#so yknow. that id actually have a portfolio

[aidenwaites]

WELL,, going back to the escape room might be a bust

[plagueislost]

Hii, for the artist ask game: number 4 and 10 is something I'd love to know :3

i wrote A LOT for this ask, sorry! i wanted to do the questions justice, yknow how it is.

4. piece you wish got more love?

Ive found from experience that original art tends to not do very well on social media, which kind of makes me sad. It's not much of a problem for me (because most of the stuff i post is fanart anyways) but i can't help but think that part of the reason i rarely ever draw original pieces or make OCs is because of the lack of feedback i get on social media. I know tumblr is supposed to be the fandom website, and maybe id have a different experience on another site, but it is disappointing when i post something original that I'm very proud of and it barely manages to get more than 20 notes, whereas something i like less easily surpasses 100 just because of the tags i put on it. i think the most recent example of this is this piece, which admittedly did get quite a few notes for an original piece, but definitely would have gotten more had it been fanart of the same caliber. this is also not to blame anyone or make anyone feel bad about not reblogging original art (god knows im guilty of that too, and art piggybacking off the popularity of other works of art are of course gonna get more notes), its just something ive noticed from my time on social media.

10. how do you deal with artblock?

i dont get art block very often, but when i do, its ANNOYING. it mostly manifests in me having a bunch of motivation for a part of my process that i cant get to without doing the stuff i have no desire to do (does that make any sense?). like, ill have a strong urge to render an artwork, but no ongoing WIPs that are at that stage, meaning i would have to sketch and color and shade a whole new piece before i could satiate that urge, or do the steps out of order which could mess up the flow and end look of a project. when i get like this, i find its best to try and translate those desires into different activities and take a step away from art. for example:

if i want to sketch, but nothing comes out right digitally, ill find a scrap piece of paper and a crappy pen and make thumbnails until i cant think of any other iterations of the ideas in my head. if one of them turns out good, ill take a picture and transfer it into my software, but only go over it a day or so later so i can have fresh eyes.

if i want to color, but i have no sketches currently ready for coloring, ill go into my photo editing program, find some random old photos that i never edited, and post-process them until i get something im happy with.

if i want to shade, but have no colored artworks ready for that, ill usually do a study of a photo ive taken, because most of the time me shading is really me wanting to see how light and shadow interact in certain scenarios. i actually did a whole AP portfolio on that because i liked shading and lighting so much!

if i want to render, but ive got no pieces ready for rendering, i find its easiest just to find a tedious activity where i can be a perfectionist but also feel like im the smartest person in the world. this generally turns into me cooking some big meal because its constantly engaging but also not that difficult. i know its probably weird for it to not have anything to do with art but this is just what works best for me, and i get the bonus of a nice meal at the end of it!

if i get the more classic kind of art block where everything sucks and nothing i make is good, i find its best to go back to the media that inspires me to make art, and not worry too much about having made something by the end of it. generally the media that inspires me ends up, well, inspiring me, and i can remind myself that art is a voluntary practice that i do because its fun, not because i want something out of it. if it doesnt manage to inspire me, thats okay, i can just tell myself im taking a break and live life for a bit.

i hope that was helpful, and i really enjoyed answering these questions! if anyone else wants to ask a question, the artist ask game is here.

[rivertakis]

Huge rant, I guess a little vent-y? nothing heavy. just my frustrations with being an artist

My relationship with art is so complicated. Ive been drawing for.. 4 over for years now?

and being an artist is such a huge part of me, its the only job i feel like id actually love, but because of that, im stuck between wanting to do art for myself as i usually do and pursuing it in a professional sense and doing work to improve my portfolio

Like. if i wanna work as an artist i have to have a good portfolio and have something to show, right?? but it also makes me crave the freedom i had of making art for myself only

working on other peoples ideas isnt my ideal, but itd help my career in the long-term even if it sucks for me. I mean, I'm only 17 and shouldnt be thinking that way but also aaarhghh yknow?

i feel so stuck. this is a constant crisis i have and i wish someone would just bonk me with a comically large mallet to reshufle my brain so things would make sense for once

[asfdhgsdkjhgb]

i have 2 things on my hand an among us and a lipstick stain and i feel like that says a lot about me

[0ystercatcher]

In ur opinion what are ways to nail an interview? I've been stuck in the same job for too long simply because i have no confidence for the interview process. So like why waste their time yknow. It's one of my niggest personal flaws.

i thikn you. did an unfortunate typo sweet anon. but anyway

1. update your resume and add specific info on what you actually did not just yr official position description (they basically never fully match. if you did extra work or work above ur paygrade add it for sure. add volunteering work if you do it and its not sensitive info). i know thats not interview but people bring up stuff that wasnt in the resume often and its like ?!?!? if id read that id have put u on the shortlist way way faster.

2. at the interview just b chill. you dont need to be all outgoing or whatever, you just need to present yourself as you are, explain your work and skills and sound reasonably confident. again this doesnt mean "project a dif personality", just b prepared give full answers and mention some important details abt your work exp. if you have a portfolio or smth similar, mention it. you are literally the expert in your own work experience so feel entirely free to act like it. if you are especially proud of some stuff youve done you can point to it here and there, thats not a waste of time and you never know what will get the interviewer interested.

3. do not give one word answers, explain your answers ESPECIALLY when theyre abt work experience or skills. if you have niche skills or stuff thats only tangentially related to skills or place you work at, but its related to where youre applying to, bring it up. sometimes candidates casually mention stuff out of nowhere tht fits perfectly w what we want and everyones happy abt it. even if you dont do that, full answers give us room to respond and ask abt any details that got us interested. if you dont, we literally just dont have enough info abt you to make a decision.

4. this def varies from place to place but the early questions of "wht r ur goals or strengths or weaknesses" or stuff along those lines are usually like...freebies. the answers themselves dont matter that much as long as you dont say smth insane and can explain your answers well, so just prepare some (honest but strategic) answers beforehand for those and use them to build up some rapport w interviewers and confidence in urself.

5. lie strategically. dont make stuff up esp if you cant back it up somehow later, but feel free to exaggerate your own achievements or similar things.

6. do research please do research. a 5 min check of the website or socials of where youre applying to will give you all you need it really doesnt take a lot. if you can find a page dedicated to the area you applied to thats even better. itll help you feel more confident, makes you able to bring up some projects you read abt to pretend youre interested in and ask more in depth questions abt the job and area (which will likely benefit you as well).

7. ask questions. prepare some beforehand if you need to (abt pay rates, how the team/dpmt you are applying to work, how many ppl r in it, etc etc) but if some come up during the interview ask them too. it shows interest and also its just good for u.

8. its gay but listen and smile and nod. it worked for me and it works On me. monky brain jus like to see other smiley monky :-)

[haeroniel-doliet]

a bonus thought post for the night!!

on that nostalgia raising feelings train but it derails so it got long so its under a readmore :*

scrolling my old art made me a bit sad and nostalgic (who doesnt get those feelings though doing the same) specifically i really have my heart going out to kid me who got basically no notes on anything. (im not saying i shouldve, art was definitely kid art and questionably tagged etc!) but some i put effort into and it made me so happy to get those 10 likes or whatever. it made me post post and post even what i was working on and unfinished bits (Sure, being me? many of those never got finished bc posting gave the hit of reward chemicals, no response meant no motivation to finish to get more yknow?)

its weird thinking ive now as an adult got a handful of posts with -hundreds- of notes. one over a thousand!! (sure, the really good and popular artists may have thousands but hey they deserve it!!) its weird that i sort of maybe now know what to do to get a reaction out of my prefered niche of the internet. that if i tried w some more consistently, who knows?

im proud of everything in my current art tag. (mostly. no. i am proud shut up brain) i feel slightly like posting more wips. bc i have a ton. surprisingly? ive been drawing way more in the past year than ive been posting (new for me). of course, there is no obligation to post it. why post stuff im not happy with? only to get anxious abt it? sure posting that one teaser when i was actively working on making it better was kinda fun. sure maybe posting some wips would make me go back and finish them bc some of them are good ideas?? but also some are just. theyd make sense to nobody but myself. and why should i share every crevice of my creativity like i used to as an attention craving kid?

my blog is my blog its me, its not a nice art blog its got all my vents and whatever i like to reblog on a given day on it all together. i could make a new tag that feels less like a portfolio to post wips i abandoned or doodles that never went further. it might be nice having them out here. but somehow i feel like id be too embarassed to post them, for my few followers to actually see them. what if i actually tagged them and ppl in tags saw my nonsense doodles? is it worth it? right now my art tag feels like its: dinluke and finished at that ONLY. things that people who come on my blog would like to see perhaps...

hahahhahahha i just crashed my Krita trying to with brash abandon look at all the unposted wips i have at once

turns out i have like. a handful of original works that never got past a rough doodle stage which is fair yknow they were just ideas that could be fleshed out but dont need to. some of them are very personal vent art

ive got a few sketch to tiny doodle to questionable attempt at painting etc bits of the star wars ladies. reminds me that i should branch out in my star wars posting and that drawing women is just way easier and more natural to me why dont i do it more?

ive got a good few fic inspired sketches that never got legs and tbf? theyre olddd now.

ive got like 12 frames of the inktober challenge from last year... in the style of posting 5 at a time, theyve all been sketched out and like half are i think finished. obviously october went long and at some point it just felt weird to post them even if i finished them. i sort of decided if i finish them up early autumn i could get away w posting them for beginning of october while i had a try at the new inktober? idk why i like a challenge to force me to draw more than i do in a year. and then it takes me a year lol. i have a set of 5 that are all inspired by fic, and like. i still like the idea of them. unfortunately? some of the references were old..  A YEAR AGO. sure theres like, the appreciation for vintage and telling ppl we like their work ages on. but i worry the authors no longer are in the fandom or want to be reminded of their work? etc etc. some of them are meh, some i like.

ngl i am especailly happy w my oct 31 post, which i really wish id finished on time for last year. heres to seeing if i post it this year? maybe i’ll finish what i want to finish of them (theres like. 2 im just really not inspired for and never was) and then have a wee collage of them to post, w the oct 31 prompt seperate, as a sort of. hey wip clear out! these are the stragglers from last year :))

maybe ill post original art one day when i get drawn enough to finish one.

ok ok hi welcome indepth to my thought process, bonus thoughts for every thought included. this doesnt need to be on the internet SURE but its a small time capsule for myself ok?

i dont think right now making a doodle tag to post wips is gonna bring me anything but anxiety and feelings of inadequacy i know too well from posting art as a teen. maybe at some point itll help break the barrier and ill just. post shit but it doesnt have to be on my ““portfolio tag”“

i could pick up an wip to finish now, ive got a good few candidates. but i think i should best just, shake off the cobwebs on smth new so i dont feel like im ruining it. it might be a rey or a leia or other star wars heroine portrait. it might be grogu bc hes an already ugly gremlin. it might be something else. i might be talking a high load of shit bc its 3 am again and i should go sleep rather than push myself in delirium. odds are tomorrow im exhausted again, feel like i should do things that actually benefit me in my life and address responsibilites, and shut down under the weight of the thought of it and not do anything until i go crazy at night again? time will tell but rn im stuck in that loop.

perhaps i should never have posted this bc its very long and personal but also? i kinda doubt anyone will read it and thats ok :)) if you are here, hi sorry that you know me better now! uhhh thoughts on the above?

[lost-highwayy]

first off, completely agree!! aw thank you🥰, an no prob! im always trying to get more people into that series lol

thank you!! hoping it'll be a good one. getting a covid booster so im hoping i won't have a bad reaction. i love playing jeremy, cherry pie, hell is for children, and interstate love song the most, and i need to fix up gypsy road(some of the tab was wrong, and i keep forgetting to releaen it), but im learning hallowed be thy name and damn that one's hard! like, im fine with the speed, but the rest is like 'ok gonna try this and then spend x amount of time trying to get it right' yknow?

my mom and i have our nutcracker tradition, and we dress all fancy for that, but my favorite is to drive around on christmas eve and look at the lights!! we have a couple houses that are completely COVERED, and some even sync up with the radio (it's crazy how much time people put into that, but it pays off)! haha yeah, definitely hoping! it was close to 70 today so maybe the rest of the month will be better.

i love to draw wolves(and other animals ig), and rockstars, but like. i struggle with realism, so it's all cartoonish. id love to draw you something when you're able to know who i am!

i hope you and your family are able to celebrate together this year!!

ooh that's cool! had no clue rob halford had a christmas album, i should check that out! aw dude that podcast sounds fun!! that's awesome you got to do it for your university!

do i have any dreams about my profession(im guessing that's what you meant?) sometimes, yeah. i can see myself having fun with a band, or making it in the art world. id love to make those a reality, but ive gotta have more confidence in my own playing, and work on my portfolio as well.

what's your favorite way to spend a snow day? or a rainy day?

- 🎁

Oh, I hope your covid booster goes well and there won't be a bad reaction!

Oh you love to play such cool songs! I'm sure that sounds amazing. and I understand that it can be difficult to learn something and you have to spend a lot of time, but when you succeed, you will feel the joy of what you were able to overcome and you managed to play it!

wow! these are very interesting traditions! it seems to me that this is very cool and there is a sense of celebration.

I'm sure your drawings are incredible! and thank you! I hope that this year everything will work out and our family will have a real Christmas :)

Yeah, I didn't know Rob Halford had a Christmas album either haha. he recorded it with his family, so it feels like a special atmosphere. btw, what are your favorite Christmas songs? and thank you! On Friday I will have the main lesson at the end of the semester and I will find out if my teacher appreciated such a podcast. I hope so, because he has a great taste in music.

wow! these are such wonderful dreams! I believe that you will definitely succeed because it seems to me that you are very talented. Maybe it will cheer you up, one of my favorite artists - Chris Rea learned to play guitar only at the age of 23 and achieved popularity! therefore, I believe that everyone can definitely fulfill their dream.

On a snowy day, I like to walk down the street a lot and take photos and then come home and cook hot chocolate :) On a rainy day, I dream that the rain will end as soon as possible and watch movies. what about you? btw, do you have pets? and if you don't mind I have a few questions about music (actually I have too many of them haha I'm interested in analyzing people's interests) do you have a top 5 favorite albums? if you could talk to any musician, who would it be?

[ampersandra]

i need to finish a whole ass mini-documentary before duke's film portfolio submissions closes at midnight bc im 99% sure that's why i havent heard a single thing back from them about my application. i indicated when i submitted the common app that id add a portfolio so i guess it's just not considered done till i add one? which SUCKS bc now im totes gonna blow any chance of getting in, bc theyll see my portfolio & go "she waited to the last minute... to turn in this?" they only allow video submissions for the film portfolio, unlike basically every other college with a film portfolio option, bc usually they let you submit art and like, screenplays. but no only video so i have like,,, 2 things i can submit (out of 5 allowed) but both are Extremely Invalid for various reasons...

i have a shitty clown horror short film some upperclassmen made last year that i was a production assistant for, but im still a little salty that im credited as "production assistant" with like 5 other people, who all had jobs that were not production assistant or, it seemed, no job bc all they did was hang out all night both times we shot and i did like, a lot of extra work. i think they did more pre-production prep work than production work, but still... they just kinda chilled in a computer room with a bunch of fake blood and equipment talking the entire time. in general, those two nights make a very interesting, but an entirely separate story that involves filming in a creepy elementary/middle private christian school till 5am two friday nights in a row and me making a prosthetic neck piece for special effects armed with a youtube video and no previous prosthetic-making-knowledge. outside of that, i know i only worked on the film during filming, but like, cmon. i did a special effects job pretty damn well with little warning, i worked with the director on light and sound placement in multiple scenes, im 99% sure i suggested edits to the script that actually got used when we were first filming, i showed a bunch of people older than me how to make coffee when they ran out of monster and red bull, and i totally handled talking friendly-like to a bunch of bigoted, privileged teenagers with good film equipment extremely well for someone who wanted to kill them all at least 50% of the time when she was really just there to get more experience working on films!

unfortunately, im not credited for any of those jobs in the description, only production assistant, and, at least for the last two, some wouldn’t really count for a portfolio, even if they do require skill.

the second thing im working on is a short documentary on the 2017 stonewall columbus pride festival, bc i was there last june even tho i dont live in ohio. i have all my shots and i interviewed like over 40 people, but im iffy about using people i talked to that were under 18 and definitely not using the people under 16. also, i mostly shot film hoping i could come up with a coherent story/theme for a portfolio work later on and now that “later on” is “when i have less than an hour before portfolio submission closes”. i also got a TON of shots from the parade and im not entirely sure how im gonna use those now. another thing is that i defs dont have time to record a voiceover, so im making use of a BUNCH of creative commons licensed music and putting in shots between interview clips that are just words to explain things and pull it together a little bit. i asked some good questions at least and i have a bunch of good interview shots!! but like, ive only made an intro and a part with peoples ages, so i dont have any of the real, yknow, meat of the film. GUESS ILL DIE