#this was a lot of work but also a ton of fun^^

[ostdrossel]

Ostdrossel, how do you get started with a bird camera? Is there an affordable camera you would recommend for a beginner?

It depends on what you want. There are always options that are better or worse or more pricey or cheaper. I use different systems for different things.

My homemade "feeder cam" with an action camera (the camera has the photoburst with motion detection function but any with photo timelapse works too). I have to harvest the photos from the SD card every day and take the cam in over night. The motion trigger is hyper active, so there will be tons of unusable photos and it takes a while to go through all.

IP cameras - I am still using my old Birdsy cameras in some spots, recording and livestreaming with the help of youtube and OBS.

Wyze cameras - I use them mainly for nestboxes but they are also a cheap option for feeder or baths, maybe. They come with an app. I pay 45 bucks a year for three cam pro licenses so I don't have videos restricted to 12 seconds. The v3 and v4 are pretty good quality, and I have also used them to "stake out" locations for other cams.

An actual "feeder cam" - I use a Birdfy 2, which is quite fantastic but expensive. (I posted a more thorough review on my website and here too last year.) I think similar quality you may get from Bird Buddy and the one that WBU sells (Feather Snap?) but I cannot vouch for any of these.

Trailcams. I have started using trailcams last year and have been enjoying playing around with them a lot. The positive side is that you may get better image and sound quality than with the smart feeder cams and don't need internet or data or even wiring for them to work but you will have to harvest your footage from the SD card. Cellular ones seem to work from afar but I have not tried any because I am too cheap to pay for extra data. I have been usng three models from the Chinese company Ceyomur (the CY65, 745 and 95), and they are all three a lot of fun to work with. The best of the lot is the 75, IMO, it has the fastest reaction time, a solar panel and takes good photos and videos. All three come with a practical app (great for positioning!) and can take photos and videos at the same time (great for the harvesting stage so you don't have to watch every single video, the photos act as preview). they are all well-priced on Amazon. I also use the more expensive Browning Spec Ops elite, which has stellar video quality but does not come with an app, is not great with photos and cannot take video and photo simultaneously. I usually try to say which one I used on my posts.

Last but not least you can use a regular photo camera.

[seiishindraws]

Hii, I saw your latest post and your art style is so pretty?? What?? I have a question though. How do you do the paint one? Or rendering in general. Like genuinely, I have a problem with rendering and I can't seem to quite understand it on my own. Do you just start with flat colors? Do you do lineart or colors right after the sketch? Is the "lineart" just added later? Painted over? Erased to give thinner and thicker lines?? I'm really curious!!

hi! im not the best painter tbh! though i do have a background in painting but ill try my best to explain

diff artists have different approaches to how they paint but generally yes, you would start out with big shapes first and then go into the details - work big picture first. like, if you squint and the drawing makes sense in terms of value and colour and shape, youre on the right path.

i can kinda show this with a warmup in-class speedpaint exercise we did a couple weeks ago where we were tasked with painting an eye in about 30 minutes (i was late and only had 20 lol)

luckily ive got the layers for this. i start of with a base layer, kind of like a underpaint layer since that's how i personally learned to paint traditionally. i did have a sketch before laying down this base layer under it but i ended up using it for final rendering details lol

after that i started laying down the big blocks of colour. i wasn't necessarily aiming for complete colour accuracy here, i just wanted to match the value. i chose a pink underlayer to influence my colour choices because the underlayer will peak through the blocks of colour i paint over it

and then (forgive me if this seems like "draw the rest of the owl" in terms of progression) but this is where i started going in with finer detail. i did the rest of the render on the sketch layer i had so you can see some of the lines from the sketch here

here's the layers completely seperate from each other

even for the flat colour version of my character, i had an underpaint layer! i used yellow and orange since i wanted her colours to be warm and used a semi-opaque brush to put her colours in rather than using a completely opaque brush

when i wanted to do the painted version, i put the lineart on multiply and reduced the opacity and brushed in some some quick shadows on seperate layer on hard light mode to give me a good base to start painting with

and then i did all the rendering and details on a new layer ontop of everything. i keep the lineart light so i can paint over it easily and also colour pick from it when i want a more distinct line to seperate certain shapes. i unfortunately dont know how to explain this part because a lot of this is intuitive to me and i'm still learning. but you gotta make use of different types of "edges" in painting, and you would generally have more contrast in the focal point of your painting than in other places to draw the eye to that point. i suggest researching the use of edges in painting if you really wanna learn more - because im a terrible teacher haha

for fun here's what the rendering layer for this one looks like on its own and the finished thing for comparison

there's other things you need to learn too, like bounce light, atmospheric perspective, ambient occlusion... and colour theory is always important! i could go on for a long time. there's a lot of pieces to the puzzle and it may seem overwhelming but there's tons of resources online and it will all become second nature to you as you keep practicing

uhh hope that helps!

[anemoiashifts]

You might’ve gone through this on other post but how can I figure what’s holding me back from shifting? Because I want to shift so bad but I feel like I self sabotage myself like listening to audios when I’m super tired and not when I’m more awake and just ending up sleeping(If that makes sense)🦄🦄🦄

makes total sense !

people have shifted with doubts. people have shifted without trying. people have shifted with self confidence & 100% self certainty. some people say “i shifted when i wasn’t trying to & didn’t care about shifting” & “I shifted when i said that i gave up on shifting”. so, there are a lot of ways & different mindsets. many seem to be trial & error. like how there’s different kinds of learning styles & how one may not work for everyone. finding out what works for you isn’t always linear. sometimes you’ll feel like subliminals are your thing & other times you’ll be emotionally attached to reality checking every half hour in hopes of inducing a lucid dream.

& it’s totally okay to listen to audios when tired & feel like you’re not putting in effort. even if you feel that it’s lazy, you’re still taking the time to turn on an audio. a subliminal or guided meditation, i assume ?

౨ৎ | setting aside time to meditate

while you may not be trying to shift, meditation always helps me. it could help you develop some sort of routine rather then just rolling over & going to bed. if you don’t know how to meditate headspace has some guided meditations that teach you the basics. from a spiritual perspective, you receive so many messages & learn so much from being quiet.

౨ৎ | don’t force it

if you’re not in the mood, then you’re not in the mood. I know this might be a little hypocritical since i just said that developing some sort of routine may help you but I think this is important to include. just don’t force it. shifting is supposed to be fun, burn out isn’t.

౨ৎ | shadow work

in simple terms, shadow work is answering questions that allow yourself to explore the parts of you that we have a tendency to burry or suppress. i definitely made a post on shadow work questions somewhere. if i remember to i’ll link it somewhere in this reply. though, there are a lot online that aren’t shifting related that may also benefit you.

౨ৎ | get to know yourself

everyone comes from different places & experiences. we’re made up of our beliefs — positive or negative. take the time to think on where your (negative) beliefs came from. when i was in inpatient a few summers ago to deal with my anxiety & phobias, this was typically something used to knock fears down a few pegs so they don’t have complete control over us. this primarily works with fears, but determining things as irrational vs irrational helped me a ton.

im sure this has been said before but you can totally just roll over & go to sleep with only the intention to shift if you want. you don’t need some elaborate routine or ritual with candles & and hour long meditation session. shifting — manifesting also— can be even boiled down to “when i go to sleep, i will wake up in my bed” in my opinion.

────୨ৎ────

[morrigan-sims]

Lord Captain Xandra von Valencius, Rogue Trader of the Imperium

Following the unexpected death of Her Ladyship Theodora von Valencius and her known heir, a bladedancer named Xandra has taken the Lord Captain's seat. While she may be new to the role of Rogue Trader, Xandra von Valencius is far from a nobody. In fact, this isn't the first time she's been referred to as nobility. Prior to the reveal of her von Valencius heritage, Xandra made a name for herself as a crime lord on a hostile death world, wrangling the scattered pirates into a formidable fleet. Rumor says she ruled ruthlessly until she was captured by a rival gang. No one knows what happened to her in the 3 months she was missing, but when she returned, having single-handedly slaughtered the entire gang responsible for her capture, Xandra was changed. Having attracted much attention with her recent ascension to Lord Captain, it seems that Her Ladyship is eager not to fall into enemy hands. In addition to Xandra's own skills with blades, rumor says that she is accompanied by an eerie death cultist who never leaves her side. Will the new Rogue Trader grow the dynasty's glory, or will she be the reason the von Valencius name is struck from the history books? Time will tell if the skills she used to gain and keep control of her criminal empire will serve her well as Lord Captain. (Bladedancer Assassin, Iconoclast, Death World + Crime Lord origin, ♥ Kibellah)

If you couldn't tell by the top half of this post, I started playing Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader a couple weeks ago. I bought the game on my birthday because it just happened to be on sale, and in the past 2 weeks I've racked up 31 hours. Which isn't much compared to my playtime in WotR when I first started playing, but it's pretty impressive given my workload. I've been having a ton of fun!! This is Xandra, and yes, she's a (space) pirate who was captured and tortured. I have a type, apparently.

Here's some pics of her in-game.

I imagine that the 2nd outfit (the long coat) is her adventuring outfit (lots of pockets plus belts for weapons and such), and the other more uniform-looking outfit is her "ceremonial" outfit. (She's never going to get more formal than that.)

Also, if anyone else plays Rogue Trader and hasn't played the Void Shadows DLC, I highly recommend it. Kibellah is awesome, and the Bladedancer archetype is SO much fun to play. (Yes, I'm running a party that's 1/3rd Bladedancer Assassins. Surprisingly, it works really well. They are VERY efficient little murder machines.)

[moonsinkfoxgirl]

Do the emojis that are things you could conceivably keep in a wallet

sure I can try that^^

🐰 cannot fit the bnnyu -- X

💌 folded up love note should probably fit... -- diary or journal?

journal, a diary is like casual and conversation themed, and while I could put elements of that in a journal it could never escape the air of faux-professionalism and flawed attempts at accuracy I would instill in it; not that I have the diligence to commit to either

✨ stars might be just a teensy bit too big, even if they look a little bit like the Revstar ones I see no hairclip attached to them -- X

💕 hearts are too big for wallets in all circumstances -- X

💋 lipstick mark can fit sure, just put it on paper or kiss the wallet directly -- kissing in the dark or kissing in the rain?

both are good, the former I do somewhat regularly so the latter is more exciting probably^^

🐝 I am so sorry Bee-chan this is gonna hurt and might be deadly but Em is forcing me to do it, goodbye ;_; -- describe your aesthetic in emojis

already answered but I can copy them I think: 💜❤️🦊🍵🦈🦊🌕🌗🌑🌦🌊👖🦊🚋💻🩷💜💙

🍼 baby bottle too big -- X

🌸 flower getting squished but maybe it will be fine -- what is your favorite flower?

hydrangeas, snowdrops, lilies and spider lilies^^

💖 you see, they simply cannot fit, for a cute girls heart is vaster than the sea -- X

🍰 caki.. the wallet would be so ruined if I tried that, nope -- X

🍯 a whole pot could not possibly fit, but I shall make an exception and say it's just honey in general so Bee-chan has some food in there if she's still alive, spoonful goes in-- describe your favorite smell

it's a cute girl smell I have absolute no idea how to describe it whatsoever in other terms

🎂 yet more caki, this time with added fire hazard, nope -- X

🍪 I can squeeze a cookie into the part for the coins, sure -- cookie dough or cookies?

I have never been in a situation where there was a cookie dough in eating distance where the idea of eating it seemed appealing, maybe I haven't been near the right ones?

☕ coffee cup does not fit nope, no exceptions for such a bleh liquid, maybe if it was tea I would consider it... -- X

🍃 a leaf fits for sure -- would you rather live in a sea with mermaids or a forest with fairies?

those are both incredibly excellent, how am I supposed to choose... hmmm mermaid option let's me accompany my girl for sea serpent searching so maybe that

🍂 and even more leaf... - what’s your middle name?

that's a secret because I am not doxxing myself that hard lol

💫 I can fit a shooting star no problem, just gotta wait until it's down here and cool enough to pick up-- what is your sun, moon, and rising sign?

I googled this and the first calculator that came up gave me the creeps, no thank you, here you can have your shooting star back

🌧️ raincloud way way too big -- X

🍭 lollipop can fit if it's a small one -- how tall are you?

167cm^^, average central europe girl size, hehe^^

💒 even if I was willing to try fitting in that playmobile looking church the hearts could never fit -- X

🎄 christmas tree way too big -- X

🍦 whole icecream cone too big --X

🎶 *girl awkwardly sings into her wallet while being incredibly bad at it*-- favorite song right now?

this season has way too much music for that, have 4 of them (also cries in Sasakoi music still not having released u_u):

💘 again, you cannot fit something larger than an ocean -- X

🍩 round tube caki also too big -- X

❄️ this is gonna melt real quick, but it should definitely fit -- what is your favorite season?

FALL!

💍 gods I would buy my girl a ring that looks so much better than this, this trash may go into the wallet -- your current relationship status?

happily girlfriends with @collectivenothingness, though we would not necessarily be opposed to get a third

📷 my camera is significantly bigger than my wallet -- X

💅🏻 better hope that that fresh nail polish smell keeps Bee-chan from stinging me... -- do you like being spoiled?

hehe, of course I do, getting cuddles and scritches is the best^^

🕊️ dove with olive branch too big --X

🦄 unicorn head too big as well --X

🦋 butterfly-chan too??!? sure bee-chan seems fine in there rn, but a butterfly would definitely die, those wings are way too fragile for that, no no and no -- X

🌈 rainbow vast and in the sky -- X

🍓 yet more food for my bee i guess --one secret about yourself

I think I've mentioned my imaginary ex-girlfriend called Emily from when I was a teen a bunch before, but I never described what she looked like, so she's a ~20 cm tall girl with silver hair and rainbow colored fairy wings, and she usually wears a plain white dress, and she's an outwardly super optimistic genki girl who secretly thinks she's never good enough^^

🍒 a feast of fruit for one lonely bee-- how do you act when you have a crush?

I deny it, I imagine what could be while cuddled up in bed, I deny it some more, I like their posts on tumblr and never say anything until they do; or at least that's how it's been the last time, it's been a while

💔 even if you split an ocean in half like some kind of heartbreaking girl moses, it still will not fit in a wallet -- X

💬 *awkwardly mumbles apologies to Bee-chan into the wallet, asking her if she's okay and whatnot*-- what your last text message says?

"gonna shake it a bit more often too maybe" <- this is about air fryer fries, they turned out pretty good with one extra shake

🎥 film camera also too big -- X

⛅ the cloud is too big and the sun is even bigger I heard -- X

💗 another heart, another sea -- X

🥀 maybe another flower to sit on in there will make her forgive me... -- last time you cried?

hmmm.. it's been a short while, was just the usual neet depression feels iirc

🎁 present package big --X

🔪 that would ruin the wallet if I tried --X

💤 the concept of a girl's sleep is at least mountain-sized -- X

🎀 a small bow fits probably, but this does not provide a question, I shall have to make one up uhh -- can you please let that bee out of your wallet?

sure ^^ 🐝 〜☆

[suntails]

🍎⚔️

[franollie]

i do sometimes wonder how the gang's chemistry and dynamics would shift if they actually did have to co-parent a baby because realistically none of them should have children. ever. but the idea of dropping a baby in the hands of five incredibly unqualified alcoholics is oh so very amusing to me

[reksink]

A Pair of Delightful Comms for a Friend 💚

[pics-pizza-peace]

some traditional doodle crap I lazily drew over. not gonna finish this one it's just silly :^P

[myonmukyuu]

markers #21

Happy Birthday, Ayumu! 🥳🥳

While I was in in Tokyo earlier this year, I passed by a crafts store and found lots of pretty paper flowers. I thought they'd make really pretty shikishis... 😊

I've been drawing Nijigasaki for 4 years and this would be the 3rd Ayumu birthday I've drawn for... Wow! 😅😅

Ayumu's my favourite by far - so much that it's kind of hard to word why but I'd hope that adoration comes across in my art. There was originally a comic I was making for her, but I couldn't finish it in time. I hope I can make one in time next year!

WIPs

[necrotic-nephilim]

What do you think about the fab five polycule

(Dick x donna x wally x garth x roy)

i'll be SO honest i wish i had like. insightful interesting opinions on them but i've always been a Young Justice kid and sort of. breezed past consuming Fab Five Teen Titans content-

but of what i *do* know, from the few comics i've read with these characters is this is one of the best ships for Dick, honestly. it always deeply annoys me when fanon content breezes past the Titans as if they're just some distant teammates and not some of Dick's closest friends, if not a second family. *especially* the Fab Five. for most, if not all of them, it's the first time getting to actually connect with other teen heroes. so there's something fun about how sort of terrible they are at it, at first. they all care about each other a lot. but they're kind of chucked into the deep figuring out how to work with each other and get along with *very* different personalities, so it's fun to see where the conflict comes.

as a ship, i do really love it. the Titans are a family. like we call a lot of teams found families, but for the Fab Five, that shit is the truest. they depend on each other and trust each other. when Dick and Bruce are on outs and Bruce fires him, he goes to the Titans.

i also enjoy how, to an extent, all of them are outsiders of some kind. Donna is alone in a new world she's never experienced, the same as Garth. Roy is still new and awkward to living the rich life with Oliver. Wally doesn't connect to his parents well. and of course, Dick has lost his parents and only has Bruce, who isn't the most emotionally available. of course they're going to cling to each other, as the first people they can really develop connections too. they're very clingy with each other and i think that's both cute and *fun* to explore like, codependency issues with them. how protective they can be of each other, how they default to trusting each other over their mentors, etc. it's all very interesting for a polycule, especially since for most of them, it's their first real relationship. i'm a big fan of "none of us know what dating looks like bc we've had such strange childhoods so we don't understand the Rules very well. we're all just going to date each other bc why would i date only one of you. do teamups count as dates now." vibes with teenage polycules. and the Fab Five just. have that on lock. they each fulfill a different "niche" in the group. Garth is the softer, more emotional one you can go to if you're upset. Donna is the one for planning bright fun trips and making sure you don't wallow. Roy is protective and can pretend to be suave, but he shows affection through gift giving and grand gestures where words fail him. Wally can cheer any of them up with jokes and distractions. and of course Dick is the logical one who makes sure they all keep their heads on and don't drown in the responsibility.

overall i think it's a really cute ship and i do wish i just. knew more about them to be able to write them/read fic of it because i do love their dynamic. and i'm just a firm believer in the Titans being Dick's family, just as important to him as the Batfam. they're a disaster and for that you gotta love them.

[puppppppppy]

bestieesssss /platonic

(Xīn Yá belongs to me, Sailor belongs to @crow-cap)

[david-box]

Some spinning memes for you all. Image ID in alt text

[pintobordeaux]

Oreo

I made this for the lovely and kind @moorishflower based on a little snippet when the first beginnings of "Beautiful, Strange, and New" were just starting to be written. The scene is from the end of part 1 (chapter 9) which you can read here!

[moreaujeans]

IM FREEEEEE

[al-luviec]

Here is lady pics from when I was MIA