectacles!

[swordsandspectacles]

💙💙💙

A commission for my darling @swordsandspectacles of her Sidestep, Melody, and Mel's villain persona Entropy! I love this gal <3

(ID in alt text)

[cigarettesandinevitablebetrayal]

OC Kiss Week - Day Six

Okay! Two in one day because I've managed to be finally happy with this one. Thank you, @swordsandspectacles for offering up Melody Basri as tribute. It was a delight playing her against Loren!

Loren can’t stop giggling. Xe can’t remember why, either. Something Melody said or did or maybe just the comfortable buzz of hitting the line between tipsy and drunk. Xe leans heavily against the bar, only Melody’s hand on xir shoulder keeping xem from slipping off xir barstool.

“Careful there.” Melody’s small smile is sharp-edged, sly, and makes Loren’s stomach flip. “Think we should call that good, yeah?”

Melody shifts her hand, less holding, more pulling. “No,” Loren groans, hooking the xir heels in the footrest of the barstool. “Not yet. We just started having fun.”

It doesn't save xem. Melody uses her height to her advantage, hoisting xem off of xir barstool. “We can have fun at home. With some water. And food that isn't $20 a plate.”

Loren huffs, but leans into Melody's side as they stumble out of Joes. Xe looks up at Melody, watching the lamplight reflect off her blonde curls. “Thanks for coming out with me, Mel. This was nice.” Summoning xir courage, Loren stretches to press a quick kiss on Melody’s cheek.

Or so xe planned. As she nears, Melody turns her head, capturing xir lips against hers. Loren tries not to blush. Xe fails.

[theatredirectors]

268 Directors and the end of the blog

This post marks the end of the Ask a Director experiment. I’m so grateful to all who have contributed, supported and engaged with it over the past six and a half years. 

This blog was started at a time when I felt incredibly alone in the directing field. I had always been taught that a director operates solo, that it was a lonely career and above all, it was based on scarcity. This was a style of working and living that didn't fit for me. I wanted to talk to other directors about their practice and thoughts about the field, both national and international. This blog was started as a way to connect, to uplift other directors and to create a conversation about the changing field and practices. 

It's surpassed all of these goals and brought me more joy than I can name. 

I'm now at a moment where my practice and advocacy are taking different and exciting paths and it's time for me to put this site to bed. I remain committed to uplifting other directors, to talking about the practice, to flattening hierarchies, to opening doors for new ways of working, and leading rehearsal rooms, companies, and classrooms away from silos and vacuums. Featuring these 268 different directors was just the beginning. 

I encourage you all to hire them (and others), advocate for them (and others) and choose to work in a system that values connection and generosity. 

Abhishek Majumdar

Adam Fitzgerald

Alice Stanley

Aliza Shane

Amanda McRaven

Amy Corcoran

Amy Jephta

Anisa George

Ana Margineau

Andrew Scoville

Anna Stromberg

Anne Cecelia Haney

Ariel Francoeur

Arpita Mukherjee

Ashley Hollingshead

Ashley Marinaccio

Andrew Neisler

Beng Oh

Ben Randle

Ben Stockman

Benjamin Kamine

Beth Lopes

Bo Powell

Bogdan Georgescu

Bonnie Gabel

Brandon Ivie

Brandon Woolf

Brian Hashimoto

Cait Robinson

Caitlin Ryan O’Connell

Caitlin Sullivan

Catie Davis

Cara Phipps

Carol Ann Tan

Carsen Joenk

Chari Arespacochaga

Cheryl Faraone

Chloe Treat

Christin Eve Cato

Christine Zagrobelny

Christopher Diercksen

Colette Robert

Colleen Hughes

Cyndy Marion

Dado Gyure

Dan Rothenberg

Daniel Irizarry

Danielle Ozymandias

Danny Sharon

Dara Malina

David Charles

Dennis Yueh-Yeh Li

Derek Spencer 

Donald Brenner

Doug Oliphant

Eamon Boylan

Elena Araoz

Emily Lyons

Emma Miller

Eric Kildow

Eric Wallach

Eric Powell Holm

Estefania Fadul

Evelina Stampa

Evren Odcikin

Evi Stamatiou

Francesca Montanile Lyons

Gabriel Vega Weissman

Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte 

Graham Schmidt

Gregg Wiggans

Hannah Ryan

Hannah Wolf

Heather Bagnall

Horia Suru

Ilana Becker

Ilana Ransom Toeplitz

Illana Stein

Ioanna Katsarou

Ioli Andreadi

Irina Abraham Chigiryov

Iris Sowlat

Isaac Klein

J Paul Nicholas

Jack Tamburri

Jaclyn Biskup

Jacob Basri

Jake Beckhard

Jaki Bradley

Jamie Watkins

Javier Molina

Jay Stern

Jay Stull

Jenna Rossman

Jenna Worsham

Jennifer Chambers

Jenny Bennett

Jenny Reed

Jeremy Bloom

Jeremy Pickard

Jerrell Henderson

Jess Hutchinson

Jess Shoemaker

Jesse Jou

Jessi D Hill

Jessica Burr

Jessica Holt

Jillian Carucci

Joanne Zipay

Jo Cattell

John Michael Diresta

John Kurzynowski

Joe Hedel

Jonathan Munoz-Proulx

Jose Zayas

Josh Kelley

Josh Sobel

Joshua Kahan Brody

Joshua William Gelb

Julia Sears

Justin Schlabach

Kareem Fahmy

Karen Christina Jones

Kate Bergstrom

Kate Hopkins

Kate Jopson

Kate Moore Heaney

Katherine M. Carter

Katherine Wilkinson

Kathy Gail MacGowan

Katie Chidester

Kendall Cornell 

Kendra Augustin

Kholoud Sawaf

Kimberly Faith Hickmann

Kim Weild

KJ Sanchez

Knud Adams

Kristin Marting

Kristin McCarthy Parker

Kristin Skye Hoffman

Kristy Chambrelli

Kristy Dodson

KT Shorb

Kyle Metzger

Kylie M. Brown

Larissa Fasthorse

Larissa Lury

Laura Brandel

Laura Steinroeder

Lauren Hlubny

Lauren Keating

Lavina Jadhwani

Jenn Haltman

Leta Tremblay

Lila Rachel Becker

Lillian Meredith

Lily Riopelle

Lindsey Hope Pearlman

Lisa Rothe

Lisa Sanaye Dring

Liz Thaler

Lori Wolter Hudson

Lucie Tiberghien

Luke Comer

Luke Tudball

Lyndsay Burch

Lynn Lammers

Mallory Catlett

Manon Manavit

Margarett Perry

Maridee Slater

Marina Bergenstock

Marti Lyons

Martin Jago

Matt Cosper

Matt Ritchey

Max Hunter

Megan Sandberg-Zakian

Megan Weaver

Meghan Finn

Melissa Crespo

Melody Erfani

Michael Alvarez

Michael T. Williams

Michaela Escarcega

Michelle Tattenbaum

Mimi Barcomi

Miranda Haymon

Molly Beach Murphy

Molly Clifford

Molly Noble

Morgan Gould

Morgan Green

Murielle Borst-Tarrant

Nana Dakin

Natalie Novacek

Neal Kowalsky

Nell Bang-Jensen

Nick Benacerraf

Noa Egozi

Norah Elges

Normandy Sherwood

Olivia Lilley

Orly Noa Rabinyan

Oscar Mendoza

Pablo Paz

Padraic Lillis 

Patrick Walsh

Pete Danelski

Pirronne Yousefzadeh

Portia Krieger

Rachel Karp

Rachel Wohlander

Randolph Curtis Rand

Raz Golden

Rebecca Cunningham

Rebecca Martinez

Rebecca Wear

Renee Phillippi

Renee Yeong

Rich Brown

Rick St. Peter

Robert Schneider

Ryan Anthony Nicotra

Sammi Cannold

Sammy Zeisel

Sanaz Ghajar

Sara Holdren

Sara Lyons

Sara Rademacher

Sarah Elizabeth Wansley

Sarah Hughes

Sarah M. Chichester

Sarah Rose Leonard

Sash Bischoff

Scarlett Kim

Seonjae Kim

Seth Pyatt

Sharifa Elkady

Shaun Patrick Tubbs

Sherri Eden Barber

Simon Hanukai

Sophia Watt

Suchan Vodoor

Stephen Cedars

Steven Kopp

Steven Wilson

Talya Klein

Tana Siros

Tara Ahmadinejad

Tara Cioletti

Tara Elliott

Tatiana Pandiani

Taylor Reynolds

TerryandtheCuz

Tommy Schoffler

Tracy Bersley

Trevor Biship

Tyler Mercer

Wednesday Sue Derrico

Will Dagger

Will Davis

Will Detlefsen

Will Steinberger

Yojiro Ichikawa

Yoni Oppenheim

Zi Alikhan

Zoya Kachardurian

[swordsandspectacles]

You’re just a pale shadow of yourself.

Or someone overshadowed by by your new self, anyhow.

I got! Some funky risograph brushes from Retrosupply. Turns out the procreate version is a bit easier on the brain than the clip version (yay) so I’ve immediately begun fussing around with these…

Having fun with textures and negative space today! If im 110% honest I think I could have (should have) gone further, really shrank Mel down in pose and space on the page to totally envelop her in Entropy’s cloak. Buuut I didn’t.

Fun trivia; Mel usually wears heels, so Entropy being taller is just an affectation for the vibes.

Also. Speedpaint.

[swordsandspectacles]

Style experiment got a little away from me

[swordsandspectacles]

Entropy’s no. 1 Rule, the glowy bits on the suit look better in daylight if you’re backlit then if you’re not.

1 hour-ish cool-down doodle - uh- inspiration. Struck.

[swordsandspectacles]

I don’t know how tumblr is going to treat my pixel art and I’m afraid!

Hey there Entropy you’re looking MIGHTY crunchy and low res tonight!

[swordsandspectacles]

Mmmm doodles from the last…? Week?

Mel/Entropy and her AU sidekick Pumpkin, another villain suit for one of my stupid wolf OC’s if they were a Sidestep (the white holographic stuff has my hEART-)

Then just. Wolf studies. Almost entirely from Pinterest photos, because I need to get better at their stupid lEGS-

Finally, warlock with unicorn patron for a maybe dnd game.

[swordsandspectacles]

I had a whole thing typed up with background info for Mel as a Tarnished and Trinity as the tarnished but my app crashed so I guess just have the art

[swordsandspectacles]

You had meant to remind yourself not to look, to not let your eye be drawn to the bright colours of the reruns of the days big news.

Lil pre-Rebirth brainworm I dragged up out of the wip folder and gave the proper treatment.

[swordsandspectacles]

Both the nanovores and the villain who would eventually wield them could be classed as man-made monsters.

I didn’t record the sketch process (nobody deserves to watch that it’s so bad) but I did remember to hit the button during rendering time.

[swordsandspectacles]

Just y’know.

Playing with nanovores. As you do—

[swordsandspectacles]

Dug this out of my files

My Melody and @the-cooler-sidestep’s Jonah (Should I be saying Entropy and Lazarus? Yes. But-)

Mel, calling her dearest sibling out out for moping like she isn’t a soggy sad kitten of a woman herself

[swordsandspectacles]

So fun fact I do actually have WIP covers for my own sidesteps too. The problem is because they’re for me, I’m in full on overthinking mode all the time (and also the poses feel? Really stiff? Weh.)