#This is basically a copy of my old commission post but with some updated stuff but the prices are the same

[kenjo-arts]

I am opening comissions!

Hello everyone, I’m re-opening commissions because I recently moved into my first apartment and my cat got immediately sick so money has gotten a bit tight. So if you’ve ever been interested in having me draw something for you, now is the time! :D 

more info and commission examples under the cut!

If you’re interested you can contact me through DMs to commission me or ask further questions! sending asks for questions is good too! 

Thank you for being interested in my commissions! Before sending your commission request please look at my guidelines and know that by commissioning me you agree to them:

Terms of service

general:

Commissioner can re-upload the image with credits.

The art is for personal use and cannot be used commercially, claimed as your own work, fed into an AI learning software, or turned into an NFT. 

I reserve the right to post the commission on social media (you can ask to be tagged or remain anonymous) or use the finished art in my portfolio.

The estimated completion time is roughly 1-4 weeks. 

Commissions are first come first serve. If you need a commission done quickly or by a certain deadline, let me know and I’ll let you know if I can get it done in time.

Large revisions that add a lot of time to the commission work will up the price. (redoing finished sketch from scratch, changing up large details in the rendering stage)

Price can be upped depending on the complexity of the drawing. 

The commission will be sent to you via Email

I have a right to refuse any commission.

Payment:

Done by PayPal. 

Payment before I start working. I will send you an invoice before I start working

I don’t allow full refunds because PayPal takes a cut of what I’m paid. 

The item is a digital image

What I do/don’t:

I do

Original characters

Fanart

Furry/anthropomorphic

Light gore

I don’t

NSFW

Mecha

Real people

Heavy gore

Comics 

Detailed backgrounds

Things that will make the process easier:

Good references of details. 

Reference pictures if you have any

Stickman drawings of your idea/or pose. 

Descriptions of what you envision. 

If you have any specific way I've drawn before you like the look of, let me know, though I cannot promise to be able to replicate the look 1 for 1

General process:

Once I’ve accepted your commission and am ready to start drawing is when I’ll request the payment. once I have the payment I’ll start drawing. 

I’ll send the sketches for revisions, and for the flat colours+ updates if it is a longer process.

Once these things are to your liking I’ll finish the commission and send it to you. You can request a couple of changes to the finished art within 24 hours of my completing it.

Prices: (is in US dollars)

Sketch flat colours : 

Full body: 35 $

Half body: 30 $

Headshot: 20 $

Lineart colours : 

Full body: 50 $

Half body: 40 $

Headshot: 35 $

Rendered :

Fullbody: 120 $

Half body: 100 $

Headshot: 80 $

Extra character : +70%

Comic flat colours : 

Per pannel (2 characters): 20$

Extra character (per pannel the extra characters is in, not overall): 40%

Comic commissions will have a simple background like in the examples

commission examples (one is cropped due to the commissioner's wishes to remain anonymous)

#This is basically a copy of my old commission post but with some updated stuff but the prices are the same #I figured a new one would be better than sharing the old one

[blackinquisitors]

basically I don't get much enjoyment out of art and I don't feel much creative drive for it. I have some amount of skill, and dare I say I'm pretty damn good when copying something. but my technique is curtailed by the lack of practice I put in because every drawing I do has to be Good. it has to be Good so I can Post it and get Attention and then the Attention will generate people that with Commission me. I have no real love for drawing so I don't do it for fun. I have an appreciation for art but half the time it ends up being a competition for me. I dont know. this has sort of always been the case because I started drawing at 13 years old to be Good and get Attention. it wasn't for the love of the craft and I don't know if I can suddenly generate the love after years of it being result-based.

writing on the other hand is completely a labor of love. I have only monetised it when people have directly inquired about it. every part about it I enjoy and showing it to other people is essentially like showing my belly. I do it purely for my own benefit and if other people happen to like it, then that's a bonus. I love the doing more than the end result

it's a blow to me and my ego when a drawing only gets X amount of notes. but then something like my pervvy disco elysium fic only having a handful of kudos really doesn't bother me at all. cus i didn't make it for an audience, I made it cus I got possessed by an idea and had to get it out of my system. a couple other weirdos liked it so that's great but not a necessity. and then my most popular work, bloom, is my baby simply bc I worked on it for a year and put a lot of myself into it. and I'm able to look at it critically and see where my writing has developed and improved. zero of my opinion of bloom is tied to other people's opinions. it's a nice feeling

I'm doing oil paintings for cash currently which is a nice gig bc I do enjoy the process of oil painting because I'm good at it. but I am incredibly slow and I get bored of it. I think I'll keep doing these for the income but as for fanart and stuff I'll probably stop for a long while. put it all on the back burner until I can learn to love the process as much as I do writing

and rn I'm chipping away at my black sails fic and I'm considering it to be my magnum opus. not even close to being done but I'm enjoying writing it immensely. not a single bit of this is a chore, which it occasionally was with bloom because I was updating it chapter by chapter and felt the pressure of a waiting audience. with this black sails one I'm happily writing away and making it all perfect. lalalala the art of creation is wonderful. let's not poison my relationship with art anymore

#rambling status update cus i post my writing/art here

[doublerainebow]

Artist Resources (Part 1?)

This is basically just going to be a bunch of resources I have found to be useful. I can’t say that I’ve used all of them, but I’m sure they’re all worth checking out.

I’m also gonna try to put a detailed description for most of the links so you have a better idea of what you’re getting. I apologize in advance if some of them are redundant lol

(I put “Part 1″ if in the case I make another one)

~Links to Tutorials, Tips, Resources, etc~

Another Resource List -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Apparently, the post isn’t mobile-friendly, so it’s suggested to view this on Tumblr browser. Has a bunch of other links. I’ve checked out a few of them (mainly the copyright stuff lol), and it seems that some of the links may be a bit outdated. Still, it doesn’t hurt to check out the links.

Arms and Legs -- Leads to another Tumblr post. A handy tutorial on elbow and knee placement.

Art & Game Dev -- This leads to my personal playlist of a bunch of YouTube videos. Has a bunch of tutorials and interesting videos that I’ve collected over the course of a few years lol.

Blamblot -- A website that contains resources and tutorials on comic lettering. This is primarily in reference to western comics, but it doesn’t help to take a looksie.

Commission Calculator -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Helps artists to stop selling themselves short.

Comparing Heights (hikaku-sitatter) -- A height comparer for centimeters.

Comparing Heights -- A height comparer for feet and inches.

Mouth Shapes and Lip-Syncing -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Useful for... drawing mouth shapes.

Reference Angle -- Useful for when you’re trying to map out a face from an odd angle.

Soft Proofing for Printing -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Helps when you’re trying to make prints of your artwork.

Textures -- A website full of different and mostly free textures. While this website is made for 3D texturing, it can also be useful for 2D drawings. Signing up gives you 15 free credits everyday, and you can use those credits to download some textures for free.

The Models Resource -- A website of models ripped from a wide array of games.

The Spriters Resource -- A website of sprites ripped from a wide array of games.

The Textures Resource -- A websites of textures ripped from a wide array of games. 

~Links to Stock Images~

Please check out whatever policies they may have for their images before using them!

(not sure if any of them are active anymore as I followed some of these accounts a long time ago when I used to be more active on Deviant Art lol)

adorkastock (formerly senshistock)

anatoref -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Has a bunch of hand photo references

charligal-stock

HumanAnatomy4Artist -- Does contain nudity

null-entity

PhelanDavion

RobynRose

~Links to Other Artists~

Akihito Yoshitomi -- Yoshitomi is a mangaka who has tutorials on manga making. He also has an insightful series in which he drafts and draws a 30-page manga in 18 days. Remember that every artist works differently and his process may be different from another’s.

Drawfee -- Drawfee is an improv drawing show of four artists: Nathan Yaffe, Jacob Andrews, Julia Lepetit, and Karina Farek. While they don’t have tutorials in a sense, their videos explain the different processes they go through as they draw. They also occasionally provide tips, tricks, and resources in their videos. They do have another channel and a Twitch channel where they host drawing classes in addition to other fun shenanigans.

EtheringtonBrothers -- Has a bunch of useful and eye-catching tutorials called “How to Think When You Draw”.

Mark Crilley -- Mark is a comic artist, specializing in manga, who has a bunch of tutorials about anatomy, perspective, comic making, and other things.

Miyuli -- Miyuli is an artist who posts tutorials on their Twitter. Their tutorials range from anatomy to clothing to other things. They even have a few books of art tips. Currently (as of the time of posting this), their 2018 version is free for download, so I highly recommend you download that. Some tips may be outdated, but they should still be helpful.

Whyt Manga (Twitter/YouTube) -- Odunze is a comic artist, specializing in manga, that has a bunch of tutorials on manga making and drawing characters of color.

~Links to Free Programs~

Blender -- A free 3D program if you’re into 3D modeling and such. I also personally haven’t used Blender (I use Maya lol), but I know it’s a respectable program.

Krita -- A free painting program if you can’t afford Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint. I personally haven’t used Krita, but I have recommended it to a few friends and they have positive reviews about it.

Paint Tool SAI -- Okay, this one isn’t free, but it’s a significantly cheaper painting program where you don’t have to pay a subscription. It’s 5,500JPY (~50 USD). I’m not sure how well it still works on modern computers (the last update was 2016), but I still use it here and there because I love the pen tool feature it has, and it still works like a charm for me.

~General Tips From Raine~

Raine admits that she’s guilty of not following her own advice, but Raine hopes that the tips that she does know will be beneficial to someone who will follow them. She’s also going to keep all her tips under the cut so as to not make this post a huge wall of text (even though it technically already is lol)

Also, if you have some resources, tutorials, tips yourself, please feel free to send them to me and maybe I’ll make a part 2 to this post!

ALWAYS LOOK FOR REFERENCE. This should really go without saying. You can’t draw from life if you refuse to observe life itself.

If you can’t find the exact thing you need, MAKE YOUR OWN REFERENCE. Time and time again, I can’t find something exactly that I need. So instead, what I do is that I take pictures of my own reference. Sometimes I even grab a friend and take pictures of them doing whatever it is I need.

Have a mirror handy when you’re drawing. Sometimes what you need is actually right there in front of you.

Having trouble drawing something? Do some studies. Take the time to understand what it is you’re drawing. I can’t remember the exact story, but I heard that the people who were working on Tarzan were having a hard time drawing his hands. So, what they did was spend a few hours looking at hands to try and understand how they work.

IT’S OKAY TO STUDY THE ART OF OTHER ARTISTS. Just as we look to the old masters as a reference, it’s definitely okay to look at modern-day artists for reference. Just don’t go copying exactly everything that they do, or worse, trace what they do. Just don’t do it... at all.

Not every line needs to be realized. The viewer of your work will automatically connect the dots.

DO NOT TRASH YOUR OLD DRAWINGS. Please, never ever do this. Your old drawings have value to them, even if they look terrible to you. Old drawings may hold ideas for things you could do for the future. They also serve as a way to see how far you’ve come as an artist.

GETTING BETTER AT DRAWING TAKES TIME AND EFFORT. You’re not gonna get better overnight. It’ll take months, or even years, to feel like you’re a competent artist, and even then, you’ll still have room for improvement.

DON’T LOOK DOWN ON YOURSELF IF YOU’RE TAKING A LONG TIME TO GET BETTER. It’ll be better for your mental health in the long run.

Alternatively, DON'T LOOK DOWN ON OTHER ARTISTS EITHER, ESPECIALLY TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL BETTER. You know the struggles it took for you to get where you are, so don’t go putting down other people when you’ve been in their shoes once.

KEEP DRAWING. If you’re not making an effort to get better, then you’re not going to be better. I get that it’s hard to find the inspiration to draw (I’m very guilty of this), but just keep trying. It doesn’t have to be big or spectacular. You don’t even have to post it if you’re the type who likes to post their art stuff.

Try to find references from real-life. It’ll help you better understand form, lighting, shadows, etc., especially if you’re going for a more realistic kind of art style. Otherwise, finding reference from things like cartoons, anime, comics, etc. are just as good.

Try new things. Try new art mediums. Try a different art style. Switch up the way you do things. Maybe you’ll hate it, maybe you’ll like it. Who knows if you don’t try.

Watch time-lapses (or speed draws/speed paints) of other artists!

Pinterest and Google are your friends if you need tutorials or references or whatever.

If you’re offering commissions, DO NOT WORK UNDER YOUR LOCAL MINIMUM WAGE. You are literally devaluing the work you actually put into a piece.

I like to think I’m an aficionado of Photoshop, so feel free to ask me questions on how to achieve something! I’ve used Photoshop for about 11 years now and know my way around the program. On another note, I do recommend setting custom keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop because the default shortcuts are terrible (in my opinion), and because having custom shortcuts increases the speed of your workflow.

Because I’ve been seeing this a lot lately in Twitter, you’re never too old to start in art. Art is just one of those things that anyone can pick up at any age because the only thing you really need to get good in art is time, diligence, and patience.

Try not to post hi-res images of your artwork to prevent art stealers from selling your artwork in high resolution.

Always, always, always add your signature and watermark on your artwork. I like to add my signatures and watermarks in places that’ll be hard to erase or crop out. I’ve also seen people add their signatures and watermarks in creative ways (ex. on a character’s shirt). You need to protect your work in an era where people will just blatantly steal it and make profit off your work.

Tag List

@reality-is-often-disappointing

#artists #artists on tumblr #artist tips #artist resources #art resources #artists of tumblr #art tips #art tutorial #raine rambles and muses #raine can art

[fracturedmoonlight]

Hi! Aspiring Sims 2 modder here. I'm asking a bunch of my favorite modders. Do you have any advice for beginners on working with BHAVs? Any tutorials you recommend or easy projects to start with? Useful background info? I know there's a lot of trial and error involved, but I was wondering if there's a better approach to learning about them than just looking at other people's mods and trying to figure out what on earth those BHAVs mean. Thanks again for all that you do!

Hello! Always exciting to see people who have become interesting in modding! I can try to help but honestly not sure how good I'll be at it. I'm mostly going to tell you what worked for me and some ‘modding life advice’.

Honestly what helped me the most? Breaking it down. If you find a tutorial you can follow successfully...rewrite it to fit how your own mind keeps track of how to do the steps. For example, this is how I learned to do overlay boxes...and I broke down an 18 page tutorial (when copied over from a blog post and mind you there were pictures included) down to just two pages of step 1 - whatever. Most tutorials are old and haven’t been rewritten for current years, but most are doable as the functions don’t change much. Also, compare them. If you find more than one tutorial on the same subject, see what same steps they’re following.  Picking apart other people’s mods can also help you understand those tutorials. Or see they found a better way to do the same thing. An example here...the code I use for @sunmoon-starfactory​ inventory detection, can be very different from what @mortia-laura​ use. Both achieve the same goal (detecting and deleting/adding to a sim’s inventory), but go about it in seperate ways. If I recall, my way is longer (at least on the data entry side) but I’m more comfortable with it because it’s what I know. Neither is wrong.

Another thing? Understand your limits. It's no secret that I get help from other people on some modding aspects because my brain literally cannot wrap around them. I'm talking things like primitive arguments and other things I deem "math". Which is mostly numbers. I don't deviate from what numbers I don't know, I don't stress out. But add in something new there? Learning curve for sure. Basically, know that you're not going to master everything. Few creators rarely do, and that's okay. Find your niche, improve it, and be happy with it. Of course if you want to branch out after you're comfortable, go fo it!

That being said, have a support circle that does understand what your yourself don't, and ask! I know it's scary to ask other "big name modders" out there sometimes...but honestly, most aren't scary. Personal example...I never imagined @midgethetree would have helped me. She's so smart and seems way above my pay grade if you will, but she's actually super nice (and knows how to explain things to me like I'm five...which I like! I learn best in simple steps!) and is always there to just hear me whine sometimes. It's usually about a misplaced zero where there should be a one. I also know I can count on @davinaojeda, @fireflowersims, @mortia, @veetiesims2, @nixedsims, @gayars, and so many more. To add on to that, find a supportive discord to help connect with others. Most of the ‘new’ or ‘updated’ information seems to be passed around on those.

Now here’s the most important thing and I’m writing this with myself in mind also as I recently suffered a bout of it. Whatever you make, make sure it’s how you want it. There are going to be a lot of opinions thrown at you. Some helpful and some that perhaps make the project such a giant monster it makes you want to rage quit. You won’t please everyone. You can’t. You can try, but it’s going to drive you crazy. So always take a step back, ask yourself why you’re making something and then answer if it meets your original intention. If it does and you’re happy, stick to your guns. Don’t let people push you into something you have no interest in or don’t want to do. The Sun&Moon Woodworking set gave me this problem...it was huge to begin with and was stressing me out and making me anxious because I knew I couldn’t please everyone. Got some advice on how to make it seem manageable, and that’s when I solidified my idea of what products it makes. Upon release, I got A LOT of messages from people who were asking for ‘more types/amounts/can you change it so this item comes from it’. It made me feel like I’d failed to deliver what people expect...but stepping back, it produces exactly what I want it to for my game. That’s what matters. I made something to enhance my game, it does what I want it to do, and sorry if others aren’t happy it doesn’t do more but that’s how it is. If you feel like it, add options for people who don’t agree with your choices (looking at Livestock here...heck even I use the force options!), and if they can’t be happy even then...well that’s just going to have to be their problem. Or if you know how to properly instruct people take what I call the Midge Approach, and explain how to change a particular behavior of the mod.

So when you do start modding and people ask you questions like this (which is still weird for me honestly) remember that you are not indebted to anyone (unless you take a commission of course but that’s different), you own no one anything, and in any particular way. No two simmers play their games the same and you can’t account for it all. Create for YOU first, and share when you’re happy with your results. Don’t feel bad if you don’t answer messages that make you angry because you suddenly feel like you didn’t do what other people wanted. Yeet them and continue to create what makes you happy. Create to make your game better, don’t create for the sake of people pleasing or popularity.

I know this post isn’t full of links and such to old/new tutorials but I still feel these are important pieces of “background information” to have when you get into this modding scene. I still struggle to remember some of this stuff and have to remind myself. We’re all our own worst critics and judges already, no need to let other people add to that.

#ask #answer #question #frac #fractured moonlight #fracturedmoonlight #sun&moon #modding

[myonmukyuu]

hot milk tea, thoughts and feelings

I’ve only mentioned it briefly, but I’ve said that I’ll be taking a break from my SetsuAyu series - mainly because of my uni workload though.

But for now, I have a lot of thoughts about the entire thing as a project as well as myself as an artist. So I figured that I’d write a reflection of sorts (warning: it gets kind of personal).

Can you believe it’s been 3-4 months since the series started? I can’t, and I’ve been the one drawing all of these!! If you’ve been reading my work, I’ll say it over and over but I really appreciate it!!! Like I’m dead serious!!! Completely!! Utterly!! Without a doubt!!! I love all of you!!!

When I posted that first comic, I didn’t think it’d get the positive reception that it did get. Like, I’ve been producing basically entirely Muse content for years and suddenly decided to tap into Nijigaku? You could argue that it didn’t get that much attention, but either way, the attention it did get surprised me. I was so happy that people were engaged (and it still makes me stupidly happy, like on a level where I’m almost embarrassed to admit HAHA)

Recently I’ve just uploaded the bonus for the 3rd update which wraps up that part, and it really just clicked - that I really have invested soooo much time into this series. 36 pages now! And we’re only 3/10 main updates in!! I have so much passion for this - like a fire that can’t be put out. Every single update has something that I want to communicate/show so I always feel fired up. Heck, if you’ve spoken to me during the process you’d catch me always saying “I’m excited for the next one!!!” while working on it LMAO. It’s been my longest string of non-stop work. Usually I feel burned out more quickly but I was always so excited that I couldn’t stop! You’d find that I’m usually in a  state of conflict bc I alwaaaays want to talk about it but at the same time I don’t want to spoil anything. (THE NEXT UPDATE JUICY)

I think it’s a clear reminder of why I draw actually. The answer between each artist always differs, but I think it’s something important to be aware of. And well, for me? I’ve realised I’m a passion-monster. Passion keeps my blood pumping 100%. As a result... you could say I might be a more selfish kind of artist. Maybe it’s burn-out from running all those ask-blogs/RP when I was like 13-16, but I’ve realised that I’m having the most fun drawing what I genuinely love. It’s kind of why you’d rarely see me do requests and why I no longer do commissions. That isn’t to say that I hate drawing for other people. It can be fulfilling! But it’s more like - I barely have the time to draw for myself, so drawing for others is kind of a lower priority in general. It’s also why I’ve decided against studying graphic design when I graduated highschool. It’s just not happening as a career.

When I ask myself, “what kind of artist do I want to be?” I always think “Somebody who marches to her own beat and works hard to make content that she loves.” It’s also why I never delete anything - even my oldest art that makes me cringe. Because the me from 5 years ago put her love into that too. It’s really cheesy sounding but that’s how I see it LMFAO. I couldn’t do that to her. And also, just because I don’t like something anymore, it doesn’t mean that no one else does. So I’ll continue to never delete my old work. As a bonus, we get to see how far I’ve come too~.

I feel a little vulnerable admitting something like this and I’m pretty sure I’ve only told like 4 humans, but I think my #1 goal as an artist is that I want people to be able to look at my work (that I actually put my heart into) and think “this person loves this” or “this person works hard”. If you can do that, and sincerely feel the feelings I put into my comic, then I’ve already reached my goal. Can people tell how much I love these characters? The series? The concept? Can people tell how much work I’ve been putting into these updates? Can people tell when I’m having fun? It’s something I think about a lot. The idea of that people might think so makes me tear up HAHA - I get really sappy thinking about these kinds of things. And well, if people can’t tell then I’m not working hard enough!

That isn’t to say that I’m always putting my life-blood into everything I make. I’m mainly referring to the stuff where I do. I think it’s pretty clear when I’m pumping a lot of love into something. In general though, there’s always an intention for me to like communicate some idea or feeling and doing something like that requires maybe a bit of love~.

I feel like that as a character, Setsuna really resonates with me a lot. In personality? Not at all LMFAOOOO (she’s such a nice girl!!). More because of her ideals and principles. After typing like everything that I did up until this point, I bet you can guess why. I’ll keep it short and simple though, since this post is getting stupidly long.

Basically, I really resonate with her drive and passion as both an artist, and just in general actually? I’m a believer in that if you’re passionate about something, you can spread that passion. That’s the mentality I have with my art. If my love shows, then maybe other people will understand why I’ve come to love something. And maybe they’ll come to love it too. If I’m having fun, maybe they will have fun too! Very cheesy, I know, but that’s just how I roll!!!

Like rare pair? New fandom? Still applies. It might take awhile, but eventually either the people who love that thing will find me, or I’ll help people come to love something new (or at least see where it’s coming from lolol)! 

And as Setsu says:

You tell ‘em girl !!! That devotion is my driving force!!

Of course I know this is idealistic, but I think that’s fine. It’s no bother to me if someone feels indifferent/ negative towards my work because that’s just natural.

I think it’s a form of communication and that’s what drives my art. I’ve been intending on writing a guide/ or talking about my art process for comics for some time now and I think that’d be the first thing I’d mention? I’m always trying to communicate some sort of feeling/tone/idea and that comes from a place of love y’know.

I feel like I’m saying “love” and “passion” a lot - you can really tell I’m vibing with Setsuna huh LMAO. There are other reasons I vibe with her too, but I won’t touch on that.

Coming back to my SetsuAyu series. You can tell why I’m so happy about it right? The story, the pairing dynamic, I feel like that people are understanding what I’m trying to communicate - that people are receiving my feelings of love for it and that makes me smile so widely. I really put a lot into it!!

This series is the first large project I’ve ever taken you see and I’m so so happy that I’ve been able to get this far! It really means a lot to me. But it wasn’t actually the first comic series I’ve tried to do. I actually had a Muse long-running comic planned years ago - a Dancing Stars on Me! AU but it never came to life. I think it was my lack of confidence that held me back. It might be weird of me to pat myself on the back, but I’m proud that I managed to get going this time!! I’ve actually written the SetsuAyu series in a way that for the first half, I could drop the series if I really wanted to at any point (each part is pretty independent, and that description I always copy-and-paste is all the explanation you really need), but now I know for sure that I don’t want to drop it! I wanna keep going!! Even if it gets tough. Although it might be a little early for me to make such bold declarations, I’m only 3/10 through LOOOL. But that’s just the way I feel right now!

I know it’s irrational and it’s something I’d rather not admit, but an anxiety that’s always looming over me is the idea that I’m not working hard enough - or that people think I’m not? Each comic update...takes like a month right? And a month is a long time. There’s this part of me that is convinced that people think I’m lazy for working so slowly. And I know it’s not true!! It doesn’t make sense for it to be!!! But like I said it’s irrational.

I’m really proud of this comic y’know. It’s a really big commitment and I’m proud of myself for being able to commit. I work full time 9-5, and I also am in my final year at university. I’m... kind of busy lol. So the huge factor in that month-long update turnaround is just that I don’t have the time to always be drawing. But I try to draw as much as I can! If you have me on discord you might notice me work on it for like 2-5 hours, almost daily before I go to bed (1am). Of course I’m not only drawing, but after I get everything plotted out sometimes that’s all I do. This comic is super time-consuming LMAO - and I try my best to work on it a little at a time.

So yeah, the entire month of comic-production is me drawing every almost every night.

Yeah it, - it’s kind of exhausting. Even though I’m itching to work on my next update, I’ve decided to take a break for uni crunch which is why I say the next one might be two months. It’s really odd though. The other night I was in bed feeling restless. It was so weird not drawing till 1am that I felt like I needed to be doing something. This comic series might have weird effects on my habits...

It makes me anxious thinking that it’d be so long till next update. But I’ll do my best to push that aside ! Hopefully I can get uni done and dusted ASAP! I want them to date dammit...

I've decided that I want to see this series through to the end. It’ll probably be May next year when that happens though LMAO! Please bear with my slow turnaround time. It’s only been 3 updates, but I can already see that I’m improving with each one. With each update I feel like I really learn from the previous and I always feel this sense of excitement with trying out new techniques and trying to create different feelings. I really want to see how the last updates will look compared to the first!  Technically we’re 3/10 (10 is an epilogue), but after 6 I actually stop doing bonuses? So teeechnically I’m like 40% of the way through~.

It might be a little over-ambitious, but I kind of want to print it out and make a hard-copy when I’m done. I’m not sure about what the demand would be if I were to sell it, but I definitely want to print it for myself first and foremost (after touching up the earlier updates of course LOL). It’d be like a physical representation of my achievement. I hope I can make it there.

Anyways, I’ve rambled for far too long. I’m not sure why I suddenly felt like talking about uh, everything but yeaaaah. If you’ve read this far, kudos to you! You now have a window into my soul that I’m still not sure if I’m comfortable with revealing (but I’m comfortable enough because I’m posting this so...)! 

After reading all of this, can you tell why I always get so so happy after each update? It’s the fruition of what’s usually 2-3 weeks of non-stop hard work! Seeing people connect with it always sends me to another realm of bliss and I always feel soft like putty LOL.

#myon speaks #HOLY MOLY #ITS 2K WORDS #no pressure for anyone to read all of this #its just me rambling into the air~ #if you've been keeping up with my series: i just want to say thank you #this series is really important to me (i explain why in the post im not aboutta start rambling again)

[lostinanimage]

Hi! Where can I find a masterpost of all your stories that are on Patreon? Like a list of their titles + summaries + characters/relationships + complete or wip? I tried on Patreon, but it's all very confusing and the "summaries" only include the characters and not a real summary. It'd be great if you could also tell me what kind of subscription I need to read what (again, Patreon is SO confusing!). Sorry if this is too much to ask :(

Okay. I hope this is less confusing and gives you an idea of what you want to do. To get all of the Patreon exclusive posts you need to sign up for the $2 (Fans) Tier. I did close the $1 because as you are about to see, on sign up you basically get multiple novels worth of posts and Patreon doesn’t have an option to pay one fee for old content and then a short subscription. So basically, I just decided you get a lot for $2 and if you cancel after reading it all, then it is what it is. I actually have some people you sign up for $2 read it all and unsubscribe. That’s totally not a problem if you do that, but I will go into that more on the 2nd ask you sent.

$3 & $5 tiers get some extra “behind the scenes” stuff and early looks at new stuff, but you don’t need to pay more than $2 to get all the Patreon exclusive fic. The $10 allows for one short story commission a month.

When you log into Patreon as a subscriber, there is a Table of Contents that is pinned. It actually lists the Ao3 stories with links too because I thought it was easier to understand where some of them fit if they were listed that way. I will admit it is outdated because it takes a long time to make. To reply to this ask , I copy and pasted and removed the Ao3 fics  and then added some that have happened since this was updated. *I have tagged every single Patreon Exclusive story with “patreon exclusive” so the easiest way to start is to go to that tag and then sort from “oldest to newest” That will start you with Cupid/Mills and then move you to all the later exclusive stories with OCs in the verse. All stories also have tags for each story. So once you get onto Patreon, it’s easier to navigate using the tags. So this is a list of just what is on Patreon and exclusive to Patreon if you want to know what you get right when you sign up. Fics are similar to Ao3 patterns in that some are long and up to 70k and some are fillers that are shorter. I made some notes to give you an idea. (Some of these I’m going to tag characters and not ships because I feel like you might want to discover the ships as you go. A lot of the extras are also Patreon commissions for them top tier which is why you see a lot of random extras)

They Don't Believe You, but They're Gonna Need You (4 chapters – Cupid/Mills)

There's Only You (11 chapters - Cupid/Mills )

Beyond the Headlight Glare (10 chapters - Cupid/Mills ) --Extra set after Chapter 2 of A Place to Go which would be in the middle of Chapter 1 of Headlight Glare (Reaper)

--Extra set between Chapters 3 and 4 of Headlight Glare (Reaper)

--Extra set during the Aces first road trip in Headlight Glare/A Place to Go (Reaper)

--Extra set after Chapter 5 of Beyond the Headlight Glare (Reaper)

Keep It Building Higher and Higher (Mason)

Take Me Home (7 Chapters Micah)

--Gimme More Patreon Exclusive - Today I Saw a Boy - Alternate Point of View set during Chapter 4 of Take Me Home (Mason)

--Gimme More Patreon Exclusive - Things That I've Been Told - Set during Take Me Home (Chapters 3-5) (Mason)

--Gimme More Patreon Exclusive - You Made Me Cry - Set during Take Me Home Chapter 7

Tell Me Am I Wrong? (Mason)

Am I A Sinner? (Micah)

Love the Hurt Away (Micah)

Get Out of My Mind  (Micah)

Let's Keep It Simple (Micah & Mason)

I Think You Already Know (Micah)

I Was Broken-Hearted (Micah & Mason)

I Will Be Your Champion  (7 Chapters - Micah & Mason)

--One Kiss From You - Set during "I Think You Already Know" but meant to be read no earlier than after Chapter 2 of "I Will Be Your Champion" (Micah & Mason)

-- I Don't Wanna Hear My Time Will Come - Set after "I Was Broken-Hearted"  but meant to be read no earlier than  after Chapter 2 of "I Will Be Your Champion" (Micah & Mason)

--   What Happens When It Stops? - Set after "I Was Broken-Hearted" but meant to be read no earlier than after Chapter 2 of "I Will Be Your Champion" (Micah & Mason)

--  You Ain't Gotta Be Scared -  Set after "Get Out of My Mind" but meant to be read no earlier than after Chapter 2 of "I Will Be Your Champion"   (Micah & Mason)

Think That You Know Me Now - (Micah - 11 chapters)

-Micah & Mason Extra Age 13

-Don't Try To Be Too Tough - Mason Extra [Age 18]

-Micah & Mason Extra Age 20

-Micah & Mason Extra Age 22

Nothing Will Stop Us - Micah & Mason [Age 22]

Let Your Inhibitions Go - Micah/Mason extra [Age 21/20] - 4 chapters

Tell me if it's real - Micah and Mason Extra [Age 19]

Patreon Exclusive Gimme More: I got a plan we can do it - Cupid/Mills

Stronger (32 chapters - Alex with a ship as part of the big story)

-Alex extra

-Noah POV extra

-Another Noah POV extra

-Alt Mikey POV set during Stronger

-Alex Extra - Age 17

-Alex Extra - Age 16

*

This is an AU of sorts that is a rewrite so that I can try to publish Micah's story as a novel. Of course because I'm extra I had to rewrite Kent and Jeff's backstory. That is "Starting Havoc." I don't intend to publish Starting Havoc so it's just a Patreon exclusive.

Starting Havoc - 8 chapters

Notice Me - Short story stand alone

I Fall Without My Wings - Short story stand alone Two untitled and Maybe Abandoned Novels

[purge-that-urge-rhackathon]

Heya purge! I saw in one of your tags that you’d been consuming fic for around 20 years! That’s like my whole life. Mind telling us how things have changed? I’m sure places like ao3 have changed things a lot. I’m just really curious in fandom and fanfic culture! :3 x

Ao3 is a fucking godsend let me tell you. I won’t make a lot of the same points and stuff that fannish history folks have already documented (how it literally changed, and all the fic we’ve lost that isn’t backed up on floppy disk somewhere… I’d say we’ve lost an equivalent to the digital burning of alexandria honestly) but i can tell you my experience :3

I’ll stick it under a cut cuz i kind of rambled… but i had fun doing so ahahha xD sorry you unleashed the tiger from the cage xD

We all make jokes about ‘being there’ when stuff in fandom history happened, but i’ve been around since all the major purges (LOL my name is so fitting in retrospect ahahha). ff.net’s various purges (and the whole anne rice suing fanfic writers and shit… i never DID agree to their new terms of service haha), geocities sites going down, obviously the more recent shit too, but like I’ve been around even for the creations of certain, older fanfic sites too (one of the oldest slash forums for lord of the rings fics for example… I was there, Gandalf LOLOL!!… and now that i check the date on that i feel old as balls thanks anon xDDD and wow my one fic is still up there PFFFFT) but like, I come from an era where you took your floppy disk and copy/pasted shit from online (once it even loaded) for later reading, and also so you could find it again, because also before ff.net it was hard to find stuff. I’m pre-google ya’ll xD You dont UNDERSTAND the horrors of trying to find anything pre-google. Ya’ll have it so fucking good D:

There was never an abundance of content like there is today, and so you can bet your shit we were grateful as fuck for what was out there, let alone for someone with a decent command of writing and storytelling. Everyone commented on everything (once that was something even implemented… it was email lists before that, and comments sent in that way… i still have my e-mailed comments from fic readers haha), and it was (and still is, in my honest opinion because people entitled as FUCK now) one of the GREATEST faux paus you could do to be reading a fic (esp. multi-chaptered) and not comment. The indignity of not giving back a little (and it still is a little, which is why i get so damn fired up on this subject) for aaaaaaaall the words and story and everything you just read was a serious sin against fanfic writers. I still think its seriously fucked up not to comment (and again, i’ve mentioned that if you dont got the spoons, thats obviously different) but like, the entitlement that runs rampant today did not even exist back then. Yeah, you still had the assholes whose comment would literally consist only of “where’s the rest?” with ZERO actual thanks or input while expecting/thinking they deserve more (and THEN you could remove chapters or stories, cuz god giveth and damn does she taketh away xD), but it wasn’t nearly as prolific as it is today.

The commenting culture today and the backlash against writers wanting comments on their work in return for providing said free content makes me mad enough to wanna curb stomp some people. I’m a bartender, I don’t put up with shit HAHA xD But the entitlement especially now and people who act like writers are being uppity for wanting a small return on their craft are disgusting. Same type of entitlement as art thieves (we all know the type). We didn’t put up with that shit back then. People acting like little bitches wanting free stuff for literally nothing? We’d pull the whole fic. And the community would handle it and it usually turned into a teaching moment about how damn important it is to comment and just how much freaking control writers DO have over their media. We’d pull it from public view unless amends were made (whether that be a private note from someone entitled finally paying their fucking due with proper humility, or reaching a comment count when you had hundreds of people reading but not commenting). Damn i miss taking away fic xD We played hardball back then xD

That was the fucking worst and people were rightfully denied access to fic if hits didn’t coincide with comments. You could publish a chapter and then decide to remove it from view (either for editing, or hostage taking for comments…. which i miss dearly AHAHAH it forced people to learn to be proper commenters and interact with those whose media they were consuming). It’s a big part of what I miss because just like a proper community, people kept each other in check and made sure everyone played nice. You enjoyed a fic? You sure as hell let that writer know. Now though…. the entitlement drives me up the fucking absolute walls and makes me wanna put stuff behind a paywall sometimes…. everyone is lucky im lazy as shit tho AHAHAH and im usually fine after venting xD

But yeah, fanfic culture in general has shifted in a major way to constantly consume and NEVER give back, either in comments, or creating new content yourself to also add to the community (for example as i’m sure we’re all aware, like ALL the people who bitch about certain ships or ‘why ship this when you can ship THIS?’…. Like, instead of bitching that ‘WAH WAH this author doesnt WRITE the ship I LIKE why can’t they write THAT??’ people came up with the radical idea of CREATING the content they wanted to see :| And if weren’t that good of a writer/artist to do so? Well then you SUPPORTED the writers/artists you enjoyed by leaving comments on their shit OR getting a commission… Goddamn i remember when even ‘commissioning’ people was a wild concept… Ya’ll dont know ahahah xD

I do believe that this is a huge source of where Anti-shipper behavior has stemmed from; entitlement gone berserk. And public schools and shit are still largely full of my parents’ generation who were not computer-literate either in function or courtesy, so even as internet social skills are not being taught correctly (or safety; they scared the SHIT out of us back in the day and now everyone has all their shit and pictures online haha) so there’s also a huge disconnect socially which i think has impacted online fandom spaces and what is considered acceptable or not. People also turn into fucking swine when they think they’re anonymous online (and boy do they change their tune fucking quickly when you out them) and i think the whole anonymity thing is also a factor of this whole entitlement issue in fandom spaces; making demands without giving ANYTHING back. Like I’ve mentioned in the past, I don’t put up with that shit, and it’s not a coincidence I was going to work for the CIA after I just left Japan about 3yrs back (thank fuck I didn’t cuz FUUUUCK this administration) cuz people are dumb as shit and basic tracking skills to call someone out on their bullshit has been my bread and butter since i was like 12 haha. You act dishonest and entitled, and it’s gonna come back to you in some shape or form. You’re going to reap what you sow. That was the motto back then and I still believe in it today.

Hell, it has shocked the FUCK out of me the few times i’ve had people tell me ‘omg me and my friend were talking about your latest update!’ and i’m just like O_O????? because also back in the day, ‘fanfiction’ was kind of a taboo word. You never said you were into fanfic in mixed company. You more or less NEVER discussed it publicly (I’m not even talking dirty stuff, just normal, sfw fanfiction) because it primarily existed only online (for me; i’m post-fan magazines but pre-internet fanfic sites LOLOL). Hell, I got my college english professor into fanfiction. She didn’t even know what it was, let alone that something like that existed, and I had to explain it to her my first year of college kind of with a red face xD She was a writing-professor too so like, let that date the culture a bit. Like, if that was literally her major field of expertise and she didn’t know about it, that should tell you how not-mainstream fanfic was.

I’m kind of out of touch with that myself. Do kids (ya’ll are kids to me okay? xD) mention fanfiction as a reading/entertainment medium in normal conversation? Like, you could mention, without getting weird looks, ‘oh i enjoy reading fanfiction’ or (and i’m like internally gasping at the idea here) being able to say ‘yeah i enjoy writing fanfiction’? Is that a thing? I sure as hell don’t tell my peers that I write fanfic, let alone that i’m approaching 1million words for borderlands stuff alone AHAHAH It’s STILL taboo and seen as a lesser writing medium to folks my age. If you weren’t in a ‘geek’ circle (and i mean, i had friends who played D&D at lunch, and one friend who we mentioned fanfic together with) then culturally, as an art form, it wasn’t acceptable to discuss. Like, i’m STILL in that mindset that fanfic is not something to be discussed off the internet with people and it makes me very very uncomfortable to do so unless i know 100% I can speak discretely with someone. That’s what the offline culture was. I know its way different in some respects, like me and my youngest sister are 10yrs apart and her experiences with fandom are wildly different, but the idea of people actually talking about someone’s fic together with friends absolutely blows my fucking mind.

So, it’s changed in good ways too xD I just fucking HATE people who think they’re entitled to never comment or give back to the community sooooo i tend to get stuck on that issue, ESPECIALLY, again, as a writer approaching 1million words. *salute* doing my duty to the fandom community LOLOL or polluting the fandom community if you’re an anti AHAHAH antis can suck my entire ass and i’ll go on to put another million words of what they HATE into the world and they cant stop me ;3 spite is a fabulous motivator xD

The tools back then were a lot more crude, abilities and functionality was limited (but also better in some ways; moving fic to the ‘backroom’ so to speak), and even finding stuff was hard and relied on the hushed whispers of friends, but damn the community was better. So much better. So much more positive and accountability made people decent. So like, I do LOVE a lot of what we have now, but we have lost SO much. Both in terms of content and sense of community. I wish people would put more positivity into the content they’re consuming and lift up others. It’s why i try my damnedest to leave commenting tags on EVERY SINGLE THING i ever reblog here, because i *know* firsthand how much it means. To scream your art into the silence and only get the equivalent of stares back is maddening.

So yeah. Stuff has changed. Capitalism and censorship are running especially rampant hand-in-hand right now, and lord forbid we come full circle where there are no more places for us. I mean, if we have to go back to email lists, hell I’m already ready and an old veteran to that system anyhow. I’d miss all the content we all have access to…. but then there’s also that 90% commenting rate you get with that kind of system so HEEEEEY let it all fall down! bahahah xD

#poisonjack answers #sorry i got REALLY rambly xD if uh... it's not exactly what you were interested in #i DO have resources to provide like timeline wipeouts of stuff from fandom eras that are lost to the ages now :( #this is my firsthand view of how the past 20 years or so has gone hahah its aaaaall downhill #ya know what? as someone who has put so many fucking fics into the world i think i DO have a right to bitch xD AHAHAH <3 #also some bitchass lady who was 'waiting FOREVER' (forever here being defined as 3minutes) to get her miller lite at my bar has put me in a #MAJOR mood. total bitch. And my manager also told her off AHAHHA but i still can't BELIEVE her entitlement #i'd remember her face but then she was generic for angry old (old in MY definition... she was 60ish haha) white lady and they all look alike #LOLOLOL #if she ever comes back im refusing her service and she can get the hell outta my bar :) #it has been a DAY folks. a tiring ass day

[queenofbohemia-art]

Alexa, play “The Bitch Is Back” by Elton John

Long time, no see, huh? How long has it been? Months? Maybe even years at this point? Who knows. Anyway. How are you? It’s been a while since I’ve last posted on this blog or even checked any kind of notifications, messages or what not... But, you know, life happened. Adulthood happened. Capitalism is still happening and for all of those reasons I kinda left my passion for painting behind. All that has mattered in the last couple of years was work, dealing with my emotional inner fuckery that I’ve been struggling with since forever and that horrible dread of hustling just to stay relevant in some matter for longer than 2 days.

2018 for me was the year of the ultimate revelations. I finally understood what kind of life I want to live. I learned how to care less about irrelevant things, how to accept myself, how to deal with my train of thoughts, feelings, I’ve learned what things make me really happy and which trigger my anxiety and depressive episodes. That’s some basic life shit, you might say, but see, the thing is that for most of my life even simple tasks seemed very big for me. They still do in some aspects but I feel like I’m controlling them more now than I did in the past.

I’m more tranquil now. I don’t stress over my social media feeds anymore. I don’t stress about forcing myself into doing something that I’m not 100% feeling, either. That state of acceptance was very hard to achieve but I did it! Yay! :D

What did come with all of these inner changes and what does this have to do with art, blog, eventual Instagram revival?  Well, everything. First of all I felt like deleting most of the art I made in the past few years. I guess it’s a common thing within us, artists, but I really needed to cut ties. I’ve left some bits and pieces on this very blog but my old IG profile is now gone, so is my old Twitter account. I needed a fresh start, you know? And the beginning of the new year seemed the best timing to do so. That being said... here we go with some conclusions and future plans:

- I’ll keep this blog only for hobby/occasional commissions purposes. I want it to be a nice place where I can inconsistently share my art, doodles, even more updated tips about painting, graphic design, info about art and techniques, etc.

- I’ll change my url soon. Give me a couple of days, so everybody knows about it, lol!

- My new Instagram is @ queenofbohemia.art ! Follow me there, if you want to! It’s empty at the moment but I’ll slowly start uploading new stuff very soon.

- Same with Twitter. Follow me @ QUEENOFBOHEMlA (copy and paste because the big “i” is actually a small “L”) if you want to! :D

- Content. Let’s talk about content. I’m sorry if you followed me for some specific fandom stuff that I’ve delivered only a few times and then switched to another obsession. That’s just how my weird brain works. I can’t keep drawing the same subjects and using the same style for more than a few months because I just get bored and frustrated, and it always ends up with me failing to make and upload new art at all. So... let’s pass that, shall we? I don’t have a distinctive style as many great artists on this platform and probably will never have one. I’m just here for funsies, ya feel me? Haha, alright. That’s it. 

- Also if you wanna follow my side blog just for fun, memes, fandom stuff and relatable content, here you go @queenofbohemia

Have a nice one, lads! See you soon!

#i think that's all for now lol #personal #update

[whimsy-floof]

Ok so... Life Update!

A lot of stuff has happened in my life over the last year, and I think it’s finally calmed down enough I can actually write about it.

So anyone wondering what’s been going on with me lately, sit back, relax, and Keep Reading.

I warn you tho. It’s a long read, and probably mostly pretty boring, so if you just want the basic gist, you can scroll to the bottom of the post.

This life update comes to you in three parts:

1) Where I am now 2) A new car! 3) What is still to come

This is gonna be super long, so if you want the TL;DR version, scroll all the way down to the bottom.

So first things first, PART 1:

So, my husband got himself out of his super-abusive work environment and after a stressful six months of job searching (in which we were pinching every penny we had in the bank) he finally got himself into a nice work place that actually treats him like a person! Yay! (I realize most of this part was covered in the life update post I wrote back in October, but eh)

He had to take a SUPER hefty paycut hiring in here, but I fully believe it’s worth it. The pay he was getting at his old job allowed us to live pretty comfortably, but it was at the cost of his emotional well-being. I’m not gonna go into details on what they did, cuz that would take a WHOLE other post, and this one is long enough as it is.

SO!! While the husband hopped into our car and set off to start his new job in the far off land of corn, wheat, and soybeans, it was up to me to get the house packed up and sold, get the husband’s truck sold and gotten rid of (as he didn’t seem to think it could make it to Indiana in the shape it was in), and basically everything having to do with moving out of our house in Florida. This took place from early October to almost Christmas.

By the time I was done with all that, I was mentally and emotionally frazzled. I could barely perform basic social functions because I was so tapped out on all the phone calls I had to make. I hate hate HATE making phone calls. I can muster up the mental energy to make an important phone call if I really really need to, but doing so many over the course of a month left me absolutely drained.

It was a very stressful three months, and a might lonely without the husband, BUT I got it done! All of it! Only thing that technically isn’t done is that the house still isn’t sold, but that’s more on the realtor than on me at this point. My part’s done until she finds a buyer for it.

And so the week of Christmas, I pile into a rental van with the mom and sister (who came up with me so we could all be together for Christmas, plus they could take the rental back where we got it) and we drove up to Indiana.

I reunite with the husband, and we settle into the place we’re currently staying, which happens to be technically my in-laws’ lake house meant for family vacations. They were generous enough to allow us to use it until we get our own place, and I could not be more grateful for it!

So that’s where I am now.

PART 2:

So... it’s January. Winter here.

Unlike Florida, which doesn’t believe in seasons colder than maybe Spring, it... snows here in the winter.

The lake house we’re staying at is in a very hilly area. Lots of slopes and curvy roads because lakes.

So a couple weeks ago, we got in the car and left the house to head to go visit family.

And then we turned a corner and there was an S-curve... going downhill... covered in ice. Long story short gravity slid us into a pole.

Needless to say our trip was cancelled :V

All things considered, we were super fortunate that the pole stopped us, cuz if we had slid further beyond that, we would’ve likely ended up falling into a ravine... so... Yeah I prefer the pole over that!

We were slow enough we made it out mostly unharmed. The worst we got was a pair of bruised knees and a scuffed wrist.

But the car was a total loss. So we had to drive on a rental for a couple weeks until we could get a new car, which our insurance covered pretty well. They didn’t cover the rental, but that was more on me than them cuz I didn’t opt for that coverage cuz i didn’t think I’d ever need it.......... ._.

SO ANYWAY a couple days ago we went and got a new car and returned the rental and now everything is nice again! Yay! Except now we also have car payments! :D

But they’re not too bad tho, since the insurance money covered such a big chunk of it.

PART 3:

So right now, we’re just waiting for our house in Florida to sell. Once that finally happens we can start taking steps towards getting a new place.

Right now we can’t do anything because first of all, we still have to pay mortgage, and until it is sold we will continue to have to pay mortgage. Second of all, we’ve got a mountain of credit card debt racked up because MOVING OUT OF STATE IS NOT A CHEAP PROCESS HOLY FUCK!!

With the storage and the rentals and the packing supplies and the uuuuugghh @_@

....yeah stuff is stress right now.

But hey! Now that I’m done with all the moving nonsense (for now), I can finally get back to making art!

@underfellfangame​ has been super patient and understanding during this whole process. I know he’s super stoked about me getting back to work, and I know I could use every dollar I can earn at this point. xD

Plus I actually miss making art! I really needed the break, but I’m actually pretty hyped to do something that doesn’t involve phone calls and paperwork.

So you can expect more Underfellfangame-related art from me..... fairly soon? I can’t make promises how soon cuz it’s still slow going, and real life shenanigans can come out of nowhere (as was evident by the whole business with the car)

So stay tuned for that!

Maybe once my house sells and I’m finally able to get my credit cards back under control, then I might be able to think about doing art for myself again. Maybe I’ll even think about finally trying my hand at actual commissions, who knows?

For now, I’m just gonna do what I can to earn what little extra money I can get in the meantime whilst the husband earns his paychecks.

BONUS PART 3b:

I don’t know how long it’ll take to sell the house, and I don’t know if we’ll be able to keep up with the house payments with the husband’s paychecks and what little money I can get with my art.

So as much as it pains me to do this.... I’m asking the internet for help.

If anyone has a few bucks to spare,  I could always use some coffee. Aside from this I’m open to ideas.

And here I will copy and paste what I wrote in my post back in October because it’s still 100% true.

I’m afraid I don’t have anything to offer in return at the moment, which is why I haven’t asked for monetary help previously, and even then I’m putting my plee at the bottom of a long post hidden under a cut.

After I’m finally moved and settled down and my life once again becomes stable, I might be able to do something in thanks, but until then I make no promises.

So please please PLEASE don’t feel like you have to. It is just coffee, after all. This is only if you really want to help and just happen to have extra dosh. Also I just really like coffee.

[[Click Here to Buy Me Coffee]]

If you made it this far, holy cow thank you so much for taking the time to read all this!

Just doing that by itself is amazing, and I can’t thank you enough for caring enough to read all this. I know it’s a lot @_@

Thank you. Seriously, thank you.

Now, I’m going to go try and do what I can to make sure my life stays in order.

Hopefully I’ll succeed! We’ll see.

TL;DR VERSION

Even if you only read this bit, thank you very much for your time! It really means a lot to me. =)

Part 1: My husband got a new job and we’ve moved from Florida to Indiana, which super stressed me out, but we’re okay so yay!

Part 2: We lost our car in a crash, but then got a new one! Yay!

Part 3: We’re currently in house limbo waiting for our old house to sell, and our money is super tight, but now I have time to make art again! Yay! Even if it is just Underfellfangame stuff for now. Bonus Part 3b: We could use some help. If you like what I do and would like to help us more easily get through this trying ordeal, you can buy us some coffee here.

#posts by me #i need help #life update

[mysticsparklewings]

Europe’s Eclipsing Sensation

Ta-da! This is the infamous school project I was working on a while ago. Funnily enough, it took about three weeks to complete, and it took about three weeks after before I could post it, partially due to me wanting to wait until it was graded so it wouldn't look like I stole it from myself, and also because I just haven't had the time to give this description the attention I think it deserves. And so, here we are. So who and what exactly is this? The Master of Mystery before you, if you don't recognize him, is none other than Harry Houdini, the famed magician. And here I have recreated this photo of him completely out of text, and photoshop brushes made from individual letters and characters to speed up the process once I realized how slow-going typing out words and them using the warp tool to shape them was going to be. (Mostly because I've been having some lag issues with Photoshop I have no explanation for.) Now, loyal watchers of mine will likely notice this is pretty far outside the realm of things I normally make. Firstly, it's photo-realistic. Secondly, since when have I ever made images out of text like this? The reason this thing is so abnormal is that I was given certain projects to choose from and re-creating an image out of text, among those options, was the one that appealed to me the most. It was also the only project on the list that was digital, which I thought would really play into my strengths, give me a chance to use my drawing tablet (which was still pretty new to me back in August) and would be a good option to ease me into working in the classroom environment with a project close to what I'm used to doing. As they say, it's better to set yourself up for success, so that's what I tried to do. The funny thing is that while this project is pretty different from Painting, I actually ended up listening to a lot of advice the teacher was giving. For context: There are three levels of Painting and my Design class going on in the same classroom at the same time. Which sounds like a nightmare, but it's actually kind of nice. I'm not much of a painter, but I believe the advice I'm overhearing to be very solid, and the overall environment...Let me tell you guys, more than once already I've wanted to cry tears of joy because compared to the high school art classes I'm coming from, this is so much better and more helpful. It's made me realize just how toxic those previous classes really were; that it wasn't just me dragging my feet in the mud when I didn't like them or saw problems. This class is so much healthier a learning habitat for an artist! Anyway. When I inquired about the project, the teacher told me to pick someone iconic, and then proceeded to tell me that people like Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga are not what she considers iconic. I will agree to disagree on that, at least as far as Lady Gaga is concerned. This was mildly disappointing because I knew my choices were going to be limited, and I did not want to pick someone I had no interest in spending a lot of time studying. Already I was traveling outside of my comfort zone in a few ways, and I know it shows when I'm not passionate about or remotely interested in a project. Other "icons" I tried before landing on Houdini include; Pharaoh Tutankhamen's funeral mask, Willy Wonka, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Elphaba from Wicked, and Edgar Allen Poe. Because things that I consider iconic and also actually like are not two categories that overlap terribly. And I wanted to do something a little unexpected or unconventional. Something I could have fun with. I forget how exactly I thought to try Houdini, though I think I was thinking of things I had an interest in and magic (both as in shows and as in fictional) came up, and Harry Houdini is arguably one of if not the most famous magicians of all time. And while I won't bore you with all the details here, if you look him up he turns out to be a pretty interesting character in general. So as far as constructing this thing went, I started by using the original photo to create a general outline, then had it and my working canvas set up side-by-side in Photoshop pretty much the entire time I was working, so I was never without the visual aid. Then I started with a rough layer of words to get a general idea of where different shades of gray would go and to get a rather unsteady feel of how the whole process was going to work. (Fun fact: The words I used were words I thought you could association with either Houdini himself or magicians in general, including Spectacle, Magic, Illusion, Escape Artist, Facade, etc.) It didn't take long for me to realize that going about it that way, while an interesting idea, was going to require more time and patience than I really had to give. So I pulled an old Photoshop trick out of my sleeve. I typed out certain letters and characters like (), T, o, i, H, and then made brushes out of those letters so that I could still have the textured look of the, uh, text, while getting a feel closer to normal brushes that I'm more used to using, and it sped up the process dramatically. After I figured that out, it was pretty much a back and forth of adding layers of black, then adding layers of white until the area looked how I wanted it to look. I focused on smaller sections at a time, and out of the different sections, the face is probably the one I spent the most time and effort on. There are layers, upon layers, upon layers that were built up all over this thing, but the face got three primary major alterations in the hopes of making it look like the original, because the first time around it was very, very off. And speaking of things that were very, very off...Hands in art, in general, are not my strong suit and are generally agreed upon as one of the more difficult parts of basic anatomy, at least from what I've seen. However, in my defense, the hands in the original photo are...strange...And even after a lot of contemplation, I'm still not quite sure why, beyond the simple answer of it being an awkward position because of the handcuffs. The experienced students in the art class and the teacher had the same general consensus. So, if you were wondering, here is your explanation as to why the hands look so queer. Take it or leave it. There are some minor differences between what I've done here and the original image, namely the texture (which is a product of how this was made, so I don't count it and actually really like the visual interest it adds) and a few small differences in shading. Most of that was done at the teacher's suggestion because anyone who knows me knows that when it comes to a recreation of this nature, I am usually a stickler for accuracy first and foremost. But I can't say it's a bad thing here. It works, and it adds more than it outright changes to the look of the original. Overall, though it is still very outside my normal scope of artwork, I am satisfied with how it turned out. And hey, I got a 99 on it, so at the very least I can be happy I got a good grade for it. I do wish it hadn't taken me so long to get around to posting it, but given that Inktober has come and gone and I'm struggling with this year's NaNoWriMo big-time, it is kind of a good thing I have a few things in reserve to post while fresh content is a little sparse. Oh, and a fun little tidbit about where the title for this came from: Turns out there's a poster for one of Houdini's shows that features the same pose as my reference photo, and that's the headline at the top. But I was stuck between that and what appears to be the most common phrase in his advertising, "the Master of Mystery." What made my decision for me is the interesting part. There's this book I read in grade school called "Hocus Pocus," which is told by a sort-of real-life magician who worked on some of the Harry Potter movies, Paul Kieve. In the story, Paul meets a lot of famous magicians from the past (they literally pop out of the posters he has!) because they want to help him be a better magician. It's really fun and you can actually learn a few tricks along the way.  I ended up with my own personal copy (I originally read the school library's copy sometime after I ran through all the Goosebumps books they had) and there's a little folder stuck inside the back cover, which I remembered having not only a few cards for some fun visual tricks but also a few postcard prints of the magician posters. On a whim, I decided to check and see if there was a Houdini in there. And wouldn't you know it! The poster with this pose was one of them! And thus, my decision was made for me.  (I'm tempted to bring the card to class tomorrow to show the teacher, but she's usually pretty busy as it is, so...) It sure is funny how life works out sometimes. Next up: Likely another colored pencil review I've been meaning to post, I need to update my Meet the Artist picture, and I have a couple of text-oriented ideas I need to figure out what to do with. And also probably a commission I finished the concepts for today. (And maybe maybe maybe some NaNo stuff? I have an idea to get back on track...but we'll see.) ____ Artwork (c) me, MysticSparkleWings I do not own the original reference image. ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram