#plus sketches like this if you're willing to pay

[saberpastel]

Out here creating characters to bully Xavier for fun ★ Smith's such a dickhead :3

[inkrabbit]

Just some Mary hcs when they're sketching/painting while I slowly work on this discussion post-

Mary stays in shrimp position

They've tried sitting up straight or even laying back in bed, but hunched over his sketchbook or canvas just works better

He does own an easel, but that's mainly for the larger canvases

Yes, this idiot will still occasionally put the larger canvas on the floor and hunch over it

You can yell at them all you want to stop. It's not going to work

Contrary to popular belief, Mary actually listens to different music when he's painting or sketching

What's different music? Something slow with a chill beat. They'll even listen to some old romantic songs. Only You by The Platters is one of their favorites to start working with

If you notice Mary working too much on paintings (sacrificing sleep and meals) or even too little on them (having not touched a single painting in a month or more) please ask them if something is wrong. These are normally "warning" signs that something is wrong mentally, which can normally be stress or another episode of deep depression

On the very rare occasion, Mary working too much on his paintings can mean that he's neglected his schizophrenia medication due to forgetfulness. When this happens, their paranoia kicks in full force and they'll be too scared to even sleep. There isn't a way to "break" this. The most you can do is remind them to take their medication and be there for them (preferably in person and to spend a few nights in their apartment, but he understands if you're too busy to visit)

Sometimes Mary's sketches can be... a little out there

This shouldn't be a surprise because of the lyrics to their songs, but you should always be weary when you peek inside their sketchbook

Is it going to be scenery? Portraits? A portrait study of a dead body they dug up the other night? No one knows! Good luck.

I promise most of the sketches weren't for Mary to get his rocks off later

He actually has a morbid fascination with death because it was never talked about when they were growing up. His parents always shot down any "What happens when we die?" question from him and his siblings

Well Mary is now a grown adult that gets to see what exactly happens. And you know what? They love it. They love the circle of life, seeing what the person was buried in and what was buried with them

Mary never steals, though. He'll look through everything, and he even spent the night reading some Edgar Allan Poe when he saw the book tucked beside the corpse

But every time they're done, bored, or it's getting to almost be daylight, Mary will put everything back inside the casket and bury it neatly so it looks like no one was ever there

Sometimes Mary's sketches will reflect what they found. Books, jewelry, stuffed animals, wilted and dead flowers. At the bottom of the page, you'll find the name of the person that was inside the casket, along with the birth and death year

None of these sketches will ever make it to canvas. This is Mary's own personal outing and they don't feel the need to transfer something so personal onto canvas

What does Mary do with all of these paintings?

He sells them. Normally online, but if you've managed to drag them out to an art convention, he'll bring along several canvases

You always tell them they should charge more for their work, but Mary will just say it's not that big of a deal

Really, they're just happy someone loves their artwork and is willing to pay money so they can hang it in their home

Plus, some of the people recognize him and will gush about his music as well. These people get paintings for a little cheaper

Why?

"I feel like they've spent enough either coming to see our shows or buying our shit. I can afford to not make ten or twenty dollars."

[invisibleraven]

Hug prompts! Throw, Rulie

Reggie always was a lover of people watching. He'd find a spot to sit in his favourite café, order whatever the server recommended, and break out his sketch book. Spending his afternoon drawing the scenes of life that he saw, or the nature surrounding him. The staff never seemed to mind, maybe because he always tipped well, maybe because the place was never bustling.

So every week, he'd find himself back there, sitting and sketching, until he was pretty well acquainted with the staff.

There was Luke who was only working there until he had enough to record a demo, Flynn who was using the money to help pay for fashion design school, Carrie who was an aspiring actress.

And Julie.

Julie was Reggie's favourite server. The one who always gave him a bigger helping of fries or complemented his drawings when she passed. Who sat with him after her shift, stealing some of said extra fries and just chatting with him.

Honestly Reggie came back to see her just as much as for the quiet place to draw. And from the shy little smile she offered him every time he came in, he figured she knew that and didn't exactly mind.

Today he was laden down with a bouquet of dahlias as he came into the café. He saw them and felt a desire to draw them, and hey, maybe he could offer them to Julie afterwards? She seemed like the kind of girl who would appreciate flowers, and if maybe it lead to him finally asking her to go eat somewhere she didn't work, well all the better right?

Only when he entered, Julie all but threw herself into his arms, hugging him tight. "Please play along," she whispered. Then loudly she exclaimed "Reggie! You absolute sweetheart, you even brought me my favourite flowers! What a treat!"

Reggie saw a guy standing nearby, scowling at Julie and almost glaring at Reggie and he suddenly understood. Guys came here and figured if they tipped well that the girls owed them something and didn't always take no for an answer. Luke usually escorted them after that, but he must be working today. So Julie had tried the old 'I already have a boyfriend, fuck off' ploy. And Reggie got to play the part.

"Of course I did darlin', I knew you would have a long day today what with a double shift and class tonight. Figured they would help brighten your day. Plus I hoped I'd catch you on your break-maybe we could go get a pita from the spot down the boardwalk?"

"Sounds heavenly, but I'm not on break for another ten. How about you go sit at the bar and I'll get my coat when I'm free?"

"You can go now Julie," a passing manager said. "Take an extra ten while you're at it, you earned them after the rush this morning."

"Thanks boss," Julie said, glancing to the side to see the guy still watching her, so she leaned up on her toes, pressing a kiss to Reggie's cheek. "Just let me grab my coat." Then she rushed off to the back.

The guy approached, looking Reggie up and down. "You the boyfriend or a willing sap?"

"Very much the boyfriend, so I'll thank you to leave my girl alone," Reggie said, putting on his most menacing face, thankful he'd worn his leather jacket today.

"Not worth it anyways," the guys scoffed. "The blonde is prettier."

Reggie looked over to where Carrie was working the register. "Trust me buddy, she's not your type, and could kick your ass. Try somewhere down the strip if you want an easier go of it."

The guy glowered but left, and it was as if the whole place breathed a sigh of relief. Julie came out and sagged when she saw the guy was gone. "Thank goodness," she said, offering Reggie back the flowers. "You're the best, thanks for helping me out."

"Keep 'em," Reggie said. "I got them for you any ways."

"For me?" Julie replied with a blush.

"Yeah, I was going to draw them and then maybe use them as an invitation for lunch somewhere that's not here?"

Julie beamed at him. "I'd like that, let's go." She took his hand and Reggie smiled right back. "You can draw me with them later if you want," she offered.

And Reggie did, a few weeks later, proclaiming it his best work. Pity he could never show it to anyone given how the dahlias and a smile where all that Julie was wearing. But that was okay, Reggie was sure that with Julie as his muse/girlfriend, there was plenty of more art where that came from.

[clairethecutepup]

Weekly Update: 5/1/23 - 5/6/23

Entertainment/Art Progress:

Man, I really do believe my work speed doubled, at least, when it came to my new tablet. I dunno if it's the bigger touch screen or the ability to use my computer's mouse, but something seems to be making my work on it more progressive and easier.

Speaking of, I'm nearing the outlining (and possible end) of the "Chapter 1" image for Getting Your Goat. I mean, it'd feel too disorganized to not have that matter of "divider" between comic sections/chapters, ja? Plus, it makes it feel more like a real comic, when it's finally all together. However, I'm feeling the urge to sketch traditionally, rather than outline on the tablet and digitally. I dunno what it is, but I feel easily peeved off with sketching on the tablet... Yet, coloring and outlining? I feel right and happy as rain.

I'm also doing another "writing practice" to help further ease any tedium of drawing and fully original writing, so keep your eyes peeled for more "fanfiction," per se. Hey, just a little something to tide me over, while I excitedly await Peach Creek to finally make its official debut. I've kinda fallen out of using NovelAi for assistance, during "dry spells" and all that with writing... Eh, why pay for the privilege when you can come up with an idea of what to do next, for free, if you're willing to be patient? Also, be prepared for a majority of Ed Edd n' Eddy themed ones, in that regard; but allow me to warn you right now, the canon characters they'd focus mostly on are Sarah and Jimmy, and follow a 2nd person narration of you being an alternate version of Claire that joins them in either simple antics or learning self-improvement. Sure, it involves everyone else, too; but if not something you'd read for fun, I'd say read it to critique and tell me how to do better, so my original works can benefit from that improved sense of quality.

Personal Life:

Well, I've gotten back into Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and it's certainly a nice experience to relive. I recall abandoning it for a couple years, but I've decided on resuming that matter of escapism. I mean, it doesn't take up too much time, you can play at your own leisure... It's a nice little matter of relaxation, when you just want a small break from things and also don't want to get sucked into playing for longer than intended, having to "complete missions" and all that.

I've also gotten my mother into Invader Zim, and it's nice when your parent can share fondness for a beloved cartoon series. She really seemed to enjoy the Gir shirt I got her for Mother's Day: it uses Gir to convey different emotions, with them listed under each picture.

I'm hoping that dedicating each weekday to a certain muscle group, instead of working them all on both days of the weekend, will not only help me better build them up and tone them, but also allow for more time on weekends to further speed up creative work progress.

Misc.:

Since my tablet functions as a replacement monitor (I can only use my traditional monitor or tablet to display things), I've also taken to using it as a new "game device" with my Steam list. I feel like I do better in the likes of Pizza Tower and all that, with the closer screen and tilted angle. So, yeah, that's a pleasant, yet admittedly "unorthodox," use for a tablet screen!

[andmaybegayer]

I actually haven't used Fusion 360 until today. I've used Autodesk stuff before, mostly Inventor and AutoCAD, my brother's university taught in Inventor so it was also what I learned on (actually they (and I) started with SolidEdge, a modelling package with some redeeming features and some weird problems).

Autodesk stuff is nice. I love FreeCAD and it is better than some paid CAD packages but it was struggling with some mesh stuff so I wanted to give Fusion a shot.

(Turns out: no piece of software, even Fusion, likes patterning high-poly meshes 35 times. I may just model this part myself and go back to FreeCAD. If nothing else, duplicating work across CAD packages is a rare situation where work duplication is sometimes considered a worthwhile challenge.)

Fusion is decidedly nice. It's well thought out and professional but it is clearly redesigned to be quite different from traditional CAD, no massive toolbars stuffed with icons, instead here's a very Windows Ribbon toolbar with clear menus and a big, friendly, open viewport.

I've never been someone who can wrap their head around primitives based CAD, parametric sketching is what I'm here for and Autodesk has one of the better solvers in the business. SOLIDWORKS is good, and basically industry standard, and one day I will somehow live the dream and work with Siemens NX, but those things cost way more than I'm willing to pay for a personal license right now, let alone business licensing prices.

If you're used to SOLIDWORKS it may feel a little weird, but it's miles ahead of basically everything else in its accessibility tier. Their free availability to hobbyists and students was a good marketing ploy, plenty of manufacturing companies now pay for Autodesk licenses because their new engineers are familiar with it. Plus, much like with Siemens NX, Autodesk built a full manufacturing pipeline into their software, so you can go start to finish, design, assemble, simulate, manufacturing design, manufacture.

[smallhorizons]

Liz that's absolutely amazing :O I think you completely nailed it.. Have you ever considered doing commissions for your art? Because you're really talented. And with small photos like that, you could charge 7 - 15 dollars and make some money while you look for something more stable. I know bc it's your own work you don't think it's all that, but I'm telling you, IT IS

I do appreciate your comments, and it’s super reassuring and validating to read them! But I also have to point out that this rendition was roughly 8″x9″ and took probably 4ish hours to make. If I offered a watercolor that size for $7-15, I’d be making $1.75-$3.75 per hour of work. And even if I don’t think my art is all that good, making art for a third to a half of the US minimum wage is just absolutely ridiculous. The least I would feel comfortable offering my skills, whatever level they may be, for is $10/hr, making that painting worth at least $40. And I can’t imagine anybody on tumblr would be willing to pay me, an utterly unknown artist, $40 plus shipping for a watercolor of what is, to me, questionable quality. 

What I could offer for $10ish are pencil sketches like this, which took about an hour:

And the problem there, again, is: Who would be willing to pay an unknown artist on tumblr $10 + shipping for a pencil drawing of, again, questionable quality?

The only way for me to offer commissions in a way that would actually be worthwhile, considering both the time investment & the material investment of traditional media, would be to make them more expensive, and if I did so I essentially guarantee that nobody would be willing to commission me.

I don’t mean to make you feel bad, but it simply isn’t feasible or sustainable to offer commissions that amount to only a few dollars per hour =/