#trying to get more comfortable posting messy/imperfect art

[devilcatdarling]

Cold ~

[harpywritesfic]

Look at me, a wants-to-write-but-blocks-themselves-because-the-first-letter-I-type-down-has-to-be-perfect-fanfic writer.

I've been hoarding various prompt lists like whumptober and fluffbruary. I even snatched myself one of those ironstrange bingo cards in hopes I could fill one of prompts in a year. But now half of the year is over and my card still empty.

I feel like a failure 😞

ah, you've come to the right place. abandon your perfectionism, all ye who enter here. this is a land of unedited drafts, fics written in a haze of hyperfixation, caffeine highs and/or mental breakdowns. i've mastered the art of "good enough".

remember- writing is messy! the process is messy, and the product can be messy too. in a sense nothing people write is ever truly 'finished'- there's always room for improvement. that's how art works, in my humble opinion. try to find enjoyment in the process, not the product. as the artist, your own work will always seem imperfect. but that doesn't make it any less valuable.

it might help to know how i write most of my fics. maybe my method isn't your style, but i'll walk you through it anyway since it might help.

sit down to write. or write standing up. where isn't important. what matters most is you've got an idea or a prompt or an anything that makes you want to write.

word barf. this is the very rough draft phase. throw out everything you know you want to have happen into the doc. try not to read over what you're putting down (the messiness of it all can be daunting). mine often are made up of unfinished sentences, half-baked scene ideas, 'they do x and then y", mixed with some finished portions. if you get stuck, you can always come back, and you'll already have a little something on the page :)

splice and dice. this is where i put my scenes in their order (if they weren't already, it rly depends on what you're writing. sometimes it's linear, sometimes it's not). biggest thing i use this phase for is working out where i need transitions between scenes, where i need to expand my "x then y" bits into writing, and and where i can just put a empty line with a "-" in the center to indicate a new scene.

flesh it out. i get stuck here a lot. this is the step where you weave your scenes together, write your dialogue, fill in your placeholders. it's okay to just skip parts and come back to them. some parts, if they're really giving you trouble, can just be removed entirely. you're the writer- it's up to you. choose your battles.

(optional) editing. sometimes i just don't even bother, especially if i know i'll hate reading what i've written (if this happens to you, it's best to skip the editing! a few mistakes are no big deal. i find it easier to just throw it to the wolves (readers), who are usually very nice and rarely point out mistakes. they're not picky). sometimes editing is just a quick pass for typos. but you can also get into it a little more, really go elbow-deep, and edit to improve things like flow, pacing, tone, and other boring stuff. totally unnecessary, though. if you hate this step? skip it.

it took me maybe a year to feel comfortable enough to post something i'd written. and it's okay, too, if you don't feel comfortable posting anything. you can never post it. or you can do it anyway. sometimes i say to myself, "i want to read more of this specific ship/trope/situation/dynamic/whatever" and i make it myself. they say to write what you want to read, and that's even more true for fanfic. there are people out there who want to read the same things as you. sometimes you gotta look your fear in the eyes, quote Freddie Mercury and say, "I'll fucking do it, darling."

having said that, this might be most important- it's okay if you never post anything you write. fanfic is something we do for fun- there is no failure. the most important thing is to enjoy yourself. there doesn't have to be any finished product- just enjoy the process.

i hope this wasn't too ramble-y or anything. my brain works in strange ways, so this might be totally unhelpful. who knows! but i'll post it anyway, in case it is.

[dailycupofcreativitea]

It sounds weird to say, but the way I'm getting more comfortable with making "messy" art is by noticing the "mistakes" in my favourite artists' works 😳 I zoom in and look at the bad anatomy, messy lineart, lopsided expressions, everything I'd attack if it was my own art. When I see what I would call a "mistake" if it was my own art but what I call "beautiful", "raw" and "energetic" in others' art, it makes me more comfortable to make those "mistakes" myself 🌞 This strengthens the voice that shuts down the inner critic, telling it "Why were you criticizing this? See, it literally looks fine! Stop trying to scare us." And to the inner artist, "Why don't you try doing more of this?" It gives me permission to be imperfect, too 😊

EDIT: I realize this can make people even more anxious about posting art -- what I really meant to say is, I do this to help myself understand that the imperfections I penalize within myself are things I celebrate within others. 

[bluesmuses]

    I’ve been asked what my general advice for a new rper would be and it got long for IMs so here’s a post instead hfkjshdf I would prefer this Wasn’t Reblogged because I’m sure it’s imperfect and I don’t want my activity notes to explode ;v; Hope it is helpful though.

    For me, personally, I consider mutual respect to be the most important thing. Most rpers have their own preferences and standards, some are rly picky, some not picky at all, some are very organized with extensive tagging systems, some blogs are not. Usually these sorts of things are listed in someone's rules/guideline page. My own rule page has gone through several revisions, and that's okay, if you have a bad experience or run into something you haven't before, grow and learn, your comfort is important! You are not obligated to anyone! Take care of yourself and if someone doesn’t treat you how you would treat them, there is no reason for you to continue to interact with that person!

    A few general rping basics that Most ppl acknowledge would be...

Godmodding: determining what another person's character does without consent. There's not rly a point to rping with someone else if person A is trying to personally direct what person B does, also it's just pretty rude hfskjhdfs but I've seen it, multiple times, not fun. Don’t do that. Respect other ppls muses and how they want to write them, not how you think they should write them for you.

In Character/Out of Character issues: Sometimes people take personal offense to what someone's character does to their character, which can lead to all kinds of problems. Even if someone is writing a 'comfort character,' they are still fictional characters, and expecting an asshole muse to not be an asshole is rly unreasonable. I've seen a lot of villain muse writers especially struggle with this, but I’ve even had this problem in writing ‘good hearted character with a difficult personality’ not catering to another character the way they apparently wanted them to, without even telling me. Also, sometimes people let the knowledge they have ooc, such as from reading a muse's about or answered asks or interactions with other characters, be known to their character. Sometimes it can be logical, but sometimes there are private things that shouldn't be common knowledge just because the mun has read it. Again, this can be mun dependent, some don't care at all about this, but some can get very agitated hkfjshdf it's a good idea to ask the mun regardless if it's questionable for your muse to know about something.

Communication: despite shyness and anxiety, if someone is worried about anything, even if it seems small, it's always a good idea to just Check with your partner. Asking or Discussing is much better than having a build up of issues down the road from not talking and assuming too much of someone else.

Blog Format: this can get messy real fast. As far as I know, there are four main types. (1) Personals who rp. Essentially, normal tumblr blogs who also dabble in rping. Not particularly popular among a lot of more serious rpers because many of us are here to avoid reality and just have fun with fictional characters, so we’re probably not going to follow-back a blog that posts a lot of pictures/politics/content unrelated to whoever they are writing. But some are fine with this, so again, that’s a personal preference thing. (2) Single-muse Blog. A whole blog made and dedicated to writing a muse, which was the most prevalent for a long time, and also what I used to do. These blogs can send ic asks and etc directly from your rp blog without any confusion. But you also have to log in and out of each one individually. Great for ppl who focus on One or just a few muses for long periods though. (3) Multi-muse Blog. A whole blog dedicated to however many muses a person wants to write. Can be a few or  m a n y. If someone doesn’t have a good tagging set up, these can be very difficult to navigate. But it can also be one of the most laid back to run, just adding and removing muses through a page or tags. (4) Roleplay Hub. Hello, it’s me. A hub is a blog dedicated being a source for sideblogs dedicated to specific muses, so you don’t have to log into multiple locations but still have individual blogs per character. I’m pretty sure I helped start this trend to be honest hfskjdhf

    There are also ask blogs dedicated to just answering asks, oftentimes with art, but I don’t see those very often anymore, and I haven’t really seen those types of blogs actually making rp threads, doing heavy plotting, etc BUT I COULD BE WRONG don’t hold me to that;;;;

    AND ADDITIONALLY I went diving and found this which seems like an in depth list of things to keep in mind / if you want additional info/advice

[septembersghost]

there's a lot of snark in fandom about how show is bad/ "the secretly good spn that lives in my head" and I get that, but I've come to appreciate your open love for the canon good parts of it despite what happened. idk you really let yourself love it/dean with your whole chest and I want to be more like that. this sounds creepy but I admire your takes and light x 💚

somewhere along the way, shaming ourselves for fandom, practicing self-recrimination for liking things, became the norm. you must pay penance for enjoying this content. you must confess your sins before you’re allowed to talk about this story that touches you. and I intensely dislike it. I also happen to be guilty of it, because I am an expert at self-loathing and absorbed the idea of doing the winking “I’m trash 😩” apologia. and sometimes I still do this as defense, as humor, but a LOT of the other time - you just don’t have to! you don’t! I love SO MANY silly, imperfect, spectacular things. do you think I’m sorry for all the contrasting fandom-related memorabilia and sparkly, girly objects around me in this room? I am not. not limiting this to the show - let yourself have things! let yourself like things! I promise it’s okay. if it’s valuable to you, gives you some insight, makes you feel - it’s self-care to keep it, really. if people judge you that’s more their problem than it is yours. it doesn’t matter what the reason for your love is - my reasons with spn are extremely personal, have grown roots for over fifteen years, are entwined in the person I am, so it comes from my chest due to that (and it’s not creepy, it’s kind, thank you. ♥), but also, like, I love lots of things without needing super deep explanations, I just love them. idc if people think it’s strange that I still love, idk, princesses and flower crowns and ghost stories and angel wings. I’m “grown-up.” yes, and? I guess I just like liking things.

spn is flawed, all media is flawed, the ~secret version of it in my head~ is resonant and cherished, but that version comes directly from the actual canonical content, flourishes from what begins there. a lot of which is good! and meaningful and fascinating! the text is a bit scattered, it’s eerie, spiritual, rich, messy, frustrating, painful, comforting. in the post when I talked about how we all have different perceptions of it, the vastness and elasticity and almost unknowable/subliminal undercurrents of the story allow for that. let yourself have it.

cringe is dead. love whatever you want to love earnestly, however you choose to do it! I said this the other day, but we are all dust and shadows. we cling to and discover humanity, joy, passion, fascination wherever we can. we’re on a rock hurtling through space, trying to make sense of whatever time we have, falling in love with and finding ourselves and new truths in stories and art. we’re rushing through a tunnel and looking to the light. keep sight of it however you can.

[thehappymessproject]

77-79/100 - 5 steps to train our perseverance muscle

Yesterday, I forgot to write. My daily structure is very challenged at the moment, so things slip through. Between the 75th and the 76th day of my challenge, a week passed. When I sprained my elbow and was forced to physically rest, I realised I was in great need of rest, not only physically, so I decided to take the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve off. 

Some might consider this as a failure of my 100 days project. I call it self-perseveration and know it’s key to make change last. 

Perseverance is a tricky business when it comes to us regulating ourselves. There is only one way to truly and sustainably discipline ourselves : with love. And yet, most of us use mainly self-abuse to that end. 

Here are a few steps that make it easier for me to implement change in a sustainable loving way : 

1. Start with where you’re at 

Ok, you’re imperfect. Welcome to the human club, don’t worry, we are all in the same boat. You don’t have to change at all. But if you want to, you are going to have to deal with imperfection. 

It is very important that we start from where we are at instead of dwelling on where we would want to be. I started to change my relationship with writing bit by bit. 

I started by cultivating intention : I spent a few months trying to write more. And experimented from there. I would spend more time playing with my Instagram captions, telling little stories about my art, writing 6 words prompted stories... I journaled more and more, because I learnt that journaling liberates our writing. I wrote a couple of articles for my professional blog, started a project with an artist I know.

I only started this challenge when I felt so frustrated about not writing regularly that I kept thinking about it and being mean to myself about not doing it. And after I had done earlier in the year 100 days of creative living, after doing a few yoga and art 30 days challenges to first feel that I am actually capable of persevering in anything. 

As much as I wanted to write before that, I had to accept that I had to honour my pace, respect the rhythm of my process. 

We need to make sure we start where we are at, because it’s the only way that will give us the time and space we all need to grow (in any kind of way). Trying to fast track growth actually hinders it. 

2. Taking stock : mapping our weaknesses

Ok, here is a part that is as uncomfortable as it can be empowering. To actually implement change, we need to know how we are actively sabotaging ourselves. If you think you never sabotage yourself, think again. 

Maybe we set impossible goals, leading us inevitably to “I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it”.  Maybe we spend more time thinking about things than actually doing them.  Maybe we procrastinate.  Maybe we avoid any thoughts about what matters to us.  Maybe we’re waiting for “the perfect time”.  Maybe each time we would have time and space to do something important to ourselves we end up involving ourselves in drama (yours or others’) instead. Maybe we act as if our anxiety (”what if this terrible thing would happen to me? and this one? and that?”) isn’t about stories, but actual facts.  Maybe we agonise over every details so much that we never even start, or stop ourselves midway because it’s not as we imagined it would be. Maybe we use self-deprecation and criticism until we feel so bad that we don’t even try.  Maybe we keep looking and engaging in situations we know will make us give up/fail when it gets hard.  Maybe we keep yourself so busy that we can’t even think or feel what makes you suffer.  Maybe we numb ourselves each day with TV, food or substances.  Maybe we keep finding things you “need” to do to be more prepared to do what really matters to us.  Or any of the endless list of ways humans use to avoid facing who they are, what they feel and want. 

I am myself guilty of a few of those. Most of us are when we are honest with ourselves. We also can be guilty of them, but not in every circumstance.  Like : I will use excuses to avoid exercise (”it’s going to be too hard”, “I don’t feel motivated enough”...) that I would never accept from myself in an intellectual endeavour, where I would brush it off immediately (”yes it’s scary, it’s not a reason to stall, let’s go”). 

A few questions to start you off :  What do you think are the worst things to feel or situations to be in regarding change/doing new/hard things? What do you do to avoid feeling like this, even if it means you won’t achieve what you wanted? When you tried to persevere but didn’t : how did you stop yourself? What happened exactly before you gave up?  When you tried to persevere, what personal flaws do you link to your failure to keep going?

We often think that reflecting on our weaknesses will make us feel bad and discouraged from even trying. It is actually the opposite. When we avoid facing them, they sneak up on us and devastate us. When we know how we sabotage ourselves and accept it, we then can plan how we are going to use this knowledge to our advantage.

3. Make contingency plans 

This is SO SO important. Most of us start recovery or change as if it will be this perfect learning curve, without any mistake or hardship, or the need to change the way we do things. As if motivation was the only thing that matters. 

But recovery and change are both messy businesses. And they both include to change the way we react to triggering or changing situations. 

Since I started this challenge, I had to devise a few contingency plans. Instead of essays, when I am exhausted, completely depleted or very short on times, I will often resort to make lists that are helpful to me. That’s how you will find lists of things I love, for which I am grateful for the hardest days. I will write about topics that are more comfortable and easy for me, or require less brain power. I will start a longer essay so I don’t feel pressured to even reread myself since I won’t publish. I often write essays that 750-1000 words long. When it gets really hard, I don’t force myself to do more than 500 words, the minimum I decided to write everyday for that 100 days project.

All of those alternative plans have the same function : giving me a maximum of flexibility so I can persevere in a loving way, making permanent changes instead of performing change only for a while. 

4. Cultivate mindful flexibility 

This one is very linked to the former point. Anything that is too rigid is bound to lead us to failure. Life is messy, humanity is messy, therefore change can only be messy and chaotic. 

I am not advocating for a perpetual change of goals, which is often a sign of a lack of commitment and avoidance. I am advocating for a change in the way we go towards those goals. 

I started this challenge by publishing everyday, but since I am still writing long essays, it became more and more frustrating. Until I really couldn’t finish a post one night, was almost in tears about it, and realised that I had settle to write everyday, not post everyday. I then started writing each essay in 2 to 3 days, a rhythm much more adapted to my personality and current mental health and way of writing. 

Now that I’ve done it for a few weeks in this new way, I noticed that : I love having a couple of days to write and reread myself, but I also love to strive towards writing shorter essays. Both ways taught me important things about myself and my process, and by accepting to change “the rules”, I made sure to learn way more than by forcing myself into one unique way of doing it. 

That’s also why I chose to take a week off for the holidays : my last 100 days project left me exhausted and depleted. I clearly pushed myself too hard. I wanted to see what would happen to my momentum if I listened to my fatigue and made my process more flexible. I am so happy I did, the last month of the challenge feels so much more enriching that way (even if it was indeed a bit hard to go back at it). 

Each time we focus more on how we want those challenges to help us become the person we really want to be and to grow instead of solely focusing on the challenge, we make those structures work for us, instead of the opposite, we make those processes more human. 

5. Make it easy to get to the finish line

This challenge was so important to me, I wanted to write everyday about my job so badly, that of course, it was really scary to do so. As exciting as it could also be, and as satisfying as it can get get, doing things that matter to us carry a strong emotional charge.

Because of that, the more important something is to us, the more resistance we are probably going to have to fight on the way. Facing resistance can get really hard. We need to make sure we are loving towards ourselves to resist resistance on the long run.

If you want to set goals, start small, always. If I had tried this 100 days project even a few months before, I would have failed miserably. I created mini challenges and wrote about so many things I liked before this, for years actually. 

I didn’t set up for writing as much as I coud everyday when I planned this challenge. I chose instead a minimum number of words I thought would be doable on a very long term. 500 words takes me about 20-50mn per day, that seemed doable for me given my lifestyle (see #1). If I would have experienced a lot of difficulties, I would have cut the word-count to 250 words, less if necessary. It was more important to find ways to stick to it than to have an actual number of words down everyday.

And all those former points making it easier for me absolutely made it possible on the way. When we take on challenges as if we need to be perfect, we make failure happen each and every time. Those challenges, or anything we want to persevere doing on the long term will make us face our deeply human imperfection. 

Perseverance is hard because it asks us to face ourselves, often with a focus on our least favourite parts of ourselves. 

When we don’t take it easy, all this discomfort will force us to quit, burnt out and disappointed because we did ask too much of ourselves.  When we make it easier, we face our imperfection and tells it “it’s ok to be the way you are, now let’s find a way to make it work”. 

By persevering in a loving way, we learn to love ourselves just as we are, perfectly human and therefore imperfect. We also make our dreams happen, even if most of them will include fear, discomfort and hardship. One step at the time. 

Each mini goal we set up to attain and actually did will make us feel stronger, more confident and trusting our ability to create a life for ourselves that we actually enjoy. 

So... What are you going to work with next?

See you soon,  Love,  L. 

[atrevcorner]

I just cannot stay away from @faline-art‘s work. And I’ll be honest, I really don’t plan to. There’s plenty there to keep me busy.

This is actually from an older page of expressions Faline put together on this original post. Though all of them are fun, this one in particular stood out to me. Just seemed like a rather strong look for AJ. Silent tears like this one are far more interesting in the mystery when they are associated with an emotionally strong character like AJ.

You know the drill. I go deeper in coloring this thing down below. This time I tried inking the original...

Cropping out the character was the first step of course. Faline mentioned in the original post that this page was damaged before they could properly scan it. Though I do find the “imperfect” nature of traditional art so very appealing, I felt like I should attempt to bring out the lines a little bit more. It was @greyartpost who began to urge me to try inking/lining so I made this my initial practice. And well, It should be no surprise that I’m not all that great at it.

I’ll be honest. I actually think it looks better than when I finished the lines initially. I guess sleeping on it helped a bit. Below is how this looks with the colors without Faline’s original sketch underlayed without %50 opacity like the first image above.

Faline’s sketch gives it a world more of definition than my lines can at this point. It’s one reason I’ve avoided lining work and sought out easier pieces to color. It’s away from my comfort zone. And when one is trying something new, it can get messy and demoralizing. I’m going to try and get past that if you all will stick with a future of messy lines. I’m still going to do everything I can to show respect to the original work as I do.

Used a pencil brush. I downloaded some custom ones that you’ll see in the future. DAUB has a free set that I highly recommend. It feels better than the original that Clip Studio came with. Show accurate colors sans shading. I’m finding myself to be much quicker working on things, so I might not have as much to say in these posts going forward. I know a few people enjoy reading these longer posts about my coloring process, so I shall try not to disappoint. 

[joannechocolat]

How to be a Woman: Shut Up and Wear a Sweater

My name popped up recently online in this article from the New York Post, provoking an interesting debate on Twitter, regarding dress codes and what they mean, especially to women.

http://nypost.com/2017/07/10/congresss-dress-code-isnt-sexist-so-shut-up-and-put-on-a-sweater/

Leaving aside for a moment the Congress dress code, and whether or not it is sexist, let’s have a look at the way in which this reporter, who doesn’t know me from Adam or Eve, has interpreted my treatment at the hands of Harvey Nichol’s staff. (In truth, it was my daughter who was wearing the hoodie. I was wearing a denim jacket.) The two sales assistants on duty were having a private conversation, and, having glanced at both of us standing by the counter, pretended not to have noticed us, and pointedly turned away, having decided we weren’t impressive enough to serve. According to Raquel Laneri, the writer of this article, this rudeness was based on my lack of respect for the hallowed surroundings into which I had dared to venture.

Apparently, according to Raquel, wearing casual dress is insulting to people in business suits. Let’s look at that for a moment, because it reveals far more about the writer and her own insecurities than it does about a couple of sales assistants in a posh department store, who couldn’t be bothered to suspend their conversation in order to serve two people who looked too poor to afford clothes from Harvey Nichol’s.

Casual dress, according to the writer of this patronizing little piece, is “the height of entitlement.” She goes on to compare it to Silicon Valley billionaires who use it as a “power move” to intimidate people in business suits.

Well, maybe it is. I wouldn’t know. I’ve never met a Silicon Valley billionaire. I have met a lot of ordinary people, however, who wear casual clothes because they happen to like feeling comfortable, who wear comfortable shoes because they can’t afford taxis, and who, therefore, don’t deserve respect because they don’t look wealthy. Because that’s what it’s really about, of course. Dress codes are primarily designed to ensure that people who don’t conform to a certain set of stereotypes aren’t allowed entry into the exclusive clubs – be that the official dress code of Congress, or the unofficial dress code of Harvey Nichol’s. (Department stores don’t have dress codes, by the way, Raquel. And sales assistants are employees, paid to serve the customers, not to decide who’s worthy or not.)

Of course, there’s nothing new about this kind of exclusivity. Oxford’s all-male Bullingdon Club ensures “the right kind” of membership by imposing a “uniform” that costs the wearer several thousand pounds, and which no student from an ordinary background could possibly afford. The dress code of the wealthy is laid out in magazines worldwide, and anyone with an eye for fashion can usually tell how much an outfit costs, and therefore how much the wearer is worth. To people vacant and shallow enough to believe that wealth deserves respect, poverty deserves contempt, and they behave accordingly. But Raquel’s ire is not directed at the poor. It’s directed at those who could afford to wear the expensive uniform, but don’t want to belong to the club. And why would they? It’s a nasty, snobbish club, that judges people on the appearance of wealth, and assumes that politeness is optional. The refusal to conform challenges those assumptions. It says to those people in business suits: “I know what you stand for, and I’ve decided it isn’t for me.”

Now no-one’s pretending that dress codes only apply to women. But while the “business” dress code for men is quite straightforward (business suit, jacket, tie, leather shoes), for women it’s a minefield. If we have a little look at some of the restrictions, we’ll see how restrictive – how controlling – are the rules (both written and unwritten) that govern women’s appearance. We’ll also begin to see, I hope, how sexist these dress codes really are, under the guise of “formality.”

1.      Makeup. It’s generally considered inappropriate for a professional not to wear makeup. Not too much, though (mustn’t be slutty, must we?) just enough to make her look her best (ie: sexually attractive to men). Not wearing makeup implies that the woman might not actually want to be sexually attractive to men, and is therefore condemned as “disrespectful” or “unprofessional.” No-one asks  the same of men – men’s business clothing is resolutely neutral, while women’s clothing and grooming is highly, relentlessly sexualized. Which brings us to:

2.      Skirts v. Trousers. Even now, there’s a prejudice against businesswomen wearing trouser suits. They’re seen as less “professional” somehow, and are even forbidden in some businesses – not because they’re less formal, but because they’re not as “feminine” - ie: revealing - as skirts. Not too revealing, though - skirt length is a fine art, walking the delicate line between frumpy and flirty, both of which would attract negative comment. The same, and more goes for...

3.      Dresses, which should be neither too long, not too short; the fabric neither too sheer nor too floaty; the shape neither overly fitted (slutty) nor shapeless (not slutty enough); with either long sleeves or a cardigan to cover the flesh of the upper arms.

4.      Legs, however, are perfectly fine as long as stockings are also worn – mustn’t alarm the menfolk with the sight of imperfect female flesh, so a thin film of flesh-coloured nylon is essential to give the illusion of flawless skin.

5.      Shoes must be high-heeled to improve the shape of the calves, and to force the woman to walk in a more sexually provocative way. Low shoes are considered less formal (plus they’re a lot more comfortable, and much easier to run in if threatened by a predator). Open-toed sandals are sometimes all right, as long as the toenails are painted and the feet well-groomed, but, depending on the shape, may also sometimes be seen as too tarty, too casual, or incompatible with the essential stockings (see legs.)

6.      Hair should be neither too long (messy) nor too short (unattractive, masculine, possibly even lesbian). Curly hair is associated with untidiness, and must be ironed flat. If the hair is going grey, dyeing is essential to preserve maximum attraction and youthfulness, but nothing too artificial (tarty), and definitely no unnatural colours like green or blue, which are seen as threateningly alternative (maybe even lesbian).

7.      General grooming. It is also becoming increasingly accepted that a women who doesn’t want to endure lengthy beauty treatments just doesn’t respect herself, and therefore doesn’t deserve respect. These treatments include (among others) manicures; pedicures; eyebrow threading; waxing; hair straightening; removal of hair from the top lip. However, eyelash extensions, some hair extensions, unusually long fingernails, eye-catching nail art, certain shades of lipstick or eyeshadow, etc. may be seen as slutty and/or common, and should be avoided.

8.      General attractiveness. While it is essential to look one’s best, it is also essential not to tempt men into behaving badly. To be too attractive is as bad as to be unattractive, and in certain professions, either can end in dismissal.

9.      Age appropriateness. Women should always try to look young and beautiful. If they fail in this, it may be because they are “trying too hard,” which is, of course, ridiculous, and deserves contempt. Is it flattering? If it is, all the better, as long as it doesn’t contravene the “General attractiveness” rule. If you are lucky enough to attract a compliment from a male colleague, be grateful for the flattery. If you’re unlucky enough to wear something that doesn’t “suit” you, expect negative comments from your male colleagues: you deserve it, and it is, after all, their right and privilege to comment on any detail of your appearance they happen to notice.

10.   Deportment. Women are trained from childhood to walk, sit, stand, speak, etc. in a “ladylike” fashion. That means not running, not sitting with your legs apart, not talking too loudly, or too confidently, or too shrilly. It means not taking up too much space. It means not challenging the status quo. If you challenge the status quo, you’ll be accused of being arrogant, shill, unattractive, and worst of all, “unfeminine.” 

In conclusion:  This is the lie that we are being sold. Your existence, as a woman, is not a right, but a privilege. That’s because the men in charge were generous enough to let you into their exclusive club. You’re there on sufferance, so watch your step. Watch what you wear: watch how you walk; watch how you express yourself. And if a man tells you something, don’t question him, even if it’s none of his business. Those are the rules of this club, girls. That’s how you earn the respect of men. That’s how you get along in life. And if you decide that’s not what you want, there’ll always be women like Raquel to tell you you’re being arrogant, because you’re flaunting the rules of the game. And that’s because women like Raquel would secretly like to flaunt the rules, but daren’t, because they’re full of fear. And so they sneer at you instead, hoping for the approval of the men in charge of the club. Because women like Raquel believe that if they bow their heads and conform, if they sneer at other women, then they will earn the respect of men. They won’t. But they may, if they’re lucky, get to sneak a look inside Congress: as long as they put up, shut up and wear a fucking cardigan.

[andreafestefano]

How to make a HUGE upholstered bulletin board

Hello there! I'm back with a project I've been planning for a few months! I was finally able to get to it last week. I've been holding off on starting until I could get a sconce installed on the wall first. I've only shared this side of my office once because it's hasn't been much to look at. I showed you this wall early last year:

It certainly wasn't awful, but it wasn't nearly as cool as the other side of the room!: 

You can see how I built that wall of office built ins here. 

Since that before picture I've changed out the TV for a slightly larger one and moved the dresser to another room. The bookcases gave me plenty of storage. (I replaced the dresser with a smaller table for the printer.) 

I've had an idea for a big bulletin board in my head for a long time, but as I mentioned, I wanted to get a sconce installed first. If you have an outlet it's pretty easy for an electrician to run wiring for a sconce and switch. I've done it many times over the years! 

I taped out the size for the board before starting: 

I use painter's tape all of the time to figure out the placement and sizing of things -- it's great for figuring out furniture layouts too!

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. 

See my policies and disclosure page for more information. 

I found the brass sconce here (I'll show you a closer pic in a bit) and it was only $36! It is an LED light, so if you don't like that brighter daylight look, you'll want to pick something else.

Step one: Hang particle board

I had to give my bulletin board a base on the wall -- otherwise I would be gluing the foam directly to the wall. I learned a long time ago avoid glue on the wall at all costs. :) My bulletin board size is four by six feet so three 2x4 boards were enough:

I think they were $7 each. (It would be slightly cheaper to get a 4x8 piece cut down, but I get impatient sometimes.) As you can see, the TV was staying. I left it up as I worked because I wanted the bulletin board to surround the TV mount as closely as possible. 

At the bottom I cut the boards short so the cords could go through that channel: 

I don't have a pic, but I later put my favorite cord hider down the middle with the cords inside. If I have to remove the TV I can still take it off the wall and pull the cords through the bottom. 

Step two: Install foam boards over the particle board

I've used the large 4x8 insulation boards you can find at the hardware store for bulletin boards before, but they are bulky and hard to get home. (I'd have to score and cut it there to get it in my car.) 

So instead I used this insulation kit I found at Home Depot: 

I can't remember the exact price because I bought it so long ago, but it wasn't bad! 

It comes with six sheets and they are about 3/4 inch I believe. One kit was plenty!: 

I used Liquid Nails (in a caulk gun) on the back of each piece of foam to secure it to the wood: 

As you can see I just pieced it together as well as I went. Cutting it down is easy, it's just MESSY. I  used a razor to score the foam and it popped off with a pretty clean edge. 

It looked like it had snowed in my office after I was done, but it worked! 

Step three: Attach the fabric 

This is where I made a little misstep, so learn from my mistake! It ended up working out much better in the end thankfully!

I used a staple gun to attach my fabric at the top and then started working my way down. You'll need to be patient with this part! To make sure the fabric stayed against the foam, I used this spray glue as I worked. Just spray over the foam and then smooth your fabric down as you staple it around the boards. 

I removed the TV for the middle part and just cut through the fabric:

Trim the fabric and staple around the hole like so: 

I could have taken the TV mount off and installed it over the particle board, but that seemed like extra work to me. Either way would work -- just be careful not to put the foam and fabric right up against the vents of your TV so it can "breathe." 

The spray glue method worked GREAT! Almost too well -- the problem was, after I was done I could see the minor imperfections in the foam (because the fabric adhered so well). I wish I would have taken a photo to show you. It wasn't crazy noticeable, but enough that I knew it would bug me. 

Thing is, I bought a fabric for this project months ago, but when it came time to install it, I chickened out. It was out of my comfort zone a bit, so I went with a basic cream tweed fabric instead -- trying to play it safe. But when I got it up, not only could I see the imperfections...but it was BORING. 😂

Sooooo...I went back with my original fabric and LOVED it. I should have stuck with my gut, but it ended up being a good mistake because the first layer of fabric hid the imperfections. (I installed the final fabric over the first.) After I got my fabric up, I painted and installed trim around the whole thing to frame it out:

I carried the beautiful green (called Vintage Vogue) on the built ins over to this side of the room and I absolutely love it against the fabric. 

The fabric makes a statement but isn't busy. A larger print (like a floral) would look great, but I was worried it would get super busy with the photos/notes I want to put on here. Here's a closer view of the art light:

You can see how bright the LED light is! 

I am SO in love with how this turned out!! I found my antelope (faux) fabric at Hobby Lobby for 40 percent off, but you can also find it here online: 

The little console was from At Home and it's perfect for extra printer paper and ink. 

I've already started filling up the board with things I've wanted to display for awhile -- some inspiration pics, mementos and recent magazine spreads: 

Aren't those huge letters fun? I found those at Hobby Lobby too. I think they still have them!

It turned out just as I had envisioned all these months. I love that I have a spot to display these in a "neat" way: 

Here are a few things to think about if you tackle this project:

Use a fabric with a loose weave -- something that will allow your pins to get through easily (and won't show or snag when you pull them out).

Remember you can only go as big as your fabric width -- length can be as long as you want. If you want one piece of fabric, you can only go about 50 inches across. 

To avoid seeing any imperfections in the foam you can do a layer of a thin fabric (like muslin) over it first. I think anything with a pattern (like what I ended up with) would also help to hide it.

Here's a look at the before of this wall again:

And how it looks now!: 

I have plans for one more big project in this room! But after wanting to do this big bulletin board for so long, it feels complete to me for now. Have you created a big bulletin board like this for your home?

------------------------------------------------------

Here are a couple of other ideas for office organization! You can also make a HUGE chalkboard using my tutorial here:

Or use an old frame to create a bulletin board as well: 

(I later changed it out to a magnetic board instead of using pins!) See more of our home here. To shop items in our home, click here! Never miss a post by signing up to get posts via email. 

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This industry information is provided by ThompsonsComfortConnection.com.

Copyright © Thrifty Decor Chick. All Rights Reserved.

By: Thompsons Comfort Connection Blog Feed https://ift.tt/3aTABBW

[a-travels]

taken: 27 may, 2018 Somewhere in Iceland

Power to truth. Also *mlem*

If it wasn’t clear, this is the same day as the last post and definitive proof that the horses were indeed not alone. Though this horse is by itself too and this could just be in two separate pastures. You’ll just have to believe me, I guess.

Look at the horse. Man, it’s a cute horse. There’s no pretention or facade about the horse. The horse is a horse. If you could see these Icelandic horses, you’d marvel at how small they are. They’re basically like Lil Sebastian from Parks and Recreation⸺not ponies, but small horses. This is an adult horse that looks undergrown but is in fact not. 

For those few that somehow have stuck this long with this thing, get ready for what we call in the industry, a stretch.

I mention the horse being a horse because I am sometimes baffled by how we as humans are. “Human” humans seem to be a rarer breed than “horsey” horses nowadays. Have I lost you? Let me explain. 

One of the key differentiators of our species (apart from opposable thumbs) from so many other species out there, is our use of complex language. Animals speak, just as we do, but there’s a beauty in how simplistic it is. In the immortal words of Jeff Winger from the TV show Community: “You know who has real conversations? Ants. They talk by vomiting chemicals in each other's mouths. They get right down to brass tacks”. Animals communicate purely in utilitarian fashions, as far as I’m aware (if someone knows enough zoology or animal linguistics to inform me otherwise, I’d love to hear it). “There’s food here!” “Watch out for the predator!” “Come drink water!”, there’s little room for subtlety or sarcasm. Humans, I guess in our dominance as the apex predator of this planet, have developed enough of a sense of comfort that we have had the ability to develop this “complex language”. We can be subtle, indirect, sarcastic, facetious and more, and our message is still somehow generally conveyed to out audience or conversers. There’s no need for utilitarian dialogue in our society. We don’t want to hear if we look fat in an outfit or ugly in a hat, we want ourselves to feel better about ourselves and our place in this world.


Somehow, in the pursuit of that feeling, the feeling of satisfaction, some people take the route of least resistance and start to lie with gleeful abandon. It’s like in Avengers: Infinity War when the Collector asks Thanos, “Why would I lie to you?” and Thanos replies, “I imagine it’s like breathing for you.” Seriously, it’s appalling the level to which people will lie, cheat, manipulate, and con just to get ahead. Now, before anyone (any of those three readers) who calls me out for high-horsing (no pun intended) on this matter, I openly admit I’ve told my fair share of lies. But, to the best of my knowledge, I have not done it ever in a work or academic setting to better my standing. Beyond lying in professional settings, disingenuousness is perhaps my least favorite quality in a person. Any of my friends (I hope) would know that above all else in a person, I value genuineness above all else, in whatever form that may be. I think I have a pretty good read on people, but other people are not blind to that kind of stuff either. That “bullshit meter” is something I think every one of us develops over time just interacting with other people. Isn’t that kind of nuts, how ants just barf their feelings to one another while we need to develop an implicit metric to decipher other people simply being honest or not?


I don’t say all this because I’ve recently been wronged or lied to by someone. I think I have distilled and retained a social circle which at this point is open enough to be above-board and not have to lie to each other and me. It’s more of a trend I’ve seen in amongst others from my university and high school, who are so affectionately called “the snakes”, as well as on social media. I’m not going to necessarily dig into those real-life “snakes” right now because it’s beyond my understanding or energy to engage with those kinds of people right now. I manage to skirt my way around them enough that they don’t overly affect my life right now. Maybe I’ll touch on them in a future post. 

Just recently, a friend of mine was talking about how bored and isolated they are where they work. I suggested they meet up with someone (classmate of ours from high school) in the same city as them and the immediate reaction was of rebuke, simply due to that someone’s social media presence seeming put on and artificial. On that level, I get it. Social media is perhaps the means to the end of fulfilling our social satisfaction and external validation “needs”. But who really dictates that need, and where does that need stem from in the first place? I can’t hope to understand everyone’s internal struggles and or insecurities, but I know personally, it’s something I struggle with myself, finding satisfaction in myself and my work. It takes an effort in having to myself “I am enough”. I’ve never thought to look to social media for that validation I sometimes seek myself, but I get that people do. But I think in that quest, sometimes people come across as though they’re showing off, virtue signaling to others on how to act, even if they don’t intend to. In an effort to seem “human”, flawed, and trying to be a better person, they invariably look like a “snake” and often unrelatable to the trained eye. 


Before I sound hypocritical, I get that social media is at its core about a romanticized version of your life, and I am just as guilty in portraying my life in that manner. It is the modern-day photo album, that doesn’t necessarily always dig into the bad times or the fears or insecurities. It’s just the new way to remember the good times when you’re older and click back onto Facebook or Instagram. You won’t remember how you missed your flight or got caught in a rainstorm at the beach, but you will remember snorkeling and that dope meal you got the first night in and those pictures you have. It’s seldom a diary of some sort (or maybe it is for some people). It provides a fleeting comfort of how we think our lives should be⸺perfect, happy, never sad, always with friends, helping out others. But life is rarely like that. it’s messy, sweaty, tear-filled, occasionally solitary, bored, tired, worn, bruised, and battered. There’s nothing wrong with sharing that pristine side of yourself online, but in my experience, it will never solve that growing underside of things if left alone. It is uncomfortable to face those demons, to grapple with the pressures of daily life. But it never gets better just festering and growing. I found all that stuff for me really boil over and affect my life adversely within the past few years and ignoring it, in hindsight, didn’t help me.

I don’t and probably may not ever truly understand everyone’s challenges in life, but I know that trying to mask it online or mask it in person doesn’t really help. It may be a band-aid to a larger wound that may grow septic if not treated. Like I said, I’m not saying to post pictures or videos of you crying or talking about everything online unless that’s your thing (which by all means, you do you), but being human is to embrace the messiness and imperfection of life. Talk to a friend, talk to a professional, journal, blog, write in a diary, punch it out in a martial arts class, workout, whatever fuzzes your peach, it’s better to face it than hide from it. Molt that snakeskin and horse around. Be honest.


Well, this got a bit long once again. Social media etiquette and my presence there is something I’ve been thinking about since I joined facebook in high school. I don’t expect anyone to necessarily share my views on this stuff, but I would hope there’s some resonance on the idea of honesty and being genuine to one another. Also, the process of crystallizing my thoughts into actual written words isn’t super easy since I’m a pretty crummy writer so getting these cogent and short is a challenge in itself. Maybe I’ll start including a tl;dr on these things.

tl;dr - begone sneks

[joyandmeliawrites-blog]

Perfection vs. Connection

First of all, I want to apologize for my rambling and random thoughts! 

My kids are having Spring Break, and I have been ALL OVER THE PLACE making meals, shooting, editing, playing with my babies, and setting up playdates for them! LOL. BUT HONESTLY, this has been my most relaxing 2 hours of my whole week...sitting here and writing this post. 

The clock is now 12 AM, so I am going to submit this writing without even editing them, because editing them will actually negate ALL of my points below, you’ll see! So again, I apologize for my random ramblings and the imperfect grammars. 

Here goes nothing:

Perfection.

It seems like everyone is so obsessed with this idea lately.

Pinterest house, clean floor, empty dishwasher, squeaky clean plates, Joanna Gaines’ farm house back splash, well-behaved children.

Beach body, toned abs, flawless skin, perfectly fresh hair do.

High powered job, smiling happy co-workers, big fat pay checks that can take us travelling to our next bucket list destinations. Do it for the ‘gram, they say.

People strife to reach this state, collectively jumping into this rat race towards the ideal standard of perfection. They work extra hours, clean erratically, exercise harder, discipline their kids even more. It seems like there is a million things we need to do daily, our minds racing 100 mph through our to-do list, just to barely scratch the surface of this idyllic picture of excellence.

I think this is the exact reason why people fall in love with Instagram (I am so guilty of this!). For once in our lives, we got control. We can curate, pick and choose, crop and filter parts of our lives that are worthy to be put on a pedestal for the world to see. We cut out the imperfect sections and corners of our lives that are hidden, dark, and messy. We can’t capture insecurities. We can’t post confusion and uncertainties. So we choose the bright and happy…. the sunshine and the smiles.

Once we jump into this bottomless vortex of perfect little squares, we are lost in a whole different world. Once our thumbs are caught in this unending scroll of flawless images, we believe that our lives are INDEED perfect! Combine a little expertise in photography and artificial modelling, we can make our friends believe that we run a happier life than Meghan Markle.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think all of us are intentionally faking it. At times, we are just caught up in the fun of documenting our fleeting lives. Yet if we are not careful, we can trade the significant with the superficial… the humble, real, raw moments of our daily relationship with the mere virtual.  

The fact is, real life IS messy.

It involves insecurities, confusion with a hint of uncertainties. Reality consists of misbehaved kids, cheerios on the floor, spilled milk, us losing tempers, and messy hair after a workout. REAL LIFE is often times frustrating, tiring, yet it attracts REAL RELATIONSHIPS.... and it’s beautiful.

The other day I had a client coming to my house and she is 14 weeks pregnant. She’s an old friend of mine wanting to do a fashion start-up, so she needs help in doing editorial photo shoot for her inventory. Before coming to our place for the meeting, she shared with me through text that she was reaaally scared of having this kid. She said that she wasn’t that ready, and this pregnancy was really a surprise for her. I wanted to encourage and be there for her during this season, so I invited her to come to our house for coffee while talking about our upcoming project.

Before she came a few days ago, I cleaned my house (GUILTY OF PERFECTION OBSESSION), Swiffered my floor, and straighten up my house. (what’s wrong with me!?!). I briefed my three kids who were having Spring Break at that time: “Hey kids, my really good friend is coming, she is pregnant, and she is a bit nervous of having this kid, so I want you to be at your best behavior and convince her that having kids are actually FUN!!! You got this!?!?!” I got three simultaneous “Yes, mommy!”

She rang my doorbell, and being her beautiful self, she gracefully showed herself into my kitchen with a tray of dessert. My kids WERE at their best behavior. “Hi auntie! Do you want some tea?” My oldest offered, acting like an English butler. “Auntie T, do you want me to show you my dinosaur art?” My Ally asked excitedly. Our plan was working beautifully, but my joy didn’t last for a long time because suddenly my last born Elijah called me out with that faint voice again, “Mommy, my throat hurts, my belly doesn’t feel that good” 

In that split second….he PROJECTILE VOMITTED THE WHOLE BREAKFAST, LUNCH, AND SNACKS HE HAD IN HIS BELLY…DOWN TO MY PERFECTLY SWIFFERED FLOOR. It was the Singaporean Merlion Lion Statue scene, I’m not even kidding you...but instead of water, it was streams of oranges, mushy rice and egg, oatmeal, I will spare you the details.

My reaction was to hold his vomit in my hands…and I am now stuck kneeling in a pool of my child’s vomit, marinated in the obnoxious smell. The barf even splashed a bit unto my friends’ REALLY stylish work pants.

DIE.

I profusely apologize and asked her to move away…I was afraid that she had a bad gag reflex due to her pregnancy (I didn’t wanna clean two people’s vomit). I ended up using half bottle of 409 to clean up the mess. After all the showers and deep cleaning, 40 minutes later, I was finally ready for the meeting.

So much for perfection!

Despite this debacle, in our meeting, I found a connection with her. She said that she got a glimpse of what motherhood looks like. She also said that she feels like an underdog in this whole motherhood thing…. how everyone around her are so ready to become a mom but her! Hey, I relate with that! I told her “I got pregnant when I was 24, and I always thought that I was the underdog. I am always surrounded by all these super moms like Ancella and Kelsie. 12 years into this parenthood thing, and I still feel like I don’t have it all together. I can’t do this thing by myself, but God can help us through this!”. I ended up encouraging her and told her that we are going to be in this MESS together…vomit and all.

We found comfort and connection in our imperfections, fear, insecurities, and uncertainties.

After this incident, I am reassured that perfection is overrated.

John the Baptist chose to embrace the mess in the wilderness, eating locust wearing raw leather.

Jesus didn’t come to earth on his horses and chariots. He chose to come to us in a dark and messy place of a manger.

He chose to walk his life on earth, being 100% human: tempted, hungry, thirsty, persecuted.

He chose to die a horrific death on the cross, bleeding, having his flesh clawed out of his body.

He could have chose perfection, saving humanity from his perfect throne above. He could send his angels to write beautifully on the clouds “Hereby, I now declare humanity SAVED. I love you all.”

Yet, He chose to come down on earth.

He chose imperfection.

He chose connection.

So....the next time I caught my sinful self chasing perfection.

I am gonna try to stop myself and chase connection instead.

[archi-anime]

Hey hey hey fellow ani-lovers and ani-friends!! It’s Archi-Anime’s turn to contribute to  the OWLS January blog tour. OWLS: Otaku Warriors for Liberty and Self-Respect, is a group that hopes to spread the important message of respect and kindness to every human being. Our monthly blog tours reflect this message of tolerance and self-acceptance, through various analysis of the anime medium; although it is not limited to anime.

January’s theme is “Revival”:

A new year implies “new beginnings.” Yet, rather than discussing the “new,” we will be discussing the “revival.” “Revival”  has multiple definitions, but the meaning we will be focusing on is the improvement, development, or refinement of something. Our posts will be about characters that undergo a positive or negative transformation and what we can learn from them.

The life of an artist is a precarious path, and the same could go for us content creators. We all start from zero. We start with the basics and once we’re comfortable with that we start to add our own view, our own flourishes to make our content our own. Some people are born with natural talent while others have to work really hard. We’re inspired by others and strive to be like them so in a sense we also start to mimic those as well. We’ve all at some point hit a wall, a plateau, that hinders us from creating, this is usually the time we have to start changing things up and find new inspiration.

In the case of Barakamon, Handa Sei is a naturally talented calligraphy artist bound for glory in the same steps as his father, another renowned Calligrapher.  Handa is quite proud of his work, it’s perfection in it’s subtlety, and its grounded in the foundation it was built on, the influence of his father and the basics he’s known all his life. He’s comfortable in thinking he’s the best, until one fateful competition that breaks him. What happens afterwards revitalizes him via his own renaissance and a better understanding of himself.

  Crash & Burn

“For one still so young, your calligraphy is highly conformist. I don’t know if it’s better described as copybook-style, or made simply to win calligraphy awards. Did you even attempt to scale the walls of mediocrity?” – Director

At the beginning of the series, we see a manically laughing Handa practicing calligraphy, or more like splashing black ink around on an canvas before he flops onto the ground satisfied with what he sees. Until we enter a flashback scene from the latest competition in which his work was displayed. We see his art being criticized by a big wig, a director of the gallery. The above quote is what he says about Handa’s work on display, basically saying that his work is basic and is missing something. So, as a response, instead of talking, he uses his fists and knocks out the Director.

Rejuvenation 

After having punched the lights out of the Director, Handa is sent to the island of Fukue to cool his head and take a break from his work. What Handa has failed to realize what the director is saying is that while Handa’s work is beautiful in it’s foundations of basics, where is Handa in his work? Where is his style of calligraphy? What does he want to convey outside of pretty calligraphy?

On the island, Handa is adverse to socializing with the community at first; hell-bent on solely focusing on trying to better his calligraphy by thoroughly practicing everyday all day with the thoughts of the director swirling through his head. But throughout the duration of his stay, the community worms their way into his life and eventually his heart thereby causing a noticeable change in his work ethic.

Enter Naru Kotinishi, the biggest thorn in his side due to her pestering nature. However, her pestering nature cuts through to the very center of who he is without her knowing, reiterating what the director has also noticed about the very truth of his work ethic, and who Handa is as a person. At first he despises the child, but he can’t fault her for speaking so frankly – she’s a kid. She only knows how to speak the truth and speak on her mind. Handa is too stubborn, too caught up in his ways and his ideals of perfect calligraphy, that he doesn’t know how to have fun or to let loose. Naru interjects spontaneity into his life with daily events, and unplanned life anecdotes and becomes an unlikely friend that sparks the catalyst to his renaissance.

After his first day on the island he’s inspired to write, which is a call-back to the beginning of the first episode. He’s laughing like a crazy person as he “writes”. But as he looks as it the next day, he says he can’t claim it as his style, because as wild and spontaneous as it is, is that what represents him?

Rising from the Ashes

Due to his encounters with the locals and having spent loads of time with Naru, Handa learns to let loose a little, learns to have fun. This hits a switch inside him, he goes home and practices his calligraphy, but instead of doing it in his usual measured and perfect way, he has fun. He tries to capture the feeling of that word based on something he experiences that day on the island. He ends up producing large pieces of work. Wild broad strokes fill up the canvas before him, random splatters here and there, there’s nothing clean and nothing perfect about it but it’s painted with feeling.

There’s a particular scene that stands out as the turning point of Handa rising from the ashes. His reputation as a calligrapher is known to all the villagers on the island. One day, he’s asked to paint a name on the side of the boat. The boat is brand new, pristine and sparkling white. He’s hesitant to write on it and mess up the perfection in front of him, so he takes to practicing on wooden planks. When he think’s he’s ready to paint on the boat, he hesitates because that first stroke will determine perfection. He starts to create excuses as to why he can’t paint just yet and that he needs more practice. Naru sees his hesitation of the blank canvas, so she takes the initiative and dips her hand in the ink and sets a handprint on the boat which caused all the other children to follow suit. Handa starts to panic and freak out as he realizes he has to abandon all his planning and use splotches of bold black strokes to hide the small handprints.

“It’s strange. I was so scared a moment ago. But the pressure’s completely gone and the brush is moving easily, just because of those little handprints.” – Handa

At the end of the job, it’s messy, but it works. The client actually loves it and thinks it fits the boat perfectly. Naru is there pushing Handa’s boundaries and making him break the mold that he’s so accustomed to, and because of this refreshing outlook, he can’t help but adapt to the idea of having fun in doing calligraphy.

Handa’s Renaissance

Handa abandons perfection. He abandons the basics. He never realized how happy calligraphy actually makes him until he does it more free-form.

Another scene comes to mind when this realization comes to fruition. Handa enters a competition from the island, but comes in second place. This throws him into a short depression, but soon he gets over it. His best friends/manager comes to visit him on the island, bringing along a new face. Turns out that this character is the person that won first in that one competition. He’s come to save Handa from himself, as he saw the entry and didn’t find it beautiful and representative of who Handa was, and wanted to bring Handa back to Tokyo as his art was being tarnished by living on the island. Claiming his new wild style is forced and not like him at all, and that being on the island is not helping him gain anything.

Handa has a mini-breakdown with his rival badgering him to return. He’s confused as what’s expected from him. If he wins an award he gets told its boring, but if he writes something he likes and is actually good it doesn’t win a prize. Naru interrupts by flying paper airplanes made of magazine cutouts of Handa and she tells him that he’s flying. I think Handa takes this as a hint; that he’s free to do what he wants.  He has a moment of clarity that settles his inner demons and realizes what it is he really wants:

“My calligraphy that you call pretty is well-behaved calligraphy, written the way my dad told me. I don’t mind if you get mad. I want to write calligraphy only Handa Seishuu can write. I don’t know what the right answer is, but letting your words goad me into returning to Tokyo is wrong.  I want to change myself, here.” – Handa Seishuu

 Lessons Learned

When I watched that particular episode of Barakamon, I was reminded of my own struggle with the blank page. I’ve always been obsessed with that the first stroke of the pen, pencil, marker, brush had to be immaculate. It’s really a hard habit to break, so I understood Handa’s struggle. Nothing is perfect, and that perfection could lie in the imperfections.

On the other hand, he reminds us that in throwing caution to the wind with our pre-meditated thoughts and breaking the molds of tradition are also the catalysts for our own personal renaissance. Or maybe there’s one person out there that can make you realize the change that needs to be made, whether that be a friend, a significant other, or even a lover.

Through trial and error, we find ourselves and our passions. Through trial and error we find what works and what doesn’t work. But, without trial and error, the catalyst for a renaissance will never arise. I take this to heart, because this blog has gone through it’s own Renaissance, and has finally flourised in the content that is what I can only write.

That just about wraps up this month’s tour here at Archi-Anime. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Feel free to leave any in the comments!

And don’t forget to check out Zoe’s (Let’s Talk Anime) OWLS post about ReLife here.

And look out for Naja’s post on her site: Nice Job Breaking it, Hero.. where she looks at Samurai Flamenco.

Also, if you haven’t don’t forget to follow us on facebook as well as our twitter @OWLSbloggers and our official blog and our Facebook page  as well as our YouTube channel! And if you’re interested in becoming an OWLS member, you can contact us here.

[OWLS Blog Tour] A Calligrapher’s Renaissance: Barakamon Hey hey hey fellow ani-lovers and ani-friends!! It’s Archi-Anime’s turn to contribute to  the OWLS January blog tour.

[jamiekturner]

Typewriter Fonts You Need To Create Classic Designs

A lot of designers are looking for typewriter fonts to use in their designs and this shouldn’t surprise us. The variety of clients that we come in contact with generate a multitude and mixed type of projects.

But let’s take it from the basics.

Typography defines typefaces as combined font families where each member comes with glyphs that have common design properties.

Each of the typeface’s fonts is distinguished by style, weight, width, condensation, italicization, slant, ornamentation, and foundry (commonly referred to as size for motel fonts).

To give you an example – ‘ITC Garamond Bold Condensed Italic’ stands for the bold, italic, and condensed-width version of the standard ITC Garamond font, and its features make it different that other ITC Garamond fonts such as Bold Condensed or Condensed Italic.

ITC Garamond, on its own behalf, looks differently that Monotype Garamond or Adobe Garamond, as these are its alternative updates created for digitalisation purposes, while the font itself can be traced to the early 16th century. At the moment, there are countless different typefaces and typewriter fonts available, and newer ones are emerging as we speak.

Designing typefaces is a separate craft and art in the creative world, usually referred to as type design.

The artists in charge of it are known as type designers, and their role is to support the work of type foundries. In the age of fully digitized typography, these professionals are also required to design typewriter fonts.

Obviously, the best way to make text look typewritten is to actually use a typewriter. Once your document is ready, you can scan it, and still get to use it in a digital version. Yet, isn’t that a bit exaggerated? Isn’t there a way to create old typewriter fonts from the comfort of your computer?

Sure there is! And that’s where typewriter fonts take over!

Image source: Georgy Pashkov

As we mentioned before, typefaces consist of glyphs, and each glyph is used to represent a different letter, number, symbol, or punctuation mark. These glyphs can then be made to work for all sorts of characters in diverse scripts – the Roman uppercase A, for instance, is identical to the Greek uppercase alpha, and the Cyrillic uppercase A. There are also unique typefaces that were created to serve special purposes, as for instance astrology, mathematics, map-making, and so on.

Typefaces were often confused for fonts, but in the era of digital typography and online publishing people find it much easier to distinguish between them and to understand their meaning.

Scrapbook pages are the most common users of typewriter fonts, thanks to the fact that these fonts are very legible and come in different styles and versions, among which messy, clean, grungy, modern, aged, or even ‘hand-written’.

The tips & tricks you should know about

In the work of real typewriters, one uses a machine to press letters onto paper sheets. The same process can be mimicked digitally in a very simple way, namely by using Photoshop’s pillow emboss style.

The effects of your work will be more subtle than harsh, and inject a realistic vibe that the font was pressed onto the paper instead of being brought to float over it. You can make it less or more prominent, depending on the nature of your work and your personal preferences.

What font looks like a typewriter font? To help answer this question, we conducted an online research on the best paid and free typewriter fonts, and preselected those that have the potential to make your design look more retro!

What font looks like a typewriter font? Let’s find out together!

Here is our list of the best typewriter fonts you should consider for your design:

FF Trixie

Designers who’re after a grungy typewriting feeling should definitely look at FF Trixie, an old and popular typeface whose origin was a mystery for many years. The classic typewriter font and one of world’s oldest typefaces was created by Erik van Blokland in the Hague, and first unveiled in the ‘Made with FontFont’ book which mentions Nuremberg’s 1930s Triumph Durabel font as its original version.

Letter Gothic

Letter Gothic is a Roger Roberson product designed for needs of IBM at the beginning of the 1960s. The lettering is flat, clean, and appealing, and consists of monospaced sans serifs types with different weights.

Olivetti Typewriter

Olivetti Typewriter was created by Iza W, a classic fonts’ designer trying to mimic the effect of slopping ink on old machines. You can get in 5 separate weights, including thick and traditional styles

Smith-Premier Typewriter

Smith-Premier Typewriter is a family of playful, warmly-toned fonts that suit the needs of artistic projects and creative designs. It makes use of slim and lightweight serifs, and it beautifies them with unique curls.

Old Typewriter Font

If looking for the perfect hand-drawn font, Old Typewriter is a self-explanatory choice. It is in fact a kit of rough and old-fashioned fonts, and helps turn even the simplest project into a masterpiece of vintage aesthetics.

Grandpas Typewriter

Grandpas Typewriter relies on both its name and looks to inspire a retro feeling, and helps make any type of content look aged and valuable. Its secret is that it was originally created on a genuine Olivetti Typewriter machine, and has preserved much of its amazing, lightly distressed regular version. Another thing that makes it extremely popular nowadays is that it features an X version with tests, stains, and mistakes.

Baltimore Typewriter – Basic Pack

Baltimore Typewriter is the perfect alternative for those interested in a bold font, as it puts even four distinct font styles on the table. You can choose anything from a classic version to custom typewriter keys, or even use its extra bold variations.

Four Hours ‘Til Dawn

Four Hours ‘Til Dawn is the right choice for minimalist designers, best known for its clean and sleek letters. It is commonly applied and conserved appropriate for professional and academic content, but you can also consider it for creative work.

Lettre

Lettre will attract you with its geometric serif letters, but also notable imperfections that make it reminiscent of hand-writing. It is trendy and appealing, and suits well all types of content.

Special Elite Pro

Those of you familiar with the Special Elite Type No.NR6 will easily recognize Special Elie Pro, an elegant and vintage typewriter font that inject a warm vibe, and provides users with an extensive set of symbols and figures.

Noodlerz

Noodlerz is, in a nutshell, a friendly and playful font. As you can conclude by its name, the font features curvy serif letters (the cross between a Sharpie and a typewriter, as the creator fancies calling it), and prides itself with admirable versatility.

Font + Textures Pack #1

Font+Textures Pack #1 is an Ana’s fonts &c. Product based on the company’s most popular Rusty typewriter font. It aims to invoke a vintage vibe with its rough edges, and it offers even 15 grunge textures to support its beautiful appearance.

Mayonez Extralight

Mayonez Extralight is another popular typewriter font than strikes the perfect balance between friendliness and seriousness. In its core, it is a rationally structured serif product, but its contours are rounded to make it more approachable.

Gabriele

Gabriele received its name after post-war Germany’s most popular typewriters, at a time no one could imagine how well it would be embraced by modern web users. It comes with a distinctive texture and kerning-free monospaced fonts, fully reminiscent of old-fashioned typewriter ribbons. It is free to use both for personal and commercial purposes.

Xerography Font

Xerography was completed with wonky, rectangular edges, and represents the perfect alternative for typewriters nostalgic for old-fashioned hammers. The font’s creators certainly knew how to work with negative spacing, and created a product that can comply with any background colour.

Happy Days

Happy Days can be easily recognized by its glitchy, fuzzy finish that lets you set a targeted audience with solely visual means. The whole alphabet is made available in lower and upper cases, while there is also a limited library of numbers, symbols, and accented words.

Kingthings Trypewriter

Kingthings Trypewriter is without doubt a role model of typeface versatility, and it is dedicated to those looking to combine lower and upper case letters, symbols, numbers, and punctuation.

Love Letter

How about inspiring some romantic feelings? Love Letter is a font that brings us back in the days where typewriters wrote about love and feelings, and beautifies our work with some old school passion. Believe it or not – it is available absolutely for free!

Ending thoughts on typewriter fonts

Retro and vintage designs have much at stake to gain from smartly chosen typewriter fonts.

The leader among these typewriter fonts is probably Courier, but that shouldn’t stop you from exploring your options and browsing among the best typewriter-inspired designs. In the best case, you will get the perfect font without spending a penny on it.

If you liked this article about typewriter fonts, you should check out these as well:

Cool Fonts: 100 Free And Unique Fonts To Download

Free Handwriting Fonts To Download (57 Script Fonts)

34 Free Arabic Fonts Available For Download

61 Free Russian Fonts Available For Download

The post Typewriter Fonts You Need To Create Classic Designs appeared first on Design your way.

from Web Development & Designing http://www.designyourway.net/blog/typography/typewriter-fonts/