#very excited to finally have a good art tool xD

[phoenix-clan]

great news everyone: i will be getting myself a drawing tablet soon!

i haven't had a tablet of my own in quite a while; i've been drawing everything so far on my phone in procreate pocket lol

i would like to either move to drawing full-time on it when i have it, or alternatively use it to edit my artwork after i've drawn it in the app! either way, hopefully it will take my art to the next level!

it's kind of expensive though so i'll have my commissions open for anyone interested!

[atrixfromice]

If isn't one thing, is another!!!

Or “the odyssey of quest for the best microphone!”

I’m going to talk about this, because I promised to some folks I would. But also because I feel the need to talk about this to feel...well, maybe not better...but to feel a bit less dissapointed at least.

I was really excited about going one step further to a higher level regarding my fictional characters, but unfortunately for me, “if isn’t one thing is another” as we say in Mexico. Is an expression for when we have one and another and another misadventure or bad thing happenning succesively.

And that’s precisely what happened to me in general this year. But specially, with this animation project. First my computer started to have trouble, so I told myself “well if that’s so, I might just make the animation in traditional and I could tell my brother to lend me his computer so I can put the drawings together on movie maker”.  And my mom helped me with the traditional animation tools that are the glass desk I use as animation table, and the portable lamp. These ones!

But at the same time with my computer trouble, I had a lot of trouble too with the quality of the audio records when I found my character’s voices, since the peeps who were enthousiastic to work voicing my characters had no microphone to record, and I had no microphone to record either!

They recorded directly with their smartphone, and I with my smartphone and using an earphone as microphone. So in all the cases the voice was overcame by the sound of the street, the neighbords, people talking in the distance, etc.

Plus, one of my friends was so nice to spend an afternoon and night with me until 4 am (via chat online of course, he lives in mexico city and is far away from where I live) talking about my fictional characters and making voices so I could know if he could fit for one of my characters, because he was so excited a bout this animation, and mostly because, as I said before, he always wanted to be a voice actor for animated cartoons.

So I thought it worth the effort to help them and myself a bit, and I had the brilliant, brillant idea ( now I know it wasn’t a good idea XD) of making a tour on my town to see if I could find a good quality micro for a decent price so I could buy at least 2 or 3, and send then 2 to my friends and one for me, or send one to one of  my friends and take one for me.

But what happened I think I wouldn’t have predicted it!

Firs of all, almost all electronic stores were closed due quarantine. Except for one who was a little modest store that had recently oppened. So I bought my micro there because I had no choice.

The first “micro” I bought was actually not a micro (even if the girl who was selling there told me that is was usable to record) but just some headphones that worked via bluetooth with a micro included but they were only to talk, not to record. So yeah that day I learned that you cannot record via bluetooth. Because even if I installed an app so my smartphone could recognize the mic, the sound was horrible!! It sounded like someone who was talking to you from 3 meters away or something like that! Even the records sounded better with my earphone used as micro! And that was so much to say.

So I went to the store and I told the girl I needed to change the product or the return of my money cos this product wasn’t able to make what I needed it for, that was RECORDING AND GIVE ME A GOOD QUALITY SOUND! And then the girl said she couldn’t give me back my money because their enterprise didn’t allowed that, but yes to product changement in case of trouble. So I accepted and she gave me an earphones with microphone included, it was a generic brand but the girl told me it worked well, so I thought everything was going to be ok.

But no, actually that was worse! It got worse and worse.

I arrived home almost at dawn and I spent almost all day walking to go from store to store and come back. So as you can imagine, I was exhausted. I felt like the toothpaste you squeezed and it’s almost to get over. I wasn’t going to record my fictional character’s voice at that moment. I even didn’t ate all day! But I didn’t really cared, I felt too tired so I just I collapsed on the bed like a log.

So the next morning, I woke up and I happily proceeded to test the micro, and for my misfortune, just one of the headphones worked well, and the other didn’t, and the microphone, that was important part I needed, it didn’t worked at all!!! So there you have me, walking 2 hours to go and come back from the same store (since the transports are not doing their service due COVID) to change that micro, and then the girl gave me another brand of headphones with microphone, and I prayed God for this to the good one!  

Again, same stuff, I didn’t ate and I was tired, but this time I didn’t collapsed like a log, I tried to test the micro to know if it worked or not, and then, it happened that the headpones worked both of them, but the micro didn’t work!

So next morning I went to the store for the 3rd time and I was very upset, I told the girl to give me back my money because I didn’t wanted any other product from this store. I'm appreciative she was very understanting with me, because she treated me nicely and with calm even if I was so exasperated, pissed off and cursing in french.

No kidding on this! In retrospective...it was so embarassing because every people at the store turned their gaze at me like if I was a mad woman! LOL But you can deny after the 3rd time receiving a bad product you would probably have felt the same.

so I calmed down as well. And this time she gave me a lapel microphone, because she couldn’t give me back my money. And thanks goodness when I came home, I tested it and it worked. I I felt relieved and could eat finally.

The next morning I prepared myself a sandwich, and took care of my home duties like moping and swepping and dish washing, that stuff. And when the afternoon came and I tried to record on my new, and I realized that while it worked, the sound quality was very bad cos it picked up a lot of the background sounds and it made to some clicking and squeaking like if I was moving it but I wasn’t.

So I took my afternoon to look on google for how to record with a cheap or bad quality microphone (this one was not that cheap, but it was bad!) and I did all what people adived on on youtube and on blog articles. And I tried to record for two afternoons. like 6 and 6 hours, imagine it, I spent 12 hours voice acting!

Even I put covered my windows on aluminium paper, and I recorded on my bathroom and inside of my closet! XD But nothing worked because, while there was a bit les background noise, the recordings still had those annoying squeaking sounds, and when the voice made high notes, it sounded like someone's fingernails on a blackboard!

It was particularly hard to record on the closet, cos I was up for 6 hours and a bit more standing up trying to record something, and I had to start from the beginning because of the so annoying sounds that were made when I made emphasis on the words. So at the end my feet were numb and burining like hell! That not counting that more the time passed, the less my physical strenght to record I had.

And then after I finished, I thought it was really good, and I was so proud and satisfied with the result, then I gave the record to one of my friends, who offered as beta tester to listen my records, and he commented he heard an squeaking sound and that in the pauses when I talked, he could hear my breath! And that he couldn’t understand what was being said. And he’s an native english-speaker, soo, sooo it meant the record was not going to be able to be used!!!

So you can imagine why at the end I was so dissapointed and sad! Because I had a really exhausted body, a wounded pride, and a sore jaw and throat, because when you record voice (specially on a bad quality mic) you must exagerate a bit your voice and pronnounce well, and move your mouth a lot so you can get a good emphasis on your dialogues. And after all this effort I only got a 2 or 3 minutes recording, which was awesome, but the quality wasn’t good enough to be on an animation!!!! *sobs*

It was a dialogue between two characters, the main character from “good team guys” and the main “bad team guys”, from one of my stories. It was an epic battle between these two, and it was so...so awesome and mindblowing!

No kidding! It had all what I wanted it to have, all those delicious emphasis on the right words and phrases. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to record something THIS GOOD ever again in my life! Because I was inspired, and this doesn’t happen very often.

That without counting that I feel like a great jerk now because I feel like I failed to the peeps who were so participative offering their voices to voice my fictional characters, and who were enthusiastic and excited about voicing one of my original characters. But I think I’m smart enough to notice that right now I don’t have the tools to do neither animation nor voice acting.

So.. that’s why I dediced to not record more, not continuating animating, because I’m just I messing up my health and sleep and with this bad quality micro and computer I’ll not have any good results.

I think is better to save money to buy a good microphone for the voice, or a couple of ones, and send one to my friend. And wait until my brother could borrow me his laptop.

I think, while it makes me sad to come back to illustration and comics only...I feel a bit better by talking about my oddysey. So I thanks a lot to y’all who have been here to support my art and listen to what I write about my art projects.

[alexandergarciahitegd-blog]

First Journal for Web Design Spring 2019

1/18/2019

My History with Web-Design:

The first time I ever considered web design was last semester during the intro to design class where we were told to design one. It was horrible, I had no idea how to even approach it and ended up just throwing pixels at a screen until I technically put in enough work to justify turning the project in. I never even thought about websites before then as I always saw them as inconvenient mediums to whatever content I wanted. This reminded me of when I first started in graphic design and literally couldn’t tell the difference between Futura and Baskerville by just looking at them because of how new this field of design was to me. The panic of the oncoming slaughter that would be known as class 576 pushed me to research as much as I could into the field, especially in how to physically make the websites with code. I focused on code in part because of my experience in Adobe programs. Before I can make an illustration in Illustrator, I need to know the mechanics of the program so that I can work at the speed of thought without being stumped. I saw learning how to code as just the web design version of that, though to a certain point I think I was confusing being able to do whatever I want in the browser with being able to design things that are worth making.

I’m coming into this semester very excited for learning how to design for the web.

The First Project Process:

The assignment was to make a website focused on three things that were our favorites in a category of our choice. I may have misunderstood the prompt a little as I thought we were supposed to make a site to house three article listing three of our favorite things in three different categories, rather than one website acting like the article itself listing the three favorites in only one category that the website is entirely dedicated to.  I started in my sketchbook before touching the computer just to get some ideas out before I jumped into the computer with no direction and find myself a deer in the Adobe RGB headlights.

Making the initial wireframe in Photoshop was not an issue, save for some elements that found themselves on the same layers as each other which made editing later difficult because moving objects in Photoshop is difficult when they’re sharing layers. I wrote the colophon in my notes as analog paragraph styles instead of trying to work with whatever nightmare Photoshop’s version of styles must be like. I eventually started doing the text in Photoshop to save me the trouble of having to replace everything from InDesign everytime I wanted to change anything, as per Michael Jared’s recommendation. 

 The problems I started having in Photoshop was when I started working with photos. Usually, I love using PS for photo editing and photo-comps but using it as a layout software is frustrating as each resizing requires manual rearrangement of everything on the page. Making things more difficult was the problem of multiple objects being on the same layer coming back, as they had different rules for how they need to move I needed to constantly code switch between the free objects and the layered ones.

After there were a few basic sketches done using shapes and a system of values to denote the difference between images, texts, and sections, I started populating the file with content, slowly phasing out the shapes. I’m embarrassed to say that the design decisions I made were solely based on the intuition that I don’t have. I decided on a landing page design of a bleed image with some big text over it because that’s what I see on all the web design Instagrams, which is pretty much the only place that I get around to seeing any web design examples for my still shallow internal visual library. The placement of the text and images in a strict and boring grid was based on instinct and my incompetence with working in Photoshop for this purpose completely stunted my ability to explore any other options.

The minimalism in my designs come from my instinct to remove anything unnecessary out of a fear that the alternative is just a mess of content and design elements that I wouldn’t know how to make work. I’m retreating into minimalism because I’m often at a loss for ideas, inspiration, and confidence. I think this has worked out for me a lot in the past as I understand the way to make low detailed content work is to make sure there’s more attention given to each piece of that content, but at the same time I don’t want it to be something I have to do, but rather something I want to do. There is also the issue that I often find my work to be very boring and derivative. The landing page above just reminds me of YouTube, the website that I’m on the most. During the wireframe portion of this design, I was feeling very confident in it and I loved the way it looked. That is until I realized how simple it was and reflected on how little exploration I really did. I fluctuate drastically between feeling overly arrogant and wondering how I could ever survive in this program, something that I expect a lot of designers could relate to.

The image above is of the splash page for the website.

The image above is the article featuring my favorite music genres. The part of the project I’m still mostly proud of was my work with data-bending. I love the process of designing procedural rules for how art should be created rather than creating the final product itself. I put images into Audition and edited them using soundwaves similar to the genres I was showcasing as my favorite to demonstrate how they look in the context of the image I used here with basic shapes and colors. What I wanted was to mix specific songs with the image to produce a more specific result. When I figured out how to do that the final product did not look very good because of hardware compromises I had to make. When I tried to use the image at the highest quality it was 1 hour and 45 minutes long, which meant the song had to be just short of that in length to be mixed properly. I still don’t know if this would work in producing something aesthetically pleasing, you never do until you see the result, but I would like to have experimented with that if my computer had enough RAM for the operation. It’s normal for only 1 in 10 images mixed with sound to look any good at all in my experience, which means experimenting many times in a short time frame is critical to using the medium effectively. 

On Code:

I’ve been reflecting on my resistance to learning a bunch of new programs for future projects. I think a part of it is that I struggle to learn new programs through experimentation, but rather extensive tutorials that walk me through the sensory overload of icons, options, and settings. Before the semester I put so much time into making code the thing that I learned that I was a little disheartened to learn I would have to do the same for a bunch of other programs, but I think it will be fine. When I decided to learn code I promised myself I would never limit my design to what I could do with code, but rather learn how to do it later, and as long as I approach these programs with the same philosophy, then while it might be frustrating and time-consuming to learn how to do what I want, it should be more than doable since they are designed for web design, unlike Photoshop. Apparently, engineers think Photoshop is designed for this kind of work, they’re wrong and that’s why I’m not an engineer, that and I’m bad at math.

One of the things I did in preparation for this class was learn how to code. I started to do this because the idea of using illustrator and XD to make images of the idea of a website rather than actually making the website frustrated me and sounded like it was adding extra unnecessary steps. I was approaching code the same way that I approached any adobe program, it was just something I learned the mechanics of so that I didn’t have to learn while I designed or limit my designs to what I knew how to code. This is the same as in illustrator or Photoshop where I need to sketch out a design and hope that it’s possible to learn how to do in the program. The key with code, that I didn’t realize before I started learning it, is that there are almost no limitations or hoops to jump through. If I want to do something with the website, I just type it and it happens, and if that something is complicated then instead of spending an hour on google looking for a setting that lets me do in like is Illustrator, I just break it down into smaller steps and do it. It makes me feel like I’m no longer being limited by the technology when I code because it’s so clear what I can and can’t do.

It’s not that I think my first project would have been leaps and bounds better without Photoshop, I don’t mean to blame Photoshop for my shortcomings with the design, but there were some things that I simply couldn’t do because I couldn’t figure out how the makers of Photoshop wanted me to do it, such as changing the colors of shapes, and Google was no help on this issue. The other reason that coding has felt natural to me is how intuitive it is to start with nothing and build out. In the Creative Cloud, I am given every tool to use right when I open the program, and it’s information overload. I often have nowhere to start and in worst cases, I get genuinely claustrophobic because I don’t know what I’m looking at until I spend at least 10 or so hours being walked through the interface by tutorials. Coding is the exact opposite workflow. Instead of starting with everything and adding rules, slowly making everything more organized and follow those rules and hoping you don’t miss anything, coding starts organized and with every rule and restriction you could ever have because of the defaults, and I work at my own pace to slowly usurp those defaults and write my own rules for how the website should be. It forces me to set the foundations for the design and work out, rather than forcing every idea I have into one document like I tended to get myself in trouble doing in the past. It also forces me to keep the design structured. When it’s in code I feel like there’s a backbone to the site, and I’m building the body on top of it, as opposed to InDesign which feels like I’m just throwing pixels at a screen blindly and hoping that it works. My brain just responds better to the amount of control you get with coding things, which is not something I expected when I first started learning it.

The disadvantage of code is a significant one. The organization and the foundational nature of it does not lend itself well to exploration. If I want to change something fundamental about the design, then I would have to do a significant amount of reworking, whereas with Photoshop I was able to change the core design ad hoc until I liked it. I had very little issue doing my initial sketch, or wireframe, in Photoshop, and I think it’s necessary to start with sketching in a notebook and then moving to a sketching application. So, in an Ideal world I would do the sketching and wire-framing in my sketchbook and Illustrator, and then make the final version in code where I’m not limited to what Illustrator is okay with me doing. I am hoping that Adobe XD will provide the best of both worlds. Where I can change things on the fly without cutting and pasting a ton of text and hoping I didn’t make a mistake when doing so, which is what Illustrator provides and being functionally structured enough that I don’t get overwhelmed, which is the benefit of code. I intend to try coding my websites after making them in these prototyping programs to polish my skills in code and to boost my self-confidence, but I will not make it a priority until it’s time to make fully functional websites, at which point I’ll get Susan to teach me GitHub.

Wrap-Up:

As I said before, I fluctuate between being overly confident and feeling like there’s no way for me to survive in this program. When I was coming into this class I was in the overconfident stage, and after critique where I saw everyone else's work, I’m shifting into the other stage. Based on the work that I’m doing in this class and in Typography 2, I’m starting to feel concerned that I haven’t actually improved in the past 8 months or so, but instead just learned a couple of rules to make something look good despite not having a great concept behind it. Whenever I do something that I’m very proud of It’s usually an accident that I run with, which is an observation I’m not totally uncomfortable with. I know that I’ve improved at least some despite my doubts, and I’m proud of my ability to see the beauty in mistakes when I’m working that often leads to the final works that I end up being the proudest of.

 I had a lot of plans of doing a ton of self-directed projects this semester considering I have plenty of time for it, but after a couple weeks I’m deciding to cut those expectations of myself down in favor of focusing much more heavily on my classes and developing specific side skills that I’ve wanted for a long time, such as the ability to code and draw. I’m also making it my goal to become more proactive on social media and build a designer presence there to the best of my ability. With all that and finally getting the new computer I’ve wanted for so long this weekend, I think it’s been an acceptable start to this semester.

[sarahinskeep]

This is the story of a fun design project I’ve been working on that will bring you two new scarf patterns, and which I am very excited to share with you!

Inspiration…

It all began when I came across this scrumptious yarn by Expression Fiber Arts one day,…

Pearlescent Fingering yarn (50% superwash merino wool / 50% mulberry silk) by Expression Fiber Arts, in colorway “GIVERNY.”

I fell instantly in LOVE with it. All the creative wheels in my brain went into overdrive, flooding my mind with endless possibilities and ideas… I could practically hear that yarn calling my name! But I had such a huge yarn stash already… So of course I had to show my girlfriends Kathryn & Kayla the amazing yarn so they could talk me into buying it anyway! 🤣 😉

Kathryn and Kayla fell instantly under the spell of the gorgeous yarn too! But not being knitters or crocheters, they weren’t sure what they’d do with it… Which sparked one of the best ideas ever: We’d each buy a skein, and I would design similar “sister” scarves for each of us, specific to our individual style and taste! It was perfect! I got to play with 3 whole skeins of the amazing yarn, and they got scarves custom designed and handmade just for them by a friend! 😄👏🏻🎉🎈Needless to say, I went back to my cart and clicked “submit” on my yarn order right away!

Style & Construction…

While waiting for our yarn to arrive, we discussed neckwear shapes, styles, and construction techniques. Kathryn and Kayla are both very artistic people, but in different ways and with unique styles. They were both very certain about what they wanted though, which made things SO much easier (and more fun!) for me! 😉 Kathryn had her heart set on a super long and thin, flowing scarf with a light, airy, open feel. She wanted to be able to style it in many different ways, and wear it in any Season – even Summer! So very Kathryn – elegant, lovely, dramatic (the good kind only!), yet practical! Kayla on the other hand, favored a medium length infinity type scarf that she could choose to loop around her neck once, twice, or three times. So very Kayla – Gorgeous, super fun & trendy, cozy, yet versatile! I couldn’t wait to get started!

Swatching…

Once the yarn arrived, I immediately got out my swift and ball winder…

I was anxious to start swatching as soon as possible! 😀 I knit several swatches, using different stitch patterns, but we found it near impossible to choose between them…

Stitch Pattern #1: Norwegian Fir Lace

Stitch Pattern #2: Falling Leaves

Stitch Pattern #3: Arrowhead Lace with Cables

So we put them on display in the office so we could look at them and think about them throughout the day. We even talked about them with our customers and kept a tally of customer votes as to which swatch was favored and why!

It was SO much fun! We also put photos of the swatches on Facebook and Instagram so our friends and followers could give their feedback as well!

The time for un-hurried visual contemplation, along with the discussions we had with friends, co-workers, and customers turned out to be super helpful, in addition to being super fun! In the end, Kathryn fell in love with swatch #3 (Arrowhead Lace and Cables); while Kayla was drawn to swatch #2 (Falling Leaves). We concluded that although we all loved swatch #1 (Norwegian Fir Lace), that particular stitch pattern would look better in a solid colored or at least less busily variegated yarn, and shelved it for another time. 🙂

Knitting Kathryn’s Scarf…

Once I had done all my math and charted my Arrowhead Lace and Cables stitch pattern, it was finally time to cast on for Kathryn’s Scarf!

I like math. I like planning and charting and writing. But the actual knitting has always been my favorite part, and I have a feeling it always will be… 😉

This is my doggy niece, Pepper (an adorable Boston Terrier). She is one of my best knitting buddies, and kept me company through most of the knitting of Kathryn’s scarf! 😀 (I can never get over her tiny doggy socks! They make me squeal every time…! XD Wish I could say I had made them for her… ;))

Tools shown in the making of Kathryn Scarf include…

Needles – Knit Picks Options Interchangeable Sunstruck Circular Knitting Needles.

Tape Measure – from The Loopy Ewe, one of my favorite yarn stores! This tape measure was a little gift they tucked into one of my orders a while back (they have a fabulous rewards system! 😀 ). I think the tape measures are macaron themed now… SO cute!

Knitters Tool Tin – by The Sexy Knitter, this one was a special edition featuring an angora goat from Juniper Moon Farm. The cable needle shown (my fav!) is just one of the handy knitting tools included in the tin!

Coffee is also a faithful knitting buddy of mine… 😉

Although the scarf is really long, it’s not super wide, and the stitch pattern is easily memorized…

…so it was a delightfully relaxing and satisfyingly quick knit!

Kathryn Scarf before blocking

Many thanks to my gorgeous sister-in-law, Annelies, for modeling the finished scarf for me; and to my wonderful technical editor, Allison O’Mahony of Kniterations, for her help in polishing the pattern so it can be it’s best self! 😀

This pattern has just been released, so if you’d like to knit your own Kathryn Scarf, well now you can! Customize your scarf to whatever length you prefer, and use only one skein of any fingering weight yarn you have available in your stash! 😀 Or if you want to use the same yarn used in the sample, hop over to Expression Fiber Arts and have a look at their lovely colors! 😀

Check out my Ravelry shop and use coupon code: New20KS to receive 20% off your purchase of the Kathryn Scarf pattern through Monday, May 13th, 2018!

Or, if you’d like to save even more (50% off new patterns!), and receive knitting tips, discounts, notifications of test knitting opportunities, and/or the latest news from Sarah Inskeep Designs, sign up for my e-Letter!

And of course we’d LOVE to see your projects! Share pics & progress on social media with hashtags #kathrynscarf and #sarahinskeepdesigns !

~ Happy Knitting!

P.S. Stay tuned for Sister Scarves Part 2: All About Kayla to get all the details and back story about Kayla’s scarf and it’s pattern release coming soon! 😀

  Sister Scarves Part 1: All About Kathryn This is the story of a fun design project I've been working on that will bring you two new scarf patterns, and which I am very excited to share with you!

[nimarkiva]

Cheese and crackers, is it hard to fit a bunch of dolls into one space! Thank goodness most of my crew are small- though the four big ones had to go into the international suitcase with my clothes. Royhin, no gagging sounds, those socks are clean, they were washed before they went in. The other ones, all MSD and YoSD, went into my one carry-on suitcase. Both suitcases are hardcover, so I don’t have to worry about anything happening to my crew.

And there was mild panic when I thought I’d forgotten someone and couldn’t find her. But turns out Mizuko was one of the very first packed, yaaaaay! I’d mistaken her for Remy when I was checking- but he was closer to the top of the case.

....we are so not telling the crew in the suitcases that Tuebo, Grace, and Sal are going to be on the train with me, not locked up in the suitcase. Especially not Nolan, he’s the worst about getting put into a confined space, always smacks me with his hand when I go to put him in a box or case.

Although, the strangest one to kick me and fight being put into the suitcase? Kitten. I kid you not, I had bent over to put her in, and she brought her foot into my face while I was holding her and determining how to put her in the suitcase. And she did not want to stretch out in the suitcase so that I could put others in with her.

I am dreading the Great Hauling of Thursday, which is tentatively when I’m traveling out by train to Minnesota. So far, the plan is for Thursday. And since I’m moving, my suitcases are pretty heavy. My carry-on alone is just dolls, and my international case is filled with clothes, dolls, and art supplies.

.....my mom has mentioned that I have a third case on wheels that I could pack if I need to, since I am moving out to Minnesota by train to live there until I get my visa to Australia, and my brain just flatlined for a bit, complete short circuiting. I am just not even sure how I would manage all three cases, as well as my laptop case slung over my shoulder. That....that is insane. I mean, I’m sure I could, but do I really want to? I’d much rather try to fit everything into the two, perhaps a few other things in the laptop case if need be since it does have a huge pocket and extra room for other things. XD

I’m also having a deuce of a time determining which of my witchy stones and tools go with me....I may end up taking the third suitcase for that, much as I really don’t want to pack another...but it would be light if I used it for some of my most important tools and some of the dress clothes I’d like not to have be crammed in a suitcase.

I don’t know, I’ll see closer to that time.

So, yeah, Nim is going crazy, don’t mind me.

I can’t wait to get on the train, though. Adventure, here I come! Finally, the step away from home I’ve been waiting on since I turned 18 and my mom and brother moved in with me since I’d gotten the nicer apartment. XD

Honestly, I’ve stayed for my mom and brother for so many years...it’s a bit nerve-wracking, to finally get to take this step away from being there to help them. I’ve lived with my family to help take care of things, and now, I get to take care of me.

I’m excited, but at the same time, it’s a bit surreal.

[twilightvolt]

A 3 month late art summary featuring art that i haven’t uploaded here due to my absence. unless i randomly feel like it, i don’t think i’m gonna go back and upload them here. if you wanna see them, though, they’re all on my DA.

I know i've pretty much said all the important bits in A Sacrifice for the Wind, but i figure i reiterate everything said along with expanding upon everything that occurred during 2017. piece by piece. and yes, i did intend to make an art joke. So, to get it outta the way, 2017 stunk more than a dead fish on a city bus. i lost a lot during that year. i lost the will to believe in whatever the future had in store for me, i almost lost a few friends, i lost my motivation to work on my projects and above all...i lost the smile i've always kept on every year before that. never have i been so emotionally damaged in all 5 years of my artist life leading up to this point. But, i can't say it was completely terrible. as much as i bashed it, art wise, 2017 was a very progressive year. looking at every wedge on the clock, i can't stop staring at how far i've come since the end of 2016. after being stripped of my tablet at the end, i've even learned how to not be afraid of making permanent mistakes. But yeah, let's begin. by turning the clock all the way back to January. when things were much simpler.... January: Hukaro Nakawa ~Final Mix Yeah, this was done in October, but i uploaded it in January for Moon's birthday. plus, there was nothing noteworthy this month. i still remember all the nice comments i got. this was the beginning of a year that i ran right in and yelled "LET'S SHOW THIS WORLD THAT WE WON'T STAND FOR ANOTHER 2016!" Oh how naive i was... February: The Beast Inside Remember when i played a lot of League in my free time? i sure do. anyway, this was my next attempt after Hukaro to continue doing my "Squeenix Cinematic Style." this time on the, at the time, new revamp for Warwick. needless to say, i still think i did a better job on Hukaro. BUT, this was still pretty good. it was during these first few months when things were really lookin' up for me. i was continually working on things cuz i really wanted to make something and school was pretty cool too. March: Digimon ZX Cover ZX ISN'T DEAD I SWEAR! *ahem* I MEAN....hai. owo As we march on into March, i think R2 of Digimon Temporal Jump was going on at the time. we were going through our story entries and things were pretty great being with my best buds. i also began doing art streams i'm pretty sure, with this drawing in particular being done during two days of streaming. i'm being serious, by the way. ZX is not dead. i've been typing up the story on my phone, so look forward to those chapters sometime soon! April: Are You Ready? Yup. in anticipation for Digidestined.Com, i decided to start seriously developing Digimon Unchained ahead of time so people would be able to get to know Yuki beforehand. unfortunately, i didn't actually get to start the story until much later, but that was just me being a lazy bum. i was hangin' out on Discord and stuff, talking about how excited i was for what was to come. we all know what happened, but at the time, being able to go back to the world i once knew with Luneth was a big deal for me. it's like i was going back to the beginning. And fear not, peeps! i've been working on Unchained for quite awhile. you'd be surprised how much i've worked on it with Gao. ^w^ May: Bits n' Bytes Ultima Vocal Collection Oh yeah, i did a birthday gift for Fire too! just so you know, i do still wanna make OSTs for my other Digimon adventures, but without my tablet i can't really do them right now. this month was pretty alright if i remember. making new friends and strengthening bonds with old friends. things were pretty fun in the sun cuz y'know......summer was coming. June: Connection Flow in Ice and Snow AWWW YEEEAAAAH, LET'S KICK IT!!! *Another Way by Girugamesh plays at full blast* (if .Com had a vocal OST, that would be opening.....3 if i remember the list i made. would've been the final opening i think. it's been awhile since i looked at the files.) Now that .Com finally began, i was on the hype train to the sun as i feverishly worked hard on my .Com stuff. this poster was one of my proudest works this year tbh. i promised i would make something great outta this story. this would be the closure that Luneth and Vivi so desperately needed, and Yuki and Arcus would be the ones to save them and close their book for good. not only that, but i was also graduating high school. after throwing my cap in the air, i said my heartfelt goodbyes to all the friends i've known since elementary and middle school including the close friends in my AP Art Squad. Team AP Art Will Never be Apart! honestly, things couldn't be any more exciting for me. Gee, it would be a shame if something were to happen that would trigger a chain of events that would divide my friends forever and send me down a spiraling pain train to the void known as crippling depression. July: DigiJuly Day 5: V-Mon (Vivi) This drawing was done to commemorate three years of adventures with Luneth and Vivi. this was during DigiJuly, when i was doing Digimon doodles nonstop for the duration of the month. What was once a hype train became a train wreck once July came around. things were ok until DTJ burned down in a raging fire and that set the stage for the rest of the year. i literally wouldn't be able to overcome any of this until November or so. i don't wanna dwell on it anymore since i'd be sounding like a broken record at this point. August: D3P: D-Sona 3 Portable Not a lot of art this month either. can you believe that? XD Hoo boy. August. need i say anything more about this month? we thought things settled down after DTJ shut down, but something was amiss.... This was the month that it happened. the climax of the story best left untold....even though i told it a hundred times already. >_>' Outside of the incident, time was running short for our stay at our current home and we were thinking of our next move. i began to worry about college as steep student debt caused us to have a change of plans on where to go. i was beginning to doubt if i even had a future to believe in. i was running out of options, and i was running out of hope. And trust me, it only gets worse from here. September: The Next Generation After awhile, things were still going on outside my realm of knowledge. it only made me feel worse seeing everything transpire long after the initial conflict. with this stigma hanging over me, i finally decided to pack my bags and leave the Digimon group era of my artist life. it was a pretty sour note to end it on, but let's be real here, there was no way i could wait any longer for things to get better. granted, my birthday was awesome, and i couldn't thank everyone enough for coming together to try to bring my spirit back. unfortunately, my bout with depression was just beginning. it was so bad, i pretty much stopped taking care of myself, which would lead to a few days ago when i'd end up with one less tooth in my mouth. i swear i won't let it get that bad again. With everything plummeting down to the dark abyss, i said goodbye to the life i once knew. from here on, things were about to change. i wasn't gonna end here. not now. October: Howling in the Shadows From this month forth, my family had no idea where we were going. the beginning of the tale of the borderline homeless that still continues to this day. Packing away my computer and drawing tablet for what feels like an eternity, i was moving out of my current home that we rented for the duration of my senior year and into grandma's house......in a raging storm. i'm not kidding. the rain was so bad that when we got there, our clothes were completely soaked and we couldn't even see 5 feet ahead of us outside that night. i knew immediately that it was some sort of ill omen for what was to transpire in the coming months. in fact, i even had dreams of the aftermath of what might happen. Now that i was stripped of my digital art abilities, i had to think of something else to do. so, i decided to dedicate myself to going back to traditional art. Boy, did i have fun. November: Return to the Realm of Sleep Now, this was the only thing i was able to crank out in November. BUT, that doesn't mean i didn't draw. i drew stuff, but nothing noteworthy enough to upload here. i'm gonna tell it to you straight now. Arcus will return. With my mental health still kicking me in the butt (it hit me so hard i had a panic attack one day.), i wasn't really motivated to draw much. in fact, i even hid myself away from the internet for quite awhile. without my friends or my sense of purpose, i felt like i had nothing and i was pretty under the weather for a majority of this month. that being said, i snapped myself out of it by force. it was stupid that i still felt the way i did months after what happened. sure, it was horrible, and i wish i could forget everything. but i can't stay stuck in the past. And so, i picked up my colored pencils and other such tools, and began my journey to recovery. December: Lexicon (Lex) and A Sacrifice for the Wind I got the hang of drawing traditionally pretty quickly. throughout the month, i was on fire, drawing masterstroke after masterstroke. (at least, in my opinion. XD) Making my new home in the mobile communities of Amino, it was a nice change of pace from the big screen of my computer. i made a bunch of new friends (to the staff of the Aminos i'm in and the rest of the crew in our Digimon Discord server, you guys are the best and thank you for healing the pain of yesteryear!) and had a grand old time making new OCs, Lex being one of them. i honestly luv Appmon and i wish we got more, but i'm content with what we got tbh. it'll live on in Seikatsu and his friends. be ready to see them once again in the near future! And so, in the wake of destruction as the world continues to change around me, i chopped off my signature anime emo locks, revamped my wardrobe and set my sights toward the future. Nowadays, i've completely moved on from the pain, but that doesn't change the fact that it still happened. overall, 2017 was a complete pile of poopoo garbage and i'm glad the nightmare is finally over. Even if i can't completely write it off as bad, there's just way too many negatives that weigh down the rest of the year for me personally. it's March now and things are pretty hectic, but i've got newfound courage and i know this year will be better than the last. time for me to get back up and charge forth to a better tomorrow!

[wholelotofdeku]

Undertale - For Your 2nd Birthday

Undertale

Ah, I remember the days when I didn't really look into Undertale and disregarded it as another game surrounding the others which was about you killing enemies to save the princess or something, mostly because the very first part I saw of Undertale was the Sans fight, lol. But hooooo, the moment I actually went into it, man, did the everything explode in my face XD. I know it’s very late since Undertale's 2nd Birthday was a while ago, but I wanted to start out 2018 with just some of my thoughts on Undertale and a little something else you’ll find out in the end. Anyway, let’s get started.....

Honestly, Undertale has changed my life, despite only being in my life for only about a year or so. But just that much is enough to make me want to keep the fandom alive throughout the many years of my life. I truly love this game and it’s fandom, even if there are some dark and lusty AU's and AT's out there, *cough* Underlust, Undertail, Fontcest, Sanscest, Papycest, etc. *cough*, but even if that stuff is completely off of the original story, it does bring people into the fandom, surprisingly XD. My experience with the actual Undertale game isn’t very neat since I haven’t played the game myself and only watch most of the big boss battles in all three routes but don’t really pay attention to the small stuff in the game, but I do still love it all. I honestly only look to the boss battles because I want to experience the game itself with the rest of the story since the bosses are what most people care about. But, anyway, Undertale has impacted me and my life more than any other fandom, even topping Warriors and Naruto which were the fandoms I was previously, and still kinda, into! And I was a nerd for those fandoms! I created thousands of cats and stories for Warriors, and although I didn’t for Naruto, I couldn’t stop myself from watching the series over and over again, except for Banana Tree (Boruto). Honestly, I’ve dedicated more of my time and art on Undertale than when I drew Pokémon and Warriors a few years back! But enough of my past for now. Undertale may be a game, but like people say about the game: the game has real world meanings and real world consequences but in a game fashion since we don’t exactly see skeletons with magical powers to summon bones, animal-like skulls, or shift gravity on us. The game teaches us that our decisions impact the future, and each decision can lead to a good future or bad future. Undertale tells us that games aren’t just shooting zombies during an apocalypse and saving your true love, but it tells us that anything can make us see how the world works, whether we like it or not. We see that the human, us, makes decisions to either spare or kill monsters who appear and confront our character. It’s just like in a real world setting, such as when you encounter another person or animal, you have a variety of choices to choose from to determine your future and each decision counts.

The True Pacifist Route, this route is nothing but sparing and befriending every monster in the Underground, and in the end, leading to Asriel Dreemurr's battle. This route shows that if we keep striving, good things are to happen if we keep staying determined. But this also means that we must face the problems of life head on and refuse to give up unlike the other two routes. I don’t know much about this route specifically, so, I’ll just say that the True Pacifist Route is the path that most of us would want for our real lives so we can be successful yet, be strong enough to stand up for ourselves and others in the face of danger.

The Neutral Route, sure there’s sparing in this too, but there is some dusting of monsters within this route. I personally think that this is the path most people go in real life since sometimes, they just have things they can’t control and act out before they think it out. I don’t know much about this one either, but, I guess this route could show that being you if you’re not really nice or really mean can still lead to good things. It is you after all and no one should change that.

The Genocide Route, now this is the one that I know the most out of the three. The route of killing every monster in your path in cold-blood and leading to the final battle with my favorite character, Sans. I think this route shows the most lesson relatable in life than the others. I believe that this route, once you finish it and end up with Chara, it shows that your actions will have consequences, whether you like it or not, karma will come back and hit you. I personally believe in karma, and I believe that this is what comes at you when you finally defeat Sans and are forced to either erase the world or not to but end up being forced to by Chara. I personally don’t like it when people are just really happy and excited when they defeat Sans because, in a way, he’s the last line of defense for the Underground. It’s like, when I hear and watch people just say that "God dammit! That fight was fucking ridiculous! Finally, Sans is dead!", I get so irritated because you’re basically killing for glory and fun by the time you defeat Sans! He tries so hard to kill you and even tries to persuade you to go back, RESET, and start over and go onto a new route! Yet, he’s struck down mercilessly. I personally see that when people strike down Sans and are happy that he’s dead, they’ve become the true MONSTER (eh, get it? XD I’m stupid as hell). Anyway, he gives up his life to basically protect his home and all of his dead friends homes as well! And to fail, that is more painful than death itself. Sans went through all that suffering, in my opinion, by having to watch all of his friends and all of monster kind be killed, even his own brother, Papyrus, who he clearly loves dearly. There’s the reason as to why he’s the Judge in all three routes when you go into Judgement Hall, because he’s the only one who knows and remembers the RESETs and yet, he doesn’t kill you right away, even if that isn’t part of the game. But in a realistic setting, he doesn’t kill you right away because he in hoping that you, the human, give them all a happy ending by going onto the Surface World and bringing the monster and human race together. Sure, the other monsters such as Undyne and Mettaton step in your path during this route to stop you, but they are originally stronger than Sans. Everyone who knows Undertale knows that Sans is the character with the lowest stats with 1 HP, 1 ATK, and 1 DEF. When we first play without any outside influence, we don’t expect Sans to be the final and hardest boss in the entire game, but that’s because we judge a book by its cover! Almost all gamers always aim for the character with the highest stats, strongest strengths, and most overpowered abilities and attacks, we don’t pay any attention to the lower ones and disregard them as just items and tools, like in Naruto with the Jinchuriki's and their Tailed Beasts. It’s not surprising to see that Sans is the final boss and the hardest boss in the game. Most of our minds want us to go for the one with the most pros that help in specific situations such as strength, speed, defense, health, etc. and some could care less about the information of the character and their significance in the game and their role in the story. Toby wouldn’t have put in someone as weak as Sans in the game as one of the main characters that you encounter in each route towards the end of the game just because, most likely, Sans could’ve been a minor character for all we know, but, Toby changes that by making Sans seem weak and pointless at first, but swing back with karma and a lot of freakin anger and knowledge at the end of the Genocide Route.

I don’t wanna say too much so, I’m just gonna end with this; Undertale is a game that many people will remember even as they grow up, if they really pay attention to each character, the story, the game concepts and content, and most of all, the overall meaning to each ending. Undertale is a game that I will personally love for the rest of my life, and I hope that it keeps living on throughout the coming years. Toby truly made a masterpiece with this beloved game.

-Sanz

Also! To start out the year of 2018, ignore the fact that it’s in the beginning of February XD, I also wanna say a bit about what is going on with my username change. Just a little bit before I end this.

I had so much fun as Ask-Bluestar14, I even remember the first asks I did with Bluestar many months ago, and I miss it when life was a bit easier and I could draw more often. So, I will always love Ask-Bluestar14, but I think that it’s time to shed my old skin and form another new, colorful skin as my new self here on DeviantArt. I will never forget how much happiness and friends I made and had throughout the times with Ask-Bluestar14, and I hope to continue this with my new username and self. So, I just wanted to say this before I change to my new username and most likely, my permanent username from now on. I will never stop loving you, Ask-Bluestar14, and you’ll always be in my heart and SOUL through the happy, sad, and tough times ahead. See ya, Ask-Bluestar14, you’ll be honored and remembered forever through the new. You may take a rest now, I’ll be here for you still, and I always will be.

Stay DETERMINED, Ask-Bluestar14!

-Sanz

[katherineshep]

A coolest experience in a while

Have drawn out half a 30-sheeted sketchbook in one evening. How? Oh, it's a nice story to tell...

Today I've had maybe the most hardcore and in the same time exciting drawing experience I could get, not studying for an artist - I was drawing from a model. In drawing class.

First, it always seems to me that I'm missing interesting events, in recent times I need more and more bright emotions - to nourish my creative abilities, for example, and also so the unpleasant daily routine didn't ruin my mood. So when this drawing class jumped on me in Google results (because few days ago I accidentally googled affiche of interesting events in my city instead of movie affiche), I just couldn't miss the possibility, especialy when drawing of full body from a living model to have some insights on body anatomy is just super-cool for any beginner artist. So I ordered my place in the event and was in great anticipation of today's evening.

First, the place where class was held was just adorable. Kyiv has plenty of plants that have bankrupted or that were plundered bolt by bolt, so the forgotten plant buildings are sold to people who can make these walls a thing of art by making it a loft-style exhibition or conference halls, coworkings, stylish caffeteria or whatever that building will fit for. The building I came to was one of those long time ago abandoned plants, especially the first floor with its 7-meters-high ceiling (that first floor was definitely a manufactory itself and once there were machine-tools which assembled the details for ships). Brick walls and all and ventilation (and god knows what else) tubes at the ceiling were painted in white, which, along with beautiful lightbulb chaplets that lighted the hall in warm colour, made the hall very bright and cozy. There was a tiny stage at the center of the hall with chairs set around it - lots on the front side, some on the rear side. The hall was empty because I messed up the time and came too early, so I had enough time to see all the new place and even to go grab a coffee.

Then, when the time came, people began to gather. I did not expect much people at first, but when the master of the event was doing the last preparations for the class, he told me that they gather here every week for around three years now (that's when I clearly felt that I must be wandering not the right places in the Internet XD ). When the standing chairs were filled by half, I understood that at least half of people who came there today have met here pretty much - there were lots of friendly talks out there.

More people were coming. The masters of the event have brought free tea and drinks. Artists were unpacking their sketchbooks, albums, pencils, pastels, one girl had a set of Copic markers (they are daaamn expensive here so I was like "ohh there's those markers of my dream, OH MY" - not that I am experienced enough to paint with markers at the moment, but still, a person must aim for new heights or there won't be a progress). Though, the view of Promarkers which my neighbour put at the chair near her have plastered my gaze to them as well XD I've read they're very good and I was curious in actually seeing someone drawing with them, you know, as a live test and inspiration.

In few minutes all the chairs were taken, even there was need in more of them, because there was about 35 artists sitting there (good that that hall we were in had chairs to fill all the hall while the class was using about a quarter of all the space), and they were of all ages. Finally I saw the girl in a sample dress near the stage, in few seconds she took off her wear and walked up the stairs to stand on the stage in the light of floodlights.

What a model we had! First of all, I was in complete awe - she had eastern face (I mean, chinese, or japanese, or korean - I'm not good at defining precisely, no such experience). Not that it was super-rare to see a person with eastern face, but we're definitely not the country young people from Korea or Japan might dream to live in, so if we have some people with that appearance, it's either those few tourists that happened to stay here, or just Ukrainians who have one or both parent of eastern roots. Meeting a drawing model is rare, having an eastern drawing model is a jackpot.

Along with that, only a few days ago I've tried to sketch eastern faces, african faces and indian ones, as these people have slightly different facial features from our common europoid face type. I've got Shepard's father to sketch, after all, I have to know how to draw the face that gave my Shep eastern features)

The model chose a pose, and the master commanded to begin drawing.

In first two seconds it was odd to see a person completely undressed - in not an intimate athmosphere, I mean. But then the oddity was gone, as well as the thoughts of watching my neighbours' work were forgotten - I had 5 seconds (!) to make my sketch before the model changes the pose. The order was following: a bunch of five-seconds sketches, few of 10 seconds then, twenty seconds per sketch, thirty seconds. A minute (thank god!), then five, ten, fifteen. Saying sincerely, at first 5-seconds-sketching I didn't manage to even have a decent curves or something, so I decided to practice skeletons (I mean these, they help to build angles and length of limbs correctly). Ten seconds didn't give much help, the proportions of were just awful. On fifteen (or the next step was twenty?) I learned to draw skeletons faster than before and to give pretty good pose, given the scarcity of time. And - you know, this extreme warm-up is actually one of the best training of speed of drawing and fast capturing the basic points of the figure by eye. You instantly feel like your eyes become sharper, your feelings crystallize, your hand glides the paper with pencil more easy (and the best-looking drawings are those which are drawn with confidence, I usually create those in a MASSIVE inspiration flow, and when it subsides, I cannot see whether I draw right lines anymore). The more time I was given, the more detail I could add, the more I could capture with precise and even measure the model's body parts with a pencil when my eyes failed me. Then the count was is minutes, and after few poses we finally had a break - after more than an hour of fast sketching.

That was the moment when I withdrew my gaze from a model and felt... so aliiive and massively mindfucked at the same time. I walked around the hall, had some tea and had a talk with one girl in the row after me. In a row with many other things we discussed drawing instruments, and then I noticed an awesomely shadowed drawing in her album. I asked how to make such a beauty in such a short time...

She drew a messy hatching in one line with the side (!) of her hand-sharpened 6B Koh-I-Noor pencil and then wiped the drawn area with a finger, giving a bigger pressure to one side of the area and lesser to another.

There was a peeeerfect shade. And that felt like supernova exploding in my head - I knew that technique of shading, but as well as my drawing class teacher in university taught me to do separate hatches, I was usind said technique. Shading with wiping the area felt a very long and tiresome work... but hell, it only needed a very soft pencil to use that way of shading! It was so obvious! A girl explained, that my mechanical pencil is good too, but it'll need so many more hatching that it'll slow me down.

So I took one of my usually unused Koh-I-Noors from my pencil box (luckily, I've had 3B) and used it for a next sketch.

The second session had three poses of 20 minutes each. Then I saw the results of the advice of my new friend: shading with soft pencil was like +100500 boost to my shading skill. The sketch I was drawing now looked much more real than any of the previous (and by 10-minutes sketches I managed to make 2 pretty decent, but they lacked shading because I had no time to hatch them with separate lines my mechanical pencil produced).

That was the best my work in this evening. During the next pose my brain become exhausted and I was loosing an ability to see proportions and shades. But I went on - I had to.

The model took a beautiful fabric to hold with her for the last sketch. Damn, that woman was a Goddess at all, with or without a cloth, in every pose she made, in the way she looked. You know, when you start learning to draw and you sketch people, and in most perfect case - strangers in the public places, you try to absorb the details of their faces and eventually start to see a beauty in every feature, then - in combination of them. Some features can be not perfect, but they combine on a person's face in such a way that all together is truly beautiful! Then you understand how unique each of us are. Then you start to be excited with human body - all the smallest noticeable facial expressions, how the light caresses the skin, how the tiny wrinkles at the outer corner of the eye reveal a person who smiles a lot. Sometimes you not only see an emotion (joy, sadness) or the state of a person (for example, his/her anticipation or tiredness), but also the trace of experience from their life on their faces, like wrinkled forehead shows the person who is being confused a lot in his life.

And here, with a model in front of you, you notice some things - like whether the belly is flat or whether you like breasts shape - for only a moment! Let's face the truth, we are being constantly fed with beauty standards from TV and magazines so the thought of that sort may show at first. But then in like two seconds those tiny imperfections do not bother you anymore. Because you're an artist at work, you see the beauty in human body and you must pass it on, that's your purpose in this moment. Then you get to know the feeling, that whatever that body is, it really IS beautiful as a creation of life, and there can be beauty in any of model's unique features. The pesron in front of you is a masterpiece of nature even without a body of a top model, and you must respect that. You must carefully put that beauty into your drawing - not lying, not giving your figure on a sketch the features she doesn't have. When you draw a real person, you must be sincere as mush as you can, only then you give proper respect to that person's unique nature.

I've being pulling the last drawing untild the model started to TURN. Slowly, but to turn away from you - and you can't have the same pose from where you are anymore. That's when my tired brain started to guess the wrong shades and lines to finish the sketch, and I had to stop so the drawing wasn't ruined. Better it be unfinished, but beautiful sketch, than the messed up drawing.

So I got up to my feet and silently walked behind all the chairs - to have a secret look at other artists' works. Every of the artists had different style, instruments, techniques: while one made a pencil sketch, others managed to draw a full-coloured drawings. They also had very different level of profficiency, but that didn't stop any of them. On the contrary, you mustn't stop when the drawing, a hard thing actually, doesn't goes as planned at first - because every your sketch is a tiny stone in a foundation of your skill, an if you want to build something above the ground - forge yourself as an artist with a constant work.

So, after that walk, the light discomfort I, a damn beginner, felt in a hall full of drawing people finally fully subsided.

Now - I'm very tired and sleepy, because drawing, especially so fast and unusual, is a hard mental work.

But it was one of the greatest evenings since... maybe the last cosplay festival. And along with feeling exhausted, I feel very much content.

/And sorry if you see any typos. I strongly need a rest now, but I coundn't not to leave this as I, well, like to write down bright moments of life so there were nice warming posts for me to reread and recall once again./

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Moooore Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow stuff, courtesy of another Tom King interview: 

King was on the Supergirl Radio podcast this week, and while a lot of it is just a repeat of what was said in the previous interview on ComicPop Elseworlds Exchange, there were still some interesting bits, IMO!

They opened with some general questions--how did he start writing, when did he get into superhero comics, etc. 

And then, the Supergirl portion!

The hosts asked where he first encountered Supergirl, and as before, he said that Supergirl is one of those characters that everyone just knows, like Batman and Superman. So he felt there was never a time where he wasn’t at least aware of her.

If forced to pinpoint something specific, though: the cartoons (Superman: The Animated Series and JLU) and for Kara Zor-El in particular, hardcover trades of the 70s stuff.

He had some AWESOME Carmine Infantino art, from the issue where Supergirl fights a bunch of mini-supergirls, in Daring New Adventures.

When asked if he used any of those stories for this new project, King again said that he went back to the ORIGINAL origin, in the Silver Age Otto Binder stuff.

Because he’s written Superman, the hosts asked if he thinks about the differences/similarities between the two when writing Supergirl.

He said that Kara’s more of a survivor than Clark, she’s been through more; he feels that Superman is always striving to be the icon that is Superman, whereas Kara can just be herself. 

He describes her as harder, more cynical, ‘she’ll drop an F-bomb here or there,’ she’s ‘old and crusty.’

The hosts asked him how he came to be on the book and while it’s basically the same story he told on the other podcast, there were a few additional details he mentioned here.

He specifically said that editors were frustrated, because there is this. Thought? Among creators, that Supergirl is perfect, and there are no fun Supergirl stories to tell. 

(Brief, opinionated interjection here: HOGWASH!)

He again brought up the idea that people can be precious with Supergirl; he said she is precious, but she’s also badass.

When asked if there was any particular piece of Supergirl mythology that he wanted/was excited to use, King said that this book isn’t really about that--he again used the expression of stripping off the barnacles that have built up on the characters over the years, really getting at the most basic, pure take on them.

He was like, ‘we keep the dog, maybe the horse if we can make time for him, because [Comet] is the weirdest thing in all of comics.’

Elaborating on the book/lack of Supergirl mythology: He put her in space, gave her a simple mission, and let the story be a thesis on why Supergirl is awesome.

Next question was about the comic writing process.

King said there’s no set way to write a comic script; he tends to write ‘full scripts’; they resemble movie scripts in that there’s panel descriptions for each page, as well as the dialogue for each panel.

His descriptions are light, though. For example, he’ll simply put: ‘Supergirl encounters a Space Dragon’, and leave the rest up to Bilquis.

Again had nothing but praise and excitement re: working with Evely and Lopes. 

Said Evely adds such depth and emotion and storytelling to the artwork.

Then there was a question from the live chat; the listener noted that a lot of King’s work contains romance/is focused on romantic love. They asked if this book would also be about romantic love, or another kind of love.

King: This is not a romance. The love in this comic is a friendship love, between Kara and Ruthye.

When asked if other pre-existing characters would make an appearance: There will be shout-outs, but this is first and foremost a book about Supergirl; she is at the center of the book.

The goal is to make her one of the pillars of DC Comics.

On the subject of the ‘western’ part of the space western: Again mentioned True Grit, as well as The Searchers, and Red River.

Compared Kara to John Wayne.

Likes the idea of a character who has a simple mission, needs to go somewhere, and travels through various lands to get there, like the Odyssey.

Initially, he was going to have Kara be a sort of ingenue who learns to be tough as she goes on this journey, but his editor said, ‘No, she should be the teacher, instructing this young girl on how to be tough’ b/c Kara has the life experience. And King was like, ‘yeah! Let’s do that!’

And of course, because it is Supergirl Radio, they asked if he’s watched the show.

He watched the 1st and 2nd seasons with his daughter, then they fell behind/stopped watching because she moved on to other things, but he loved it! Specifically loved that he could watch a superhero show with her; good bonding time.

They asked him about incorporating stuff from the show and he said that he opted not to do that, as it’s sometimes not done well/feels forced. The example he used is that it’s very hard to get something like Calista Flockhart’s performance from the TV show into the comics, both in terms of the actual writing, and also in terms of legal stuff like the likeness rights, etc. 

Then they talked about KRYPTO! And King’s own dog, Roxy. 

Because King is a dog owner, he said he found it very hard to write Krypto sometimes, because he never wanted to put him in danger.

He also said that you can feel like a dog is a family member, and that is how Kara views Krypto; he is not a pet, or a tool, but a member of her family.

Another live chat question: Does he think of Kara differently, now that he’s written her?

King said she’s a much tougher character, than he initially thought.

Compared her to Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark; you don’t see him become Indy, he just already IS Indy, and he’s done this stuff a hundred times over.

And then he shared a little bit of issue 2 to illustrate this point: Ruthye and Kara encounter a guy who has beef with Superman, so he decides to take it out on Kara, and Kara easily dispatches him; Ruthye (the narrator of the book) marvels at how this happens everywhere they go, and it’s just a daily occurrence for Kara, because everyone thinks she’s the weak link/a way to get back at Clark.

Final question was about what he hopes is his legacy/the takeaway of this book.

King said he wants it to do well, and convince DC/the editors that there ALWAYS needs to be a Supergirl book on the stands.

And now, SOME THOUGHTS!

As mentioned, a lot of this stuff was already covered in the prior podcast, BUT! There are some new details here that build on those points.

For instance: King is really committing to a harder, cynical Kara. Who knows if she’ll remain that way by journey’s end, but that’s the take he’s going with.

(And, as before: not my preferred/ideal Kara! But I am open to seeing this. Largely because it is rooted in like. Character backstory/history; he’s not being edgy for edge's sake.)

Also, NO ROMANCE. 

*insert happy muppet flailing here*

I will admit that I had the extremely cursed thought that he’d bring back Comet, or worse, 90s Comet as some sort of guest star--and maybe he will, who knows! But I don’t get that vibe, really. Like, maybe as a fun shout-out, but not a full-on character in the story.

I do like that he repeatedly emphasized that this is a very simple book, with Kara at the center, and that it’s basically about Supergirl, and why she’s awesome.

Especially given how Future State whiffed that one.

That said, was a little dismayed to learn that Ruthye will be the narrator of the whole thing. It brings back horrible visions of Future State, and it’s harder for the reader to get into a character’s head when you’ve got someone else narrating the whole thing, but. We’ll see.

(What might take the edge off of this narrative choice is Evely’s art, since you can better determine Kara’s emotions/thoughts/etc.)

Interestingly, King didn’t want to comment too much on this book’s potential connection to Future State: Superwoman which...has me a little concerned.

(Please, never let that book be canon. PLEASE.)

The further details on the BTS stuff is disappointing, but not surprising. ‘Supergirl is too perfect/boring’ is a take that 1.) mirrors the same nonsense you see about Superman, and why everyone would rather be writing Batman and 2.) has existed FOREVER, and was particularly prevalent after the introduction of Power Girl. 

(It’s also flat-out wrong, in the same way that ‘Superman is boring’ is wrong.)

Other little things: Love that King says Kara views Krypto as a family member (because he totally is), and the Camine Infantino art was SO COOL.

SO, OVERALL: Gonna have to get used to the idea of an old, crusty Kara.

(Honestly I can’t even be mad at that description because I kinda find it funny? I mean, what with the Superman Fortnite announcement recently, I’m feeling pretty old and crusty, ngl. XD)

But I like a lot of the stuff King’s said so far.

Some of it does give me a little pause--like the heavy emphasis on the Supergirl part of her identity, as opposed to Kara, and how she’s just this awesome badass, with no real mention of other aspects of her character--but.

As should be very clear by now, I’m not in it for the writing.

Rather. I am here primarily because of

*takes a deep breath*

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!

[alyretz-blog]

Conceptualize It : The Future of Work

What does your implementation look like?

Using our previous process journal posts as inspiration, we decided to create a style guide. Justin took the first steps of just looking at the the definition of impact, using the way the word was split up.

 As a team, we came together and defined the brand mission, core principles, brand personality, and moodboard. These items would serve as the basis of how we run our operations, design, marketing, and more. 

Before Alyssa started the design and mockups, the team also created a flow chart of what the user would see and how they would interact with the solution.

 After this was finalized, Alyssa created mockups of the application and the user flow. Although the user would most likely start from the desktop, it made more sense to create the mobile version first and translate that to desktop rather than the other way around. As a team, we went through the first design iteration, seeing how we could make a few tweaks. 

One example was how we transitioned the colors from a gradient of magenta (feeling like love) to a gradient of orange (feeling warmth). The team also made minor changes like matching the font of the header and box text in addition to the order which the content popped up. We had to keep in mind that the first version of the solution would just connect people to other individuals and passion projects. Later on, the solution would provide online collaboration tools or access to different API’s, making communication and seamless for the users.

How will people interact with it?

Our users would interact with our solution digitally first on the web (or on their smartphone if they live the on-the-go lifestyle). They may be searching for different jobs to pivot to or discover various ways to pursue their passion through their work. After discovering potential passion projects to work on, the user would apply and get connected to the individual or group that posted the position. The user would then be able to continue communicating with the other individual or group on their smartphones through the application. Both parties can communicate and agree upon how they will execute the project together. The user would either learn something new by working with others or contribute with their expertise and passion. After using the solution for various projects, individuals would then be able to see a list of previous projects they worked on and the current projects they are working.

Another way that the user would interact with the solution is by posting opportunities either as an individual or as an organization. After setting up their account, they could post the name of the project, some background information, and what type of positions are needed. Individuals would then apply to these postings and communication would start between the various parties, discussing how the project will be split up.

Through many projects, users could earn money by working on projects they are passionate about or apply their skills to non-profit projects.

What are the processes or systems involved for how it functions?

Through Brian’s leadership, our team was able to develop the UX design of the process and system of our app and website platform. To see the live flow of the application, Alyssa utilized Adobe XD, testing various layouts and combinations. In order to make this solution go live, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration from the technology side. Some design solutions that could be used to create the final mockups could either be Adobe Illustrator or Sketch. To build the website, the team could either build the code from scratch or build off a framework like bootstrap. The pros of using bootstrap would be keeping the design liquid and mobile responsive. Javascript and python would be a few languages that would help run the solution. Leading to the mobile development, we think making the application iOS specific first would make sense since the majority of our target market uses an iPhone. Later on the roadmap as our product grows globally, we would create an android specific application Since this application is data input heavy, we would need to create a reliable infrastructure. Although on the pricier side, AWS (Amazon Web Services) would be the most ideal, being able to store and process data at a fast rate. They would also maintain the servers needed to store and run the data. Later on in the roadmap, these servers would be capable to run Machine Learning algorithms (AI).

With so much data being involved, the data tables would need to be structured correctly. One thing to take into consideration is how the data will be used from the user’s needs and the organization’s needs. The data may look the same but the intentions of the data need to be specified in order to make the solution work seamless.

The website would need a domain and be hosted while the mobile application would need to be posted into the app store in order for the users to reach the solution.

The Pivotor - Jane

Jane is the VP of finance at a large fortune 500 company. She started her career there straight out of college and has built her way to the top for over 15 years. Jane knows that she is good at running the company and its finances but knows that there is only so little she has left to learn. She wonders what her life would have been like if she pursued her passion, drawing and designing graphics. During her free time, Jane does design different art pieces and share it with her family. After constant feedback from her family about pursuing her passion, Jane decides to look at potential ways to spend more time designing outside of work.

One day, she googles and discovers imPACT, a solution that allows you to connect with others and pursue your passion project. Exploring more of the front page, she sees the option to create a profile, which entails to some simple information like a profile picture and an introduction. There are some options to include some of her social media links like LinkedIn and Twitter. She puts that her professional experience is in finance but her passion is in design. Below this, she finds a empty gallery where she can showcase her previous artwork. After finishing her profile, she searches the keyword “design”, discovering a wide range of opportunities to contribute to.

One project that real captures her attention is web design through a small e-commerce startup, but she has no experience at all in this particular field. Out of curiosity, Jane applies for this opportunity, and is automatically connected to the startup and is able to introduce herself and why she is interested in a chat. Moments later, she receives a response from one of the representatives. They looked at her profile and are very impressed by her artwork. Seeing her potential, the startup offers her the opportunity to work and learn from one of their UX designers since they need a lot of help.

Excited, both sides connect on the best practices for work and communication, slowly transitioning away from the app chat. The startup closes the position and Jane’s profile now shows her working on the current project. Their agreement is that she can work on it after work hours and on the weekends. Jane now has the opportunity to continue her stable job while learning web design after hours.

Once the web design project is over, Jane’s profile shows the previous project and the web design she worked on. Thankful for the opportunity, she realizes that her company needs to revamp their operations and utilization. Looking for a operations consultant, she asks her team to post a position on imPACT, looking for someone who is passionate about optimization and business strategy. They find a match and go through the same process that Jane went through previously.

Who are the primary stakeholders involved and what is their perspective on the solution implementation?

Individual Freelancers - The opportunity to participate in a project aligned with their passion.  The ability to pivot careers with a mentored learning experience without the heavy risk.

Corporate Organizations- The opportunity to discover new talent, to assemble new teams of people with new ideas and to execute projects that people are passionate about.

Non-Profit Organizations-  The ability to outsource work from high- profiled creatives and freelancers that are passionate about the organizations mission and work.

Start-up Organizations-   Low Risk outsourcing of talent to achieve tasks and projects that are outside the initial budget constraints of an organization.

[brianmtran-blog]

Conceptualize It

Subject: Future of Work

Create and present a visual rendition, model, simulation, wireframe, flowchart, or prototype of the solution. This is your opportunity to imagine the best ways to visually communicate the outcome of your project.

What does your implementation look like?

Using our previous process journal posts as inspiration, we decided to create a style guide. Justin took the first steps of just looking at the the definition of impact, using the way the word was split up.

As a team, we came together and defined the brand mission, core principles, brand personality, and mood board. These items would serve as the basis of how we run our operations, design, marketing, and more. Before Alyssa started the design and mockups, the team also created a flow chart of what the user would see and how they would interact with the solution. After this was finalized, Alyssa created mockups of the application and the user flow. Although the user would most likely start from the desktop, it made more sense to create the mobile version first and translate that to desktop rather than the other way around. As a team, we went through the first design iteration, seeing how we could make a few tweaks. 

One example was how we transitioned the colors from a gradient of magenta (feeling like love) to a gradient of orange (feeling warmth). The team also made minor changes like matching the font of the header and box text in addition to the order which the content popped up. We had to keep in mind that the first version of the solution would just connect people to other individuals and passion projects. Later on, the solution would provide online collaboration tools or access to different API’s, making communication and seamless for the users.

How will people interact with it?

Our users would interact with our solution digitally first on the web (or on their smartphone if they live the on-the-go lifestyle). They may be searching for different jobs to pivot to or discover various ways to pursue their passion through their work. After discovering potential passion projects to work on, the user would apply and get connected to the individual or group that posted the position. The user would then be able to continue communicating with the other individual or group on their smartphones through the application. Both parties can communicate and agree upon how they will execute the project together. The user would either learn something new by working with others or contribute with their expertise and passion. After using the solution for various projects, individuals would then be able to see a list of previous projects they worked on and the current projects they are working.

Another way that the user would interact with the solution is by posting opportunities either as an individual or as an organization. After setting up their account, they could post the name of the project, some background information, and what type of positions are needed. Individuals would then apply to these postings and communication would start between the various parties, discussing how the project will be split up.

Through many projects, users could earn money by working on projects they are passionate about or apply their skills to non-profit projects.

Use Case Scenario

The Pivotor - Jane

Jane is the VP of finance at a large fortune 500 company. She started her career there straight out of college and has built her way to the top for over 15 years. Jane knows that she is good at running the company and its finances but knows that there is only so little she has left to learn. She wonders what her life would have been like if she pursued her passion, drawing and designing graphics. During her free time, Jane does design different art pieces and share it with her family. After constant feedback from her family about pursuing her passion, Jane decides to look at potential ways to spend more time designing outside of work.

One day, she googles and discovers imPACT, a solution that allows you to connect with others and pursue your passion project. Exploring more of the front page, she sees the option to create a profile, which entails to some simple information like a profile picture and an introduction. There are some options to include some of her social media links like LinkedIn and Twitter. She puts that her professional experience is in finance but her passion is in design. Below this, she finds a empty gallery where she can showcase her previous artwork. After finishing her profile, she searches the keyword “design”, discovering a wide range of opportunities to contribute to.

One project that real captures her attention is web design through a small e-commerce startup, but she has no experience at all in this particular field. Out of curiosity, Jane applies for this opportunity, and is automatically connected to the startup and is able to introduce herself and why she is interested in a chat. Moments later, she receives a response from one of the representatives. They looked at her profile and are very impressed by her artwork. Seeing her potential, the startup offers her the opportunity to work and learn from one of their UX designers since they need a lot of help.

Excited, both sides connect on the best practices for work and communication, slowly transitioning away from the app chat. The startup closes the position and Jane’s profile now shows her working on the current project. Their agreement is that she can work on it after work hours and on the weekends. Jane now has the opportunity to continue her stable job while learning web design after hours.

Once the web design project is over, Jane’s profile shows the previous project and the web design she worked on. Thankful for the opportunity, she realizes that her company needs to revamp their operations and utilization. Looking for a operations consultant, she asks her team to post a position on imPACT, looking for someone who is passionate about optimization and business strategy. They find a match and go through the same process that Jane went through previously.

What are the processes or systems involved for how it functions?

Through Brian’s leadership, our team was able to develop the UX design of the process and system of our app and website platform. To see the live flow of the application, Alyssa utilized Adobe XD, testing various layouts and combinations. In order to make this solution go live, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration from the technology side. Some design solutions that could be used to create the final mockups could either be Adobe Illustrator or Sketch. To build the website, the team could either build the code from scratch or build off a framework like bootstrap. The pros of using bootstrap would be keeping the design liquid and mobile responsive. Javascript and python would be a few languages that would help run the solution. Leading to the mobile development, we think making the application iOS specific first would make sense since the majority of our target market uses an iPhone. Later on the roadmap as our product grows globally, we would create an android specific application Since this application is data input heavy, we would need to create a reliable infrastructure. Although on the pricier side, AWS (Amazon Web Services) would be the most ideal, being able to store and process data at a fast rate. They would also maintain the servers needed to store and run the data. Later on in the roadmap, these servers would be capable to run Machine Learning algorithms (AI).

Click here for larger image

With so much data being involved, the data tables would need to be structured correctly. One thing to take into consideration is how the data will be used from the user’s needs and the organization’s needs. The data may look the same but the intentions of the data need to be specified in order to make the solution work seamless.

The website would need a domain and be hosted while the mobile application would need to be posted into the app store in order for the users to reach the solution.

Who are the primary stakeholders involved and what is their perspective on the solution implementation?

Individual Freelancers - The opportunity to participate in a project aligned with their passion.  The ability to pivot careers with a mentored learning experience without the heavy risk.

Corporate Organizations- The opportunity to discover new talent, to assemble new teams of people with new ideas and to execute projects that people are passionate about.

Non-Profit Organizations-  The ability to outsource work from high- profiled creatives and freelancers that are passionate about the organizations mission and work.

Start-up Organizations-   Low Risk outsourcing of talent to achieve tasks and projects that are outside the initial budget constraints of an organization.

imPACT Team-  Contribution to the Future of Work and how we work.  The ability to facilitate connections between the individual and the large organization through passion projects.