#perfection is a myth

[medusaspeach]

How did you learn to draw and how do you know where to draw the folds or clothes in general? Also how do you get the anatomy so PERFECT?

I started off self-taught. As a kid, I was obsessed with cartoons and anime, so I constantly tried to recreate that with my own art. Then I went to college and I took beginner art courses- fundamentals of design, gesture & figure drawing, color theory, etc. All this helped with technique and such.

Idk if this will help (or make sense) but for drawing folds in clothing it's good to think of the material and how it drapes on the body/object. Is it thin and silky or thick and bulky? where does it pinch, where does it gather, and where does it hang loose. A lot of this comes from observation and practice. A simple exercise you can do is drape a cloth over a chair and draw it.

For anatomy, I have taken courses in gesture and figure, drawing from life helps a lot! Also, I liberally make use of references, and sometimes I just wing it. 🤷‍♀️ My anatomy isn't perfect but I'm always trying to improve.

[letmewriteitdown]

Art Journal page for 08/09

I wanted to make a collage from the drawing that I did watercolor on for my art class this week.

When I started thinking about it I was unsure what I wanted to do, but then I thought it would be good to really emphasize the sunniness of the moment for me.

These were the last roses (yes my roses are orange) of the season, I always get a little sad when they bloom for the last time, but then I get excited every year when they bloom again for the first time.

Doing art has been a lot like that for me. I know that may sound pretentious or silly or whatever, but it really has changed part of my brain. Doing art cracks open my perfectionism issues. Knowing that there is always space to gather more art skills and there are always more art skills to gather really opened me up to fighting my perfection paralysis.

There is a lot of therapy I’ve had to do to get to the point where I don’t have to be good at something to enjoy it. A lot of therapy and a lifelong river of doubts and pains that I’ve had to navigate to get to the point where making the effort is the enjoyable thing for me.

Even with all of that therapy and navigation I still have to remind myself to enjoy the sunny things when my mood is so very dark. That was what I was trying to do with this collage.

I think it came across. Even if it doesn’t come across that way, the thing that was wonderful was making it.

Collage Materials:

Art class drawing on arteza watercolor paper

Grabie watercolors

Zebra ink and gel pens

Sharpie

Words printed in Gigi font

[bonezone44]

"Save who you can save" isnt just about saving someone from death. It can be about saving someone from pain, from abandonment, from loneliness, from a bad day or bad moment.

Our capacity as individuals is small. But if we collaborate, we have the capacity for more. That's the point of community. Is to collaborate with a group "worth" saving.

This world is so fucking cruel. The relationships and the "dystopia" we witness in The Last of Us is hardly any different than the real world.

There are children being murdered in the world right now. There are sadists with overwhelming power.

No one chooses to be born. But we do choose how we live. And we do choose which cycles to repeat again and again.

So which needs and wants are prioritized above the others? And what choices do we make to achieve our goals?

And who do we protect and keep close and "save"?

-Rad

[elaurian-mh]

Nothing is perfect, no one is perfect. Literally everyone and everything has at least one flaw!

Arguably, having flaws, fucking up, being imperfect, is one of the few actually universal experiences! Which kind of sucks on one level, sure. But it can also be really freeing, to accept that mistakes are part of being human. To accept that perfection is an unfair thing to expect of ourselves. It makes it easier to try new things, to go for what we want in life, and to take responsibility for our mistakes in a constructive, healthy way.

It's not easy to let go of the need to be perfect, it runs deep. But learning to embrace imperfection takes so much pressure of ourselves and others.

I read that some artists will fill the first page of a new sketchbook with deliberately silly, "bad", scribbly, work. They consciously avoid trying to do anything "good", just storming right past that urge to only use it "perfectly".

Total power move! I've been trying to find ways of bringing that energy into my life, because the need to do things perfectly, to be perfect, holds me back so much in life.

So maybe try to embrace imperfection this week, see how it feels? Might take a bit of pressure off at least 💜

ID - A starry sky background with white writing that reads "I don't remember signing a contract agreeing to be fucking perfect!"

[h00f]

T4TM (Theseus4TheMinotaur)

lost wax cast bronze, patina & paste wax

2023

(process photos & info under cut <3)

my minotaur boy!! pls click on the photos for higher res! my thesis is focusing on trans men and creatures (how original ik) and this was last semester's final. i spent a lot of time looking at sculptures of the theseus/minotaur story, and yknow? a LOT of them are erotic! i'm pretty sure i saw some of them on tumblr a decade ago, and that's led to this now!

as you'll notice, the minotaur has a big t-dick! i wanted to give him breasts and an enlarged clitoris to present a very masculine trans figure. the boy on the bottom is also trans because i say so . the piece is about looking up to older, bigger, hairier trans men and seeing something awe-inspiring and beautiful. the minotaur was locked up by a cruel father for being different, and i think modern adaptations tend towards a sympathetic asterion (his name in one version)

making this piece was. so much effort. it took me about 3 months to get it all together - from clay model (plasticine) to 3D print to silicone mold to wax cast, and finally bronze pour into the shell mold. and then a TON of filing, sanding, dremel-ing, and various other metalworking techniques that probably took years off my life.

i started with sketches and made theeeeeee ugliest model ever:

then used a 3D scanner to get it digital, then spent a goooood month or two making him pretty in blender! then i spent an agonizing few weeks trying to get it print-ready, and fiiiiiinally did

^^^ an early resin printed draft of the model - you can see in the final that i added lots to theseus after some feedback, but sadly the nosering broke off every time i cast it so i just. let that be <3

then came the moldmaking, and then the wax dipping!! the yellow stuff is shell mold (ground up ceramic bits and algae soup, sticks to the wax, then silica sand in varying sizes on top) which gets the wax melted out, and bronze poured in!

then it's all metalworking, cutting stuff off, and working with hot metal. they don't tell you about all the bronze dust and how annoying it gets wearing a respirator AND goggles. but it is for me health, me boy. here's him all cleaned up before the patina:

and then i spray him down with various chemicals to make it "patina" (aka rust) in pretty colors. wait a few days, then apply paste wax to seal it and give it that shine!

then we get what you see above!!! the blue was actually unintentional, and i'm still not super sure why it looks that way.. but it's pretty so idc <3

thanks for reading!! if you ever have any bronze/casting questions, don't hesitate to message me! <3

[wolfrunner25]

16 May 23

Good Morning! “The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.”  -  Anna Quindlen

I used to be if its not perfect, if I couldn't do it perfectly, then I wasn't going to do it. Well guess what? This is a spoiler.... Nothing is perfect. Even in nature nothing is perfect. Look at the leaves on a tree. None of them are perfect and they are fine with that. Learn to live with the fact that nothing is going to be perfect and that is OK. It was one of the hardest things to change in my own mind. I sometimes wondered if I could do something just right, make it perfect if things would finally be alright. So hard to change, but very freeing when you finally let that go. No one and nothing is ever perfect. We can sometimes get close but that's it. So let it go. You are already “perfect” enough as you are, with flaws and all. So my wish for each of you today is that you let perfection go and be happy with yourself just as you are right now.

[gumjamin]

Look don't I don't really care about whether or not you think Dawntrail as a whole is good or bad.

That's not interesting.

Instead talk abt what makes you go ABSOLUTELY FERAL from it (or ffxiv in general).

What is it that hits your brain in just the right way to make you fall into a never ending rabbit hole of madness and obsession. A rabbit hole from which you emerge from with endless and absolute knowledge about super niche subjects that may come up in conversations once or twice.

a character? Plot beat? Theme? Job rotations??? A dungeon with absolutely unhinged lore? A random ass sidequest that is somehow relevant still today and lives rent free in your brain???

Go wild w those plz, I need more of those.

[afterthelambs]

Found this comment on a jcbackfire video. Some people really get it. More of this from the fandom please

[ananke-xiii]

I'm not sure Kelly knew it when she told Castiel that Jack chose him but she tapped into angels' number one desire: to be chosen (by God), to be someone (God)'s favorite. And the most beautiful thing ever is that Castiel wasn't chosen by his Father but by his Son! He got to experience that it's not about waiting to be loved by someone but it's about being the One Who Just Loves and that changes everythiiiiiiiing! Aaaargh I hate their story so much I wanna tear it into pieces

[anglerflsh]

Pygmalion

the rendering of the statue is unfinished because the statue itself is equally unfinished

[my-name-is-apollo]

Why is Hera so hostile to Leto in a manner that she isn't with the other lovers of Zeus? I can't think of any other woman who was targeted so much by Hera. One could say she didn't want Leto to give birth because her children would be a competition to Hera's children, but why bother her even after she had already given birth? Is it because Leto herself is also a threat to Hera?

Sort of I guess?

I don't think Leto would ever be a threat to Hera's role as the queen of the gods but Hera might see her as a competitor for Zeus' affection, even though I think Zeus would not marry someone else and replace Hera.

The twins are definitely a big reason why Hera begrudged Leto - it is outright stated in the Callimachus Hymn to Delos that the reason Hera especially targeted Leto was because she was told that Apollo would be dearer to Zeus than Ares is. Zeus is very proud of Artemis as well. As he himself puts it, he doesn't mind facing Hera's wrath for children like her.

But the continued hatred even after the birth of the twins (like sending Tityus to rape Leto) could have been for different reasons. This wasn't like one of those affairs Zeus would have with mortal women where he'd leave them behind once the child is conceived. Neither could Hera, despite her many attempts, get rid of Leto like she did with the other lovers. Not only did Leto give Zeus children that he loves dearly, she also stayed on Olympus despite Hera's hatred towards her (which isn't directed to any of Zeus' other divine mistresses, btw). It might have also been because Leto herself is dear to Zeus, if the way she's treated on Olympus is any proof. In the Homeric hymn to Apollo, Leto stands next to Zeus - in the Olympian assembly - to welcome their son. Hera is completely absent from the scene, as if Leto had taken her place even if temporarily. Now you could say this is because Apollo himself is such a powerful and glorious son in a way that no other son of Zeus is, so of course Leto would get such an honor (the hymn itself presents it this way).

But here's another instance - in the Iliad, when Hera goes to seduce Zeus, he is obviously very smitten but before getting into the action, he lists some of his lovers (I believe these were his favorite lovers, as a lot of others are not mentioned):

"for never has such desire for goddess or mortal woman so gripped and overwhelmed my heart, not even when I was seized by love for Ixion’s wife, who gave birth to Peirithous the gods’ rival in wisdom; or for Acrisius’ daughter, slim-ankled Danaë, who bore Perseus, greatest of warriors; or for the far-famed daughter of Phoenix, who gave me Minos and godlike Rhadamanthus; or for Semele mother of Dionysus, who brings men joy; or for Alcmene at Thebes, whose son was lion-hearted Heracles; or for Demeter of the lovely tresses; or for glorious Leto; or even for you yourself, as this love and sweet desire for you grips me now.’ (Book 14, trans. A. T. Murray)

Notice how when talking about most of them, he also mentions the children they bore to him but when Demeter and Leto are mentioned, he doesn't bring up their children at all despite them being some of the most accomplished kids of his. What's more, he takes Leto's name just before Hera's. I mean, this is an interpretation but it looks like not only did Zeus love Leto the most out of all his mistresses - giving her a place second to that of his wife, but also his love for her wasn't necessarily only because she gave him two amazing children.

Nonnus does something similar in the Dionysiaca (but this time Zeus is enamored with Persephone instead of Hera) but more notably, when Typhoeus attacks Olympus and Zeus is discouraged, Nike takes the form of Leto to encourage him and it's pretty telling of what Leto meant to Zeus.

One interesting similarity between Hera and Leto is that they both had a giant try to rape them. Porphyrion tried to violate Hera (Zeus inspired him to do this) and Tityus tried to violate Leto (upon Hera's order). Though both of them were killed, only Tityus got an eternal punishment in Tartarus of having his liver/heart eaten out by vultures so Zeus seems to have taken a greater offense at Tityus trying to assault Leto.

Again, I don't think Zeus would ever take anyone other than Hera as his permanent wife - she is irreplaceable to him. There's an entire myth about Hera leaving him and Zeus winning her back. Their relationship is obviously complex and involves all kinds of emotions including love and hate. But Leto is continually dear to him as well and that's something Hera can't do much about.

[sarnai4]

(The gods of Olympus are gathered. Zeus is staring at two piles.)

Athena: Father, the one on the right has the meat.

Zeus: Now, Athena, I appreciate you trying to help, but I think I know what meat looks like when I see it. The one on the left has way more.

Apollo: Dad, I foresaw you being really upset in a few minutes.

Zeus: Maybe you had an incorrect vision.

Athena: When are his prophecies ever wrong?

Zeus: First time for everything.

Ares: Dad, I can literally see the bones poking out from under the skin on the left. Just pick the one on the right.

Zeus: Don't try to give me orders!

Hera: Darling, please listen to them.

Zeus: Nope, they're doubting me. I'll prove that I'm right. (Grandly) I choose the one on the left!

(Prometheus pushes the pile forward. Hermes flies to it and sees the bones.)

Zeus (to everyone frowning at him): Not. One. Word.

[daydreaming-jessi]

I’m so stoked for the sotf update, you guys don’t get it. They’re giving us A GUN. AND A BAR!! Oh and eggs, that’s cool too :)

Ok no but really, I was thinking about the oh so famous narilamb shittens, they’re a super cute concept, but I just couldn’t get rid of this thought. What are goats but the cat version of sheep?? It just made so much sense to me, I couldn’t stop thinking it, and then I thought of the Baphomet demon and the weird back and forth around the possible kids of hades, and how well it’d all fit in with cotl themes, and THEN I saw that concept art of the lamb and it pushed me over the edge, I had to do it. It just so happened to coincide with the update, so good timing ;D But yeah, this is Baph. She’s, uh, a weird kid, but she loves her big brothers, her grampie, her papa, and her baba.

Bonus:

[gingermintpepper]

Day 4: Aristaeus

Interpretation notes and trivia below the cut!!

All rise for the entrance of my president !! Honestly, of all the figures and characters that were up for debate when I first started thinking about this story and who I wanted leading the charge Aristaeus was not one of them. Originally, I'd always known that Asclepius and Orpheus would be worked in somehow - they've always been favourites of mine in terms of children of Apollo (even if Orpheus as the child of Apollo and Calliope is less popular classically) and I expected my pick for the third child of Apollo to be involved to be similarly mortal like Iamus or Tenes but the more I looked into Aristaeus the more I fell in love with him! Ultimately, he's meant to be both a foil and a reflection of his father - a boy who grows up thinking his father's footsteps would always be warm only to realise that following in them would lead to death and destruction. While his status as a rustic and hunting god is still important here, Aristaeus' interpretation is much more focused on his connection to the Etesian wind and his quelling of the dog star Sirius which is why his hair in particular is so long and spiralling. All in all, more than any other figure I've chosen to interpret and represent in my work Aristaeus is the god I hope more people get interested in and research! I think there are a lot of important stories in his various myths and travels and I definitely want more people to discover and fall in love with them as I have!

Some fun trivia:

Apollo's firstborn son. Because he was born mortal on account of his very mortal mother, Apollo immediately took him to Olympus to eat ambrosia to begin his transition into divinity. Apollo would continue to feed Aristaeus small amounts of ambrosia and nectar for the next ten years until the child fully shed his mortal skin and was reborn as a god.

Due to the nature of making mortals deathless (namely the fun part of the process where they are completely remade and lose their mortal memories) Aristaeus spent most of his early life with his mother and siblings where they all pitched in to reteach him his family, his hobbies, his favourite things and ultimately how to live and love. Aristaeus was very attached to his maternal family because of this and his early acts of ingenuity were mostly born from his wish to make things easier for his family.

Aristaeus is the only one of his children Apollo hand raised full time. In those days, Aristaeus adored his father and believed him completely upright and blameless, the true face of a benevolent deity and the kind of man he aimed to be when he was full grown.

They would later have many bitter arguments and conflicts, the first and perhaps most impactful of all being their disagreement over Actaeon, Aristaeus' firstborn son. He wanted Apollo to teach him stating that it was a normal thing for a grandfather to do but Apollo vehemently refused to have any part of Actaeon's rearing, stating that he was not his child and that it was highly inappropriate for him to educate another god's son. When Actaeon later dies, Aristaeus blames a not insignificant part of that on Apollo - something that only worsens when he learns that it was Artemis who cursed the boy and that Apollo was always aware Actaeon would die young.

Spends most of his time travelling from place to place. Doesn't really like Olympus and prefers to spend his time minding animals or tending to fields. Is on wonderful terms with Demeter and Persephone and often makes decadent exchanges of olive oil and preserved meat for exotic flowers and fruit for his bees.

Big fan of wind and percussive instruments. Never liked the kithara because of how finicky it is and far prefers the hand drums and reed flutes of his mother's country. Exceptional dancer.

Will sell prized cattle for high quality and highly unique jewellry. Doesn't much care for gemstones but is an absolute gold fiend and has a massive collection of bracelets, anklets, nose and lip adornments and rings. Has never been north enough to hit India but got a ton of rare and different adornments from his Phoenician in-laws when he was married to Autonoë.

Hates dogs but doesn't mind wolves. Not a big horse fan either

Unlike other winds, he cannot transform into various animal forms. He's close enough to the Anemoi that he keeps up with the gossip but he's only really friends with Notos. Gets along poorly with Zephyrus whose preference for pretty youths has often led to them getting into physical altercations when they were younger. Aristaeus still holds a bit of a grudge about it.

Has a big stupid crush on Dionysus which is embarrassing because Dionysus also put him out of a job. Due to Dionysus' relative youth, he feels a bit conflicted about such feelings - mostly because Dionysus is on extremely good terms with Apollo and Aristaeus doesn't want him to get burned.

Despite kinda despising his father, Aristaeus is a pretty decent eldest brother and regularly keeps in contact with a lot of his siblings. He often delivers mead, flavoured honey and olive oil and uses it as an excuse to chat and catch up. Currently in a bit of a tiff with Asclepius because he's worried about him and his family.

Favourite colour is the rich gold of purified honey, favourite food is lokma and his favourite time of year is winter.

[aroaceleovaldez]

i stand by that a better, more sensible, and more intriguing plot for TSATS would have been, instead of retconning literally everything:

Bob is dead (because he was very explicitly absorbed/killed by Tartarus Himself in House of Hades, alongside Damasen), and nobody is going into Tartarus to save him. He made his sacrifice and is gone. However. Remember how the Titans, including Bob, were just kind of kicking around for several years? Particularly. On a cruise ship full of mortals. And Bob happened to be kicking around in general for an extra year versus all the other Titans. And he mythologically sometimes has a mortal demigod son who partook in the Calydonian Boar Hunt (Dryas of Calydon). Yeah.

So turns out, Bob/Iapetus leaves behind a demigod (demititan?) child. And because Nico was pretty much his only friend, he named Nico his child's godfather. And while he's not being left in charge of the child, as a son of Hades and godfather to this kid, Nico is duty-bound to fulfill Bob's last will and go find this like 2 year old to make sure they're safe. So Nico has to undertake this very unusual quest (that raises many questions, such as "demititans are a thing?" and "DOES THIS MEAN THERE'S POTENTIALLY MORE-?!" and "SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED ABOUT THIS?") and is kind of freaking out because. He's the son of Hades! He's notoriously bad with living things, and animals, and definitely small children! Even if he does find this kid and assure they're safe, he is the last person who should be undergoing any kind of quest involving even potentially having to babysit. Fortunately, his boyfriend is the human embodiment of sunshine and calmness and good vibes, and also once helped a nymph give birth, so he feels Marginally More Confident in theoretical demititan babysitting and offers to come along on this Epic Journey of Figuring Out What In Hades' Name Is Up With This Demititan Baby Business.

Proceed with wholesome epic shenanigans quest of Nico and Will scurrying around trying to locate this random OP baby while Nico has an existential crisis about the nature of his powers because he doesn't want to let Bob down! Both for Hades Kid Honor Reasons and because Bob was his friend! But what if he's destined to fail this quest just because of who he is? Because he's simply not built for hanging out with the living/mortals? And Will reassuring him that He Will Probably Not Traumatize The Weird OP Titan Baby And It'll Be Fine, and simultaneously getting a peek into the weird other life Nico leads hanging out with immortals much more than the average demigod, which Nico considers his norm. Bonus shenanigans of both of them getting caught off-guard and culture shocked from where each other's respective worlds (Nico's mostly-immortal versus Will's mostly-mortal) cross over and learning to navigate those for each other - Nico finally starting to make some mortal connections and get glimpses at modern mortal American life, and Will trying not to get his brain literally incinerated while Nico's happily casually catching up with some of his old friends who happen to be literal gods.

[backpackingspace]

Wait going off the idea that Athena keeps things from her favorite people:

What does diomedes give her?