#sometimes it takes a meme to help break the art block

[sunnyaliceart]

Which one's your favorite?

[foxglovepng]

Random Headcannons 3 🌼🥀

Requested: naw

Characters: Scarabia + Pomefiore

A/N: I'm getting back into the writing mood yay I'll probably take requests in the future because I am slowly getting over writer's block. I looked up a word in Arabic and if the word is incorrectly translated incorrectly feel free to correct me.

If you liked reblogs and likes are appreciative <3

Kalim

Knock knock who's there? Autism br br br where the hoes at? not here

I love my Autistic headcanon for Kalim. I also saw a headcanon he has ADHD too. (I forgot the word for ADHD and Autism combined help)

When he's unmedicated Jamil is that one meme of Shinji his stress levels are high. He's practically lived with Kalim so he knows he can get hyper although he pushes through it being used to it.

I headcanon Kalim has sensory issues that mainly have to do with touch. (Mine are sound and taste :skull:)

Since he likes parties and is extremely sociable I feel like sometimes he can get overwhelmed he chills in his sensory swing. I also feel like since he plays the drums he does have backup headphones on hand in case it's too loud.

Jamil tends to calm him down with essential oils (Don't ask me what kind he likes I only know Rosemary, and Cherry blossom)

Jamil

Jamil drop the hair routine or I'll break your ankles Sangwoo style so you can't dance anymore. I will even report your music-listening account so you are no longer allowed to play hip hop DROP THE ROUTINE RN JAMIL

This is my no 2 pookie bear I love him sm ANYWAYS

I feel like in his alone time Jamil has his own hobbies he hides from Kalim and will go above and beyond just to have them to himself. One of those I feel like is reading romance books (Not the feral ones booktok gooners read) romance is one of the genres he reads I feel like he also reads fantasy. (He has read Pride and Prejudice)

He'd probably also go to art conventions on his spare time. He has a sketchbook and draws on occasion (I think he draws similar to Hyunjin's style)

Him and Kalim speak Arabic and English although I feel like when Jamil wants to cuss someone out or insult someone he will bring the Arabic out.

*Ace messes up a play*

Ace: so um great play

Jamil: اهبل (Google says this means stupid/idiot)

Ace: HUH?

Vil

*Throws my genderqueer headcannon at you Eminem style*

Gender queer Icon Vil.

If I am correct he is referred to as Queen by Rook?? so I believe Vil doesn't really care for pronouns and just simply exists. So Vil would use any pronouns interchangeably.

Also random headcannon but Vil's father is like..famous right? So I feel like he gets insulted and called a Nepo baby.

Peep Epel and Vil get into a fight and Epel calls him a Nepo baby. Oh all hell is breaking loose.

(I also headcannon he'd make an appearance in Eurovision)

Rook

I need Frenchie to become a slur so I can shout FRENCHIE at Rook 24/7

This man either has a really good memory or a diary in which he keeps info of students. (Their height, weight, UM, etc) its freaky ngl. AND NOT A GOOD FREAKY WAY.

I saw some art of him and Floyd in the bathroom and he was peeking over the urinal. BRO KEEP YA EYES ON YA JUNK.

I can imagine certain NRC students have a group chat dedicated to slandering Rook.

He probably knows about it :Skull:

Epel

Guys this my son <3

I am a firm believer he is an Amish hater.

"I hate the way you talk the way you walk" ahh beat.

From a farmer's perspective I don't think he's 100% vegan, but if you bribe him with bbq he will start foaming at the mouth.

Bro probably listens to Dixon Dallas good looking-

He's also a Dolly Parton and Carrie Underwood fan.

I feel like with people he's close with especially the first years he lets his country accent loose and it will get even looser if someone (or Yuu) has a country accent as well. The rest of the first years will be like "They are speaking in tongues"

[solradguy]

How do i find the motivation to practice art? I have so many shitposts that’ll never come to fruition because my skills plateaued ):

No one else is going to draw my ideas and I'm too broke to pay someone else to do it for me. For better or worse, I seem to approach a lot of things from a "gotta do everything myself around here" angle haha

Honestly—and I won't lie to you—doing art studies is a real pain in the ass, I hate doing them. I never do them unless I've got major art block, and even then I still hate doing them, but it's like taking medicine and I know doing them will make me better. Every art teacher I've ever had's grilled me about this, "solradguy, you need to do 15 studies before the end of the week to get a full grade this quarter." Blah blah blah.

I guess for some people doing studies could be fun, not having to think about pose or composition, whatever, just putting lines down on paper and focus on your reference. One time, when I was still in college, I had to do a certain amount of studies in charcoal so I booted up Red Dead Redemption and drew landscapes or objects from it that I kinda liked. It was enough. I told my professor it was from my grandma's farm hehe

Art memes can be a good way to practice too, especially those ones about drawing in different styles or drawing a character in different outfits. They combine fun with tricking you into drawing things you might not normally draw. Emulating different art styles is the only art study method that doesn't make me want to fall asleep. Don't forget they're just art games though, and especially don't forget:

👉If You Already Feel Burnt Out Don't Feel Compelled To Complete Every Art Meme You Start👈

As you get better at art, you start noticing improvements less and less because they become more subtle. When you're really new to art, figuring out stuff like basic anatomy or shading is REALLY obvious because they're foundational parts of art. Hang on to your really old stuff and look at it every now and then and I guarantee you'll have improved way more than you thought you had.

I get the impression you've probably been at art for a while now, and I don't want to come across as patronizing, but sometimes refreshing the basics can help overcome a plateau too. Drawabox is usually what I recommend to people just getting into art, I really like their approach. Here's a link to their introduction lesson: drawabox.com/lesson/0 And here's one that skips to the actual art stuff: drawabox.com/lesson/1

While it's probably beneficial to actually do the exercises in the lessons, just skimming through reading them can be good too.

Something I've noticed a lot of my artists friends (and artists online) do is try to make every single drawing a finished piece, and I'm like "damn, no wonder art feels like such a chore." My sketchbook is 99% scribbles done in pen:

I use Pentel RSVP fine point ballpoint pens so if I make a mistake I'm forced to deal with it. Doing these rough sketches before starting a bigger piece is something I recommend with my entire heart. Just get a pack of shitty $0.99 pens and doodle like it's high school math class. I like the cheap pens because you can get faint lines drawing lightly and can coax them into darker lines with a bit more pressure (and if you lose/break one it's no big deal).

The best way to get better at art is to keep putting lines on paper. Even if it's just silly pen doodles, you're still improving coordination/pen control, improving construction of basic shapes, exploring concepts, and thinking about art, which will lead to more new ideas and further inspiration.

Sorry this is long and meandering haha Hopefully something here helps at least a tiny bit.

[reactivatedrockstar]

Rules

I am on mobile, so my tags are very minimal.

Do not reblog threads you are not apart of. This also applies to my headcanons, but I'm confident that the only people who reblog those are ppl who find it and don't realize this is an RP blog.

I'm lenient about this, but do not reblog art or memes from here, as it clogs up my feed.

Don't poop on the floor

I am oc friendly. However, if you don't have a rules or about for your blog, I'm probably not going to interact.

You never know what you're going to get with me. You may get a multipara starter/reply, you may get a few sentences. I don't expect you to match my length, especially if I've written a behemoth of a starter... but I do ask that you try to match my effort. If I'm writing a huge reply and you respond with something that doesn't match the setting or context, (and do this consistently,) I'm more than likely doing to drop threads, and if this keeps happening, I'll just soft block you. Yes I do this for fun, but I put abouts and rules and everything you need to know for a reason, and if you can't be bothered to put in the effort to read it, or properly read my responses, then don't even bother. This sounds mean, but this is incredibly frustrating and a bit insulting and that's not what I want for a hobby.

Don't always try to fix a conflict immediately? Especially if this is a common theme of the blog. Bonnie is broken and he is not being repaired. The techs who say that pieces have been ordered and are en route are lying to him. Do not take this away, or the thread will be dropped. There is a huge difference between talking to those techs and confronting them about it and saying "Oh your parts came in five-ever ago lets go get you fixed!" Comfort him, reassure him, validate him, find temporary solutions for him: but don't fix him. I like tension sometimes, so don't take away a threat or conflict within the first three replies if you can help it! There is a story here that I am trying to tell, but if you take away the main conflict, it doesn't work.

Due to a lack of interest across my FNaF blogs, asks and threads are now put into my queue and will take a few days to get to it. Every morning I put ten posts into my queue, except on Fridays, where I do thirty. If you reply to me on Saturday, it may not post a response until Monday or Wednesday, depending on on which blog it's on. I'm no longer giving threads a priority in my queue, they just get put in.

I am a mobile user. My brother did give me his laptop, but at the end of my work day, I'm usually out of spoons to write unless a thread has me in a choke hold. Maybe once in a while, I'll pop onto my laptop to fine-tune posts like this, but it's hard, if not impossible for me to use the site to its full extent on the normal. As such, icons will not be used and trimming posts will not be done the way I like.

Trimming posts are a strange area. I have adhd and autism, so the best way for a thread to be trimmed is with the last response still attached. This way I can remember what's going on in the thread, which will lead to an overall better rp experience. If posts don't get trimmed, I'll just have to make the reply and hit that big red X button that deletes everything before my response, so take that as a warning.

RESPECT MY FUCKING BOUNDARIES. I've had some issues with one individual who sucked me into this Fandom, they refused to take no for an answer, and forced me to rp an incest ship. This has scared me away from the rpc for years. If I say no, it does not mean "convince me," it means no. I have a three strikes your out policy.

Due to this experience, I'm in a very weird place with ships, I currently don't ship Bonnie and I go back and forth as to whether or not I will in the future. You are free to talk about ships with me, but you must must MUST communicate with me!! Even if we have a ship, please communicate with me if you want to change something or break them up, please don't just end it without warning or talking to me first. I'll never force you to ship a ship you don't want, but if you don't warn me first, I will think that you want Bonnie to try and save I do not automatically have fronnie as a canon ship. I do not automatically ship them- but I do, personally believe they are Canon, just not here. They are best friends. Is there room for something more? TALK TO ME and find out. It depends on the chemistry between our characters. This is true for ALL ships, but it applies the strictest to Fronnie. I am a shipping whore, I really am, and as long as it's with another animatronic, (and that animatronic isn't supposed to be or looks like a child,) I will most likely be open to it!

I have a full-time job as a daycare teacher. I am not always online. Do not pester me for replies.

I like to talk in the DMs!! Please don't think that this is a passive aggressive attempt to get you to reply, as eager as I get, this is a hobby, and I will not rush you intentionally!! Please tell me politely if I make you feel rushed or don't want to talk via dms. (I personally just think that writing is more fun when you know your partners.) That being said, I do not want you feeling like you are responsible for my personal feelings, and vice versa. You are allowed to say no, I am allowed to say no. If you try and guilt trip me, that will count against your three strikes. (And I will warn you dw.)

In addition to this, if you do NOT like communicating via dms, please tell me, and I will stop. If you just ignore me or ghost me, I'm either going to continue to try and reach out, thinking you forgot or didn't get notified, or I'll become intimidated, and think I did something wrong. We're all adults here, we can use our words. You don't have to follow me if you don't want to interact.

I have kept up with the lore moderately well, but if I don't know something, or have forgotten something, do not bully me. I have zero tolerance for it. You respect me, and I respect you.

From now on, this blog is run from a separate blog as well as this one in an attempt to distance myself from my toxic ex-friend. Since tumblr thinks this blog is now run from two separate blogs, DMs will not be able to be used from here any more, therefore, all DMs will have to be sent to @twoiesfnafocs. If there is some sort of emergency, and you need to contact me quickly for any reason, you will have to send an ask, even just sending in "hey can you log in, I need to talk to you asap," I will.

If you want to let me know you've read these, go ahead and like it, but it's not required, I use an honor system anyway.

[pookapufferfish]

Going out on a limb here off anon like some idiot stupid person. You don't have to reply if you don't want to. Feel free to block if I'm overstepping my bounds as a non-mutual.

Here's a complementary fish

I just. think you're basing way too much of your self worth off of social media numbers. Idk.. You likely already know this.. It's messing you up. It's worrying to see. I don't even know you more personally than occadionally seeing your posts on my dash.

People just naturally prefer canon characters over people's OCs to the point that it's become a meme. You're not "uniquely awful". People 'responding' more to your Rivulet art doesn't make it inherently better than all your other art. These are all reassurances. I don't doubt your friends already say all this in more familiar words.

I don't think it helps much on it's own, yk? Mental illness has a habit of completely ignoring logic in favor of feelings. There's only so much one can do to combat it with reassurances? You may need a break. You need a change in mindset. Your queue doesn't have to be filled to the brim 24/7 if it causes you anxiety. Your art doesn't have to exist solely for everyone to praise it. The way mental illness saps your energy can isolate you, and it doesn't mean your friends don't *want* to include you in activities, just that people eventually start assuming you'll say no. You're going to burn out if you continue this way :(

Take care

I understand what you are saying and how you are trying to help me. But you are getting some things wrong. and that is understandable, I try not to say much. I have a bad habit of bottling stuff up until I break.

I don't really care about social media numbers much, I just wanna be remembered. and seeing people talk about how much they love the designs or artworks of other artists while just liking or silently reblogging with no comment on my stuff is really demotivating. I just need a "this is really cool!" sometimes

I know people don't care much about ocs. the thing is 90% of my art is canon characters, it's just that riv is the favourite. I can do a 5 second doodle of riv and get 100 notes in an hour all screaming they love it, but a more fun and well done artwork of nightcat gets maybe 60 in a week, no words said about anything. my art of gourm or inv or anybody else also gets ignored unless riv is right next to them.

I know that I am not uniquely awful. I know that very well. I help all my friends with their issues too. a lot of them have it a lot worse. I have a good life, I know that.

Also I don't mind that my friends don't invite me to things. I can't join a lot of the times because of timezones. but they aren't even talking to each other or our group anymore. I feel abandoned by them after helping them, I wouldn't be suprised if there is a whole new server that excludes me. They did it before.

They interact with each other on tumblr and do silly jokes I can't understand. and they comment and reblog each others art but not mine. I just feel like an npc of a friend they only talk to when feeling bad. and then they go to each other for the fun times. I just want a text convo sometimes or something

Also my queue stuff doesn't stress me out. My queue being full is just a bit I like to joke about. it also feels nice because I feel like I won't be forgotten if I keep my queue full

[hasarjunadoneanythingwrong]

I like your blog and I've thinking of making a fanblog of a fgo character and wondered of you had any tips?

Hmmm ok let me ruminate

Dont theme it around a specific character unless you know very well you’re going to be obsessing over them daily for the next year or so. If you aren’t sure your fav character is one you fixate on enough to be posting daily about but you still want to name it for them you can always theme it after them but still post about others anyway. This also helps reduce running out of things to talk about

Not every post you make is going to be a hit. Learn to make the posts YOU want to make, and not what you think others will enjoy/will be popular, and you’ll find you feel less resentment if something you worked hard on doesn’t get tons of attention

Consistent posting is your friend if you want to build a strong base. It doesn’t always have to be good, or even daily! (Although I recommend reblogging stuff daily) This is mainly related to getting others to interact back with you-more people are liable to realize you’re an actual person and want to talk to you, send you asks, or comment on your posts if you’re active.

Making anything is better than making nothing. Some of my favorite posts are just silly text post edits or drawing over ‘cursed’ images that I did back when I didn’t have a good tablet. Some of my most popular posts are memes that took about 5 minutes to make! It doesn’t always have to be serious or ‘well done’ by your standards as long as you enjoy it.

Interact with other blogs. Reblog from them, put nice things about their own art or commentary on posts in the tags, send them asks if they’re a character based blog that wants that sort of thing. I’m less good with this tbh (shy) but it’s nice to have other people’s stuff on your blog as well, and nice to let them know if you enjoy their work!

Try not to take things personally. Part of being a focused fandom blog, especially oriented around loving a specific character, means that sometimes people won’t agree with your opinions or they’ll find you annoying. This can be hard to deal with, but generally speaking it isn’t personal and the nice people who are more than happy to join you in appreciating them will outweigh any stress. That being said, don’t be afraid to block people yourself.

Manage your time. This is an important one! Basically, don’t go so hard on focusing on your blog that you then burn out and can’t think of anything for 3 months. This is a bit hard to manage but the basic gist of it is to take frequent breaks and don’t feel bad about doing so (esp if you’re like me and make large quantities of art or something similar)

Get inspired! A lot of what I make isn’t just comics or drawings, but memes and edits that I saw years ago I edited to relate back to my interest. Look around for things that you found funny or interesting and see if any remind you of your fav. Just make sure to note in the tags or description if you were inspired by an artist’s actual comic instead of a more generic meme.

That’s all I have atm, I hope it helps ^v^

[carpisuns]

For the artist meme -- 20 and 6! 🎨 if you like xx

20. how often do you get art block?

all the time 🥰 it's like clockwork lol sometimes i get sooo frustrated and cranky bc i hate all my art and i'm like "woe is me!! i've lost all my skills!! i'll never draw again!!" and then i'm like wait . i know what's happening here. i just gotta wait it out I'll be fine lol. it's nice that i also write bc then i can switch to writing for a while until the art block clears up 👍 i've found it's best for me to just take a break from drawing for a bit and not try to force it so my brain can like reset itself

6. tag your favorite artists/inspirations!

oh man there are so many!!!! i could name like 100 people lol but i'm gonna limit myself to the ones i think have had the most direct influence on my art style. hope u guys don't mind the tags<3

@ileniagennari was one of the first artists i latched onto stylewise. i used to study their work a lot because i am obsessed with the fluidity and softness of their linework and i just really like how they draw faces and bodies. their rendering is also amazing and feels sort of cinematic somehow? i've always wished my art could have a similar feel!

@anna-scribbles has also been a huge style influence for me and she's just also been a big inspiration in general as a close friend<3 i ADORE her work and have studied it specifically a ton. she draws the most blorby blorbos ever. blorbyness is her art trademark imo. and i want that for me too so i tried to steal it. i also think just sheer proximity to her and her art has made me pick up a lot of things from her automatically haha. in particular, i feel like the way she draws smiles is so perfect, and i always try to channel her when i draw smiles myself haha

@ladybeug inspires me so much and has taught me really valuable art skills! a while ago i came to a point in my art journey when i felt just really stuck and frustrated. like i could not for the life of me just DOODLE. i took everything too seriously, even if it was supposed to be simple and silly. i really needed to learn how to loosen up and enjoy drawing more. stephanie is like the most esteemed and delightful doodler i know so i came to her for advice and she DELIVERED. she gave me super helpful tips and invited me to make daily comics with her and it's been lifechanging! it's helped me focus on communication over perfection and feel more confident in my art, which i think had a visible difference in my style too. i learn SO much from just regularly enjoying stephanie's work, including her webcomic @datmcomic!!

@rileyclaw is a good buddy of mine and his work is so hugely inspiring to me! it's really educational to see his wips and learn from his process. and since he's an incredible animator as well as an illustrator, enjoying his work is part of what inspired me to finally take a leap and make my first animatic. i really love how he pushes/exaggerates body and facial expression to communicate emotion and how he makes such careful choices about comp and color and just Everything to tell a whole story with every piece of his art. i've learned a lot from riley on the storytelling aspects of art and that's something i continue to try to build on!

@knockknockknockingonhootysdoor's art is like an instant and intense shot of dopamine to my brain every time!!! i cant even tell you how HAPPY it makes me. i just stare at it and eat it all up and i'm always asking myself HOW does he do it?? how does he make me feel this way. and i think it's just like....how genuine it is?? i can just feel kryan's love for the story and characters in the way he draws and im not sure that is a stealable quality lol. but in particular something i really admire about his art is how SHAPE it is. i love how he builds each character with different shapes and how each design feels so unique and so fitting for them. i am trying to incorporate that more into my own art!

man i already have rambled so much and there are so many other artists i could go on and on about alskjdfjkla ok just real quick i have to shout out @picayunearts bc i intensely enjoy her work in both the ml and toh fandoms and her coloring and use of light and gradient always stands out to me so i kinda try to channel that sometimes! @smallpapers is another fav and i love how soft and simple her art feels! it's always inspiring to me. @raystel's work also inspires me a lot, whether it's fanwork or original stuff. she is so creative with character design and seeing the way she expresses her ideas in art is so cool!

and i would be remiss if i didn't shout out my sister @mozzys-studio who is the first person i came to when i wanted to learn how to draw and she taught me a lot! her art is beautiful<3

thanks for the questions! :D

artist asks

[yandere-kokeshi]

Yandere Katsuki with an gn artistic darling

Request(ed?): Yes! - Hi!! Can I request katsuki with his darling who is artistic in drawing? Love your work :)))) — requested by 🖤 anon.

Warnings: Cursing(?) And possessiveness.

Authors Note: Sorry if this is shorter than my other headcanons, I wrote this on my phone while eating dinner, so excuse me if there is any mistakes! This was super duper fun to write!!!!!

Unbelievably the most possessive over your art; hanging them up in the hallways and taking them to work to show off how damn awesome your art is.

He will never, ever get rid of your drawings; no matter how 'bad' or 'meme-like' they are. Some of them that are the most important to him, are kept in a small box under the bed you two share.

Katsuki will try to give you ideas whenever you have artist block, whether implying to draw him, an animal, or something detailed; he's all up for it and is more than willing to try to help.

Katsuki is super supportive of your artistic ways; seeing that it makes you extremely happy and content. Whenever he sees your eyes light up or hands moving to express the way of your mind in detailed words, he can't help but smile, letting you rant on and on about your ideas. He especially loves the way your face shines whenever he comes home with new drawing supplies or a sketchbook that was very much needed.

He buys the most expensive supplies for you, never knowing which one is the best so he tends to have (6) six or more bags of art supplies, maybe some limited edition pencils (of him).

At some point, he has tried asking you to help him draw or at least teach him but because of how impatient he is: he ended up breaking the pencil(s). So, he usually leaves it up to you, though, he always observes from beside you.

Katsuki is a man of steel, rarely does he cry or get emotional; but, when you decide to draw something for him, there's a moment of comforting silence between you two. He will open his mouth a couple of times before grasping you into a bear hug, kissing your head while he mumbles along the lines of a small 'thank you, I appreciate you so much.'

Whenever he comes home from a long day, he will go through your sketches (with your consent) and just take in your art styles and detailed work; completely at the loss of words. This goes along the lines of him asking you to show him your work, being so in touch with your work.

When you and he are hanging out together, whether cuddling in the living room or bedroom, sometimes he will watch you draw in your sketchbook, noticing the small details on your face: your tongue sticking out, hands gripping the pencil, eyebrows tweaking from time to time, and the extreme focus on the art. Even now, you look so pretty.

If you ever decide to draw nude bodies, whether for research on the anatomy or just for fun, he's gonna certainly gonna suggest using him as a portrait, going along the lines of saying: "I can pose for you, why look at those 'boring people'."

—

Masterlist | Requests are open! (8/7/2022)

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ©yandere-kokeshi

Do not plagiarize, repost, modify, translate or copy my work.

[shirecorn]

how about 17 and 24? what inspires you and how do you deal with art block?

Long post warning.

Art block...

I don't actually get art block, which is probably a combination of neurodivergence and drawing every day for the last 3 years

I wrote an entire tutorial about how to do that, but didn't feel like illustrating it. Would people want to read it even without visuals?

Maybe... I'll just start rambling.

There's a couple different types of art block, and it's really just a philosophy puzzle to get past them. I'm going to assume that the things I think of slow days, or art mud, is a milder form of art block and work through that.

Art block is a symptom, not a disease. You probably have something deep inside that you don't want to face, or don't know how. Sometimes you need to discover the cause, sometimes just power through.

Method 1: Rest

Let yourself just Exist. The act of consuming art is part of the process. Watching shows and playing games, taking a break and going gardening or focus on school. This is what you need for burnout-induced art block.

Method 2: Action

I always choose action, sometimes it means a tiny 2 min sketch per day. Ugly or super simplified. As long as I don't stop moving.

Toss everything. Start every piece thinking you will throw it away.

The act of drawing moves you forward; pinning it to the fridge does not. Don't work things until they are perfect. Work them until they are there.

Art block causes and solutions:

- No Inspiration

Not sure what to draw, nothing seems appealing. Art won't come out like it used to.

Do studies from life or photos. Sketch, paint, digital, traditional, doesn't matter. Rocks, fruit, figure drawing, landscapes, buildings, anything.

Study and copy professional's work. Old masters are best, like rubens, michalangelo (only his men tho) etc because they will teach you anatomy while you work. If you copy someone with a lot of flaws, you will repeat those flaws.

Trace to learn, not to earn. Trace photography and art from anyone you want. Don't post it unless you have the artist's permission or they are dead, whichever comes first. This is strictly work for yourself, on yourself. It's not about the finished drawing.

Find an artist with a fun style and try converting stuff into their style. Don't make that your new style though and especially don't start selling it. Your style is a chimera of everyone you love, not a clone of one person.

Take blurry photos. You don't need a fancy camera or good skills or beautiful subjects. Doing studies from your own photos can spark life into your workflow.

Make challenges for yourself. Randomly generate things to combine. Try fusing characters! Don't try to make it look good, just be fun.

Doodle patterns, swirls, lines, random stuff. Try looking up art warmups and doing some of those.

- Everything Sucks

You finally see how bad you are. Or somehow you got worse. Every piece is a fight and you spend hours trying to get something right only for it to be stiff and disgusting and STILL wrong.

Why are you trying to draw good? It's enough just to draw.

Accept that your art is bad. Every artist can see flaws in their work. Your problem is that those flaws outweigh anything remotely worthwhile and hurt to look at.

So what? You're in a period of growth, not a period of production. Keep that wonky second eye. Let them have hot dog fingers.

Show everyone! Show no one! No piece of art can ever be a reflection of the artist. Not their worth, not their skill. The only thing your art says about you is "Held and moved a pen for a bit."

Make bad art. It's ok. Most of the time, the pressure to perform and get things Right is what made them wrong in the first place. Relax.

- No Motivation

The #1 killer of artists everywhere. On some level you think you should draw, on every other level you think you should stay in bed.

You are not lazy. You wouldn't have read this far in a post about art block if you were lazy. You wouldn't CALL it art block if you were lazy. Laziness is wishing you didn't have to do anything. A block is wishing you were doing something. If you think you can namecall Yourself into productivity again, you're wrong and You need to unionize so that you don't treat You like that anymore.

Consider Mental Illness. Losing interest in something that brought you joy can be a symptom of depression. I know it seems obvious, but if you're waiting for a sign that it's "bad enough," it's bad enough. Seek care if you have the means. Forgive yourself if you already know this.

Selfcare. Examine yourself for neglect. Nutrition, exercise, enrichment, social need, and sleep are all part of the art process. Eat three meals and sleep 8 hours. That's your gaymer fuel. You deserve it, I promise. Depriving yourself of your needs will make your blocks worse, not kick you into making them better.

Identify potholes. Sketchbook falling apart? Tablet cord frayed? Half your pencils missing? Chair uncomfortable? Desk hard to reach? There's a lot of things that you tell yourself to work around and get over. Just because you CAN workaround something, doesn't mean you SHOULD. A difficult work environment can cause secret dread deep inside that you don't recognize and just think you're lazy. What you think of as "no motivation" might actually be "I don't want to deal with my tablet disconnecting every time I move it wrong and I have to wiggle it for a few seconds to make it work again." These little things are like potholes in the road. Sure you CAN still drive through them, but eventually you're going to look up and realize you haven't voluntarily left the house in weeks.

Repair potholes and roadblocks. You might feel bad about buying a new pencil, headphones, tablet, car, etc because technically the old one works if you hustle. But if you're running into so many potholes you've ground to a halt, it doesn't Actually work anymore, does it? Invest, save up, request, and require working equipment and suitable conditions. This stuff isn't just cushy privilege, it's an investment in yourself and your art. You are worth the effort it takes to clear the way. If you can't afford reliable (reliable! not perfect or luxurious) equipment, then say it. If cardboard is all you can afford, draw on cardboard. But know that you deserve canvas, and one day you might be able to make the jump. Acknowledge that sometimes, if you don't have it in you to smear burned twigs on wet cardboard, the problem isn't motivation, but opportunity.

- Haven't Drawn in So Long

A unique type of art block that self perpetuates. The thought of starting again is so stressful you can't do it. Or maybe you'll do it tomorrow. Yeah. Tomorrow for sure.

Face your fears. Are you ashamed of your lack of drawing? Are you anthropomorphizing your paper and thinking it's going to judge you, like "oh NOW you come back >:/" I internalize voices I hear and project them onto other people, concepts, locations, and inanimate objects. Your paper, computer, WIPs folder.... none of that is judging you.

Reframe your WIPs. Do you feel shame when you see "unfinished" projects? Why? Who says you MUST bring everything you start to Finish? You don't have to. A sketch is a finished art piece; it's called a sketch! If a sketch is a fully realized creation, pages that are half colored, 75% lined, or partially rendered are all fully realized creations too. Unless paid otherwise, art is done when you're done working on it.

Lower the stakes. Draw a chibi or grab some crayons. Get messy and slowly ease yourself back into the flow over the course of a couple days. It's fine.

Get a buddy! Find an art meme, do an art trade, get a study subject, or just wing it. Drawing art alongside someone can help you get past that block.

Pretend you never stopped. Don't think about the gap, how long it's been, or rustiness. As far as anyone knows, you drew the mona lisa yesterday and didn't break a sweat. Today, you drew a starfish on your hand with a gel pen. Keep up that streak, good job!

Just keep drawing. Make a goal to do one sucky drawing per day on the back of a napkin. Don't make up for missed days, just pretend they didn't happen. Who's going to judge you? The calendar? That's pieces of paper; it doesn't have an opinion. Draw a cat on it. Done. Keeping up the momentum is a great way to prevent art blocks in the future.

TLDR: Draw imperfectly and toss it. Selfcare is king. Draw often and don't judge yourself.

Art is a process, not a product.

[rlyehtaxidermist]

arknights thoughts for new players: lord guards

taking a break from the rest of the vanguards to dig into the biggest class’s biggest subclass. apologies to myself and other frostleaf fans

Lords: A Little Bit of Everything

The Lord subclass, also called Ranged Guards from back before subclasses had names, are 2-block Guards who can launch slightly weaker ranged attacks in a narrowing cone in front of them. These ranged attacks take a small damage penalty, but are still useful for attacking enemies blocked by other allies or hitting aerial units.

Most Lords have skills that also give them additional effects, most commonly Arts damage but some also dip their toes into the crowd control pool. Higher-rarity Lords tend to be team anchors, serving a number of flexible roles and being a cornerstone for your strategies on many maps. They cover a wide variety of options, making investing in at least one highly recommended, and several have unique kits valuable even at the bleeding edge of endgame content.

Midnight: Mid Value

Midnight is worth raising if only because he’s cheap, and also one of the few Lords with on-demand access to Arts damage - . Melee Arts damage is a bit of a weird niche for a lot of content, but being able to do it at range makes him a viable counter for Defender-4 drones - which can be an Early Game Nuisance. Access to Arts damage helps offset the penalty to his ranged attacks, especially against early-game enemies that tend to have significantly lower RES than DEF.

His access to ranged attacks, arts damage, and low-cost Block 2 also make him a good Integrated Strategies pick, so you’ll want to level him up to E1Max eventually.

Frostleaf: Low Value

Frostleaf is unfortunately another one on the shortlist of “worst operators”. She trades Midnight’s access to Arts damage for access to the generally less useful Slow (and an unreliable Bind on S2). Without Arts damage to compensate for her poor base offenses, Frostleaf struggles to find a niche compared to Midnight in a general use team.

She does, however, offer several near-unique - if highly situational - tools. Contrary to her Slow tag, Frostleaf’s skills actually provide the rarer “reduces Movement Speed by x%” debuff, which stacks multiplicatively with Slow’s 80% speed reduction. (This means you should ignore any tierposter saying that a Decel Binder does her job better - they actually complement each other!)

Frostleaf is one of the more consistent sources of movement speed reduction, and the only source below 5☆ rarity. But this is a situational debuff outside slow-heavy maps, and one that new players are unlikely to need; unless you want to play with a large crowd-control kit, Midnight will do her job better.

Arene: High Value

Arene was added to the game later, and it shows: he slots right into the role of most higher-rarity Lord guards as anchors for your squad. S1 stops blocking to become a powerful physical DPS, while S2 is essentially a fusion of Midnight and Frostleaf’s strengths while sidestepping their weaknesses. As a dedicated Melee anti-drone unit, he can also cover areas that Marksman Snipers might struggle to reach.

He can fall behind Midnight as a solo lane holder due to his different attack priority sometimes making him ignore enemies in front of him, but neither of them are specialised in it - his strength is being put behind a Defender or another Guard and raining damage at range.

He also has a very valuable base skill, potentially reaching the largest byproduct bonus in the game at E1, which helps stretch out high-rarity materials a lot further.

Lappland: Extreme Value

You may be familiar with Lappland because of her memes, but you will soon be familiar with her for her gameplay. Her signature Silence effect fluctuates in late-game value depending on enemy composition, but absolutely shuts down a number of early-game enemies: in particular, she prevents the explosions of Infused Originium Slugs, which are often a roadblock for new players in Chapter 4, and the stun ability of Defense Crushers such as those in the last wave of Lungmen Downtown Annihilation.

She is the only Operator who offers a constant source of unconditional Silence - all others are either tied to specific skills, or specific classes of enemies. While her Silence can be somewhat unreliable at E1, only really working on enemies she kills herself, it has far more than 100% uptime at E2, making her an extremely strong contender for first E2 promotion.

Her skills are less valuable than her Silence in general, with S1′s Resist buff and S2′s Automatic trigger/Offensive Recovery combo both being a bit inconsistent - though as each of S2′s attacks apply Silence, it’s generally considered to be the stronger option.

Ayerscape: High Value

Unlike Frostleaf, Ayerscape’s S1 applies a genuine Slow effect, meaning it won’t stack with Decel Binders - but will stack with Frostleaf or other movement speed debuffers. It avoids Frostleaf’s other weaknesses by hitting multiple targets and dealing Arts damage, but its shorter duration makes him less of a crowd-control specialist and more of a DPS with a side of crowd control.

His real strength comes in his second skill, which is extremely strong when dealing with large crowds of enemies. His skill essentially makes him into an Ambusher Specialist that deals heavy Arts damage to blocked units near him. While this makes him very dependent on specific maps, generally involving open spaces or large numbers of enemies, he is extremely powerful with the right positioning. His Talent also slightly boosts the ASPD of himself and nearby allies, which is a rare buff that’s particularly powerful in the open, target-rich environments he specialises in.

Even without Lappland’s extremely fierce competition, Ayerscape doesn’t really have anything to edge him into the Extreme Value category, and he’s more expensive to raise than Arene. Outside of his specialty, he won’t really set himself apart from Arene, but he’s still a very powerful option in places where he can shine.

but speaking of shine...

SilverAsh: High Value

SilverAsh at E1 doesn’t honestly bring that much to the table. S1 is a generic ATK buff that’s nothing special in a subclass with Lappland, Ayerscape, and Arene. S2 is a mode-switch skill that drops his range to the three adjacent tiles only but gives him a large defense buff and passive regeneration, making it easier for him to operate with less support, but as the skill doesn’t boost his damage output at all he’ll still probably need an extra DPS.

But for all the mediocrity of his E1 self, his E2 promotion is extremely powerful. At E2, he gains his Eagle Eye passive, removing Stealth from all enemies in range, opening them up to attack from not only SilverAsh himself but any supporting DPS, and the meat and potatoes that made him the king of the early Arknights metagame: Truesilver Slash.

Truesilver Slash’s range boost enhances SilverAsh’s anti-stealth abilities, and at SL7 will hit 5 targets in a wide arc. While the skill drops his DEF, the range boost means that it works fine if a Defender is dropped in front of him, and the attack boost is enough to kill more fragile enemies before they even get close enough to attack. While its extremely long charge time of 90s means it’s unlikely SilverAsh will use the skill more than once or twice in a stage, it can essentially trivialise the time when it is up.

But you’ll note I called him king of the early metagame. While he’s still a major boon for early players, he’s not the endgame investment he used to be, for one big, spiky reason.

Thorns: Extreme Value, Major First E2 Contender

E1 Thorns is very similar to E1 SilverAsh. Like SilverAsh, his first skill is a flat ATK buff which struggles to compete with the more interesting options available to lower-rarity Lords, and his second skill is a unique defensive buff that tilts him towards a laneholder role.

Thorns S2 covers a lot of the weaknesses of SilverAsh S2. Instead of a range penalty, Thorns will stop attacking entirely, unless he gets hit - at which point he will retaliate by hitting 4 enemies in a slightly expanded range for his full - skill-boosted - ATK. While he doesn’t gain any regeneration, he’s less reliant on DPS support.

Much like SilverAsh though, Thorns’s strengths come into full focus at E2 - if you have him, I would say he’s the single best choice for first (6☆) E2. Instead of SilverAsh’s powerful - but situational - stealth cancel, Thorns gains passive regeneration if he hasn’t attacked for two seconds (the counter from S2 does not count as an attack). This allows him to solo lanehold much more effectively than any other Lord, even SilverAsh S2, as his regeneration is only reliant on occasional breaks in combat and comes with no penalties to range. And again like SilverAsh, a lot of what he does comes down to his third skill.

Destreza is an Offensive Recovery skill, so its charge speed is a bit less consistent than Truesilver Slash’s - though SL7 Destreza will charge faster than anything but M3 TSS in a target-rich environment. The range boosts are different, but neither is strictly better - TSS hits a wider area but Destreza hits further out. The ATK multiplier is smaller than SilverAsh’s, but it also comes with an ASPD boost. On its first activation, it’s competitive with Truesilver Slash, but the real strength is its second activation, which not only doubles the bonuses (making it much more competitive with TSS at the same skill level), but gains infinite duration.

There is a reason “just pull for Thorns lol” is a meme. Man’s broken.

[guiltygearofficial]

What are the characters like on social media?

Sol Badguy has only one Social Media and it is Myspace. He has two friends on there, one of which is Axl who made a Myspace before other options were available and the other is a bot. He only posts once a year to review a Queen album (all 10/10) or to post a picture of his motorcycle.

Ky is a christian facebook mom. He has a “No Swearing on my Profile Please” banner.

May sometimes posts pictures of the dolphins or group photos with the other jellyfish pirates, but she’s mostly here to play browser games. Flash never died in the world of Guilty Gear.

Zato is considered one of the funniest people on twitter, none of which is intentional. He posts shit like “Eddie ate a rat today...effervescent.” and everybody loves it. He isn’t verified so everybody assumes that he’s some kind of parody account.

Millia runs a beauty instagramm that’s mostly just her explaining how to take care of your hair when it’s A) more mass than your entire body and B) Alive

Potemkin runs an art account, where he posts pictures of the paintings he drew. Most of his tweets are garbled messes of text however, due to him being forced to author all his tweets in text to speech, since his fingers are too large for a keyboard or touchscreen.

Chipp has a twitter account on which he posts government reforms and anime reviews. There’s a 50/50 chance if his next tweet will be “We’ll be raising taxes on cigarettes and alcohol” or “Alter Memory didn’t really hook me. Had only one ninja. 3/10″

Faust runs a blog in which he gives medical advice to anyone who asks. Its become an urban legend that if your symptoms are vague enough, the blog owner will break down your door and treat you personally.

Axl has 20 different twitter accounts, all of which are from different timelines with different email addresses. Usually by the time he manages to log into one, he gets thrown into another timeline.

Kliff mostly posts really outdated memes like “Me and the boys awake at 3 AM looking for GEARS” while tagging every single member of the Holy Order.

I-no was a casuality of the tumblr p*rn ban.

Testament has a social media account on which he posts pictures of the grove and the local wildlife. He has only one person in his contacts and its. Whenever anybody else tries to interact with his account or comments on his pictures, they’re instantly blocked.

Justice used to have a twitter, Apparently trying to wipe out all of humanity gets you banned from twitter thought. She’s still active on facebook however.

Baiken only posts pictures of cool swords

Anji has nothing but sockpuppet accounts which he uses to join antivaxxer/flatearth conspiracy groups so he can debate them for shits n giggles

Venom only follows Zato on twitter and is sure to like and retweet everything he posts. Without fail, the top comment on everything Zato posts is venom saying “Banger tweet milord.”

Johnny lost his social media priviledges because he kept infecting the mayships board computer with viruses since he refuses to stop clicking on the horny ads.

Jam runs an account for her restaurant, doing her best to advertise herself on social media. 

Dizzys page is filled of pictures she has taken with people around the Kiske household. It gained a lot of followers one day when somebody noticed that both Ramlethal who declared war on the world like a month ago and two kings of Illyria were in one of the pictures she posted.

Bridget is forced to make memes for Jams social media account. They’re the only reason anyone follows the account.

Slayer runs Haikubot on tumblr. 

Zappa has found much popularity with the youths, due to them misinterpreting his posts screaming for help as self deprecating humor. Most of his posts are something like “My body is a screaming wreck being haunted by 12 different spectres and I will never know peace.” and every single reblog is tagged as #Mood

Robo-Ky runs the bakeries actually succesful meme page. Most of his posts are vaguely bread related deep fried images and weirdly horny posts. They have 200k followers but most aren’t convinced they’re an actual real bakery.

Bedman posts all his hot takes on the internet and has sworn vengeance against twitter for limiting him to 280 letters.He constantly gets into arguments with people, none of which actually engage him in debate due to the fact that everything he posts is atleast 7 pages long.

Daisuke Ishiwatari runs this blog

Sin runs a tumblr blog where he pretends to be Ky, making satirical posts bullying his dad for being a nerd.

Ramlethal made an account after Elphelt and Sin pressured her into doing so. She posts pictures of her magehound and nothing else. 

Elphelt is currently on her 12th account due to the fact that she keeps getting hacked. No matter how many times she’s told to block them, she keeps falling for horny spambots every single time. 

Raven has been banned from every social media website in existence.

Leo posts whatever he feels like at the time, which consists of rants about Ky, new definitions to his dictionary or pictures with whoever happened to be nearby in Illyria castle. There are three different “Whitefang Out Of Context” accounts currently active.

Answer does damage control for Chipp. Whenever Chipp ends up getting into an argument with another world leader on Twitter due to differing opinions on anime, he DM’s them to apologize. His actual posts mostly consist of pictures of his frogs.

Nagoriyuki posts pictures of his haikus on social media. While they are fairly popular in their own right, most of his fanbase comes from people thirst following him from that time his reflection was visible in one of his pictures.

[everyjirou]

Concerning Art & Writing Requests

Hi. Althea here. I'm gonna try, keyword try to draw art requests. I will do it on either physical paper or digitally. I will also do writing requests as long as they are not NSFW. I like writing, and I like drawing, so I wanted to open up my "comissions" for it. No payment needed, because I don't know how that works and I'm not gonna ask for money.

Concerning Screenshots

I have finished screen recording all of Heroes Rising, and will upload the screenshots of Jiro from there before I do anything regarding Season 6. I might even do World Heroes Mission beforehand, considering it'll be a while for Season 6 to air all of Jiro's scenes. It all just depends on what the anime shows of her. However, I am intending on doing the other movies AND the OVA's as well. I don't know if the OVA's were shown here, I'd have to check.

Concerning... well, me.

I am not doing so well. Physically was always no, because *enter some crappy scoliosis joke here*. I know it's probably a TMI, but I feel like it should be known. I have depression, anxiety, and ADHD. I am attempting to manage them all, but it's hard sometimes. My grandma has a heart condition, and my mom has a tumor. I apologize for being so absent, and I have explained this before, but much less detailed. I am attempting to manage my personal life and my online life, and it can prove to be a bit of a challenge at times. My mom recently got some results back after her surgery, and from the sounds of it, they're not so good. My grandma is constantly bruising and getting hurt from the medication she's on that keeps her heart from blocking up the veins, and it's rather worrisome(?). I apologize for dumping all this out there, as it may seem like I'm just venting, but I did want to let you all know of my situation since I do tend to just up and vanish quite often. This ordeal with my family isn't recent, as it happened in summer of 2021, but it's still happening and it's still affecting me. I hope you all can understand my lack of appearances from these events, and I hope you can understand my situation if not respect it. I am trying my hardest, and depending, I may need to take a break if needed. Again, I apologize for dumping this all out there, but I feel that it needed to be said and acknowledged since so many people follow this account.

Now, don't feel hesitant!

Just because I ranted there for a second doesn't mean you have to hesitate with talking to me or requesting anything. I do not mind doing requests and talking. It helps me wind down and distracts me from reality. It's a stress reliever! I like doing things I enjoy. I like making people happy. So please do not hesitate to talk with me or request anything. I don't bite. The most I do is send memes. I appreciate the amount of support this account has gotten, from before I joined and to now. I hope to continue to keep delivering Jiro content! Oh, that's another thing.

Regarding my spelling.

I spell the character names a bit different from others, I guess? Some examples would be,

Katsuki Bakugo

Kyoka Jiro

Eijiro Kirishima

Ochaco Uraraka

Maybe it's because I'm American, who knows. Eh, I don't really think it matters all that much, but I thought it should also be known I spell it a lil differently than other peeps. Anyways, that's my rant/post. Thank you all for your time and I love every single one of you!

~ ♡ althea

[shigaeru]

Hello mister! I am obsessed with your artworks. You are incredible and deserve everything you want 💕

If you don't mind, I wanted to ask that, what do you do when you're too stressful to draw, but have to draw anyways?

Hope you have a wonderful day 💖

hi! thank you!! i'm happy to hear you like my art so much <3 When I'm too stressed to draw I just,, don't 😭 I'm lucky to have a non art-related job so even if it's frustrating at times, I don't have to force myself to draw for a living. So Idk if my advices are much help,,, but I feel like having to *do* stuff even when stressed out of your mind is a universal experience (or at least, an experience shared by ppl with debilitating anxiety like me lmaoo)

When I'm in a situation where I have to work even though I'm stressed, I tend to break every task in many tiny tasks (sometimes the paralysis is so bad they get as tiny as "1) sit 2) breathe 3) take a pen, 4) breathe 5) write a word 6) write another). It helps focus on the step ahead without spiraling too much.

With art, stress tends to make me lose inspiration tho. Art block is never fun, so what I do to get back "into it" is read bits of fics I like. I know they'll make me wanna draw them, and once I do, I can get back to draw what I was supposed to in the first place. Prompts and meme redraws are great too, to get your brain or/and hand going.

[zulivaris]

Art Block tips that helped me

 I’ve recently experienced art block after 3 or so months of overcoming my last one. Thankfully this block only lasted a few days thanks to some things I’ve observed and noted down from the previous time. So I’m sharing these few tips in hopes that it might help someone get unstuck :D!

First and foremost if you’re tired, sad or anxious don’t be surprised that you can’t make art, go and take care of yourself by treating yourself with kindness and patience, the sketchbooks and canvases will wait for you :)

The tips are under here:

Separate art studies from the creative time:  When you do art studies you’re there to focus on specific things, learn and understand how things work so you can apply them later in your art. Studies take a lot of energy and focus and are the opposite of the creative "flow” of making your own pieces. If you combine the two the results are either unfocused studies or stiff drawings. When you sit down at your desk ask yourself “Do I want to learn something new or do I want to create something of my own?”

When you have an idea don’t be afraid of being messy: Let’s say you want to make a picture of several cats kolo dancing in the moonlight. How do you go about doing this? Well since you came up with the idea you already have a vague image in your mind, sketch it out with simple shapes, stick figures, circle and spheres etc Don’t worry about cat anatomy, or the dancer’s moves, sketch out the essence of it. This method removes the need to be perfect or accurate. 

Ok after the messy sketch then what? Well now that you have sketched out the essence of your idea (and hopefully had fun doing so) now you go on to look for references! You put the creative process on pause and you can do a few brief studies if you need to: anatomy, color schemes, values, poses. Pick out a few of your favorites but don't obsess over them, they are a guide, a tool.

You know much more than you think. You’ve probably been drawing for a few years now. You’ve probably done some studies and drawn more than one type of subject. Then you have already internalized some of that information. I used to be obsessed with capturing the minute detail of the subject, and not be able to draw ANYTHING without reference. Instead of a useful tool, references became another obstacle to my creativity. That’s perfectionism my friend, and that’s no good. Here is an exercise a good friend of mine offered: Draw a few characters, animals and objects from imagination. Make sure that the subjects have no personal value to you (no ocs for example) so that if you make a mistake you won’t feel bad about it. Make the process relaxed and comfortable, pour a nice cup of joe, listen to your favorite music ... You will notice that you do indeed know how to draw some things without reference, and it’ll help with your confidence. 

The more you do studies the more you understand This seems evident but the more you understand your subject the freer you can be and the easier it’ll be to draw it from imagination in the future. If you really struggle with something to the point of frustration (as in you can’t get it right even with reference) It means you have to study it. Have a study list, for example: hands, perspective, color theory etc. And one of those days you want to study pick something from the list, and look for videos on youtube or useful sites like line of action etc. Only study one thing at the time. You can go from studying hands to studying arms since they’re more immediately connected, but you can’t study hands and then jump to learning perspective right after. Trust me you can learn perfectly fine with the resources online, and I’m sure you’re clever enough to do it :D

Mistakes don’t mean you “suck”  I’ve noticed that the two most common causes for art block are perfectionism and lack of self-confidence.  The two can often go in tandem which is worse :’D But let me remind you of something, you can fix your piece along the whole process. Use erasers, lasso tools, liquify , select, paint it all over etc If something looks off to you then you also know deep inside how to fix it. Useful ways to see what clunks: flip canvas horizontally (helps with placement, proportions), turn the image to grayscale (helps to check values and where your eye tends to look), look at your image in thumbnail size and ask yourself if it’s clear, see the pose’s silhouette and ask yourself if you can tell what the character is doing etc. Don’t fret, everything can always be fixed :)

Perfectionism, sometimes it stops you before you begin Perfectionism causes you to overwork a piece, it makes you draw less, it makes art stressful, it brings insecurity. Let’s remove it with a simple exercise. It can be combined with the “draw things from imagination” once you’ve drawn something you like: dont do line art, don’t shade it, keep it as simple and crude as possible and then...post it. Yes, post it. You’re not at your best? You’re only human, this will help you embrace that very human side of you. You make mistakes. So what? The more mistakes you make the more you know what you need to study and the better at art you become. Mistakes are there to show us what we need to learn. See them as another tool and not a sign of failure.

Make the process as enjoyable as possible: You like art. You love drawing. Never forget this. Otherwise why are you drawing if you don’t enjoy it? It’s easy to fall prey to the mentality of those relatable memes that “art= suffering” or “I can’t even draw the other eye”. No no no my friends, these messages are fueling your insecurities instead of overcoming them. Let me tell you what, art is fun. It is. Art is fun, because I decided to make it fun again. And you should decide on that too. Personally I adore lineart but my hand-eye coordination is lacking to do it digitally, so....I just skipped it. Yes. I skipped it. I do the sketch, I clean it up a bit and then jump onto color which I adore. It allowed me to draw more and more freely. When I draw I listen to music, make strokes with the rhythm, I take breaks often and I drink my favorite iced teas. If you don’t like coloring do it in grayscale, if you love lineart then do that etc It doesn’t mean you won’t learn your weak points in the future with studies and practice, but you won’t let your weaknesses prevent you from drawing at all. No no, you won’t let them. You draw because you want to, despite of them.

Don’t wait for inspiration, provoke it  Inspiration is not a divine and capricious muse. You make inspiration. It’s easy just collect all the things you like, music, artists, objects, characters, animals, patterns, plants etc Make boards on pinterest or similar sites, combine things you like. You like suits? You like birds? You can draw a bird in a suit, or a bird-inspired suit design, there is frankly a lot of ideas that can spring up from little things like these.

When a project stops being enjoyable either pause it for now or move on to the next thing. Pieces aren’t precious. They’re not “the one time I got x right” they are one of many. This advice goes mainly to hobbyists who can afford the luxury of passing to a new project. I have a WIP of a character who is overly complicated (I enjoy a challenge from time to time) sitting for half a month. I sometimes come back to it and add something... but as soon as it starts to create discomfort and insecurity instead of enjoyment I move onto something else. In the meantime I created 3 or 4 new pieces. If I had waited on finishing that piece I would have been severely creatively and physically exhausted. The art comes from you, not inspiration. The more art you make the better you become.

That’s about it :D I know it’s long but I prefer to be thorough and cover all the possibilities. If you have read of this: Thank you so much I hope this helps you at least a bit, if it helps only 1 other person I’d still be very happy. Have a nice one, and kick art block’s butt!

[itsmeanyango]

THIRD HOUSE PROFECTION YEAR

The third house is the house of local community, transport and communication. This house is ruled by Gemini. Gemini is ruled by Mercury, so this house is influenced by Mercury and Gemini

Gemini is an air sign. Air is needed for transport and communication. Sound passes through air, movement(Transport) causes displacement of air. Air signs are thinkers, communicators and doers. They have their own mind and that explains why during Mercury retrograde communication and transport acts their own way. Cars break down, computers crash, backups fail and newly bought communication devices develop issues. I do not know of any communication/transport company that has ever made a release during Mercury retrograde or its shadow periods, they know what's up. I also have not seen successful musicians release music during this period UNLESS their music was in line with mercury retrograde energy or there were favorable transits.

The third house profection year means you will need to work on your communication skills and have to be on the move. You may be involved in local community work too, like being an interpreter or driving members of the local community around. This year may also have to deal with you, where you learn to talk to yourself and do things for yourself. The transport might also be having to move up and down the house doing one thing or another. This may be the year you learn a new language or have a lot of miscommunication issues. Communication is very sensitive and it can either make or break you. Your social media activity may either get you in trouble or be the beginning of something good. You may become a meme, or like one of those pages people like going to such as Spiritualworld or you may publish work. Whatever you do in your third house profection year will either make or break you in this digital age, or whatever you did in the past will come back up this year and make or break you. Clean your social media like you heard your favorite person is coming over to your house. Screenshots people, screenshots. Screenshot your payment and conversations so nobody tries to paint you dirty. Also, be careful in what you say online or text because people are taking screenshots.

This year affects ages 2,14,26,38,50,62,74,86,98,110,122,134...

I also wanna say that numerology 3 is creation. Tarot card 3 is the empress. So many creative projects may start this year. Creation also means pregnancy.

Age 14,26 and 38are the sensitive ages here. 14 because these are young immature children with so much internet access and they post anything, whatever you little ones are posting this year will come back to you real hard and bad. Or real hard and good. 26 Because you are figuring life out and the life stress can really mess with you. You might already have a child or children or child on the way. You may be having issues with your partner, you may be listening to these dating and or life coaches. You may find yourself talking bad about your partners, following others and abandoning your partner because a dating or life coach said something. 38 because you are probably married and having marital struggles, the children or child might be teenagers or older than 8, you miss your parents or your parents are sick. 26 and 38 if you cheat you will get caught, if someone lied about the child's paternity it will be discovered. The story of the hare and the Hyena describes the 26 and 38 year old's. You guys are the hyena, outside forces are the hare. You can change the narrative and not be the hyena who beats his wife to death just because hair said they should beat their nagging and annoying wives. Or you can be the proverbial hyena. There is so much to share so if you want more subscribe to my Patreon. Now here is the third house profection year in the signs

1. Third house profection year in a fire sign.

Sounds a lot like being in the spotlight, getting exposed or people around you being in the spotlight. Their glory will build you up, do not act on your jealousy or be sore. Them being successful means the good things are also coming to you. Its like the red car, blue car phenomenon. If you think of a red car, you will keep seeing red cars. If you think of a blue car, you will keep seeing blue cars. However, if these people are terrible to you and are kind of rubbing it in your face or making you seem inferior, it means you need to distance yourself because when your glory comes they will trample on it. Or if they see your glory coming, they will go over and beyond to stop it. If you become a bee-eye-tea-see-aich, you will have done yourself a disservice.

2. Third house profection year in a water sign.

Communication will be through your dreams, instincts and gut feeling unless you have anxiety or suffer from paranoia. You might find yourself extra intuitive. You will always feel drawn to places with your best interest and feel repelled from places that are not for you. You will be able to hear what is not said. If something tells you not to meet up with someone or not to leave the house, listen. Unfortunately its also the year parents and friends die or get into tragedies. If something tells you to call someone, do it. Keep a dream journal, you may find relevant messages for the now and far future. In the community, many people may come to you for help. Children may also approach you a lot.

3. Third house profection year in an earth sign.

You may be joining a new school(14 year old's)looking for a relationship to settle down(26 year old's), deciding if your marriage is worth fighting for or not(38 year old's). Whatever way you choose to communicate your desires needs to be well thought out and objective because you guys though doing things by the buke and rules, you don't really listen to other people. You think you are 98% good and only 2% bad. People see you as only 2% good and 98% bad. So 14 year old's, loosen up when choosing friends and do not stick around people who hurt or demean you. 14 year old black people, do not let anyone neo-colonialize you. You are smart, you are amazing, you are talented, you are doing amazing and the person in the mirror looks super awesome. Do not let nobody talk down on you. 26 year old's, make sure that whatever decision you make now is nothing to regret at 38. Be a happy person first, then be happy with another (or others cause not everyone is monogamous). 38 year old's, do not do it for the kids as a reason to fight for your marriage. At 50 you will be looking at retirement in about a decade and you do not want to look back and see how miserable a life you have lived plus the tragedies you put on your children. Sometimes hanging the boots is the best solution, some people are happier apart than together. Do not make your children choose sides. Be very careful about how you speak even in non verbal's because it will affect your children. In Swahili we say Fahali wawili wakipigana, nyasi huumia. In English that translates to, when two heifers fight its the grass that hurts. It means when two people fight, its those around them who get hurt. If anyone is buying a car this year or moving houses, inspect those two very seriously. Congratulations to people closing down on house, buying cars or even just their first computer or phone.

4. Third house profection year in an air sign.

Looks like a lot of energy is here. If you guys want something, speak it up. Make very active steps towards it or else its not coming. You have to speak up. Promote the living daylights out of your art. Be very careful with vehicles this year. Gossip. careless speaking, careless driving. Beware of information you receive and information you put out. Blocked energy like creators block or lack of clarity in things. You may benefit from stepping back from things so you can see the bigger picture. I am having a hard time writing for air signs as a group, this may be a difficult year for you guys. Sorry. Aquarius traditional ruler is Saturn, so Aquarians if you are careless with your communication and movement this year then you will get it rough as Saturn is the planet of karma. Libra ruled 3rd house people may want to be free. Liberation. Freedom of expression and freedom to travel. Its 2021 and there's a pandemic so if you must travel be careful. Travel may also mean going to the mall, beauty supply store, food joints or general movement. You may find yourself always wanting to be on the move. Geminis might be confused and unable to choose between two things or unable to decide what to say.

In conclusion, check where Mercury is on your chart.

These interpretations of mine are general, the aspects in your chart and condition of Mercury may make things vary.

You may notice these things happen around you and not to you, there is a reason why. Learn from the happenings and live your life well.

[callisto-rants]

Starting a new ✨series✨ that no one asked for! ( ꈍᴗꈍ)

Callisto-Rants presents...

Here's my Two Cents

Where we just throw down our two cents on how we would change a series to make it better, in our own personal opinion.

[You can Block this tag if you're not interested in this series: #Here's Our Two Cents]

Here's my Two Cents

Yarichin Bitch Club.

Ever since I had the misfortune of having that opening theme song stuck in my head because of countless memes and tiktok edits. . . I have wished for days to have the ability to create a time machine to prevent myself from saying. . .

"okay, fine I'll bite the bullet and check out the source material."

Now if you're reading this and thinking, "huh. I never heard of this series..." let me just tell you, GOD I WISH I WAS YOU RIGHT NOW.

No one was going to tell me this BL Manga about a "pHoTogRaPhY cLuB" wasn't completely INSANE? I was just supposed to find out Three Volumes Later??

Now some of y'all who have read the source material might be thinking. . .

"Okay Callisto, get over it it's obviously supposed to be a comedy it's not meant to be taken seriously 🙄"

And to that I say... I mean I guess??? But do we really need all of THAT to make it a comedy?? I feel like you could still have an entertaining comedy BL Manga without 90% of the shit that goes on in that series..... But that's just ✨my two cents✨ take it or leave it.

FIRST THINGS FIRST, here's all the stuff I'd automatically remove from this series off the bat.

💀 The Gang Bangs.

💀 Teacher x Student Relationships.

💀 In fact all instances of unconsensual acts & sexual assault committed in this manga. Throw all of that away.

💀 the fact that the term Bisexual was used as a replacement for the term switch, and had nothing to do with the sexual orientation itself whatsoever.

💀 The High School Setting.

💀 Whatever the fuck Yuri was on.

💀 90% of the hyper sexualized traits these characters had.

Now here's what I'd change to make it better... Basically here's an AU of what if it was actually a normal photography club....

Actually make it a fucking Photography Club. Not a sex club that's in a fuckin HIGH SCHOOL. Hell, you could just throw this in a college setting too, for more mature themes.

Main character, Takashi Toono a college student that's trying to get out of his comfort zone more. So he decides to join the photography club, because he thinks it's not demanding to require anything of him compared to any other club on campus. He knows completely NOTHING about photography, and doesn't have any passion for the art media. His Character growth would be learning to appreciate the art media While learning what it means to him, as well as who he wants to be as he enters the adult world as a young adult.

Yuu Kashima, can stay as Takashi's love interest. Also, I feel like all the members should have a specific style of taking photos that correlates with their personality in some way. Yuu's photography style would be something the lines of Candid photography which is a type of photography style that's main focus is to take photos in the moment or in surprise. Something he has already done when he took that photo of Takashi. I also feel like Yuu would be the one to keep pushing Takashi to love photography, and understand it's more than snapping a photo.

Kyousuke Yaguchi, can stay as the Love Rival for Yuu Kashima and overall keep his personality? It was actually pretty interesting and I liked his Character dynamics with everyone else. Kyousuke Yaguchi can also stay as the outsider that directly / indirectly influences Everyone else in the club. Causing Takashi to explore his feelings and expand his social group, and make him think about what he wants to capture in his photos. Overall the same interaction between Kyousuke & Yuu Kashima with their rivalry and brotherly relationship at it's breaking point. As well as, Kyousuke and Yui's relationship being tense with miscommunication.

Yui Tamura, I imagine Yui's photography style would be more of Adventure (capturing shots in the great outdoors, usually involving extreme sports; mountain-climbing, skiing, kayaking, sky diving, etc) & Sports Photography. Which could create interesting interactions between Kyousuke and Yui. Cue Yui trying to cover up the fact that, every time the soccer club commissions Yui to take some photos of their club activity to promote their club, all of Yui's photos are of Kyousuke playing soccer. Causing Yui to complain to Kyousuke to get out of his shots and that he's ruining them by being in all of them. So, Kyousuke just shouts back "then stop following me around with your camera, DUMBASS". Just imagine Them bickering, because Yui 100% did not delete the photo he captured of Kyousuke getting knocked out by a soccer ball to the face.

Itsuki Shikatani would definitely be in the club, but only because he prefers to have his photos be taken, more than he likes taking photos himself. He would probably be a cross dresser, who enjoys dressing up in feminine articles of clothing and posing for photos. Everyone on campus who doesn't know Itsuki personally, always asks who the beautiful woman in these photos are, the club president and vice President always just says it's one of their cousins that happen to be in town. If Itsuki had to have a style of photography, it would probably be fashion.

Toru Fujisaki. . . This one is difficult only because his Character is purely centered around Yuki's Character. . . So I'm going to take some creative liberties here. . . Probably really insecure about himself, because he feels like he's a wall flower that's really forgettable, that no one cares about. Although, it's mostly because he's shooting himself in the foot by not letting one have the opportunity to get to know him to give him a chance, in the first place. Until, he meets Yuki who makes him realize that not everyone sees him as a wall flower and someone can notice his nicer qualities about himself that he's hiding away. Toru's Character development in this AU, would be for for him to learn to love himself more and try to trust people to accept him. As well as to expand his social circle with the support of not only Yuki, but the Photography Club as well. At first I bet, he would only feel comfortable with Yuki taking his photos and modeling only for him, but over time he'd let the other club members take his photo when he gets more confident in himself. While also, developing his own style of photography, that isn't just "cute photos of Yuri", it would probably be Still Life or Portrait.

Ayato Yuri, okay first. . . I'm still not over the fact that this boy was written like a deranged feral child, that was given access to a pornhub account way too early in life. While being dropped on his head several times, before and after his first words. Anyhow. . . I feel like Yuri would fit the trope of the genius, that no one understands in any capacity. His mind is 10 steps ahead of everyone else and he forgets to slow down and explain what the fuck he's talking about, when he goes into a passionate rant about photography. With endless rambles about golden ratio, gold lighting and blue lighting, and how he needs these specific props, that don't seem to fit the theme of the photo at all to make it perfect. But despite that, his photos always come out beautifully. No one can deny that his methods might be extremely weird, but they always work out way too well to give anyone the opportunity to chastise him. Anyone trying to work with Yuri often leaves the experience with a beautiful photo in hand, but an enormous headache. Even members within the photography club can't keep up with Yuri most of the time either, he's often in his own little world that just makes sense to only him. He can be a eccentric and passionate about his hobby and goofy to not make people feel too uncomfortable with the huge distance he unintentionally places between himself and others when he doesn't bother to slow down for anyone. But, he still has a good heart to make sure everyone gets a piece of art that'll always be memorable to them. Additionally, with that being said I feel like Toru would be the few people that would consistently attempt to keep up with Yuri, when he's a light year away from everyone else in his rambles. Toru wouldn't shut down and show disinterest in what Yuri says when he can no longer keep up, he's always being supportive and encouraging Yuri to continue because he knows it makes him happy to be able to express his passion. And sometimes, Yuri will pause and explain a bit to let Toru keep up with him, because he just truly appreciates someone trying to get closer to him, without making him feel bad. I would say Yuri is a jack of all trades when it comes to Photography styles. There isn't a single style he is terrible at, but he truly excels at Abstract Photography.

Koshiro Itome I think Koshiro would fit the silent type trope, but with a lot on his mind. Always over thinking things, and although he looks calm his mind is always buzzing with 500 things at once. Because, of this the only way he can find some semblance of peace is by going out for a nature walk and letting the environment take his mind off things. He's always worries about deadlines for projects, meeting up with clients face to face for the first time, whether or not a company will like his photos he submitted, if his boyfriend Akemi is okay, what if he doesn't find anything to take a picture of or if he's missing the perfect shot right now, will the club be okay after they all graduate, what else can be learn to improve his skills etc etc. Akemi can always tell when he's actually calm and when he's just zoned out and drowning in his own worries behind his calm demeanor. Luckily for Akemi, he knows exactly what to do to make him feel better, like a life boat to his pleas for help in the vast ocean of his thoughts. Koshiro is 100% the mom friend in the club, always helping newbies out on how to properly take care of their equipment, and the general basics, stopping people from bickering and carrying around a Mary Poppins bag of useful items. "Damn I forgot to bring my infrared lens with me!" "It's okay I brought a spare, here you go." Koshiro's photography style would be Nature & Wild life, cue everyone wondering how the hell he managed to capture a photo of baby bear and it's mother so close up with such clarity with the equipment he has on him. It should be impossible there's no way he could it's just unlikely, but all Koshiro does in response is just shrugging calmly "I just slowly walked up to them, and took some photos and went my way after I was done, they weren't bothered at all." At first no one believes him, until they see the next photo of him petting the mother bear, and within the next photo of him holding the baby bears paw. I like to think Akemi is always bragging at how his boyfriend is basically a Disney Prince, with the way animals just trust him enough to let Koshiro approach to take the photos. Of course Akemi has the proof that his Boyfriend is not making any of these up. With photo evidence he had taken from a incredibly safe distance away, of Koshiro just interacting with wildlife at such a close distance. Because, Akemi was not in fact gifted the ability of a Disney prince, to be doing that shit that Koshiro pulls on a daily basis. I feel like because of this Akemi can be a bit over protective of Koshiro, always telling him to text him before he goes to work and he gets back home, so he knows a feral bear didn't devour his boyfriend in the woods. He tries his best to join Koshiro while he works so he can be at peace of mind that Koshiro is in fact safe, but they both know it's very difficult for Koshiro to focus. When his boyfriend is being incredibly cute how could he remember he's here to take photos of the wild life and not his boyfriend? That and Akemi always accidentally scares away the wildlife, when he accidentally reads the animals body language wrong as any attempt to devour his boyfriend. Akemi will lose 25 years of his life with amount of false alarms, he has encountered in those damn woods.

Keiichi Akemi, Akemi is definitely one of those smug bastards, that has an ulterative motive or an ace up his sleeve. Appearing sweet and kind until you realize it was a facade. But one way or another you find yourself wrapped up in his convoluted plans, where you're either in his photoshoot as a model or you're carrying all his equipment, while he goes from one job to the next. Akemi's photography style would be Wedding Photography & Landscape something he definitely would've picked up from the countless outings he had with Koshiro in the outdoors. Akemi's friends are almost always married or paired up together, and that's no coincidence. This man is a match-making demon, a hopeless romantic who loves to see a budding romance finally bloom. So, he can snag a fat check when they thank him for brining them together and hire him as the official wedding photographer. His intuition is never wrong about the perfect pairings and how to push the right buttons to move things along, without getting directly involved until the right time comes. Something, that will be a pain in Toono's ass down the line as he stays in the Photography Club.

Overall, I feel like this could've been a really nice BL Manga which was a love letter to the art media of Photography. As Toono figures out what Photography means to him and how he wants to use it to express his feelings. "Why do you take photos? What do you want to say in these photos and tell people without the ability of using your words?" I feel like at first Toono, would just be confused "it's just a photo what's so special about it? You take it as a cool momento for something."

But, as time goes on, and he learns why everyone in the club enjoys photography and why they're here, he learns it's more than that. Whether it be to vent something you're unable to express in words, express your love for something or someone, to tell a story, to inspire others, to feel free, to share something with someone. All these different forms of expression, will let Toono figure out what he wants from photography and how he plans on expressing it.

Also instead of the whole "have sex with someone in one month or we gang bang you against your will" dilemma. . . I feel like another suspenseful situation could have been, "Create a photo album, that will impress all of us in one month, or you have to help us all out with our next projects." Which at first doesn't sound terrible, until you remember...

Yui is a thrill seeker, and would probably push you off a cliff to snag a cool photo. Or force you to be his pack mule as you climb up serval mountains.

Itsuki would force you to cross dress and model different fashion styles to make you look like a clown for his own amusement. All the while he revels in your shame, and points out how these colors don't suit you at all, but ignores the fact he's the one who put you in that outfit in the first place.

Yuri is such a wild card that you honest to God don't know what the fuck will happen to you, it'll be like being on an acid trip the whole time. And not knowing what will happen brings you more fear than knowing what will.

Koshiro would probably bring you to a wolf den full of hungry ravenous wolves, and let you accidentally get eaten alive by a pack of wolves. While he takes pictures of puppies, without a care in the world.

Akemi... Akemi just scares Toono, he seems like the safest bet out of everyone else. But Toono knows better to trust that sweet smile. Toono would be safer walking into Satan's house than spend a day with Akemi at work. Whatever he would have planned for them if he were to lose this challenge would not be good for his sanity. He hates how he knows Akemi wants just that for Toono to know he's not going to be safe either. Akemi would probably make him cry with prying questions about his romance life. While hitting too close to home with all his assumptions about him that he can't argue back. It's losing battle from there on out.

The only problem for Toono is Everyone in this club is so different, that it's almost impossible to be able to impress them all. None of them agree, which style is better or having almost anything in common photography style wise. Toono can't just half-heartedly replicate anyone's style either, he's going to actually try and fail miserably to understand this art media better, like everyone else. I think after losing the challenge and spending time with everyone, Toono would come to really like the club and everyone else in it.

And that's my ✨two cents✨ on how this story could've been better if it didn't focus too much on the whole pwp aspect.

Take it or leave it.