#I wanted to try a more watercolour style this time

[distinguished-slacker]

Just your everyday gentleman Shinya for his birthday😙✨

@gureshin-week-2023

#I wanted to try a more watercolour style this time #as you can see I am still obsessed with sparkles #owari no seraph #seraph of the end #shinya hiiragi #hiiragi shinya #hiragi shinya #shinya hiragi #gureshinweek #gureshinweek2023

[alicenpai]

"Lament! Terror! Despair! I shall kindly teach them all to you! And in your final moment, I... shall kill you by my own hand!!"

pandora hearts print for anime north this weekend 🥀🖤🤍

I also put this up on my inprnt! there's a sitewide sale for 40% off right now 🌟

For this drawing, I really wanted to emphasize the gothic and chaotic, convoluted nature of the series. Pandora Hearts has become a lot of things to me, as someone who's read it since I was like, 14 years old. but I eventually found the perfect words to sum up the series - a cross between a Shakespearean tragedy and a Grimm fairy tale.

The ink brush + watercolour brushes I used turned out so well together!! I wanted the style to be kind of a nod to like the manga cover art you'd see from the late 90s to 2000s, kind of like Mochizuki's early approach to traditional art.

A lighter approach to both the lineart + coloring also helped me not strain my arm too much - besides work, I stopped doing full illustrations due to the amount of work being heavy on my arm/shoulder T__T. my last full illustrations were the TGAA/DGS zine + WHA zine pieces back in Dec-Jan, but my heart really lies in illustrations more than anything and I definitely want to get back into it!! (as long as my physical health allows it!!)

anyways, above is the thumbnail/inspiration board for this drawing! I also did some quick chickenscratch studies of others' drawings to help me get a sense of their composition. I started on the top left and then made a sort of meandering curve through... definitely went through a lot of ideas for this one. If I explained the intended symbolism.. I would be here.. all day..............

the candles were definitely first inspired by an animation of a lighter I did during art skool... and then I did this AA Dahlia animated illust... and then this OC charm (below) I did in 2022...? maybe I should draw fire more often. it's like, the way that fire looks in animated keyframes that I really like drawing out, and I guess I kinda really enjoyed translating that into a non moving visual medium??

This drawing simultaneously took SO long but I also sped through it?? I had to like... not dwell too long on certain parts... like for example I think some individual character compositions really could be a lot stronger... because I knew this would be a beast of a drawing, I didn't want to spend an unnecessary amount of time focusing on details when I should be looking at the big picture. and I know that's a bad habit of mine!! I'm trying to unlearn my perfectionism!!

thanks for reading if you got this far, hope ya enjoy it!! and I hope I'll keep drawing Pandora Hearts in the future (clearly I haven't stopped since high school omg) and I hope to draw some more Vanitas someday beyond just chibis!

#my art #pandora hearts #oz vessalius #alice (pandora hearts) #gilbert nightray #elliot nightray #leo baskerville #vincent nightray #ada vessalius #oscar vessalius #oswald baskerville #lacie baskerville #will of the abyss #echo (pandora hearts) #alice baskerville #sharon rainsworth #anime north 2023 #i think i doomed myself with this post on twitter bc i forgot you cant have words like “kill” #well. die algorithm die you miserable sack of potatoes 😭 #edit July 2 2023: this post was really bothering me and i think it was hard to see the details on a horizontal composition #so i added a crop of alice to hopefully spice up the visual interest

[dimensionzero]

so anyway if y'all've got an insatiable craving after atsv, here's some spiderverse fics that deserve some love!

gotta start with Spiders' Night Out! by Chaos_and_Sparkles, my favourite of the rapidly forming pavitr-and-hobie-rob-the-british-museum genre --- in this one, their master plan drags the Spot along for the ride and it's great

courage (never forgotten) by stars_and_scars1 is an interesting character study on miles during atsv. I'm very intrigued by the writing style. it might go well with Look at me, falling fast by umwelt, gwen's POV of her visit with miles, which manages to be extremely funny and kind of heartbreaking at the same time.

speaking of gwen, State of Grace by Fichistory is gwen's POV of itsv, and I love her and miles in this one, I will be imagining it as her inner monologue every time I rewatch itsv after this. I'm also obsessed with how 14Passionz describes earth-65's mood-ring watercolour style throughout ink pallette, a great fic to cry about over gwen and her dad. and rounding out my gwen recs is the mark of a true spider-man by joshriku, in which gwen crowd-sources the meaning of being spider-man and has a conversation with peter b about, y'know. the elephant in the room.

if you're in the mood for a laugh, please read restorative justice by Nanashi07, the one where miles decides to rehabilitate miguel using restorative justice techniques while gwen and hobie heckle them and peter b cackles from the sidelines. for a slightly angstier post-atsv fic, there's also i only see you in the city light by yukla, in which miles has struggles and hobie is a bro. and you can find yet more post-atsv fics with the run run fast as you can series by Quillium (speaking of Quillium, they've also got equifinality, in which prowler!miles gets forcibly befriended by spider-man. while trying to murder him. it's complicated.); my favourite of the series has to be pavitr prabhakar and being spider-man, a character study that addresses how pav must feel over his friends knowing about canon events and not telling him in a way that feels very true to his character.

speaking of pavitr, Chaos_and_Sparkles is also writing a character study/speculative backstory for him in One Must Imagine Sisyphus Happy, which starts off very sweet and funny and halfway through takes a deep dive into angst. if you want sweet and funny all the way through, try na dekhi koi aisi girl by whatcaniwriteinthis, a pavitr/gayatri meet-cute. Who wants to punch a fascist? by I_have_hella_nice_abbs is a different kind of sweet and funny with noir and hobie bonding, three guesses how--- I like noir's internal monologue in this one a lot. and speaking of hobie, my favourite fic centred around him has to be Teenage Anarchist by gender_bender08, a character study that runs from his recruitment into spider-society to his exit-stage-center from atsv. it does both hobie and his relationships really really well.

and lastly, this is technically an older one but I can't make a spiderverse fic rec and not recommend Spider-Man Is Dead (Long Live Spider-Man) by aetataureate, it's a series of character studies on ripeter, gwen, peter b, and miles during itsv and it's insane how few hits it has for being some of my favourite pieces of writing in anything ever. anyway that's all for now, have fun y'all

#posting fic recs to subliminally encourage other people to also post their fic recs #across the spiderverse #across the spiderverse spoilers #gwen stacy #miles morales #pavitr prabhakar #hobie brown #peter b parker

[pinkfadespirit]

Commissions Open!

I decided it was time to redo this post again with some more up to date examples, and because I need some funds to buy some new art supplies. My prices vary depending on the complexity of the request and the style or medium you'd like me to work in. More info below.

Choose from either gouache or watercolour (or digital for simple sketches only) and let me know the style or price range you'd prefer

I will send you both a digital scan and the physical copy of the artwork when it’s done (unless you only want the scan - the price will be the same minus the shipping cost) 

Shipping costs are not included in the prices listed above. They will be calculated individually for each order

Payments via Paypal invoice

All my art is compiled on my art blog @pinkfadeart for easy reference so if there is a particular style you want me to work in you can link me to it. 

Send me a DM to discuss whatever ideas you have. Tell me the style, size, character(s) you’d like and any other ideas and references you have. I’ll send you a rough sketch to begin with and when we’ve settled on an idea I’ll send you the invoice. I will start on the painting once I’ve received the payment. Paintings should take 1-2 weeks depending on how busy I get. If it’s likely to take longer I will let you know. I can give you a shipping estimate via DM once you’ve told me what you’d like and where you’d like me to ship it to.

The examples above should give you an idea of the kind of things I'm most comfortable painting but I'm open to trying other things too so feel free to ask about whatever ideas you have. I'll tell you if I don't feel able to do it. I'm willing to paint OCs and canon characters and it doesn't have to be Dragon Age only. I can also do nsfw art. Examples for that can be found here.

Alternatively, feel free to send me a ko-fi tip with a character request (or a picture of your oc or your pet if you like) and I'll draw you something simple based on however much you send.

If you have any other questions feel free to send me a DM.

#art commissions #oc commissions #commissions open #commission info #dragon age #dragon age fanart #pink fade art #traditional art commissions

[green-alien-turdz]

Art tips for beginners? :3

I'm gonna try n be helpful here, but please keep in mind that I've been drawing my whole life, so I can't give you the perspective of someone who is just startin out.

1: Don't give up. Cheesy as fuck, I know. But you are gonna get pissed n fuckin angry when somethin doesn't turn out how you wanted it to. Don't let this discourage you! Use your mistakes and errors to keep on improving. There's no need to tear up drawings or delete anything that you aren't 100% satisfied with because you are growing in your abilities. AND TRUST that it is so rewarding to see your progress over time.

2: Challenge yourself n expect to hate it. Try all sorts of styles (cartoon, realism, or even just photo studies), do few details, do loads of details, do timed drawings, etc. Test the limits of what you can do. Similar to the previous advice, you need to allow yourself to be angry n hate the product that comes from this because you will eventually start finding your own creative style n process.

3: Don't pressure yourself beyond belief. You will not be an 'amazing' or 'visually appealing' artist from the get-go. If you are gettin burned out, allow yourself to take a break from time to time. With this though, once you start gettin more comfortable, even when you're burnt out creatively- I HEAVILY encourage you to keep doing small drawings OR other creative things to keep your mind going.

4: Experiment wit different mediums n shit like that! Explore! There is so many different forms of art to fuckin enjoy. Digital, traditional, watercolour, acrylic, clay, fuckin anything. When you get into non-digital mediums, keep cost in mind, but there are plenty of cheap alternatives that are great when you're startin out (also once you get 'better', you can control these much better, n they don't look like the initial cheap product). I personally use a lot of dollar tree shit n I used to steal from the art class in my school (but that was more out of necessity, if you can avoid it, please do. You can get in HUGE trouble if you're caught). But the main message is to experiment n try new things because there's so many different mediums out there.

5: Take in the world around you. Look at everything n think about how you could portray that in art. Really study the world. The faces people make when they don't think they're makin any, the grime that most people ignore building up on everyday objects, how people's body language says a LOT about how they feel, the way light casts in obscure ways, etc. Instead of just viewing the things around you, really look and take in the experience of bein human. Even impressionistic art holds these intricate details. You just have to be open to the experience.

6: Appreciate, but don't compare. I cannot stress dis shit enough, your art is your own, it is no one else's, so there's no need to harp on "oh this person draws x,y,and z better than me" n blah blah blah STOP! Dawg, you are doin your own shit, don't worry about if you're not on the same 'level' as others, or don't have the same 'capabilities' as some mfs. When you see other people's art, appreciate the things that they can do, but appreciate what you can do too! Especially when you're first really gettin your foot in the whole art shit, it is important to not judge your abilities compared to others who may have a lot more experience under their belt. I think it's totally okay to look at art n be like "oh that's super cool, I'd definitely like to improve on things like that", but never use it to put down your own art. This shit is subjective bro, you'll get to where you want to be. It takes a lot of time, it's not linear, but you WILL. It may not be how you expected it to look at first, but that's okay! Give yourself grace. Art is for you, at the end of the day.

You are gonna fight with yourself n the art itself, but that's totally normal! Art is one of the best forms of expression n I really hope the best for you. I know I was vague as shit n this isn't no tutorial on how to draw a realistic portrait or some shit- but that's because there's no right way to do this. Go balls to the walls or just dip your fuckin toes in. Approach it how you want, there's no right or wrong way to do art. I hope that this was somewhat helpful n I wasn't just spewin shit outta my ass n I truly wish you a good art journey

#asks

[mathysphere]

I started an etsy shop a couple of weeks ago for my watercolour embroidery patterns. I'm really happy and comfortable with my sewing and patterns, but knew I'd have a bit more difficulty with a couple of other aspects like branding/ marketing/ photos/ etc just because of not having much experience. I've learned loads the last few weeks and I'm really excited to re-take a bunch of photos this weekend with what I've learned. But mainly I wanted to say that doing this has really made me appreciate just how lovely your photos are! I've always loved your patterns- I've sewn a bunch of them myself and have bought a few as gifts for my friends. But just lately I've really noticed how skilled your photos are and how much time and thought you must put into taking them. They’re lovely :)

oh my goodness, thank you so much! And congratulations on opening up a shop! This is the nicest message ever-- I love to try and take cool photos of my cross-stitches, maybe nearly as much as I like to stitch them!

When I was a kid I read a book of anecdotes by a product photographer, and thought he had basically the coolest job ever: once he said he sorted through three whole boxes of cereal (it might've been Chex) for a shoot, picking out only the best pieces to photograph, and then used a bottle of white shoe polish to pour in as 'milk'. I'm not nearly that involved, but I think I'd like to be, someday!

If you're comfortable, I'd love to see some of your pieces! I'm a big fan of watercolor-style patterns, I think it's such a gorgeous style 💛

#ask #anonymous #chit chat #thank you a million for this! #it made my morning #feel free to shoot me a DM or another ask if you'd like #I really really love to look at cool cross-stitch patterns

[ebeedrawing]

How long have you been drawing and how long did it take for you to develop your art style into the way it is now? And if you use tablet, which one do you use and/or which one do you recommend for beginners? I'm trying to learn how to draw but my skills are so bad lol Should I start with pen and paper and then do digital? I want to do digital but I'm not sure if I should do the basics on paper first.

Hello ^^

I've been drawing all my life, really, but I did graduate from a fine arts school, so I'm traditionally taught. I only started drawing digitally after I graduated, which was 3 years ago, so I'm only self-taught digitally.

My art style was actually a huge struggle for me when growing up.. I remember literally crying because all I could do was only the "academic" type of drawings. But I will say this.. definitely look for inspiration from artists you like, and don't be hard on yourself. You'll get there so make sure you have fun with it and don't be afraid to try out new things. I'm sure you'll come up with something unique just for you 🩷. And remember that we change all the time so your art style changes a lot too. Artists shouldn't contain their creativity in a box, so whatever you wanna try - try it!

As for tablets.. I'm using a Wacom Intuos Pro M, but for beginners, I'm not too sure what to suggest if you're looking for something a bit even more budget friendly. I'd say anything really works if you want it enough. YouTube helped me make my decision ^^" I just wouldn't hurry and get something very pricey if you're just beginning because in the end, they kinda all do the same thing.

As for learning how to actually do the thing, I'd say go the traditional route first. I'm not stopping you from starting digitally, but I definitely suggest getting into it with the og pen and paper. I think it's more of a "learn the rules before you break them" kind of thing. Knowing the basics, as boring as they are, is so so important. So I definitely suggest you get a sketchbook and make sure you're sketching every day ^^ From anatomy to perspective studies. YouTube, again, is an amazing place for this. Also trying out different medias like watercolour, ink, charcoal and more, can be very fun and freeing as well ^^ who knows, you might discover a new love for one of them.

(If you want a list of YouTubers I'd suggest, let me know 👌)

Whew that was a lot, I'm not too sure if it helped, but good luck✨️

Oh and little tip: when sketching some studies, don't be precious with them. the freer you are about your art, the faster you will grow ^^

[canmom]

Animation Night 178: Alberto Vázquez

Hiii everyone! Animation night is back. And I've a treat for you tonight...

So. One of the best things about running Animation Night is that doing this (almost) every week gives me a motivation to go roving out looking for stuff I'd probably never watch otherwise. And sometimes the stuff you discover ends up being just insanely good.

This was the case way back on Animation Night 25, the very first Halloween Animation Night. On that night, we took a chance on a film by Spanish director Alberto Vasquez called Psiconautas, los niños olvidados - known in English as Birdboy: The Forgotten Children. I'll tell you a little about that movie in a minute, but it completely blew us all away: emotionally overwhelming, deft in its handling of the heavy shit, and gorgeously animated. (4C were involved).

So. Psiconautas is set on an island inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. It is a land in a state of general decline - its industry collapsed, the land choked with gigantic rubbish dumps, and the people in spirals of futility. Birdboy is a kind of spirit of the land; his father, Birdman, was shot down by police on suspicion of drug trafficking and he now struggles to keep a monster contained inside him and protect the one tiny shred of nature and life. His friends, who steal the pills he needs to keep it in check, are dealing variously with intrusive violent thoughts, uncaring fundamentalist parents, and a parent's addiction manifesting physically in the form of a huge spider. They want out of this hellish island - and they have a plan: with a bit of money, they might be able to buy passage to the city.

But it isn't that easy. Their money goes only so far as a tiny inflatable raft. And in the vast rubbish dump they encounter the Forgotten Children, abandoned by this society and left feral. Birdboy is forced to let his rage manifest. I won't spoil how it ends but - it's not an easy one.

Born 1980, Vázquez got his start in book and magazine illustration, with a style of distorted proportions and watercolours, or murky black, textured shapes as in these illustrations of Lovecraft. He turned to comics in the mid 2000s - which is where Psiconautas was born, along with other works like El evangelio de Judas (Judas the Catholic Squirrel) (2007) and Alter Ego (2008). In comics his style is very heavy, with big blocks of dark hatching. Within a few years he got the animation bug, working together with Pedro Rivero.

At the time, my knowledge of Vázquez's style was limited to short films such as Decorado, which should give you a pretty strong sense of his style.

At first it seems like a series of brief joke vignettes - but soon of course the threads start weaving together, characters from one skit come back in another, the threads of causality start to break down as the main character goes to pieces. It's clever and striking, but of course the deliberate artificiality which is the point means it is all wrapped in a layer of irony, which blunts the impact a bit.

The short films were made with a tiny team, with Vázquez hmself filling in just about every role from writing through layout to cleanup, with only a few other people on board. His later works became much larger projects, pulling in artists from as far afield as the great Studio 4°C in Japan, though I believe the bulk of the animation is still done in Spain.

The result is something great. Psiconautas has its share of black humour, but it's more willing to go for real drama, taking the vibe from 'unsettling' to full on 'fooooof'. I'm so excited to see it again.

But the main reason to return to Vázquez tonight is... he's gone and made another movie!

Just as with Birdboy, Unicorn Wars takes a short film and expands it. This is actually one of Vázquez's earliest animated works, Unicorn Blood (2013) - a work with a rougher cutout animation style, depicting teddy bears who hunt unicorns to try to fuel their cuteness. In the short we see a condescending teddy bear Moffy lecturing and fatshaming his brother Gregorio, as they hunt a unicorn, with abruptly segues into montages of violent religious imagery as a voice sermonises on the necessity of slaughtering the unicorns. They encounter a unicorn, but Gregorio can't shoot before the unicorn throws itself off a cliff - and as Moffy rounds on him, he gets motivation to, well, do a murder. It's a highly stylish work as with anything Vázquez touches, with gorgeous music textures and great use of watercolour.

Unicorn Wars returns to these themes about a decade later. Now the teddy bears are fully in a Vietnam-style war against the unicorns. A troop of teddy bairs are recruited to the war, and we are introduced to the conflicts between brothers Gordi and Azulín and top recruit Coco. Naturally the deployment goes south fast, and these three bears are the only ones left alive. Things get very violent and occult very quickly. There's more than a little cannibalism.

I've been excited to watch this movie for like three years now. It dropped last year, and became available on BD this year, so I've finally been able to get my hands on a copy. Together with that, we'll revisit some of Vázquez's older works. I'm really excited, I've been wanting to run this one for aaaaaages. Now's our chance!

Now, I need to get some food before the shops shut, so the plan is to start in about an hour, at 10pm UK time - in the usual place, https://twitch.tv/canmom. Hope to see you there!

#animation night #alberto vázquez #Youtube

[spinetacks]

i was wondring how you started custom painting because i'm a beginner with little to no experience but i've started to have an interest in it. what would be your recs for beginners? anything would be helpful really! i'm mostly looking to do custom painting on action figures and dolls but maybe start at a larger scale first

hi! you do need a slightly intimidating amount of materials for starting out, but it really doesn’t matter what quality it is apart from a few things !

things you absolutely need regardless of project are a primer/sealant like mr. super clear (very important, materials won’t stick to the doll without it!) and a mask for using it, something for removing the factory paint like acetone (results really vary so this takes some experimenting! acetone can melt some types of figures. some people say rubbing alcohol works but I haven’t had much luck with it. some figures require a soak but generally you can remove paint with cotton buds and a lot of scrubbing), soft brushes (like makeup brushes), medium paint brushes, at least one good quality fineline brush, something pointy like toothpicks or a nail dotting tool

from there it’s pretty optional what you use! though I’d recommend always having gloss for finishing the eyes/lips regardless

for shading/tone/blushing you can use chalk pastels ground up and applied with soft brushes or washes of watered down acrylic paints (watercolour paints aren’t suitable!)

for details you can use acrylic paints, watercolour pencils, or especially for action figures you can use paints like citadel (I don’t have much experience with these, but they’re much more permanent and better than acrylics for things like repainting the hair colour on figures and doing really solid details like tattoos. I think they’d be good for a strong painterly style!). please don’t be tempted to use fineline pens 🤧

other stuff: kitchen paper/a cloth for wiping brushes off, cotton pads/cotton buds for applying pastel and cleaning, if you can get a magic eraser™️ they’re very useful for gently removing pastel. palette for mixing and thinning paints

preparing is quite a long process! remove paint, wash them in warm soapy water, make sure they’re 100% dry, 2 base coats of primer. boring but important stage 😴

always make sure things are 100% dry before you use primer/sealant or you’ll get bubbles on the surface 🫧

in my experience pastels work best for larger dolls, where as little figures work better with washes of paint and some blotting

on larger dolls you can use watercolour pencil to plan shapes with a steadier hand and then paint over them. on small figures sometimes you have to use kind of roundabout methods to get a result;; (like you just can’t draw an eye! too tiny. so it’s more like doing lots of dotting and gentle smudging until it resembles an eye)

sealant is useful whenever you want to make sure you don’t damage the work you’ve already done, and especially if you’re using pastels and pencils - you can increase vibrancy by sealing and repeating

making a digital mockup and/or drawing the design on paper before starting work can really help

standard beginner advice for anything, but practice lots and lots! it can be really frustrating because removing the paint and starting over is a time consuming process, so having a supply of cheap dolls for experimenting on is useful. it’s definitely a type of work where you have to try things and get a feel for the materials and what works for you

ok I hope that all makes sense ;u; I have experience working with bjd, fashion dolls and wrestling figures, so if there’s anything you’d like help with hopefully I’d have answers 🙋 good luck !!

#I hope this doesn’t look too scary 😭 it’s an initial commitment and then just restocking when necessary #it’s a very fun hobby I hope you enjoy !! #answered

[layalu]

5, 10, 15, and 28 from the artist wrapped list! C:

[ask game]

Hey there Mo! :3

5. What work are you most proud of (regardless of likes/reblogs)?

answered here (the June tarot card), but another one is the Freckle model i did for class

It's the first time i finished a whole (digital) character model and i think it turned out pretty well! :)

10. What inspired/motivated you this year?

This will sound super basic lol but as most years my art motivation comes mostly from whatever i'm obsessed with and my friends! Visual artist friends especially just for the fact that seeing cool art from people i admire often gets me in the mood to draw as well. As for obsessions. Well. Still Dragon Age for the most part lolol

15. Is there any new style/technique/medium you want to explore next year?

Not 100% new but i'd like to do more watercolour again, and try gouache! I'd also like to try my hand on both painterly and more blocky/clean styles more. And want to finally learn knitting after years of saying that i will do it lmao

28. Did you learn anything about your art/process/style this year?

That i hate hardsurface modeling xD Otherwise uhh.... not really sure honestly? This hasn't really been the most productive year in terms of art progress rip

#thanks for the ask! <3 #my art #ask game/ my answers #im probably gonna fix up and polish freckle and use him for my demoreel tbh #cus school scheduling sucks ass and i am starting to uhhh get a little under pressure to get projects for my demo done :^)

[hqsenvs3000w24]

If you look at the word NATURE, you'll find A R T in it :)

Hi folks,

 This weeks lecture notes and readings was definitely my favourite so far. For as long as I can remember I have been drawn to the arts, participating in painting, drawing and music (on and off) my whole life. When I got older, I started to appreciate the beauty of nature and connected it to my painting. My grandmother was a great inspiration throughout this journey, she had a great eye for art and would always take me up on my offer to paint. This was also the first time I noticed how two people can look at the same landscape and see completely different things. I remember sitting beside a river with my grandmother, we were painting with watercolour. At one point I looked away from my canvas to see hers and was, honestly, a little confused. When I looked at the river, I had focused my painting on the waterfall, and the waters descent over the rocks. But hers was different, hers was of the entire landscape, the river was only a small part of it. We were looking at the same scene but were interpreting it in different ways. Neither was wrong, neither was right either, it was simply how we saw it.

When looking at the question posed to us this week, I honestly had no idea was the first part meant, and there's a good chance I might still be confused. "Who are you to interpret nature through art?". It seems to me like an intimidating question, and trying to come up with a definitive answer, that I could simply state, escaped me. I interpret nature through art because I am human and because I can. I interpret nature through art because I resonate with the idea that "people perceive natural resources and artistic values emotionally as well as intellectually" (Hooykaas, 2023). When looking at a natural setting, I feel the urge to sit for a moment and appreciate the beauty. I also, usually, want to take out my phone and capture the scene, so I can continue to appreciate it.

When it comes to interpreting "the gift of beauty" I have always gravitated to painting. I enjoy painting scenes that I have taken pictures of, moving them from screen to canvas, and reminiscing in the memory. Using art as a tool to help convey a message allows us to create richer experiences for those we are sharing it with (Wheeler, 2016). For example, when I go to visit my grandmother I tell her about my life and what I've been up to, and on many occasions I will have painted a recent memory from where I've been, and I can tell her "I was up at the cottage and there was the most beautiful sunset", but the addition of me showing her the scene as I remember it makes the connection so much more meaningful.

In chapter 10 of our textbook we were given a debrief of the main types of art; interpretive theater, storytelling and poetry, music, dance and the visual arts (Beck et al., 2018). Not everyone will react the same way to each of these mediums, but they are all effective tools in interpreting nature to the general public. I find music, visual arts and poetry the most effective, but someone else might disagree. It's all in the eye of the beholder, which is why it’s so important for us as interpreters to ensure we offer as many as possible. I've done activities with students where we go out on a walk and at some point stop and everyone has to draw something they see around them. This makes them stop and think about where they are and what they’re seeing. Most of the time, they will pick something that stands out to them or something they think is cool or beautiful. Just by doing a simple activity like that, a connection is bridged between the student and their environment.

My family has several The Group of Seven paintings in our home, my parents always loved the appreciation of art. I love the paintings because they are all done very simply, the style is almost gentle and it is calming to look at. The painting are also very important, not everyone has the ability to venture out into the natural world to appreciate those scenes first hand. However, galleries are accessible to almost everyone and they are everywhere. Someone can look at a mountain first hand, capture the moment on paper, interpreting it how they see it, and then share it with those who can't go themselves. In this way, we are in our simplest human form, seeing something beautiful, appreciating it, and acting on the urge to share it with others.

-All for now!

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For A Better World. SAGAMORE Publishing.

Hooykaas, A. (2024). Unit 04: Nature Interpretation through Art and Planning for "All" Scenarios [Lecture notes]. ENVS3000 Nature Interpretation. University of Guelph.

Wheeler, E. (2016). The craft of engagement. Legacy, 27(6), 29–31.

[k00295122]

I remade my sculpture, this time using just cardboard and keeping the face relatively flat. I wanted to have more elements from the style I was trying to recreate, so I coloured the paper with watercolours and made the eye and nose proportions bigger than the mouth proportions. To add some dimension, I separated the eyes, clothes and head so when the light shines form an angle it would cast a proper shadow.

[artingabout]

The Queen’s Thief themed nook-book made as a gift for @meganwhalenturner​

Behind the scenes:

My materials:

ae woodene booke

much paper in many layers and shades

craft knife

scissors

foamy-tape-stuff (technical term)

acrylic paints

brushes and roller

pens & coloured pencils

PVA glue

faux gold leafing

resin

metal ruler and cutting mat

milliput

fimo

wire

craft foam boards

card

black tissue

wooden dowels

chalk

This one, I’ve been planning for a while. Originally I was going to do a standard book nook, but then remembered these gorgeous wooden books I’ve had just lying around waiting for a purpose and BEHOLD!

Because I can never keep things simple for myself, I wanted to try different craft styles for each section so I’ll go through them one by one.

Phase 1 was challenging because it’s the shallow left side. I decided to do one of the iconic scenes that stayed with me long after I read the books for the first time in cut paper, because it would let me play with layers and the illusion of depth while also... y’know. Paper. It’s thin.

First off I made a background to add some perspective and depth to the box, so it looked much deeper than it is.I painted on a sky effect and then dug out this gorgeous paper that has a kind of marble texture to it and made the buildings.

Next I did a base sketch of the faces to get the sizes right and snipped out Gen since he has more layers because his arm is foreground.

I didn’t remember to take a picture of the paper I textured for his skin tone, but basically various shades of pinks/reds/browns/whites applied to watercolour paper in erratic layers to get some texture and depth. It’s sort of visible on the hand (which was the first piece I cut out and it strikes me as ironic that it’s the piece I kept losing because I was working on my living room floor 😅)

For Attolia, I picked different papers/cards to use, specifically a rather nice handmade off-white paper with dark red rose petals imbedded in it to serve as her alabaster skin with the smudge of blood.

Nothing says love like floating heads, amirite? I added some layers to Attolia’s hair and coiled the strands of the ringlets around a cocktail stick to get the curls. The crown and earring are both faux-gold-leaf card with slivers of resin as rubies. So much gold-leaf everywhere. SO MUCH. Details were added with a fine-tipped pen and some shading with coloured pencils.

The layers. So many layers. I think Gen has about 15 separate pieces to him. For his sleeves, I added some texture by using a rubber patterned stamp and copper ink, then splatted paint all over it :D

And to add even more depth to a 1cm deep space, I used thick double-sided foam tape (I have no idea of technical terms. Foamy squishy stick string) to elevate them off the background. A wee glimpse of it is visible just under Gen’s collarbone

Phase 1 complete!

Phase 2 was another beast entirely. Originally, I was planning on doing the scene from The Thief when Gen steals Hamiathes’s gift, but realised that would mean an image of Hephestia that looked very much like the image of Attolia I had already done. Plus I was planning to use The Return of the Thief’s cover which is also red, so I wanted to do something less red.

Pheris was kind enough to give me some beautiful descriptions of the half-built temple of Hephestia in TRotT and I love me some forced perspective :D And naturally, I had a slightly deeper box to work with this time (omg a whole 2-3cm! Luxury!) so of course, it had to be 3D.

"I studied the Great Goddess, shining in the darkness. The treasury was new, but her statue was much older; the wood from which she was carved showed through the gold leaf. The pillars supporting the dome were tree trunks, smoothed of their bark and inverted, so they were wider at the top than at the ground"

First up, the Goddess herself. Fimo on a wire armature with a throne made of balsa wood . Since the statue is described as old with wood showing through the gold, I figured she could look a little crudely-carved and rough. Also, she is smol and I have sossige fingers.

I cut dowels to size to serve as the inverted-tree-trunk pillars and add an illusion of depth. My art teacher would be so proud.

The altar was the easiest piece of the whole thing: chopped up foam board, some card for stability, cut and shaped and decorated with milliput to add the Hephestial Mountains, coated in black tissue to give a nice strong black base to paint. I used drybrush to get a nice stone effect (see a bit further down)

And conveniently, the entire background of the scene is black, so I added the dome for More Optical Illusions! Because hey, if it worked once, do it again :D And also started layering up milliput for the tree-pillar bits.

And the last and messiest step before fixing the pillars and everything in place. Gold. Leaf.

The last bits to get done were the pillars, which I fixed in with milliput and glue.

Once they were set and painted, I glued everything in place and gave Hephestia her orb and behold, phase 2 complete!

And both sides together.

Finally, phase 3 - the cover. To keep things (relatively) simple, I went with the blood-red cover for Return of the Thief. Gave it a nice red basecoat, sketched on the design in chalk because lol, who uses tools to draw lines? Not me!

No in-progress pictures because I did it all in one run while listening to a webinar.

And as a special treat, more gold leafing!! I love the shininess of the figures on the cover of the book and thought “hey, that’s a sensible option that won’t leave you finding gold bits in your kitchen for days!” :D

Note to self: do not do this on wood again, it is very very likely the leaf will cling to the wood and require some repainting. This is a lesson. Do not forget (this memory will self destruct within 10 seconds of leaving this post)

For comparison before I did some touch-ups because of the stupid leaf going rogue

And behold, it is done :D

#arting about #craft #art #the queen's thief #megan whalen turner

[not-xpr-art]

just wanted to share a few comparisons to show how my digital painting skills have developed over the years!

(these were all done with the same brush type on the same program btw!)

see below for a mini kinda Art Advice post where i go into each of these comparisons!

wanna start by saying the brush i used for all these pieces is the 'watercolour' brush on firealpaca... essentially just a default flat brush that usually comes with most software!

the first two are to show unintentional messiness vs intentional messiness. a lot of my early art had a pretty messy quality to it purely because i was still unfamiliar with the mechanics of digital! (though i will say, i think i was going for a more painter-ly style in the 2015 art anyway because i was basing it on pre-raphaelite works)

i think once you become a lot more familiar with certain mediums, you allow yourself to be a bit more confident with the brushstrokes you make! the 2022 piece is one where i wanted to create a sense of texture, almost like a digital version of impasto (aka thick layers of paint), and i know better now how to use digital software to create this kind of effect!

and you can see with the next row & the 2016 piece that i managed to create a much smoother, more blended appearance whilst still using the same brush! a part of my improvement came from me allowing myself to spend a little longer on pieces, especially in those first few years. i think a lot of beginners to digital (or any other kind of medium for that matter) think that if they spend the same amount of time on a piece as they would in another medium that they're more familiar with they'll get the same results, but it doesn't really work that way lol... especially if you're very new to digital... my advice here, then, would be to allow yourself to be slow at figuring out the medium (and let yourself make mistakes!)

going back to the 2016 vs 2022 comparison, i wanted to include this to show how sometimes you can keep things still messy, but still controlled and complete looking! also, remember that in digital most programs will let you adjust the 'colour mixing levels' or another similar 'blending level' option, which essentially just means how much the strokes blend or don't blend into what you've already painted... (knowing this would have made blending a whole lot easier back in 2016 lemme tell you lol.....)

(i also wanted to include that comparison cos it looks like they're looking at each other and i find it funny pfft)

the final comparison is, again, to show how controlled brushstrokes can give a piece a simultaneously painter-ly and smooth appearance! in both the 2015 and 2023 pieces, i wasn't super precise in my painting skills. but the 2023, to me at least, doesn't look as messy purely in the way i've been able to use the brush!

i mainly wanted to share this because i spent a long time trying to make my paintings look smooth, and i definitely do still do this in some artworks (particularly if i'm using fluffy/textured brushes), but i realised that i really enjoyed being able to create messy works that overall feel more finished due to the painting skills i've developed over the years!

i also just want to say that i'm not saying that either of these sides are 'better' than the other, they're just a few different ways i've approached art in my years as a digital artist! my observational drawing skills have grown a lot since the left side pieces, but i still think there's a lot to like in my early works and i'm definitely still very proud of them!

~~

thanks for reading & feel free to check out my other art advice posts and consider tipping me here on tumblr or heading to my kofi if you wanna support me! (no pressure ofc!!) <3

#art advice #digital art #art advice for beginners #digital art advice #firealpaca #portraiture #digital painting #painting advice #i havent actually posted the full 2023 piece yet 👀 so you're getting a sneak preview lol

[vinlynce]

Holy cow. Your art could pass off as assets in the official Pokemon games. It's incredible.

How do you do it, if I may ask? How much time and attention goes into your craft?

Aw thank you so much!!!! Some how-I-do-it under cut ^u^

Okay so in short: I have a history in style copying bc of trying to recreate various video games sprite styles since I was in middleschool LMAO . The only issue is. Im one of those people who sketches . Fairly cleanly half the time no big line guides . UH, examples of stuff tho!!!

For CiaCM Lisia, for example, these were the guides I used! Since it's a timeskip, I proportioned her closer to the adult characters in the series! I spent a while specifically focusing on the face, as I find the face is the MOST important to get right on the style for pokemon. You can more easily get away with hands or feet being a little off if you have an accurate face! Other examples of before lineart faces V

ORAStimeskip Lucy, for example, I used these to the side as I drew for style references!

Then I move onto Lineart and flat colour!

I use layers for shading overtop of the flat layers! Using the firealpaca pen and watercolour brushes. In fact.... Pretty much everything is just those two brushes unless I want some added texture! As for how much time... It depends! Usually it takes between 2 to 4 hours depending on the complexity of the design and my familiarity with it! I think the longest I spent on any was maybe four hours for this one?

#asks #ty for asking!

[shatterthefragments]

✨ End of Year Questions ✨

Tagged by @ongreenergrasses 💖

I also didn’t think I created much this year, and. To be completely honest, I didn’t really make much new art, and what I did I didn’t really post here. Most of what I’ve done this year is really continue writing snippets of lyrics/verses/poetry in my notes. Hoping to make more time for a lot of things this year!

What is the favourite thing you created?

A sailboat reduction print (lino style but on a literal disposable plate)

Which work are you most proud of?

Honestly, either that same sailboat print or some of the poetry/lyric snippets I’ve written this year. Or the leather medicine pouch (also created for my class final project)

Is there anything you’re proud that you achieved this year?

I’m proud that I created anything at all outside of class requirements (I took one art centred course at the beginning of the year, which my sailboat print was created in)

Did you explore anything new this year?

Not so much for creating, but I did get stickers made of some of my previous work to sell at fairs and whatnot.

Wait no the leather medicine pouch - I haven’t done much leatherwork yet though I really want to create super long lasting functional pieces and textiles is very new to me and is a way of connecting to my grandmothers’ past. And I also joined a sewing/quilting club at school (which doesn’t seem to be running this year but I have no time anyway this semester so that’s fine) (I have not finished the sewing supply bag project we started)

Which work gave you the most difficulty?

Anything finished haha. I am still striving to fully finish and edit and refine some of my lyrics into songs (eventually to try to record and produce with whatever free and/or cheap software I can find).

Also some of the more unusual custom cake requests at work were difficult to do but they worked out.

And textiles can be. Frustrating.

What was your biggest creative challenge this year?

Finding time to create. I definitely took this as a year to go and do things that I. Had to go to. And while I probably could’ve brought a mini sketchbook with me, I didn’t usually.

Which work brought you the most joy?

A birthday card I did for a friend. It’s a pen sketch of their favourite beach (at least the view I got when I took a quick visit and picture of it)

Which of your works do you think people should check out?

…from 2023 nothing is posted unless you’re on my personal instagram or something. (Unless I did post my year of the water rabbit watercolour paintings? In which case - those.)

Otherwise my Creating Awl Together story/series (once I make time to create more for it 😅)

Do you have creative plans for the new year? Is there anything exciting that you’re working on?

Oh always 🥺💖✨

I accidentally made a new years resolution to record one of the songs I’ve written,, but also I want it to be. Better than the literal middle school vent lyrics I’ve written.. so we are. Trying to write some new stuff and upgrade to… mid twenties vent lyrics… (and some like!?! Joyful lyrics too?!?!) (I’m actually excited and terrified and don’t really play any instruments right now and what I played on flute isn’t really necessarily the vibe for what’s in my head?? But it could have a place so I’ll probably play again and if need be I could probably rent a tenor sax for a day or so.) so. Next up is learning (or throwing together) a bit of music production (I am currently gathering royalty free free samples from anywhere I find them more or less)

I really want to draw a lot more this year!!

And paint more again!!

And of some of these drawings I want to transfer them to be lino cut or dry point and do them as prints!!!

I have several quilts I want to make!! I’m going to start really small though to. Learn how to sew them haha 😅 But I hope my first quilt is a lovely sea turtle themed quilt for one of my best friends’ cat. Or a lap quilt for mum. I. Realistically I don’t think I’ll get to this before the end of the year.

I want to paint more ceramic pieces at the paint your own ceramics place (I have. Several pieces that I just need to finish painting)

More cards that I drew on~ I have a bit more energy than last year despite everything it seems right now so I am hoping I can continue to draw on cards for my friends 💖

This shall be the year I finish my dogs out doodle (barefoot ship life!!!)

Lastly, any words of wisdom or advice to share?

To myself: just try. Just try. Just do. It can be whatever. Just create something. Just create anything. Joy, catharsis, one single line. Anything you can.

Given how late I filled this out I’m not tagging anyone 😬

#tag games #tag game #✨ creations ✨ #long post #you know what? yeah! I am excited for this year!