#because most of what we draw involves a lot of tiny details and texturing

[thethingything]

trying to do a test run of Nightshade to see what it actually makes our art look like (I'm not sure confident it'll work well on our style without a bunch of visible artifacts) and the main thing I'm learning so far is that it's a great way to very quickly heat up our laptop and that the "5 minute" render setting keeps saying its going to take anywhere from 60 to 80 minutes even with no other applications open

we initially tried to do the slowest render but after leaving it to do that for half an hour we came back and it said something like 337 minutes left so we cancelled it

#personal #thoughts #🍬 post #our photos #I somehow don't think this is going to be feasible for us #but at the same time I'm not sure I want to have to basically put a textured overlay on our art anyway #because most of what we draw involves a lot of tiny details and texturing #and I like people having the ability to zoom in and see all that work and detail #and I can't see a way for this to poison the image without taking away from that and basically covering up that detail work #I guess we'll see what the end result looks like if it ever renders

[redwoodwrites]

Coffee, Quirks, and Tigers

Summary: Ootsuki runs a kirei shop in a popular shopping district, but he mostly keeps to himself.  And then Fukuda shows up with his boss, who tells him to stay and pick out something for someone's birthday present.  He stays, it's awkward, but apparently not that awkward because Fukuda comes back again.  And again.  And pretty soon it becomes a weekly Thing for the two of them to go get coffee together. Now if only Suzuki and his henchmen could leave the two of them alone.

A/N: Starring Ootsuki and Fukuda from Mob Psycho 100!!  (Two of the guys who helped Shou in the finale of Season 2.)  They had basically five seconds of screen time...so I got to make up 99% of their personalities!  BWAHAHAHA THE POWAAAAAH!

 Ootsuki squinted. He'd been drawing a sketch of two fish swimming through trailing willow leaves.  It was a commission for a prestigious high school, but he couldn’t get it right yet. 

He sat back and stretched, glancing at his shop.  His drawing desk was in the back.  Framed kirei hung on the left and right walls, showing lacy outlines of flowers, people, even whole cherry trees.  Delicate three-dimensional paper animals hung from the ceiling, and three patterned kimonos were displayed in the window. 

Outside, the Tatooin Shopping District was swarming with tourists. Street loudspeakers played a constant pop culture soundtrack barely audible over the roar of people.  People came here for the chic cafes, high-end clothing stores, and a few electronic places - he got free cable from the flatscreen TVs displayed across the street.  It was usually news stories about heroes, although lately there had been a few missing person cases mixed in.  Specialty stores like Ootsuki’s kirei shop didn’t get a lot of customers.  That was fine with him.  Most of his business came from commissions, anyway.  He sighed and turned back to his drawing.  

Ding!

The front door opened and a giant strode into his shop, accompanied by a rush of street noise.  He had spiky orange hair, electric blue eyes and a blazer swung over his shoulders like a cape.  

“Now this is more like it!” he proclaimed.

“Shou, be careful!”

A second man appeared behind the first, following close enough to be his shadow. He was built like a bear, with short black hair and anxiety written all over his face. “Did you bump your shoulder in the doorway? You did, didn't you? Are you alright?”

Shou’s eyes caught Ootsuki and he jumped.  “Oi!  This your shop?”

“H-hai! Irasshaimase.” He started to bow, realized he was sitting, and scrambled to his feet, but the giant had already turned away.

“Pretty impressive,” he said, inspecting a paper sparrow hanging from the ceiling.  “Even got the texture of the feathers in there.  Nice.” 

“Shou, please!” the other man insisted. “Be careful, you could get a paper cut -”

“Fukuda!”

This time both men jumped.  “H-hai!” Fukuda stammered. 

Shou jabbed a thumb at a framed kirei piece.  “Find me something like this for Mom's birthday.  I don't want you back at HQ until you've given it at least two hours of thought – after all, it's the thought that counts!”

“But –”

“Two hours! Countin' on ya!”

Shou waved and slipped out the door faster than Ootsuki could follow, vanishing instantly into the crowd. He glanced over. Fukuda was doing such a perfect impression of a sad puppy that Ootsuki snorted with laughter. 

“Oh – er, sorry,” he said, catching himself.

Fukuda sighed. “No, no. I apologize for the disturbance.  I tend to get a bit...overprotective...and Shou is my boss.  I’m Fukuda Itsuki, I’ll be in your care.”

“Ootsuki Souta,” he said, and repeated the greeting.  After that he wasn’t sure what to do.   He ran a hand self-consciously over his bangs, glad they were long enough to cover his eyes.  “Er, well...would you like help picking something out, or…?”

“Yes please,” Fukuda said.  He nodded at the bird Shou had inspected.  “I've never been in a shop like this before. What kind of art is this?”

“It's kirei.  Most of what I sell involves cut paper. That includes the sculptures, but most of it is two-dimensional.” He stopped there - most people’s eyes glazed over at that point - but Fukuda was looking at him as if genuinely interested.  Ootsuki gestured to the framed pieces leaning in neat rows along the walls.  “Those are all made with a single sheet of paper each, and a very sharp knife. I make faces, landscapes, animals – there's one I did of paper fans, just for the irony. They're all organized by size and category...”

He led Fukuda on a brief tour of the shop, discussing his favorite pieces and the techniques he’d used to make them.  Fukuda was much calmer now that he wasn’t fussing over Shou, and asked questions about the types of paper he used and the tools he worked with.  Ootsuki grinned and pushed his bangs back from his eyes.  He never got to talk about this in such detail, but Fukuda made it easy.  Fukuda made it fun.  

They made a full circuit around the shop, ending at the window display.  The kimonos were beautiful even from the back.  Each of them had been printed in a tiny repeating pattern: a lotus blossom, a seashell, or the kanji for “jewel.”

Fukuda looked at them with obvious admiration.  “They’re gorgeous.  Although I'm a little surprised to see clothing in a kirei shop.”

“It’s the patterns.  I stamped it onto the fabric by hand.”

Fukuda's eyes actually boggled. “That's hand-stamped? I thought that was machinery!”

Ootsuki grinned.  “Nope, it’s all me.  This one was especially tricky.”  He reached for the one with seashells.

“Ah – your hands!”

Ootsuki glanced down. The light from outside caught the sheen of all the tiny, nearly invisible scars covering his fingers and palms. “Oh, that. Well, to get the best cut in a piece of paper, you have to drag the blade toward you. Better control that way. But the knives I use have to be quite sharp, and it took practice learning how to do it.”

“And your palms?”

“Pardon?”

“Knives wouldn’t cut your palms like that, look.”  He took Ootsuki’s left hand and gently turned it over.  The scars were thicker, darker. 

Ootsuki flinched and pulled away.  “I don’t like people touching my hands.”

“Sorry, I’m sorry.  It's just, my quirk is healing, but I can't heal scars...it bothers me when I see wounds that haven't been properly tended.”

“They were tended just fine,” Ootsuki said, a little too sharply. “I just wasn't good at controlling my quirk when I was little. So!” He turned away. “I think that wraps up the tour.”

“Of course. I'm sorry to have taken so much of your time.”

He sounded so sincere about it that Ootsuki softened.  “No, it's just that your two hours are almost up,” he said, and realized it was true.  How did it go by so fast? 

“Then, if it’s alright...could I have that one?” Fukuda asked.  He pointed to a piece hanging on the wall, a particularly intricate kirei with cuts so fine you could almost see the texture of the fur.  

“You like it?” 

Fukuda smiled.  “Suzuki-san did always have a fondness for cats.” 

 Ootsuki sat at his desk again, doodling. 

He was done with the fish commission, and now he had nothing to do while he waited to hear back.  It didn’t help that his thoughts kept wandering to Fukuda.  The visit had been two days ago.  Ootsuki was sorry he’d been rude at the end, and it felt worse every time he thought about it.  Why did he have to be so - so emo and awkward?  He tugged anxiously at his bangs.  He could be clever.  If Fukuda ever did come back, he’d -

Ding!

“Fukuda!”

“It's good to see you, too,” Fukuda said, grinning, and he realized he'd jumped to his feet. 

Ootsuki flushed.  “Well, um, yes,” he said.  With zero cleverness at all.

Fukuda didn’t seem to notice.  “I’m sorry to bother you again, but Shou's mother wanted to commission a piece of her cat.  Is that alright?  I brought a photo.” 

Familiar territory!  “Of course, I do commission pieces all the time.  Can I see it?”

“Right, here…”  Fukuda started digging through the bag slung over his shoulder.  “Sorry, sorry, I keep everything in here.  I don’t even know how old that granola bar is...ah, here we go!” 

He held out a photo of a small white cat.  Ootsuki moved to take it, and when he did, two coupons for the Golden Bean fanned out from behind it.  

“Oh, isn’t this that shop down the street?” Ootsuki asked, glancing up. 

He stopped cold.  Fukuda’s warm brown skin was suddenly ash-gray, and he was staring at the tickets like they were vipers poised to strike.  

“I don’t...remember these,” he whispered. 

“It’s okay!” Ootsuki said quickly.  He wasn’t sure why the coupons had unsettled Fukuda so deeply, but the look on his face was unbearable.  He yanked them out of Fukuda’s grip. 

“Wait, wait -”

“They’re just coupons!” Ootsuki said, holding the coupons well out of sight.  “Look!  I’ll just throw them away - oh.”

“‘Oh’?” Fukuda said, his face practically slate gray.  “O-Ootsuki, quickly, those tickets might be from -”

“From ‘Shou’?” Ootsuki asked drily, holding them up.  The silvery foil on the back of the coupons was covered in thick red scrawl.

Yo, Ootsuki!  Thanks for looking after Fukuda.  Take him for a walk, wouldja?  Have a cup of coffee, my treat!  - Shou

Immediately Fukuda’s shoulders slumped and color flooded into his face.  “Oh thank goodness.  It’s just Shou.”

Yes, pegging you like the lost puppy you are, Ootsuki thought.  Aloud he said, “I guess you’d like to have these back then?”

“They seem to be addressed to you,” Fukuda said.  “Would you want to go?  I feel really silly for reacting like that, and I’d like to make it up to you.  Do you like the Golden Bean?” 

Ootsuki shrugged.  “I’ve never been there.” 

“You’ve nev - you work five minutes away!” 

“The streets are crowded,” Ootsuki protested, but it sounded lame even to his own ears.  

Fukuda’s lips twitched like he was hiding a smile.  “I’m big enough to make a path for us.  Please?”

It was that unbearable puppy dog look that did him in.  Ootsuki found himself locking up the shop and heading out into the street behind Fukuda.  At least he was right - his bulk really did carve an easier path. 

The Golden Bean, however, was even worse.  It was easily three times as crowded.  People kept bumping Ootsuki and hitting his hands and he was about five seconds from bolting, self-conscious anxiety or not.  

Fukuda, oblivious, looped an arm through Ootsuki’s and somehow stepped right up to the counter.   

“What do you want to order?” Fukuda yelled cheerfully over the noise. 

Ootsuki looked at the menu, which was the size of a billboard and crammed with 12-pt font.

“Are you kidding?” he gasped out.  

Fukuda grinned, turned to the cashier, and shouted something else.  Somehow Fukuda managed to place an order, grab their cups, and find the last table left, in a little corner of the shop where the noise was down to a dull roar.  

“I am convinced this is your Quirk,” Ootsuki said, practically collapsing into his chair.  

“What, ordering coffee?” 

“Finding tables in this madhouse!” 

“It comes from having to keep a sharp eye out.”  Before Ootsuki could ask what that meant, Fukuda passed him his coffee.  “Here, drink.  You’re looking a little pale.” 

“I’m not used to dealing with people,” he said faintly. 

“But you work in one of the busiest streets of the city.” 

“Most of the people stay outside my shop.  Being near people is one thing, interacting is another.  I get nervous when people are really close to me.”

“Oh.”  Something in Fukuda’s tone made Ootsuki look up.  He was staring at Ootsuki’s hands again, and there was something behind his eyes that made Ootsuki remember how big he was.  “Ootsuki, is someone...hurting you?”

“What?  No!”

“Because if they are, I’d really like to do something about it.”

“They’re not, no one is, I promise,” Ootsuki said, barely managing to keep his hands above the table.  “Look, the scars are my fault.  I couldn’t control my quirk when I was younger.  I can channel kinetic energy through thin, flexible objects.  Plastic works, but paper is best, and school was full of paper.  Every time I picked up a piece of homework or a quiz…”  He gestured, indicating an explosion.  “It made school interesting, I'll say that much.”

Fukuda stared at him. “But you work with paper.”

“I learned to control it.”

“You saw a quirk counselor?” 

“Er...no…”  He shifted in his seat.  “When I was little, we had a neighbor three apartments over who liked origami. He’d make tigers or cranes and blow into them.  They’d come to life, just for a day or two, and he’d leave them out for other kids in the complex to play with.”

Fukuda’s face lit up. “That's amazing! So he taught you origami, too?”

Ootsuki fidgeted anxiously with a napkin. “No.  I thought it would be fun to blow his tigers up. I'm not like that anymore!” he added quickly.  Fukuda’s shock made his guts twist.  “I thought choosing not to control my quirk was easier than admitting I couldn’t.  I pretended it was funny.  So one day I blew his tigers up, and then I turned around and - and saw him standing there.  I saw his face.  And after that it wasn’t funny anymore.”

“Ootsuki...”

He ducked his head. “I avoided him for months. Then I got it into my head that if I could put the tigers back, everything would be alright. So I got a book on origami and a bunch of paper and practiced.  Even with homework.  Before I’d moved it around with erasers, but now I actively tried to manage it all the time, because if I didn’t, I couldn’t make the tigers.  When I was done, my hands looked like this and I had a dozen or so crappy tigers lined up in the courtyard.”

“And? What did he say?”

“Nothing,” Ootsuki said quietly. “He wasn't there anymore. He moved away. I was a coward for so long that I never got the chance to apologize.”

“And I think a kind person like that would have been happy with the gift you made for him.”

“It wasn't a gift. They weren't even all that good.”

“I beg to differ.”

Fukuda caught Ootsuki's wrist and he looked down, startled. He'd been folding a napkin into a paper tiger without realizing it, and he'd been about to rip it in half.

“It's quite good,” Fukuda said. “And one more thing.  I don’t think you’re a coward, Ootsuki.”

“I literally hide behind my bangs,” he said flatly. 

“You came to coffee with me,” Fukuda countered.

“That was just because -”  He stopped short, flushing.  He wasn’t about to mention that obnoxious puppy dog face.  Mostly because Fukuda was doing it right now. 

“You’re braver than you think you are,” Fukuda said.  “And I’m taking this to keep as proof.” 

He plucked the tiger from Ootsuki’s hand and tucked it safely into his bag. 

 Fukuda came back two days later, and again two days after that. He said it was because Shou's mother had more orders, but Ootsuki secretly suspected that Shou himself was responsible. He was probably the littlest bit annoyed with being watched like a hawk for stubbed toes and sent Fukuda off for two straight hours of peace.

Ootsuki didn't mind.

Fukuda, meanwhile, seem to have extended his overprotectiveness to Ootsuki, and was frequently checking to make sure he didn't have any fresh paper cuts, got eight hours of sleep a night, and took breaks from drawing so he wouldn't strain his eyes.

Ootsuki didn't mind that, either.

The two of them took to buying coffee and walking around to look at all the shops.  Once in a while Fukuda saw a window display for a fluffy sweater and just had to have it, and Ootsuki bought a new halogen lamp for his desk.  Fukuda finally got Ootsuki hooked on pistachio-flavored coffee, which Ootsuki hadn’t even known existed (and wasn’t convinced that it should).  

Two weeks into their coffee tradition, Ootsuki was hanging a new sparrow sculpture when he heard the door open behind him. 

“You’re early,” he said, turning.  Then he stopped short.  “What happened?” 

Fukuda was standing in the doorway, face pale, hands shaking at his sides, clothes rumpled like he hadn’t slept for days.  He was looking around the shop like he didn’t even see it.  

Ootsuki jumped off the stepstool and hurried over.  “Are you alright?  Are you injured anywhere?” 

“Huh?  No, I...no…”

“You look like hell!”

Fukuda laughed weakly, but it wasn’t a joke, and they both knew it.  “Sorry.  I’m, uh, I had a rough day.  Should we get going?”

“Now?  Like this?” 

“I really will be fine after some tea.  Or something.”

Ootsuki hesitated, thinking.  “Alright,” he said slowly.  “But it’s getting kind of cool out.  Come on back, I need to grab my jacket.” 

“Sure.”

Ootsuki headed for the back of the shop - without letting go of Fukuda’s hand.  He trailed along after him like an oversized puppy.  Ootsuki reached the employee’s door and pushed it open.  He even got a few feet inside before Fukuda drew up short. 

“I-I’m sorry for intruding,” he stammered.  “I didn’t know you lived back here.” 

Ootsuki had converted the back room into a one-room apartment.  There was a western-style bed on the right, a table in the center, and a kitchenette on the left, with the bathroom door in the back left corner.  Most of his expendable income had gone into a TV and game system set up next to the bed.  The place was spare but functional.

He shrugged.  “My budget’s pretty modest, and anyway I don’t see the point in buying a second place just for a bed and a bad commute.”

Fukuda’s lips twitched.  “You do have a point.” 

“Sit down anywhere, I’ll just be a second.”

Ootsuki went to the kitchenette and Fukuda sat down at the table.  A few copies of Ootsuki’s best works hung on the walls, and Fukuda was looking at the cityscape one with interest.  Then he blinked and seemed to come back to himself again.  “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” Ootsuki turned around, a mug in each hand.  “Making tea.”

“You didn’t have to,” Fukuda said weakly. 

“It’s just instant tea, nothing fancy.”

“We were gonna get coffee.”

“Next time.”  He set the mug down.  “Sit.  Drink.  Breathe.” 

Fukuda obeyed while Ootsuki grabbed the quilt from his bed.  He sat down next to Fukuda so their legs were touching and wrapped the blanket around their shoulders.  

“Let me know if this bothers you, but sometimes pressure helps me calm down.” 

“I’m the same,” Fukuda murmured.  “When it’s someone like you.”

Ootsuki’s face felt as hot as the tea.  “Okay.  Um.  Anime.  I mean - let’s put on an anime or something.  Or not.  Or we can talk if you want.  Or not.”  Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking.

“Anything is fine.” Fukuda lowered his mug to the table, eyes down.  “You really didn’t have to do this.”

Ootsuki rolled his eyes.  “Pretty sure I did.  You worry a lot about other people, Fukuda, but not enough about yourself.”

Fukuda gave a tiny smile.  “You know, in your own way, you're nearly as stubborn as Shou.”

“Your boss?”

“And longtime friend. We met doing underground hero work.”

“Ah,” Ootsuki said.  Then the words sank into his brain. “Wait, what? Underground heroes? How is he an underground hero with that bright red hai – I'm sorry did you say you're a hero?!”

“Yes?” Fukuda glanced up, eyes twinkling. “Is it that much of a surprise?”

“I mean – you're so – lost puppy –”

“I'm a what now?”

“Mild-mannered! Is what I meant to say!”

“Yes, I'm a hero,” Fukuda said, grinning.  He had absolutely heard the puppy comment. “My healing quirk isn't particularly useful for offense, but it's invaluable as backup for the others in our agency.”

“I can imagine,” Ootsuki managed. Fukuda didn't fit Ootsuki's image of a hero at all. Fukuda wore fluffy sweaters and an open expression and exuded the kind of warm calm people normally associated with a good cup of hot chocolate.  Being a “hero” seemed to involve more exaggerated muscle development, primary colors and...teeth?

Fukuda chuckled as if he could read Ootsuki’s thoughts. “That's exactly why I'm so useful as an underground hero. I know how to dress and act a certain way.  How to give off a certain impression or persona. If you drop me in the middle of a city anywhere in Japan, I could disappear in an hour and never be found. I mostly work on organizational crimes, but sometimes I get asked to pursue missing person's cases.”

“Missing...but don't kidnapped people usually end up –”

“Yes,” Fukuda said.  His voice was low and his shoulders were trembling.  Ootsuki wrapped him in a hug.

“It must be hard,” Ootsuki said quietly. 

Fukuda leaned into him, eyes cast down.  “I can - I can usually find them in time.  And heal them.  I’m very, very good at both.  But Shou - there’s a man we’ve been tracking - you’ve seen the rash of missing people in the news?”

“I think so,” Ootsuki said slowly.  It sounded vaguely familiar. 

“The man we’re tracking is responsible, and today we found one of his facilities.  They’d known we were coming and abandoned the place.  But we found evidence of some of the missing people, and the - the Quirk research they were doing -”

His voice broke.  Ootsuki rubbed his back in small, slow circles.  “I can’t even imagine what it’s that’s like,” Ootsuki said softly.  He wished he had something better to say.  “I guess this explains why you were so scared when we found Shou’s coupons in your bag.”

Fukuda rubbed at his eyes with one hand.  “I’ve been wondering lately if I’m being tracked.  One of the man’s top followers is very good at electronic spying.  We’re closer to finding them every day, and I think they’re finally feeling the pressure.  We’re going to have to face them soon.”

“Shou doesn’t seem like the type of person to lose,” Ootsuki said. 

“He’s not.  He really doesn’t need my help most of the time.  But with the man we’re tracking, he will.  Soon.  Even then we might not be enough to beat him.  I have to make sure he’s at the top of his game.  If I don’t, if he’s even a little bit tired, a little bit slow, if I’m not enough, then he might – he might actually –”

Fukuda folded into himself.  Ootsuki pulled him gently so that Fukuda was leaning into him, head just below Ootsuki’s chin.  He knew there was nothing he could say, nothing he could do.  For the first time he wished he knew how to use his quirk for something...more.  His heart ached. 

When Fukuda was calmer, they drank their tea and quietly watched anime movies on Ootsuki’s cell phone.  Ootsuki pulled the blanket off his bed and wrapped them up in it, shoulder to shoulder.  They stayed like that, pressed together in quiet, comforting warmth, for a long time.  

 It was two minutes past coffee time. 

Ootsuki sat at his desk, trying not to fidget.  He glanced out the window.  Back to his desk.  Back to the window.  Then he got up and looked down the street, shoving his face between the kimonos, trying to peer through the crowd.  Five minutes past coffee time.  Still no Fukuda.  He pulled his phone out of his pocket.  

Fukuda picked up on the second ring.  “Yes?” 

“You’re late.”

“I’m five minutes late,” Fukuda said, and Ootsuki could hear the smile in his voice.  “I’m rubbing off on you.  You didn’t worry so much last week.” 

“Last week I didn’t know that you regularly risk your life for a living,” Ootsuki retorted.  

Fukuda laughed.  They’d texted a few times since the last time he came over, but it wasn’t the same.  Ootsuki was glad to hear him back to his usual self.  

“You’re almost here?” he asked. 

“Yes, yes, I’m almost there.  You can probably see me from your window.  Look.” 

Ootsuki looked.  An arm in a fluffy green sweater sprouted from the crowd three stores down, waving. 

“You look like a bean sprout,” Ootsuki told him, just to hear him laugh again.  “Alright, alright, I’m hanging up.  But you owe me coffee for making me worry.” 

“It’s a deal.” 

Ootsuki pocketed the phone and realized he was smiling.  A new coffee shop had opened next to the Golden Bean.  There was a semi-playful war between the two on which was better.  Even the music on the street speakers was interrupted with updates on which shop had gotten more likes on Facebrick.  Ootsuki and Fukuda both thought it was hilarious. 

And Ootsuki wanted to try the new shop.  More specifically, he wanted to try it with Fukuda.   

His friend’s face finally came into view, swimming toward him in the crowd.  Ootsuki’s grin widened and he turned for the door. 

Suddenly the street speakers screeched.  The sound was so loud Ootsuki felt it in his teeth.  He jerked badly and people outside shouted in pain and surprise.  

Then the security gates on every shop came slamming down. 

“HEY!” 

Ootsuki flung himself at his door.  The bars were on the outside, but Ootsuki couldn’t even get to them; the door had locked and wouldn’t open.  He heard screams and saw that some people had been crushed under the gates and were struggling to get free.  The electronic store across the street had a safety gate that swung down like a garage door, and it had someone pinned by her shoulder.  Fukuda was already cutting through the fleeing crowd, hand outstretched and glowing.  Ootsuki took a shuddering breath.  That’s right, Fukuda was a hero, he could help – 

“AH-AH-AH,” tutted a voice from the speakers. 

The electronics shop exploded.  Every single device inside suddenly burst through the windows, walls, and ceiling.  Fukuda dove right into the falling shards, shielding the pinned woman.  Pipes and cables ripped up from the street.  The electronic devices whizzed toward them and the wires and metal wrapped around them, rising up to form a many-tentacled octopus shape.  A multitude of cables coiled and writhed ceaselessly around a bulbous conglomerate of tech, studded with cameras that blinked in every direction and crowned with three flat screen TVs.  The screens flashed to life, showing a composite view of a pale man in square-framed glasses. . 

Fukuda snarled.  “Hatori!”

“You really made it too easy to find you,” Hatori sneered.  “For an underground hero, it’s surprising that you’d risk falling into a routine.”

Ootsuki sucked in a breath.  The electronic spy!  Fukuda was right, they’d been watching, they knew he’d been meeting with Ootsuki every week!

Fukuda’s hand plunged into his bag.  Immediately Hatori’s cables lashed out, striking Fukuda’s chest so hard Ootsuki could hear an audible crack from across the street.  He flew through the air until he hit a telephone pole and the cables immediately caught him, ripping his bag from his shoulder and lifting him into the air. 

“Fukuda!” Ootsuki slams his palms against the glass, desperate.  Kinetic energy vibrated painfully through his wrists and the glass buzzed but didn’t break.  No, no, the villain had him, it was going to kill him!

He backed up and a hanging sculpture hit his head.  All that paper – but he wasn’t a hero, he had to call the police, had to get help – 

“Rats are really more trouble than they’re worth to keep around,” Hatori said, smirking.  Fukuda gave an airless scream, and Ootsuki heard a terrible, organic pop. 

The cables were squeezing. 

“GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

He wasn’t sure how it had happened.  He’d been standing in his shop, frozen in horror, and then he was outside and his arm was moving in slow-motion and the paper fan he was holding cut clean through the cables holding Fukuda. 

Fukuda hit the ground with a gasp, still wrapped in the metal coils, but his eyes were on something past Ootsuki.  Immediately he turned and swung the paper.  Again time skipped and there were stripped wires and computer bits littering the street in a circular blast radius, and Hatori’s metal octopus was hissing and stitching three of its limbs back together with angry clanks.  

“Not another one!” Hatori snapped, face red.  “Why – are – there – heroes – everywhere?!”

“Ootsuki!” Fukuda gasped. 

Cables reared up behind the octopus and struck like snakes.  Ootsuki tried to dodge but his legs were frozen.  Fukuda tackled him and they went rolling seconds before electrified prongs gored them to the street.  Fukuda grabbed a metal trash can and flung it hard.  Ootsuki winced when he heard the noise Fukuda’s chest made, but the trash can slammed down on the prongs with extra force and it lodged in the asphalt.  The two of them ducked into a narrow alley.  

“The hell do you think you’re doing?!” Hatori demanded.  

“I don’t know, I don’t know, my body just moved!  What do we do?!” 

“I need my bag, you stay here!” 

“Somehow I don’t think he’ll let me!” 

“Correct!” 

Ootsuki shrieked and flung his arm up right before a huge muscled octopus limb came sweeping down on them.  The blast broke it in two and they darted out of the alley.  Fukuda grabbed a loose bit of the broken limb and jammed it into another tentacle as they ran, forcing it back.  Ootsuki sent two more blasts at the tentacles darting into Fukuda’s blind spots and they sprinted out of range.  

 Hatori snarled.  “Hold still already!”

“No thanks!” 

The street was almost empty of shoppers except for the few who had been pinned or those trying to help them.  Ootsuki saw the moment Hatori caught sight of two teenagers wedged in a clothing shop entrance.  Something blazed in his chest and he slammed the fan down through the air, again and again, actually forcing Hatori back.  

“Agh!  Little freak!” 

“Ootsuki, your hands!” 

He glanced down.  He saw the red dripping down his fingers and wrist but couldn’t feel the pain or even the wetness.  

“Forget it, get the bag!” 

“But – you – fine, just don’t die!” He turned and sprinted down the street, where his bag was sticking out from under someone’s discarded shopping bag.  Ootsuki darted forward, scooped a handful of receipts off the ground and hurled them.  The paper burst into confetti and was immediately attracted by the static cling of the TVs, blocking out all the video cameras facing their way.  Hatori shouted with rage.  

Ootsuki stumbled back, gasping.  He was starting to feel the pain now.  His hands were shaking and blood dripped from his skin, under his fingernails.  He knew he’d cracked his bones because he suddenly knew exactly where they were in both hands.  

He turned and sprinted for Fukuda, who was desperately hunting through his bag. 

“Where is it, where is it, where is it,” he muttered. 

“What are you looking for?” 

“The EMP gun.  Small, black, yellow tape – I know I packed it, I definitely grabbed it off the counter –”

“THERE YOU ARE!” 

Something sharp and hard slammed into the side of Ootsuki’s head.  He hit the ground.  The drone that had hit him banked hard and circled, two more joining it.  Ootsuki realized his hands were empty and rolled away before their blades could slice his arms.  Fukuda had done the same, but his broken ribs had hampered his movement and a lucky hit had knocked him flat.  Immediately a cable burst out of the ground and bound him tight. 

Ootsuki’s hand plunged into Fukuda’s bag and pulled out what he’d hoped he would find - his little leatherbound book.  He tore out a dozen pages and struck, kinetic energy blasting the drones away.  

He’d forgotten the octopus, though, and just as he made to cut Fukuda loose a cable came out of nowhere and slammed him in the stomach.  

He lost time in a daze of gray and yellow pain until sharp hit his shoulder and he fell to his knees with a cry.  His vision slowly cleared. 

The drone that had been aiming for his shoulder had switched off at the last second and now lay cracked and silent on the ground.  The other drones hit the ground beside him, and the cable that had been whipping out to grab him suddenly collapsed on the asphalt, limp, live wires still sparking at its tip.  

Fukuda was standing in front of him, a small, buzzing gadget the size of a cell phone in his raised fist. 

Hatori’s octopus spasmed and flailed.  Chunks of machinery were already falling off.  For a second Hatori looked livid, but then his face twisted in a vicious sneer and an octopus leg sliced clean through the whole front wall of a restaurant, peeling it away from the building like a slice of cake.  The people inside screamed.  Ootsuki readied his fan, but apparently that had been the most Hatori could do.  The TV screens distorted to static and went black.  With a final, ear-splitting shriek of tearing metal, the octopus slumped over, dead. 

Ootsuki hadn’t realized he was about to join it until Fukuda grabbed his shoulder to keep him upright.  The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds, breathing hard. 

“You,” Ootsuki said finally, “are going to owe me so many coffees after this.”

“You can have them after I murder you for jumping into the line of fire,” Fukuda said.  But there wasn’t any venom in his voice, and his eyes had the puppy dog look cranked up to eleven.  “What were you even thinking?!  You have zero battle experience, and that guy was - villains aren’t a video game, Ootsuki!  He would have actually murdered you!”

He ducked his head.  “Sorry.” 

“Don’t - don’t apologize, just -”

“Hero-san!” called a voice.  It was one of the teenagers Hatori had almost attacked.  They were in the store right next to the restaurant, and it looked like he’d managed to squeeze himself out, but his companion had a thick river of blood running down their face that Ootsuki hadn’t noticed before.  “Hero-san, I - please help him - ” 

“Coming,” Fukuda called immediately.  “And stay put, Ootsuki, you’re next.” 

“Not going anywhere ‘till I get my coffee.” 

Fukuda shot him a look, part concern, part exasperation, then turned to help the teenager.  

Ootsuki leaned on a trashcan, catching his breath.  His hands hurt.  He was trying to avoid looking at them because he was pretty sure they were fractured and he’d pass out if he saw it.  

It had felt...strange, to be out on the battlefield like that.  Not natural, not exactly, but like he had fit perfectly into place.  As if the universe had simply been waiting for him to do it and the response was simply, “Of course.” 

Shock gave people such weird thoughts.  He shook his head and looked around.  Little shreds of torn paper drifted through the air, like scattered snowfall.  Bits of computer modems and gaming consoles covered the street, torn open, their silicon circuits glittering in the sun.  The security gates had retracted.  Some of the trapped shoppers were cautiously poking their heads out of the buildings, checking that it was safe.  It wasn’t; there were a lot of live wires sticking out of the ground and the octopus carcass, throwing sparks.  

It didn’t smell all that great, either.  His senses were still sharp from all the adrenaline pouring through him.  He could smell the burned plastic from the machines and the ozone of the sparking wires.  He could even smell something odd from the restaurant Hatori had sliced open.  Something burning?  

He looked closer.  A dark shape was sticking out of the wall.  It looked like a pipe with a little yellow sticker on it.  

Gas. 

He saw everything in perfect clarity.  The brilliance of the sky, so bright blue it looked painted by a child.  The shadow of Fukuda’s back, the exact way his head turned when he smelled it too.  The hot metal of the trash can under Ootsuki’s broken fingers.  And floating gently past, torn free from that little book by the explosions, a napkin folded like a tiger. 

He grabbed it and slashed with everything he had. 

The blast he made created a huge vacuum down the middle of the street, sucking away the explosion and heat and gas.  Hot blades drove up the bones in Ootsuki’s arms, splitting them in half.  Blazing pain seared his brain.  Sound warped and distorted like it was coming from underwater.  He thought he heard someone screaming, realized it was himself.  

He was on the ground.  His arms were on fire.  They had to be on fire.  They hurt so badly.  Shadows were moving over him.  One of them reached out to him, familiar, calling his name, but before he could answer more shadows came down like a curtain and he sank into the heavy black. 

 Ootsuki woke up slowly.  He was lying on a bed that crinkled loudly whenever he existed, and the ceiling was styrofoam-white.  The smell of rubber and cleaner filled his nostrils. A hospital.  

“I guess it’s nice that I survived,” he mused aloud.  

“Gee, you think?” 

“Fukuda!” 

He bolted upright.  Fukuda was sitting on a chair next to him, a book on his lap.  He smiled and put a warm hand on Ootsuki’s arm.  “Relax, the doctors saw you but you’re still going to be pretty tired.” 

“You’re okay!” 

“Yes, yes, I’m fine, but how are your hands?” 

“My - oh…”

He held them up.  The last thing he remembered, they were bleeding like crazy and felt like he’d fractured every bone in his fingers.  Now they looked perfectly fine.  In fact…

“No scars?  They’re gone?”

Fukuda looked apologetic.  “You, er.  Sort of blasted most of your skin off.  So when I healed it, all the skin grew back more or less uniform.  I hope you don’t mind.  We’re mostly here because it’s standard procedure to bring someone to the hospital just in case there’s something a field medic missed.”

“But you’re okay?” Ootsuki asked again, searching his face.  “Last time I saw you, you were covered in blood and I think your rib had broken.” 

He grimaced.  “Ribs, plural.  But I promise I’m okay.  I just - the way you nearly got killed - ”  He broke off, shaking his head.  “Are you sure you’re alright?” 

“I...I guess so?”  He looked around, trying to distract himself.  It wasn’t just a hospital room, it was a private room, with a flatscreen TV, a vase of fresh flowers, and a window with a panoramic view of the city. “I can’t afford all this.” 

“Don’t worry, heroes get free private rooms.” 

“I’m not a hero.” 

“I don’t see why not,” said a voice from the door.  They looked up as Shou phased through the doorway, a tray of hospital goop in his hands.  “Whoops, almost lost the Jell-O.  I pulled a few strings and got you a temporary hero’s license about thirty minutes after the whole Hatori thing.  So technically you’re a hero for the next three months.  Welcome to my agency.” 

“I-I’m not a hero!” 

Shou raised an eyebrow.  “Again, I don’t see why not.  How do you feel?  I’m not asking about your physical state.  Do you feel horrified, apathetic, jittery - or do you feel like you’re ready to do it all over again?” 

Ootsuki blinked a few times.  “The second one, I guess.  How did you…?”  

He nodded.  “I saw the fight.  You got thrashed because you’re a total noob, but you have good reflexes and use your quirk in creative ways.  My agency could use you.  And Fukuda’s obsessed with you now and not me, which is a plus.” 

“Shou!” Fukuda protested.  “I’m not obsessed with him -”

“You use the first sweater he ever bought you for ‘emergency hugs’ and set his picture as the background on your phone.  Besides,” Shou continued cheerfully over Fukuda’s sputtering, “Hero work pays well.  Unless you have another source of income I don’t know about, because your shop is basically gravel.”

“What?!” 

He leaped for the TV remote and flipped channels frantically.  He found the evening news and, there in the background, was his shop - or rather, a lot of vacant air and broken plaster where his shop used to be.  He could still see a few strips of paper fluttering through the air. 

“Oh, no no no no no,” he moaned.  “Everything I owned was in that shop!” 

“Everything?” Shou asked curiously.  

“He lived in the storeroom at the back,” Fukuda explained.  

Ootsuki dragged a hand down his face.  “I have a little money saved up, but I’ll need that for food and inventory until my insurance kicks in.” 

“I have an extra bedroom,” Fukuda said.  “I mean - it could be only temporary, if you like.  And only if you’re comfortable with it.  I have about three bonuses I haven’t even used yet, we could buy furniture or paper or anything you’d need.” 

Shou made a muffled-sounding squeak. 

“What,” Fukuda said flatly. 

“You two are actually sharing an apartment?” Shou asked. 

Ootsuki turned red.  “I - I guess you could say that?  We never really - I

Shou was grinning like a cat that had drunk half the cream and intentionally spilled the rest.  “So, to be clear.  You met by chance, had a coffee shop AU side story, fought a villain, and then…”

“Don’t you dare,” Fukuda warned.   

Shou was grinning from ear to ear. 

“And then they were roommates,” he whispered.

Then he phased through the door, laughing, dodging pillows from two very red-faced heroes.

#mob psycho 100 #mp100 #ootsuki #fukuda #rarepair #boku no hero academia au #bnha au #my hero academia au #hatori makes a brief cameo #shou #shou is also in here #queerplatonic

[trinuviel]

A Lady’s Armour - Some thoughts on Sansa Stark’s season 8 black dress (part 1)

Game of Thrones is moving towards the endgame and promo season is upon us. That means teaser trailers, photo shoots and posters - and it also means a sneak peak at some of the new costumes. I’m a big fan of Michele Clapton’s work on the show so I’m really excited to see some of the new costumes, especially for the female characters. 

Not long ago Sophie Turner revealed that Sansa Stark would get an all-black new costume made of leather - and she characterized it as a kind of armour:

“This is the first time I’ve had armor,” Sophie Turner tells EW. The costume is not Jaime Lannister or Brienne of Tarth-style metal armor, but more like a jet-black ensemble made of thick leather or similar material. (Sophie Turner, Entertainment Weekly)

This quote provoked a lot of discussion among Sansa fans - some loved the idea while others hated it. However, we were all thrilled that to know that she got a new costume because at that point the teaser trailers and the still photos only showed Sansa wearing costumes from season 7.

The costumes in question were the charcoal dress with the feathered bodice and another grey piece with patterned fabric. She also wore her signature Stark furs.

Luckily, the new ForTheThrone posters and the big EW photo spread gave us a look at one of Sansa’s new costumes: a spectacular black dress (with a blue tint?) made up of soft and glossy leather.

It looks to be an intricate piece made up of a staggering amount of tiny leather flaps sew together in an overlapping pattern, which creates a richly textured surface. I’m can’t wait to see it on the screen, in motion, because it promises to be a show-stopping piece.

The question is, of course, whether this dress is the costume that Sophie Turner refers to - but unless she has two jet-black leather costumes, I think it is safe to say that this textured leather dress is the armour costume that Turner refers to. However, it doesn't look armour in a practical sense - it is not a garment that will block a weapon. Rather, it is a protective garment in a more symbolic sense. The leather dress covers the actress from neck to ankle and it incorporates the heavy leather belt that wraps around her torso, which is an element that was designed to convey how Sansa emotionally protects herself after all the abuse she has suffered:

“All the characters’ costumes are a consequence of the journey and lifestyle,” Clapton states, particularly referencing a favorite piece of hers — Sansa’s belt. “This is her taking back control of her body. I designed it to wrap around over her side-laced dress to represent the absolute removal of any possible physical touch. Her dresses are also tightly-laced on, incredibly difficult to remove.” (Michele Clapton, Making Game of Thrones)

“With one of the key pieces this year, I wanted it to look as if she was actually sewn or laced into her dress—like there was no way in. So I designed a belt that comes around the neck, across the chest and around the waist. She’s trying to protect herself from all the awfulness that’s happened. It’s a form of armor. It will be interesting to see how that moves forward.” (Michele Clapton, Elle)

With this new dress we see the same effect. Sansa’s body is tightly bound and completely encased in this second skin of leather - and that certainly plays into the idea that Sansa’s costumes express how she’s building walls to protect herself. However, Sophie Turner also said something interesting about this new dress:

“We the idea of it being very protective and she buttons herself up,” Turner says. “I wanted her to have a bit of armor and be a bit more warrior like. She’s like the warrior of Winterfell.” (Sophie Turner, EW)

So Sansa is still armoured - but it isn’t just about keeping people at arm’s length anymore but also a reflection of the fact that battle against the Army of the Dead is finally here and that she is ready for war. So it is about protection but also a battle dress signalling that Sansa is a leader, a warrior of Winterfell on the symbolic level. She isn’t going to wield a sword but she is involved in organizing the defense, we saw that in season 7.

There’s a stylistic continuity to the new costume in that it has almost the same silhouette as her season 7 costumes. It is the colour and the material that has changed. The only other difference is the absence of the shoulder tabs that characterized Sansa’s dresses in season 7. We don’t know when Sansa will wear this new black leather dress but I think she’ll wear it in the 2nd and/or 3rd episode (when the big battle most likely will take place at Winterfell). I don’t think this dress will incarnate Sansa’s final style at the end of the story.

I my opinion, this is very much a transitional costume. It keeps the general silhouette of her season 7 costumes with the high neck and the hidden side-lacing on the front of the bodice. It also keeps the belt and it looks as though the feathers that adorns the bodice of the season 7 dress has spread entirely over the new black dress. So, no, this is most likely not Sansa’s only new costume nor the final one she’ll wear on the show.

A MATTER OF TEXTURE

As the photos show, Sansa’s new black gown is heavily textured - an effect that is created by what looks to a multitude of tiny leather flaps sewn together to create a kind of scaly appearance. This texture is really what draws the eye, mainly because it covers the entire dress but also because the material is very different from the more muted and discrete textures of Sansa’s season 7 costumes (@lostlittlesatellites has written a great essay on the subject of the textures in the season 7 costumes).

The question is: Is this visually extravagant texture just an aesthetic feature or does it have symbolic meaning? The answer is: Yes! Michele Clapton has always approached costume design in terms of narrative where patterns, colours and embroidery all tell a story about the characters. However, in regard to season 7 she really emphasized how the costumes are saturated with meaning:

We try to be really symbolic about everything everyone wears now.” (Michele Clapton, Insider)

So when every detail is has meaning, when the elements of a costume are symbolic, what does the scaly texture of Sansa’s black leather dress signify? There are several options, which I’ll consider in the following section.

Dragonglass?

I’ve seen several people mention dragonglass (obsidian) in relation to this dress, probably due to the bluish iridescence we can see in the photos and because the dress has been described as armour and obsidian is a hard substance that can protect people against the White Walkers. 

There is a certain resemblance when we put a photo of the dress and a piece of chipped obsidian side by side - and there certainly is a similarity between the blue tint of this dress and the way dragonglass looks in the cold North (where the scenes are often filmed with a blue tint).

The dress appears blue-black and very shiny in the photos but we have to take into account that the lighting for a photo shoot is much stronger than the lighting on the show and we also have to remember that the photos have been through a photo editing program, which may have enhanced the bluish shine. It is possible that the leather isn’t jet-black like Sophie said but has a bluish tint and it is possible that it has been treated in a way that makes it reflect light more than usual. It is hard to tell what is Photoshop, what is an effect of the lighting and what is the dress itself with the pictures we have - even when we zoom in on a photo taken in daylight.

However, jet-black is a glossy black colour - and if the leather is shiny and glossy as all the photos strongly suggest, then reflected light will show up as dark blue. 

Initially, I wasn’t really sold on the idea that that this dress could evoke dragonglass but in a private discussion @lostlittlesatellites presented some interesting arguments, such as the visual similarities between the dragonglass in Gendry’s smithy (seen in the trailer) and the photos of Sansa’s dress. She also suggested that a dragonglass reference could work as an image of strength but also as another type of “glass” as a foil to the brittle glass pieces that adorns Cersei’s season 7 costumes (x). 

“I mean with Cersei I wanted to show this brittleness to her. So I started adding these jagged edges and points to what she was wearing. I’m trying to give clues to their situation, to subtly show when the characters are feeling strong, when they are feeling weak.” (Michele Clapton, The Independent)

Sansa and Cersei have a complicated relationship and that has manifested in the costumes as well (x). Narratively, they are foils to each other so if Cersei’s excessive adornment signals a brittle strength, then Sansa’s unadorned but textured gown externalizes an inner strength that has evolved over the course of her story. This is, after all, power dressing taken to the ninth degree.

I’m still not quite sold on the dragonglass argument since the stylistic elements of the dress echo elements that have previously been associated with Sansa - feathers from her time in the Eyrie and fish scales as a nod to her Tully heritage through her mother. I’ve mentioned that I think this is a transitional dress and as such it builds on the stylistic and symbolic approach that Clapton took with Sansa’s costumes in season 7 where they visually express all of the things that has happened to her - the abuse and the lessons:

“...she’s bringing all that she’s been through to her costume.” (Michele Clapton, The Insider)

I was trying to grasp all that has happened to Sansa, all the hurt and abuse and frustration, and trying to understand how she would express this yet appear strong. She adapts all she has learnt to her look.” (Michele Clapton, The HuffPost)

The fact that it is a kind of armour or battle dress also represents a further hardening due to the seriousness of the circumstances that Clapton spoke about in the previous season:

“There’s war coming. Everything’s quite muted and quite bleak. I think it’s important for the four women left to have a very strong—it’s not masculine, there’s still a femininity to it—but there’s a sort of hardening. Each one of them has been through such a journey, so I tried to reflect that in their costumes.” (Michele Clapton, Harper’s Bazaar)

The dragonglass theory certainly fits with this notion of a hardening in the face of war. Still, it is a theory I’m not completely sold but it did make me recall this wonderful Magician’s Cloak that Sandy Powell created for Prospera in Julie Taymor’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

This magnificent costume was created from 3.000 pieces of plastic painted and cut to resemble glass-like volcanic rock (x) - a sort of combination of obsidian and the basalt rock that is created from cooling lava flows. It is an amazing piece and I just wanted to share it with my dear readers.

Dragon Scales?

Other people have suggested that Sansa’s costume resembles dragon scales - and there is a certain resemblance when we compare the dress to the scales of the dragons in the show.

However, this issue of dragon scales regarding Sansa’s new costume really ought to be discussed in relation to previous costumes that features elements meant to evoke dragon scales, not the dragons themselves - as they belong to a coherent body of work created by costumier Michele Clapton and embroiderer Michele Carragher.

The only person that wears dragon scales on her costumes is Daenerys Targaryen, which makes perfect sense since she’s the descendant of the dragon lords of Old Valyria and because she has three living dragons from which she derives her power and her mystique. As we can see from the photos above, Michele Clapton and the embroiderer Michele Carragher have used various techniques over the seasons to evoke dragon scales on Dany’s clothing - from pleating and other fabric manipulation to beading with square Tila beads made of glass as well as pointy metallic sequins.

Stylistically, you could make an argument that Sansa’s black leather scales resemble the soft white cloth scales on Dany’s white queenly dress from season 5. However, in terms of narrative it makes no sense whatsoever for Sansa to suddenly cover herself in dragon scales just because Daenerys enters her narrative.

In her quest to fit in, Sansa has always been very influenced by other people and her costumes mirror her journey towards finding out who she is as Clapton explains:

“Initially we see her try to emulate Cersei in her costumes, and then when that starts going wrong she sort of stalls and her colors start drifting back towards blue. But they’re not quite blue, they’re mauve. Wherever she goes, she’s sort of pulled in each direction. Finally we see her as Dark Sansa, when she very dramatically changes her appearance and darkens her hair, and has a very dark costume.” … " Now we see her back at Winterfell — I think, slowly, she’s becoming slightly more her own woman rather than always being influenced by those around her. She’s finally finding herself, and it’s really interesting to explore that in Season 7, and it’s exciting.“ (Michele Clapton, BuzzFeed)

Season 8 is the time for Sansa to finally have found herself - to know herself and what she wants, which is going to be expressed in her costumes and her hair styles:

For so long, Sansa’s hair changed season by season depending on who was influencing her. The first few episodes she was a Northerner in Winterfell and took after her mother with a simple braid down the back. Then when she went to King’s Landing it was a big, decadent halo that was very much like what the Queen wore. With Littlefinger, she dyes her hair black and wears all black. Then she goes back to Winterfell and returns to her mother’s hair. She created her own identity in season 7 and that kind of runs through to season 8. She’s chosen how she wants her hair to be, and she’s finally the leader and influencer instead of being influenced by everyone else. (Sophie Turner, InStyle)

This quote is about Sansa’s hair style but it will certainly also apply to her costumes because Clapton creates her designs to visually express the character’s narrative journeys. And Sophie Turner has hinted that in this final season, Sansa has indeed come to know herself:

The past few seasons for her and the whole series for her, she’s kind of been somewhat lost as a matter of where she wants to be, who she wants to be, who she wants to surround herself with, and this season she is very very self-assured. She knows what she wants. She knows what she stands for. She knows who she wants to be around, and she faces threats to that this season. (Sophie Turner, Vulture)

So, no - Sansa Stark’s scaly new battle dress doesn’t represent dragon scales because it makes absolutely no narrative sense for her to suddenly adopt a Targaryen style. Her narrative arc has been a long journey back towards her roots but also a journey of self-discovery, a tempering of character by way of much hardship.

Fish or Fowl?

If the leather scales on this costume evoke neither dragonglass nor dragon scales, what do they refer to? As seen below, the texture of the dress looks very similar to both raven feather and fish scales.

Sansa has worn feathers before and she has had a lot of winged imagery - in the form of dragonflies, moths, and raven feathers in her costuming whilst she has been called “Little Dove” by Cersei and “Little Bird” by the Hound in the dialogue of the show. Narratively, there’s a precedent for her new dress to evoke feathers and the individual flaps looks to have textured surfaces in a manner that looks a bit feathery. The iridescence in the photos also reminds one of raven feathers but it is hard to tell whether this blue sheen is an effect of lighting and Photoshop or whether it comes from some kind of surface treatment of the material or whether the leather is more of a midnight blue than jet-black. It is very hard to tell.

THE TULLY CONNECTION

Despite the bird imagery in Sansa’s narrative arc and the use of feathers in her previous costumes, I don’t think that we should dismiss the possibility that the texture on her new dress is meant to evoke fish scales. After all, her mother was born a Tully of Riverrun. The sigil of House Tully is a trout and in the show their armour is made of textured leather flaps assembled to evoke fish scales!

If we take a closer look at the armour that Edmure and Brynden Tully wear, you can see that it is made of layered flaps of stiff leather - and that each flap is been embossed to create a pattern of raised bumps, giving the whole ensemble an extra layer of texture. The similarities of both pattern and material between Sansa’s dress and the Tully armour makes a compelling argument that this battle dress is a female variation on the traditional armour of her mother’s House.

So why would Sansa, who as Lady of Winterfell is the head of House Stark, wear something that looks like Tully armour? As said, Sansa’s mother Catelyn was born a Tully of Riverrun and since the end of season 2, Sansa has included elements of her mother’s style and symbols of her mother’s heritage in her clothing and her hair style.

From the end of season 2 to the end of season 4, Sansa wears her dresses and her hair in the style of her mother (x). Sansa styling herself as her mother in King’s Landing is way for her to signal her distance from Cersei’s toxic wisdom. Sansa doesn’t want to look like the woman who not only turns the blind eye to Joffrey’s abuse of her but who herself delights in tormenting the girl emotionally. Whereas Sansa started to emulate Cersei’s style before she knew any better, she now models herself on her mother (”I must be as strong as my lady mother” - AGoT, Sansa V).

In season 5, Sansa returns to Winterfell, sold into a marriage with her family’s enemy. After a brief and drastic change of style (”DarkSansa”), she reverts to her mother’s style again - the dresses are of the same cut and she dons a double embroidered collar such as Catelyn wore. At this point her mother (and most of her family are either dead or missing) and therefore Sansa does homage to her lost family by incorporating elements associated with them in her white wedding dress:

"It’s Sansa trying to respect everyone that’s been before her. She finally feels like she can make Winterfell a family home again. So I wanted to incorporate pieces that represented her family." (Michele Clapton, Fashionista)

She pays a special homage to her late mother by wearing a set of silver clasps in the shape of the Tully trout. Her mother had worn similar clasps but in season 2 the observant viewer can see that she left a few behind at Winterfell.

In season 6, Sansa once more turns to the style of her mother in order to reclaim her identity as a Stark after all the abuse she has endured. Thus, when she travels the North with Jon to raise troops in order to retake Winterfell, she is styled in a way that visually echoes Catelyn Stark’s style.

Sansa’s dress of teal velvet is the same colour of one of the dresses that Catelyn wore in season 1 and she wears a silver and black fur cape over her cloak, just like her mother.

"She has these amazing green dresses. She's vibrant again. She has the Stark embroidery and her furs are much like her mother's." (Sophie Turner, USAToday)

Even the large direwolf embroidered on the bodice of her gown, proclaiming her identity as a Stark, contains subtle nods to her mother’s heritage.

“The direwolf is the Stark sigil, but Carragher’s design also refers to Sansa’s mother, a Tully of Riverrun. The tufts of the wolf’s fur fall in a scale-like pattern that is outlined in silver thread, evoking House Tully’s fish sigil; its neck terminates in a mass of dark-gray mother-of-pearl beads. “We always try to use shells and pearls within her embroidery, because it references the water,” Carragher said. Minute, reflective cut-steel beads, used to make purses in the early twentieth century, pick out the wolf’s glinting teeth.” - (Michele Carragher, New Yorker)

The embroiderer Michele Carragher emphasizes that she makes a point of using materials associated with water in the embroidered pieces for Sansa, like the freshwater pearls and shells in this piece. Another very interesting feature is the way that the stylized fur of the wolf morphs into a more scaly pattern where the iridescence of the mother of pearl beads clearly evoke fish scales. So while feathers have been more prominent in Sansa’s costuming so far, the fish scales have been used as well - but in a much more subtle manner!

Sansa’s wardrobe takes a more plain and practical turn in season 7 with a new silhouette and colour palette. Her gowns are grey, in more rough-spun and heavy fabrics - and she no longer embellishes her dresses with beaded embroidery. Winter and war is here - and there’s no room for frivolity. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a subtle nod to her Tully heritage - now it is just expressed through the textures of her clothes.

”Within each of their costumes, there are influences. […] Sansa’s are part father, part mother. It’s her father’s silhouette with the fur, her mother’s within. The textures are very much from her mother.”  - (Michele Clapton, Elle) 

Or rather one specific dress where Clapton used a heavy and slightly shiny fabric because the pattern reminded her of fish swimming:

Q: Is Sansa’s fabric one of the furnishing fabrics?

MC: I think it is – it might be the reverse side. I thought it looked like fishes swimming. I think we worked into it a bit – it’s beautiful. (Michele Clapton, FIDM Museum)

And there’s an element in the dress of her mother, the pattern is almost like fishes swimming. (Michele Clapton, UpRoxx) 

Ever since her death, Catelyn’s character seems to have been forgotten by her children - at least they don’t speak about her, which really stood out in season 7 where Sansa and Arya spoke about their father but never mentioned their mother. However, throughout the seasons Michele Clapton has ensured that Catelyn Stark has remained an unspoken presence with her eldest daughter - a presence expressed through the way that Sansa styles herself.

Until now, the Tully connection in Sansa’s costumes has always been a very personal one - referencing her mother Catelyn. She has worn colours, silhouettes and jewellery in her mother’s style and her some textures, patterns and embroidery has had subtle references to the Tully sigil. However, while Sansa’s new leather dress looks like a female version of the traditional Tully armour, it is not a style that has ever been associated with Catelyn’s personal look! So while this dress can be interpreted as an homage to her murdered mother (x), its symbolism encompass more than the memory of a beloved parent.

A Tully armour dress is also a political statement!

Sansa is, according to Clapton, a person who “tends to express herself visually” (x) and on Game of Thrones fashion choices are always meaningful:

Everything – even a fashion choice – has meaning on “Game of Thrones.” In this cutthroat world where men fight for the Iron Throne and the women yield a different kind of power, a choice of fabric or a different cut of cloth can be a political statement, costume designer Michele Clapton told TODAY.com. (Michele Clapton, Today)

Though the style of this costume may invoke several different meanings, I am of the opinion it is first and foremost a nod to the heraldic sigil of House Tully because the stylistic similarities between Sansa’s dress and the Tully armour are so strong. This raises some very interesting possibilities in terms of what may happen in the story - because we have to ask ourselves: Why would Lady Stark wear a garment that invokes the sigil of House Tully?

At this point in the story, Sansa has accrued quite a bit of political influence. The Northern lords have become rather impressed with her during her tenure as Jon’s regent, she also has the allegiance of the Knights of the Vale through Lord Royce. That is two major regions that she has in her pocket so to speak. However, her mother’s heritage may also become politically important - after all, her uncle is Lord of Riverrun. House Tully hasn’t had much of a presence in the story after the Red Wedding and we last saw Edmure Tully in season 6 where he yielded Riverrun to Jaime Lannister. Will House Tully have a role to play in this final season of Game of Thrones? It seems so because Tobias Menzies has been confirmed to appear in the first episode of the last season, along with the actor who plays the Robert Arryn, the young Lord of the Vale (x). Thus, two political figures with personal ties to Sansa is set to enter the political arena - and it is very likely that Sansa’s impressive fish scale battle dress is related to this.

To be continued...

#game of thrones #sansa stark #costume design #michele clapton #michele carragher

[theillustrationconference]

We spoke to Angie Wang for our second installment of #ICONspeak, a series highlighting some of the speakers you’ll see at #ICON11.

Angie is an illustrator and cartoonist living in Los Angeles. Her experimental style has captivated a slew of editorial clients that include The New Yorker, Vox, Google, BuzzFeed, and NPR. In addition to illustrating, she is a co-founder of the annual comics festival Comic Arts Los Angeles.

For those that are unfamiliar with your work, how would you describe your style? How have you honed your visual language throughout your career?

I think of myself as a grab bag—I never know what style is going to come out, or if it’s going to look good or work. This might sound bizarre, but it’s the way I function, it’s the way I stay excited and engaged and fresh. That’s the only pattern across all of my work, that very little of it looks exactly alike. Three years into my illustration career, I decided to destroy my existing (colorful, linework-oriented, delicate) style and draw in a completely different way (messy, textured, watercolor) instead, and I did, until I got tired of that too. These days, I don’t settle on anything. My dream is to approach every image in a completely new way, though it doesn't always work out like that due to time pressure.

I will say I tend to be more naturalistic than abstract, more controlled than loose, and more clean than gritty. Those are long-term inclinations that I haven’t been able to shake yet.

You've won a James Beard Award for your work. What was the project that won you that honor?

I won a James Beard Award, and my friends all thought it was for cooking at first! But it was for an article I pitched to Eater called "In Search of Water-Boiled Fish" about my quest to find specific Chinese food in the United States that constituted important parts of my memories in China, water-boiled fish in particular. I loved seeing the response from people all over the world who had important food-memories of dishes they were desperate to eat again but couldn't find anywhere. The award was a very pleasant surprise and a big honor.

How did you get into animation? How much of your work is animated versus static these days, and how do your approaches to the two ways of working vary?

I worked for almost seven years on Steven Universe, and folks on the crew—Danny Hynes and Rebecca Sugar in particular—taught me basic animation for fun, one lesson at a time: antics and overshoots, timing, smears, waves and arcs, etc. They were able to see all the tiny details that make a good animation (which is very different from what makes a good illustration): when motion feels dead because the timing was too even, or how redrawing a pose almost exactly the same before it settles makes the movement feel like butter. Suddenly there were all these new rules I had to learn, and every time I applied one of their lessons, I could see the difference. I didn’t have any interest in animation before, but learning from them made it feel accessible—less like a complete skill other people had that I didn’t understand and more like a skill I could internalize in little steps.

That’s how I got interested in it. I wouldn’t call myself anything more than a beginner, a total amateur, and all of my animations are experiments, me applying one lesson after another or trying out another method of rendering motion. These days, most of my professional work is still traditional illustration, but most of my personal work right now is about exploring animation.

The other part is that I fell in love with dance several years ago, and it's created an impulse for movement that wants to be expressed either through bodily action or through creating motion on a screen. It's inadequate to capture an arabesque as a still image at its peak. Dance is about every part--the entry, the arc, the exit, the transition—so a single image doesn't do it justice.

What’s one topic you’re passionate about in regards to illustration and/or the illustration community at large?

Unionizing! I joined the Freelance Solidarity Project last year. They’re still a very young union but cooking up some big projects, so the input and involvement of illustrators would be invaluable to their efforts. Now is absolutely the time to join if you want to have a voice in how the whole union is structured and in terms of setting priorities—it's very exciting.

I'm excited about unionizing because minimum rates for editorial illustration have stagnated across our industry for more than a decade. Especially with new media, a lot of illustrators are now doing the equivalent of full-page print art for $300 for web. There are issues with nonpayment, like with Nautilus. There's exploitation, like with spec work—even a major tech company asked me to do spec work recently. Between all of us here at ICON, we know everyone in the industry, and we'd have the ability to organize and set expectations and negotiate with major companies for better pay and conditions.

Have you been to ICON before?

I have never been to ICON before! This will be my first time.

What can we expect when we see you at ICON11?

I hope I can give a good talk about changing everything up mid-career that will help illustrators find some of that spark again.

#angie wang #illustration #cartoonist #icon #icon11 #interview #illustrator interview

[eb-the-gamer]

BEFORE YOU READ, KNOW THIS REVIEW POST HAS SPOILERS FOR BENDY AND THE INK MACHINE!!!!

@bendysstudio @themeatly--official

I have played Bendy and the Ink Machine in full now. What do I think?

Well...

The game was good, for sure, you can tell they put a ton of love, especially now with the polish added by updates, the incorporation of fan music, and the attempts at keeping everything engaging throughout the chapters. 

However, It could be really improved upon...

STORY - By far the strongest of Bendy’s points is its narrative, old cartoons are Organically creepy in a lot of ways because of a few factors, among these are the contrasting aspects of the imperfections of movement and the oftentimes unnoticed details in things like wrinkles and textures (as examples, Pete chewing Tobacco from Steamboat Willie, and the infamous cab colloway dancing ghost from Betty Boop.), so it makes a ton of sense to utilize that as a horror concept. The game throws us a steady stream of questions from almost the start of the first chapter, but while a lot is answered, there is a lot unanswered or not followed through on and it can be hard to ignore when you think about it ESPECIALLY by the end. Were the employees really all corrupted by the ink, what is Henry’s purpose, why did henry not know about his own messages if he’s written them while looping everything over and over, and how could he see or write them without the glass tool (and what with?), what is up with the animatronics and cages you set up. the game kind of shrugs at a lot; its by no means a dealbreaker because of what the story does explore about the studio, but it is noticeable.

9/10 - Amazing - The game’s big draw, though some questions are not all answered in a meaningful way, what the story does cover is still really interesting and worth playing through.

 DESIGN - Bringing actual life to something like a cartoon but failing so hard is a really great idea, and a lot of the time the game shows us the hubris in the want vs. the reality of the consequence; the monsters and places the game creates reflect it well. Everything looks like its made from the sunbleached, aged paper artists used and everything is a wonderfully messed up reflection of life at the studio and the cartoons within, particularly with the projectionist, butcher gang and the unnamed giant hand (I’ll call him Lil’ Handful). the world of Joey Drew productions is a really cool, realized one. simple but slightly barren and “off” work offices giving way for the bigger, detailed and mysterious places in the lower levels. I will however knock some of the update decisions, particularly with Sammy and Bendy himself. they originally looked blobby, as the updates came, they both got more defined in shape - respectively looking more muscular and emaciated looking, which took away from the toonish aspect of the it. Where once were feet that looked like strange melted stubs going into the floor, are just...solid feet and where once was something that looked like a melting candle trying to retain a shape is what is more or less a thin ink zombie (complete with limp). Bendy’s final form is also lackluster for me, I love the Muggshot (Sly Cooper series) tiny dangle-legs and walking around on hands thing; but its threatening, not as scary or horrifying as something that's stopped trying to be likable could’ve been taken. Everyone else is pretty good though especially the butcher gang and boris, who stayed pretty much the same and kept design elements in all forms through the production. Text for audio logs could have been bigger at times too. all in all, design is solid, but something was definitely lost as more polygons and detail were added for certain characters.

9/10 - amazing!- a great use of elements from animations of the past used in a 3d space, just the right amount of cartoon goofiness and uncanny details, though some designs were fixed when they weren’t broken.

CHARACTERS - Not much to say, I like em all, (Henry is delightfully levelheaded to the extreme, Boris is a cutie, Bendy is a threatening silent presence...) except maybe that one obnoxious guy in recordings, Wally Franks, and even then, he’s not AWFUL (I’d compare him to Fleem from Smallfoot, intentionally made to get on a nerve at least a little), the most interesting character for me Bertrum, the architect who calls Joey out on his bullcrap, and Alice Angel, both versions of her - but the manic first variant you meet first is interesting to listen to and learn about in particular. Boris is kind of lackluster, while he is nice and the reveal of him and other toons being made en masse is awesome, it also means we don’t get much time with them. Sammy sort of just comes and goes twice, and Tom!Boris and Allison I felt got the shaft and should have been established earlier for a connection. Joey is a jerk who suddenly becomes somewhat good in the last acts, which confuses me - since there was no in between those two points that's explained...

7/10 -  Good - characters are great to listen to and watch, and if the game had had more time to focus on a lot of them, that might have made them feel more complete.

SOUND - sound, music and voiceacting is well done, lots to appreciate from the creepy gurgles, to the odd stuttery sound of a projector. though there are occasionally some bad bits of soundmixing and audio. some recordings that you can find in the game stand out, there’s one that's really hard to listen to in chapter 5 because the character speaks in a really gravelly voice, in addition to the fuzzy audio effect and the ambient noise surrounding it.

8/10 - Great! - I only wish there was more! aside from one or two recordings, everything and one sounded nice, and the unease of silence is used equally well.

CONTROLS AN’ GAMEPLAY - They’re standard first person fair, responsive for sure, though sometimes the sensitivity of the controls can raise by themselves (I don’t know if that's by design, since it was at the same point as markiplier, right before a section involving being stealthy is taken on, which might actually be really clever if its true. Combat can also be wonky, but Its passable since its not a main focus, except for one REALLY obnoxious enemy gauntlet in the last chapter, if there were defined checkpoints between each wave, I’d be more inclined to let it go. Puzzles are pretty standard as well, lots of fetching, but other stuff such as playing minigames and stealth crop up to shake it up. Stuff is unlocked after everything is said and done in the story, and while it is cool narratively (messages written by henry on previous loops) and as a view of the progress the game (though, the Archives are missing a lot of info on characters like Alice and Bertrum), it just feels like its not enough for a repeat playthrough, difficulty settings and maybe achievements for unconventional but creative actions in-game, working towards something big at the end might’ve helped in that regard (here’s hoping that's the case for the console releases next month)

7/10 - Good! - its standard stuff with an occasional misshap, but there is variety to it and its simply fun for me to play.

OVERALL - The gameplay is serviceable, and aside from the main story there’s not too much reason to play the game again, but its still a solid experience the whole way through, and the time and effort of the people who made the game really shines and makes it worth playing. maybe wait for the console release, in case they add anything to that, but theres not one excuse not to play it.

#bendy and the ink machine #bendy #batim bendy #review #themeatly #the #meatly #video game #horror

[qdtquietdownthere]

Day 11- A day of reflecting in an art gallery and painting, glueing and giggling in the sun.

Day 11

The waking up process, if it can be called a process, is the trickiest part of the residency actually. Waking up in your own bed, in Tottenham, seeing your flatmates, talking about the day ahead. It is a different world. I have to go from that, to the tube, then be in Pimlico. To this new, yet familiar place of comfort. What is the most exhausting is this point of change and transition- waking up in the life you are used to then diving into a day of fresh, exiting, uncertainty. No one really understands whats going on, and no one really wants to listen to me describing every detail of my day. I do not think this is something I would enjoy to do either. It’s lonesome in this sense. A temporary community which no one else is experiencing. That is so special though. I feel useful, like my existence and participation means something. 

I am very aware it is ending. Second last day. I am so comfortable now.

I walk around the area following a gentle map. I have walked these streets before. The Thames, the Bridge, the view of brutal Battersea, the tiny parks and the contrasts. There are so many contrasting textures, architecture and people. An area of extreme wealth, and then a definite lack of it. I feel uncomfortable with it at points. In my favourite park which sits just behind Tate Britain I watch a very wealthy man spend half an hour with a puppy trainer and his pedigree puppy. He tells me they have traveled from Devon. There is a visible contrast when you look for it. You can maybe hear it more than you can see it. I hear coffee orders which are 3 minutes long, decaf, soy, skinny milk. At the community centre in Churchill Gardens a cup of tea will always be milk and one sugar. I wonder where I sit in this pool of people, I wonder where other people see me belonging.

CCA is based next to Tate Britain and I try to go in to see the degree show but I am told it ended last week. There aren't many students around, ever. The whole time I have been in Pimlico I haven't noticed anyone who jumped out to me as looking like a student (whatever that means). I guess they have all gone home for summer. Over the past week I have seen a few Chinese students, as I guess flying home at such a high price isn't necessarily an option for international students. I wonder about the loneliness of living in this city when your purpose of being here is to purely be a student. I did my undergraduate at Leeds and it was the loneliest time for me. Sometimes I would walk to town, to the big Boots and back, just to get out, see people and feel like I was a part of what everyone else was doing. I worked all through university but I didn't really hang out with work friends, and with a class size of 10, well, there wasn't much social life going on. I wish I had gone out more, joined societies. Even if they didn't interest me, I should have pushed myself. I was nineteen and maybe I was shy, but I think what kept me being lonely was a reluctancy to say I was lonely to anyone apart from my family and friends who all lived back home in Edinburgh. I think about the mother I met during the babies library session at Victoria Library and how she was frustrated there were no classes on for her thirteen year old son. Kids don't want to look uncool, and I think this can continue for some people into university. There is a pool of opportunity in this pool of young people who are desperate to engage in a world, but scared and uncertain how to. No one whats to stand out from the self conscious crowd of teenagers and there is opportunity in making activities which both work with, and eradicate this. 

I walk across the courtyard from CCA and find a different art show; “Observer: John Latham and the Distant Perspective”. Latham’s body of work explores derelict land outside of Edinburgh and was developed from an artist placement with the Scottish Development Agency. The three month long artist residences took place in different locations, from industrial settings such as fishing villages to a residency exploring the mental health care service (https://mapmagazine.co.uk/john-latham-incidental-person). What was the desired outcome of these residencies? Well, the hope was that by involving an artist, “his creative intelligence or imagination can spark off ideas, possibilities and actions” ultimately benefiting development projects in Scotland (Lyddon, 2007). When the committee introducing Latham to the project asked if the artist was going to solve problems, Lyddon replied “No, the artist is going to show us problems we didn't know were there”. In the end, if there is ever an end to a body of work, Latham decided to explore the area in Midlothian from an areal perspective, or ‘from the distance’. It was from this, and through interacting intensely with archival aerial photography from the area, he was able to map out distinctive land features from the shale industry and turn these into a piece of re-conceived monumental, or sculptural work. The act of doing this changes how the public interact with the local landscape. I find the work fascinating and oh so funny to have stumbled into work made in this context during my time doing the residency in Churchill Gardens. I haven't continued to read into the work of Latham, but it has brought up interesting ideas as to how perspectives of place, how history, and fresh eyes can have an impact on how individuals engage with space. I think of how my view of the streets have changed since I began engaging in the area. How the image of a street morphs the more you walk down it. How the build up of memories connected to place erode and evolve as you step away then interact with them again. I am lucky to know these streets now and I get an overwhelming sense to draw them. Once again I'm excited by the power of naming, of bringing into the spotlight, places or people to create a transformative effect on how we engage with them. As I have been unable to draw or make during my time on the residency, I have taken up naming and writing lists of names instead. My diary has one section which includes as many names I can remember from all the people I have interacted with since my time in and around Pimlico and Churchill Gardens. Drawing cements and validates a memory or idea through the act of mark making, and I believe the power of naming and writing these names validates all the connections I have had to people over the course of the two weeks. I have found this at least itches my little creative scratch. Or rather, it scratches my creative itch.

In the afternoon I return to the Thamesbank Centre to volunteer with Shambush as part of the South west festival. With children from the surrounding housing estates, Shambush are holding creative making events in local community centres to try and create a way for children to engage with art and their neighbouring communities. We work to a brief which is to design, paint and glue onto paper ‘solar panels’ these of space, which will later be put together and secured to a huge metal structure and presented as a space shuttle in the gardens of Tate Britain. For each making event a child attends in their local area, they receive a stamp on their ‘space engineer passport’. It is a fantastic idea and I find it so exciting to hear that there is an activity in place to connect these very separate housing estates which tend to never really mix. When speaking to both Shambush and the local children who come to do the making session, it is apparent that Tate Britain is another world to this community. Im not surprised. It is a twenty minute walk away, yet completely inaccessible as a cultural engagement. This is sad but a very real reality.  Fine art is most easily digested by those with the confidence to enter into the gallery space and those with the education to understand how to interact with it. 

The kids are wonderful and messy and giggly and I laugh a lot with two girls in particular. We are silly and happy and I feel in my element. I feel so lucky to be in this space making with such interesting and wonderful kids. A group of boys come over and make maths themed solar panels. One boy manages to name every dwarf planet in our solar system and I feel very stupid when I talk about the ‘fire hurricanes on Venus’ (he probably knows the scientific latin name for them). Its so great how the space works. We are outside, the sun is shining, kids come and go and there is a real sense that we are in the heart of the community. We are on Peabody estate on Tachbrook Avenue so the street is lined by beautiful tall flats. In its centre is the park which is connected to the community centre, so every flat can watch down on us. I speak to one boy who is in year 5 and he says because of the park he has lots of friends who are older and younger than him. It is a place for all ages. 

Throughout the day only two parents come and talk to us and engage with the activities. Its a shame because so often it is the parents who are cautious and scared to venture out and try new things, and go new places which ultimately gets passed down to the kids. When we age we tend to view creativity as something that we have or we don't have. The older we get the more we become aware that we can or cannot draw. The older we get the more we isolate ourselves from activities and places we don't feel comfortable, or that accentuate the fact we cant draw, or paint or act. The kids seem to want to come to Tate when we tell them their work will be shown there, but unfortunately that isn't enough, it is about the parents. Pimlico toy library was great for this, and Shelia was really passionate that she was creating a space which was confidence building for parents. This is vital. 

The children power through the activities and start getting a little bored. I suggest making some space themed origami fortune tellers. Im worried that maybe I should have asked before doing this but Shambush are lovely and energetic about getting stuck in and keeping busy. The kids seem to love it and I get a real sense of right. I don't really know how to describe it. I feel in my element. This is huge for me and something which means the world when you're at the start of a career as a young artist who is still trying to find her feet. I wouldn't have had the means to experience bringing ideas to a children's art session before this and I feel so lucky that I am in this position. I feel validated that it is met with so much enthusiasm. 

The afternoon wizzes past. The father of the two girls who I had spent a lot of time with is brought down by his carer to go to the park. From the top floor flat their mother calls them up to go and help with caring for the neighbours. They give me lots of cuddles goodbye and run off with hands covered in glue and crisps. I cant help but think about what a potentially tricky life they must have, but how wonderful and giggly they are. I wish I could meet their mother and tell her how great they have been. How great all the kids have been. I leave and have a little cry down the phone to my friend because I'm so sad it has ended. It felt pivotal for me as just me, as someone who is unsure of my next steps, of what areas of work I would like to pursue. It is because of this afternoon, and because of this residency that I have been given this opportunity and this space to gain confidence and experience in wonderful exciting and giggle fuelled roles. 

Today is one of the best days I have had. Volunteering gives the residency a whole new level as i feel I'm working as part of a service which is effecting change. This is something I have a growing need to do. Its a wonderful thing that these two great volunteering opportunities with Shambush and the food distribution with Mike happened on my last few days. I feel I am more ready for them at this stage. I think about the residency ending, but on a larger scale, I think about goodbyes. I am not very good at them. I am home and I'm writing lots, I will have vegetable ratatouille for tea and I am going to have a gin and tonic too, because the sun is shining and I am happy. Big day tomorrow. Sad day. Big day. Last day. 

[mtnp0410]

FLAWLESS EYEBROWS IN 4 EASY STEPS  | EYEBROW 64114

It’s the 21st century and I don’t think I have to explain so much about the importance of eyebrows to your appearance. Take a look at any red carpet and you will see hundreds of celebrities who had their eyebrows either microbladed or tattooed. Our brows have an unmatched ability to bring proportion to our face, highlight our overall facial structures and frame our eyes beautifully. Unfortunately, not everyone is blessed with luscious brow hair to enhance their natural features and balance them out. If you weren’t born with beautiful eyebrows, makeup can transform the look of even the sparsest set into thicker looking, bolder looking beauties. But with busy mornings and long days leaving no time for touch-ups, wouldn’t it be great if there was a more permanent solution? You’re at the right place! The steps to incredible brows are now revealed in this article.

HOW ARE EYEBROWS DEFINED TO BE PERFECT?

The best eyebrows should be the ones that suit your face the most! You have to consider the shape, thickness, definition, length, and color when it comes to brows. Just surfing the internet to find those tips, or consulting with an expert for advice. Nowadays, most nail salons provide eyebrow services from simple to complex, such as threading, waxing, tinting, microblading, etc. Filling in your brows is the quickest and easiest way to instantly make you look more polished and put together. Before going to a permanent makeup clinic, conducting an investigation on the top-reviewed beauty salons near you is recommended. With the help of a specialist, your eyebrows will always be on point. Take a deep look at these guidelines to find out how brows can flatter your face and make your selfies pop!

STEP 1: EYEBROW HAIR REMOVAL

Permanent hair-free solutions these days are tweezing, waxing, threading, and laser hair removal technology. Each comes with its own set of pros and cons.

Threading allows for a detailed definition of the brow shape. If you're looking to add an arch or let your brows grow wild for a bit, threading can be a fast way to amp up your shape. The technique requires a threading expert to roll two cotton pieces of thread over the surface of the skin, driving unwanted hair out of the follicle. Sadly, threading breaks the hair, which could cause it to grow in different directions. The hair will grow back in faster, because hair is broken instead of fully removed.

Preparation: Be sure to call your threading salon ahead of time and inquire about their practice before making your appointment.

For those who favor efficiency, waxing might be for you. Waxing, if performed correctly, is much more gentle on hair follicles and skin. Waxing eyebrows is a longer-lasting method of brow shaping in-salon hair removal technique. Waxing pulls off the waxed strips in the direction of hair growth, but the biggest downside of this process is the pain. If you have thicker, coarser hair that grows back quickly, waxing is the best option for shaping. It also encourages thinner, softer regrowth.

Preparation: Before waxing, it is important to review the different types of wax available and investigate their ingredients for potential allergic reactions. With the proper product, waxing can be easy, but it is also vital to use the proper method to avoid catastrophic results.

Tweezing removes hair from the root and trimming is done after brushing through the brow thoroughly. With tweezing, you can pencil your eyebrows in their desired shape, and then tweeze around that, using it as a guideline. This method has an edge in that it appears to be the easiest one to do it yourself. If you don't trust yourself with a tweezer and scissors, visit a professional for a brow-shaping session every four to six weeks.

Preparation: A good pair of tweezers is a solid investment. And say no to magnifying mirrors–you will be more prone to over-plucking or messing up your arch.

If you're not happy with shaving, tweezing, or waxing to remove unwanted hair, laser treatment may be worth considering. It beams highly concentrated light into hair follicles. Pigment in the follicles absorb the light. That destroys the hair. While lasers are becoming more common and effective as technology advances, they're not exactly sensible for all types of hair removal.

Preparation: Make sure your skin is clean before every treatment. One more thing, trends come and go, and we recommend proceeding with true caution if you are planning on taking a permanent laser to your eyebrows.

Now before you go reaching for the best way to change the shape of your eyebrows, it would be best to seek the help of a brow expert. The method means a lot, but it’s really about the person doing your brows. You need to make sure that person understands the shape, and that comes from experience. The specialists are able to map out the shape that you want and can help you identify areas you may need to thicken up or grow in in order to achieve the desired shape. A good brow stylist doesn’t only shape but can lighten, darken, shape and even lift your brows.

STEP 2: EYEBROW SHAPING

When it comes to achieving the perfect brow shape, it is not as easy as it looks. Well-sculpted eyebrows complement your face and help you look younger. But, like everything in life, one size doesn’t fit all, and it’s insane how finding the right brow shape to flatter your face can improve symmetry and even knock years off. Just continue reading below to see how to take your brow game to the next level, and make sure you take what I shared with you to your next appointment

Your perfect brows depend on your unique face shape and dimensions. Firstly you need to establish which face shape you have. This will help you start to identify what eyebrow shape suits you best.

Heart faces: Try rounded brows to soften your face shape.

Square faces: Try thick, flat brows with a soft arch to soften the angles of your face and add depth.

Rectangular faces: Try slightly curved brows

Round faces: Try high arched brows to lengthen your face.

Oval faces: Try soft, angled brows to help balance your facial features.

Long faces: Try straight brows to add width to your face.

Diamond faces: Try curved brows to shorten your face.

Shaping your eyebrows is a major skill: it’s kinda like art and geometry combined because to find the perfect arch, it’s all about the angles and proportions of your face shape. When you shape your brows, they should be balanced and as symmetrical as possible. Find your ideal brow shape, accentuate your best features, and minimize makeup use. Eyebrows can be hard to get right, and figuring out the best look definitely isn’t easy, but don’t worry, the expert technicians will consult with you and offer their advice if needed.

STEP 3: PERMANENT EYEBROWS

Over a decade ago, tattooed eyebrows brought the pretty and natural looking result. However, the “tattoos” of today are a whole different game than the aforementioned brow pigmentation. Over the last few years, since bold, full brows have come back into fashion and microblading has exploded in popularity, a number of new tools and techniques have been introduced to the market offering polished-looking brows on a semi-permanent and short-term basis. From tinting and threading to microblading and lamination, the beauty industry has caught up with the demand for contemporary eyebrow treatments. It’s a lot easier now for both men and women to get the look of fuller, or more defined brows every day without having to fuss with eye pencils, gels and powders.

Nowadays, permanent brow makeup focuses on mimicking real brow hairs. That’s why microblading technique (also known as 3D eyebrow embroidery) has completely revolutionized eyebrow tattooing, and this trend shows no signs of slowing down. Unlike traditional tattoos that last forever, microblading gives you semi permanent eyebrows and helps to add the appearance of hairs to create a natural-looking, fuller brow effect. Microblading uses a pen-like hand tool with a blade made up of needles to etch hair strokes into the skin. Needles are drug across the skin, creating a fine cut where pigment can be placed in the skin. You draw the outline with a brow pencil, and then you use a specialized needle tool to fill inside the shape with strokes. The brow effect is comprised of many thin, crisp lines that are meant to mimic the natural look and texture of hair. It won't have any borders. A unique combination of dye is mixed to closely mimic the natural brow color of each client. Though the procedure sounds a bit uncomfortable, a numbing solution is applied beforehand to minimize any pain. Once done, the outcome will last up to 18 months. To prevent pigment wearing off, a retouching of the eyebrows is suggested once a year, to keep the color and shape of brows.

Someone who likes dark, full brows, and fills them in everyday, probably won’t be satisfied by microblading. Ahead, there is another brow technique which is usually a good idea if you want to create fullness and thickness in the middle of your brow.

A popular eyebrow system from ancient days is eyebrow tattooing. The most traditional tattooing methods involve the insertion of a needle or needles into the skin in a tapping motion. Tattooed brows are usually done by a handpiece machine, with much greater injury to the skin. This movement forces a lot of pigment into the skin, causing the tattoo to last. Eyebrow tattoo offers a permanent makeup solution for those who want stunning brows. This form of cosmetic tattooing, known also as derma-pigmentation or micro-pigmentation. With brow pigmentation, a regular tattoo needle is used, meaning the final product is composed of many tiny dots of pigments that create the illusion of a completely filled-in brow. Because of this, the finished tattoo is pretty much permanent, like a regular tattoo, with only a few touch-ups needed to maintain it, which saves many people money in the long run, and makes the maintenance of brows so much easier. Tattoo artists use ink while they are performing eyebrow tattoo procedure. With brow tattooing, the range of shades is limited to normal tattoo inks, whereas in the microblading technique, a blend of red, green, and other dye pigments are used to create an infinite variety of shades based on the client’s preference. There are a wide variety of eyebrows that can be produced with traditional tattooing, the most common being the following: Hair-Stroke or Feathered Brows, Soft or Powdered Eyebrow, Hard or Crisp Eyebrow.

Eyebrow tattoos are permanent. Once the ink is tattooed onto the skin it is there for life unless you go for removal procedures which can be costly. The semi-permanent nature of microblading allows patients the ability to alter the shape, color, and the size of their brows depending on what they desire. With microbladed brows, clients can change the appearance of their brow as trends change. Beauty trends aren't for women only, men can follow the trends too. Men traditionally don't get eyebrow tattooing, but men do get microblading.

Preparation: Listen up because if you decide to get your brows done, this part is very important:

Two weeks prior to your appointment stop using any skin thinners (vitamin A, glycolic acids, exfoliation) on the brow area.

Try not to take fish oil for a few days prior as it thins your blood which can tend to push out the pigment.

If you tint your eyebrows, tint it at least one week prior to the procedure.

Don't drink the night before, your pain threshold will be low if you are hungover. It’s not fun having your brows tattooed with a pounding headache.

Brow tattoo specialists will not be able to tattoo over any blemishes, sores, and moles in or around the brow area.

Getting a tattoo can be relatively painful, especially if they are placed in a sensitive area like the face. The microblading technique involves much less discomfort, especially if the brow area is numbed with lidocaine prior to treatment.

Besides the possible injuries, it is also very important to set your budget and to know your preference.

STEP 4: AFTERCARE FOR EYEBROW TREATMENT

It is normal for your eyebrows to appear very dark after the procedure. They will fade 10-50% in the first 1-3 weeks following.

Do not touch the tattooed area with your fingers right after your treatment at the salon. This increases your risk of infection. Cosmetic tattoos take between 4-6 weeks to fully heal. At this time you may receive your touch-up if any color has faded, or if you would simply like to add more definition to your tattoo.

Depending on your skin type, you may need to apply a protective and soothing balm across the brows when dry or itchy.

If you have oily skin, the wound will “self-heal” and not require any further nourishment. I suggest avoiding creamy moisturisers, serums with active ingredients and oils near the brow line as the more dry the skin is kept, the better the retention of the pigment in the skin. Anything oily will blur the crisp lines which were created during the procedure.



It’s best to avoid vigorous sports or exposure to moisture, which means protection in the shower is vital for roughly five to seven days. You should also stay out of direct sunlight. Do not scrub or pick at the tattooed area. Doing so can cause the pigment underneath to be pulled out. Allow the epithelial skin to flake off by itself. Stay away from dying or bleaching eyebrows, the chemicals could cause damage to face skin too.

Remember to schedule a touch up appointment within 2-3 months. Permanent makeup is an art and not a science. Everyone’s results will vary and you may still need to use pencil or powder.

CONCLUSION:

Eyebrows play a vital role in everyone’s faces so do not mess them up. An eyebrow studio is rated as good when it meets these requirements: certified technicians, hygienic conditions, authentic products, and smooth performances. Any tattoo, whether artistic or cosmetic, requires skill with the needles in use. Poor ability to use these tools increases the risk of scarring, migration of the tattoo, and excessive trauma to the skin. Because of the nature of the technique, microblading has a higher risk of negative side effects in the hands of an inexperienced technician. When done correctly, a permanent cosmetic treatment can be a safe and wonderful option to ease your daily make-up routine. Don’t hesitate to make an appointment with a professional beauty spa that offers high-quality permanent makeup procedures.

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

FOREVER BROW | EYEBROW 64114

1024 W 103rd St Kansas City, MO 64114

816-808-7000

[email protected]

#eyebrow brows microblading

[kamccormickhnd1b]

Lost and Found-Inspiration

An artist whose work in creative manipulation I am enjoying is Erik Johansson, a photographer and visual artist from Sweden. His work is often described as surreal world created by combining different photographs. Erik works on both personal and commissioned projects with exhibitions and clients all around the world. 

On contrast to the traditional photography he doesn't capture moments, he  captures ideas with the help of his camera and imagination. Each idea has a focus on the story and the goal is to make it look as realistic as possible, even if the scene itself contains impossible elements. In the end it all comes down to problem solving, finding a way to capture the impossible. 

Erik views realism as an essential part to his work, he wants the viewer to feel like they are part of the scene. Although his work consists of a lot of work in post-production and combining photographs, he always tries to capture as much as possible in camera on location. The process involves building props and using creative ways of planning the shoot.

One of the projects Erik created is the project called “Full Moon Service,”, it involves human workers dressed in white and hanging the moon anew each night.They select that moon from a collection of glowing globes inside a little white truck, then climb a ladder and affix their choice to its place in the nocturnal sky, like changing a light bulb. Erik’s work is defined by how he likes to warp realities and shifts the perspective, growing up, Erik lived on a pig farm outside the Swedish town of Götene, where huge flat vistas left plenty of room for his imagination. As a child, he preferred to let his own inventiveness steer his thoughts. Digital cameras and imaging software provided a way for Erik to improve his creativity by allowing him to conceive and produce images the way a high-concept film director constructs a mise-en-scène. He carefully chooses his props, locations and orchestrates every detail to achieve the effects he wants. Each finished work can take months to perfect, from concept to shoots to Photoshop manipulations, from beginning to end.

For the “Full Moon Service” project, Erik had travelled to the Götene countryside with his equipment and a small cast of extras, giving them big Chinese lanterns containing portable lights and ladders to climb. 

Johannson wields a Hasselblad H6D-50c digital camera and holds himself to three essential rules: Photos to be combined must have the same perspective. They must have the same qualities of light: color, contrast, and brightness. And in the final work it must be impossible to distinguish where the different images begin and end, or exactly how the image was composed—the illusion must be seamless.

I liked this image the most. While making use of his surroundings, Erik combined the use of his images as they were shot alongside photoshop, by using the software, he was able to enhance his image more before adding more moons. The thing that draws me in is the moons,they aren’t all the exact same moon, he has optimised them so each moon is unique in its own way, ranging from colour to pattern on the moon itself.

I like his placement of lanterns, in place of the moons, Erik had placed Chinese lanterns down so they would remain glowing, and later in photoshop, optimised them to make the final product he has above. I feel that the strongest part of the image is the glowing of the moons, with how well he placed them and planned his shoot out, the glow helps to strengthen the image. It is seen in the van and on the window, lighting up the worker’s face and body, and the same glow can be seen on the second worker. By planning it out more, he was able to efficiently use the lantern’s glow to his advantage before adding in the moons. 

Another work of Erik Johansson I was drawn to is the image named “If Lost, Please Call″. The thing to draw me in wasn’t the phone box, but the dog, the phone box is well lit and even the grass surrounding the box is lit, but the dog isn’t as lit. I liked that there is only a small amount of glow from the phone box to light up the dog. While lit with ambient lighting, the dog is a vital piece of the image, and even when not overly lit, your eyes are drawn to the dog while he looks up to the phone box with an almost curious look. I like the dark ambience of the image, it appears to be shot at night, giving the sky that dark blue/grey look, which strengthens the image even more. I think if it had been shot during the day, it wouldn’t work as well or strongly, for one, you wouldn’t see the glow much because the sun and sky would be overpowering it. So I feel this was a very beautiful and successful image by Johansson!

While this isn’t an on location shot, I felt it was too smart not to share it!

This is one of Johansson’s works called “Ideas Come at Night”. I like the use of creative manipulation here, while a simple image, Johansson has used his photoshop skills to add multiple light bulbs around the room in every available space they can find. I liked the idea behind it: that we get most of our new ideas at night while we sleep, in particular, I like how the woman is practically covered in bulbs, it involves a lot of close up work, patience and duplication of the bulb. But while it is a little chaotic, that one lit up bulb stands out above everything else, it displays that an idea has been had, either by the model or the artist.

“The Prison of Comfort” is another of Johansson’s work I liked. By photographing multiple objects, such as the model and a greenhouse, Johansson later combined those images to produce this piece. I like how he uses ambient light from bulbs to light up his scenes, particularly the model in the images. By photographing his on location shot, he was able to take it back to be optimised, to work on it and enhance it even more before combining the model and the greenhouse into the image. I like how beautifully shot this image is, how there is a sense of irony in the image, in that we can see the woman is not comfortable and can’t possibly get comfortable in such a small space. I like the textures in this image, the texture of the wet ground and the wet windows are what I like most, I feel that they help to make the image a little stronger, it adds to the effect of the woman being in a small prison.

This is a favourite of mine by Johansson named “Looking for Stars”. What drew me to this was how well Johansson warped the reality, the stars are lost from the sky and are in fact on the ground along with a fallen moon. Again, each star and the moon has its own glowing light to it, a common theme in Johansson’s works, I like that theme as it seems to be similar to a little signature of his. I like how well the lighting in question shins on the telescope without overly lighting it or underexposing it. To me, there’s a sense of tranquility to this image and it reminds me of having stars on the ceiling as a child. Again, the image is shot at night and it strengthens his image more, it would make no sense for the man to be out during the day looking for the stars.

This is Johansson’s work, “Lifetime”, I like this image because it is more relevant to the brief I am currently researching to do, one object and a location combined to make something unique and unnatural. In this case, a clock in the middle of the ocean with a very tiny man on one of the hands, I like the use of creative manipulation here the most.

#lostandfound #lost and found #student research #Photography student

[rthemars]

Non-Format - Music Packaging

Non-Format also specialise in music packaging which is mainly for CDs and vinyls, therefore I will be taking inspiration from these to improve my own music packaging designs when I create them.

As I look into Non-Format’s designs I notice how they never make anything too obvious and leave you with mystery and wonder, their illustrations are most of the time abstract and strange but this is what attracts attention. Rather than displaying a simple image of the artist they take a different route, a route of bold, unique and unobvious art. They also make sure to keep a clear theme throughout all of the packaging, from the front to back cover and from the inside sides to the CD/vinyl itself. This keeps it looking consistent and impresses viewers more, even if it’s simple.

The Chap - The Show Must Go

This CD cover is abstract and minimalistic, it consists of lines and photography for the front and text for the back. Non-Format have cleverly merged digital art with photography in a effective way that makes it interesting to view, they did this by collaging in a black and photo of a man lying down with a bright blue swimming pool. Not only does this create a contrast in colour it also gives it an unrealistic yet understandable feeling, intriguing the viewer and capturing their attention.

As for the back they made sure to keep this minimal aesthetic by including only the name of the album and artist, they presented it with bold and blue lettering that is clear but also intriguing. However like all CDs the back cover should incorporate the songs of the album, so to keep the design as it is they simply made the writing super small and to the side, out of the way from the design. These songs could have of course been made into the design itself, however this would ruin the empty style and therefore its whole feel.

Hatchback - Zeus & Apollo

The next design is for both CDs and vinyls, it has much busier illustrations compared to the previous piece but still has a calm quality to it. It consists of a beautiful mountain landscape with a large floating sphere, of which resembles a planet, creating a perfect combination of nature and out of this world. I think this illustration is really eye-catching thanks to its vibrant colours and unusual aspect, and like the other design it leaves a lot of wonder, mystery and therefore interest.

As for the back of this piece it once again differs from the first example, the main focus is the song titles rather the artist and album name. This is a clear way to present the content inside, but to make sure it was somewhat interesting they used a font that incorporated shapes as letters. The back opposes to the front in its lack of business, leaving it simple and clear compared. Non-Format also used the CD itself as part of the art, colouring it the same bright blue as the planet on the front cover. This is a simple but effective way to connect the whole product together, as well as making it more interesting and fun to buy.

The Chap - Mega Breakfast

This vinyl cover consists of three balloon dogs, created in 3D with strange and unusual textures. The front cover dog has an extremely shiny layer with a part that looks to be cake sprinkles revealed underneath, this strangeness is exactly what catches attention as Non-Format clearly knows and keeps wonder by not giving anything away. To create a theme there are two other balloon dogs to show, but to keep them unique and interesting they made them look completely different. One balloon dogs looks to be made out of wood which is quite the opposite of a balloon, and the other resembles a hedgehog which sounds absolutely bizarre and it is. When people see something they don’t or can’t fully understand, they want to know more and therefore engaging the audience.

Even though these illustrations are super detailed and crazy, they kept it so that was all to be seen and left them on pure white backgrounds. This allowed the level of detail to remain completely noticed, and the focus to be completely on these illustrations. As for the back however there is no display of a balloon dog, rather some blocky typography that reads ‘proper songs real emotions’. This once again is something that grabs attention because you must take a little more time than usual to read it, and with this also comes a fun and different font so together is really effective. The text incorporated in itself is also interesting as they shined light on neither the artist, album name or song titles, but instead a sentence that describes the music on an emotional level.

The Chap - We Are Nobody

The next packaging design is for vinyls and CDs, its theme involved pastel colours and a simple line drawing. When I say line drawing it couldn’t be more accurate, as the oddly shaped figure is literally made of one big stroke and two small dots for eyes. Even though it’s nothing like a human figure we can still figure out what the illustration is, just nothing we know of and that is what  makes it intriguing. The use of colour is effectively displayed by contrasting colours that help separate the figure from the background, they did this subtly with a small section being coloured and faded out. I think this is super clever because it’s subtle yet still very noticeable, perfect for a minimal design.

The colours themselves are important because they’re bold and stand out, but are not too vibrant or crazy. These beautiful light colours are perfect for presenting a fun and calm feeling at the same time, which will therefore be pleasing to look at and attract viewers. As for the use of typography Non-Format kept it very simple, otherwise there is a risk of it overpowering the illustration that is already simple enough.

Black Devil Disco Club — Lucifer Is A Flower

My final example for music packaging is this vinyl cover, which compared some is busily jam packed with imagery. However when you really look into it you realise its only some typography, photographs and small text. The reason it looks filled it because of these tiny triangles that cover any unfilled space, without this these sections would just be completely red and therefore look empty, so this shows just how effective something small can be. This red colour with the addition of black is a common combination used to create punchy and super bold art, opposing to a lot of Non-Format’s work this piece stands out for its colours rather than outlandish illustrations. However just because it’s more ‘normal’ doesn't make it any less interesting, just in a different way.

Typography is quite a large factor in this design thanks to its scale and appearance, I like how the bold shapes and curves have been put together to create the lettering as it’s elegant and unobvious. To add to this there are photographs spread across the packaging, this adds a sense of emotion and makes it feel more personal and sensitive. When people feel something from art they become more invested, and even more so when it feels personal. As well as this these photos add a 3D element to the design, as they look to be simply laid over the cover thanks to the angle, placement and layering.

[getanattitude]

Buzzwords, De-buzzed: 10 Other Ways to Say fireinsidemusic.com

“THE more you dig right into a bit of Ives, the more enjoyment you have from it,” the pianist Jeremy Denk mentioned not too long ago, sitting at a piano inside of a rehearsal Area on the Juilliard University. “It’s like solving a puzzle.”

Then he enthusiastically deconstructed Ives’s “Concord” Sonata, untangling and detailing the themes and motifs embedded within the complex textures of the interesting rating.

Mr. Denk is going to release a disc, “Jeremy Denk Plays Ives” (Think Denk Media), that includes two piano sonatas, an esoteric choice of repertory for the debut solo album. But then, there's nothing generic concerning this adventurous musician. His vivacious intellect is manifest both equally in his playing and on his blog site, Assume Denk, an outlet for astute musical observations and witty musings, whether a lament about inedible meatballs or simply a spoof job interview with Sarah Palin.

Mr. Denk will reveal his more mainstream qualifications when he performs Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. one with Charles Dutoit and also the Philadelphia Orchestra commencing on Thursday on the Kimmel Centre in Philadelphia and on Oct. 12 at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Denk argues which the Ives sonatas, composed early during the twentieth century, are mistakenly categorized as avant-garde works instead of “epic Intimate sonatas with Lisztian thematic transformations.” On the relaxed listener, the audio that Mr. Denk describes while in the CD booklet as “brilliant, ingenious, tender, edgy, wild, unique, witty, haunting” can unquestionably audio avant-garde. Ives, who built his residing in the coverage enterprise, integrated jazz, riffs on Beethoven and American hymns, marches and people songs into his daringly experimental piano sonatas, full of polytonality, thematic layering and rhythmic complexity.

“It’s so splendidly in-your-face,” Mr. Denk said, demonstrating a very maniacal passage while in the “Concord” Sonata. “It’s also pretty astonishingly unsightly. There is a thing maddening about his sense of humor. Ives is continually thumbing his nose at you in a method.”

But Mr. Denk suggests that Ives’s tenderness, which he illuminates superbly In this particular recording, is underappreciated. “Ives is frequently about things recalled,” he said, “or Recollections or visions fetched from some difficult position.”

He played the harmonically misty passages in the next movement with the “Concord,” where by Ives directs that a bit of wood be pressed over the higher keys to produce a cluster chord. “It doesn’t sense gimmicky at all to me,” Mr. Denk explained. “It’s all blues in The underside. Ives knew the way to use Those people tiny clichéd bits of Americana in a means that all of a sudden will get your intestine. You can’t believe how touching it's.”

Mr. Denk, forty, has been passionate about Ives because his undergraduate days at Oberlin in Ohio, where he carried a double big in piano functionality and chemistry. “My overall double diploma knowledge was to some degree of the continuous freakout of 1 type of A different,” he claimed.

He had been a “really nerdy high school scholar” by using a constrained social existence, he stated. “Ever considering the fact that I had been a kid I planned to head to Oberlin and preferred the liberal arts. Certainly I really get rigorous satisfaction outside of drawing connections between parts and poems and literature and concepts.”

Mr. Denk explained himself to be a “practice maniac,” but his horizons have prolonged considerably beyond the apply area since Oberlin. When nibbling a massive bit of chocolate cream pie at an Upper West Facet diner near the condominium he has rented due to the fact about 1999, Mr. Denk referred to his blog, contacting it “an surprisingly excellent outlet to release tensions of one form or Yet another.” He claimed it had drawn new listeners to his concerts. An avid reader of liberal political weblogs, Mr. Denk desires of creating a classical music Model of Wonkette, he reported, but that might be not easy to do devoid of offending individuals. And he attempts to steer clear of offending persons, he extra, while he did not long ago write-up a rant about plan notes.

Mr. Denk, who phone calls himself “an actual Francophile,” is gentle-spoken but intense, his dialogue peppered with references to numerous “obsessions”: espresso, Ives, Bach, Proust, Baudelaire and Emerson.

He went off on “a Balzac mania” a number of years in the past, he claimed.

“That was a perilous time, and almost everything in everyday life seemed drawn outside of a Balzac novel,” he extra. “I misplaced about three decades of my lifetime to Proust. I’m guaranteed it improved anything, including my playing.

“Sooner or later my supervisor was like, ‘Dude, You should deal with your occupation and receiving your stuff together.’ ” At that point, Mr. Denk claimed, “I had been bringing Proust to conferences.” He extra: “I’m unsure I really experienced a occupation route. I had been just undertaking my Odd issue, which most likely gave the impression of a disastrous nonroute to a lot of the individuals that have been viewing around me. I don't forget some exasperated conferences with my management, Nevertheless they were incredibly affected person and faithful, which I’m insanely grateful for.”

Mr. Denk grew up in Las Cruces, N.M., amongst two brothers, a son of audio-loving nonmusician parents. His father, who's got a doctorate in chemistry, has actually been (at diverse occasions) a Roman Catholic monk plus a director of Laptop or computer science at New Mexico Point out College.

Mr. Denk continues to be hooked on the chili peppers of Las Cruces, he said, seemingly only fifty percent joking: “The red and the green and The full spirituality of chili peppers. It’s nonetheless a large part of my everyday living. When I go house I go to this true dive and obsess in excess of their eco-friendly meat burrito.”

When not on tour, Mr. Denk spends time with his boyfriend, Patrick Posey, a saxophonist as well as director of orchestral things to do and preparing at Juilliard, wherever Mr. Denk been given his doctorate, researching with Herbert Stessin. Mr. Stessin recollects owning been impressed by “the maturity and intensity” of Mr. Denk’s participating in and remembers him as “an extraordinary university student who absorbed things pretty promptly.”

Mr. Denk said he “was in class permanently” until finally “at some time I made a decision to believe in my own instincts.” Now he teaches double-diploma undergraduates for the Bard Higher education Conservatory of Music. The pianist Allegra Chapman, who researched with him, explained he was “worried about quite a bit greater than the notes about the web site, constantly mentioning literary and historic references.”

“Now I attempt to technique songs within a more holistic viewpoint,” she additional. “He is incredibly passionate. He used to bounce around the area and bounce about and wave his arms. It was really enjoyable. He tried to get me to think about the music that has a sense of humor.”

This blend of passion, humor and intellect, so vibrant in both equally Mr. Denk’s enjoying and his creating, is what distinguishes him, according to the violinist Joshua Bell. The 2 have already been normal duo companions because 2004, when they carried out with the Spoleto Competition United states.

“You obtain the mental musicians or people that have on their coronary heart on their own sleeve without having a number of musical imagined,” Mr. Bell reported, “but Jeremy manages to accomplish each, Which’s great. Now we have lots of arguments in rehearsal, and that is the fun component at the same time. The very fact we don’t generally see eye to eye keeps issues clean and would make me problem anything I do.”

Mr. Bell, whose options of repertory are generally additional regular than those of his much more adventurous colleague, mentioned he wasn’t normally an Ives enthusiast: “Having a good deal of contemporary tunes I’m somewhat cautious. Despite Ives, right up until I read Jeremy. He just delivers it alive. He has this sort of a terrific creativity, and nothing at all is done randomly.”

Ives’s piano sonatas, Mr. Denk mentioned, “are in a way like animals that don’t wish to be tamed.”

“Each individual efficiency needs to be so distinct,” he included, a person purpose he was to begin with hesitant to file them. Like Bach, he said, Ives leaves quite a bit to the performer’s creativeness.

A wonderful interpretation of your “Goldberg” Variants at Symphony Area in 2008 discovered Mr. Denk’s profound affinity with Bach. Mr. Denk will complete the do the job and Books one and 2 of Ligeti’s Études at Zankel Corridor on Feb. sixteen.

To keep the “Goldberg” Variations fresh, Mr. Denk is incorporating new fingerings, he stated, “to reactivate the link involving my brain and my fingers After i’m enjoying it.”

“I believe it’s an actual magical put If you have the muscle mass memory,” he extra, “even so the Mind is ahead from the fingers.”

Switching the fingerings is one method to avoid routine, he explained. “I get real pleasure from producing in a very fantastic fingering. It is actually like relearning the piece, and it tends to make you not acquire any Observe as a right.”

The musical philosophy Mr. Denk relates to Bach, Ives and other repertory is probably best summed up in that website submit on system notes: “I’ve never been a major enthusiast of your ‘Picture how revolutionary this piece was when it absolutely was composed’ college of inspiration. For my dollars, it ought to be innovative now. (And it's.) Whatever else the composer might have meant, he or she didn’t want you to definitely Believe, ‘Boy, that have to happen to be interesting back again then.’ The most basic compositional intent, the absolute ur-intent, is that you Enjoy it now, you enable it to be take place now.”

[vsionvry]

Patience, Expression and Appreciation - A Conversation with Turkish Marble Artist Gökçe Tercioglu

After walking the streets of downtown Copenhagen in search of Irish born Turkish artist Gökçe Tercioglu, I discovered her in her studio and exhibition space by a park. Inside was a table of mixed paints, plastic sheeting, and metal trays filled with what looked like water. Along her walls hung what she is best known for: the traditional Turkish art of Ebru or marbling. It is an ancient technique originating from over 800 years ago that Gökçe reimagines to fit her minimalist and modernist aesthetic. These images resemble multicolored ripples of water and mimic waves. Gökçe draws from her multicultural background and surroundings to create her unique pieces.

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Her artworks are a testament to patience, letting go, and enjoying the small moments in life. They hold a deep appreciation of nature, from what inspires the paintings themselves to what they’re actually made of. It was one of the reasons I was excited to speak with her on her creative process and journey as an artist. After aweing at her framed paintings in the studio, I sat down to speak with her about culture, women’s rights, positive energy, and using art as a tool for expression and self-reflection.

RC: Thank you so much for inviting me to your studio! First off, how do I pronounce your name?!

GT: I’m used to people saying it wrong and in different ways [laughs] but it's pronounced “g aw k ch eh”.

RC: Okay perfect, I have the same problem sometimes especially when I move somewhere new. I read that you’ve lived in 7 different countries. That’s a lot!

GT: Having lived in so many countries throughout my life, the world starts to feel tiny sometimes. I was born in Ireland, and have lived in Moscow, Stockholm, Prague, Rhodes, Turkey, and now I’m in Copenhagen, Denmark.

RC: So after living in all those places, what made you settle on Turkish Marble Art?

GT: I've always been into art from a young age and I've tried a lot of different mediums but it was only in the last three years of high school in Turkey that I came across it. I knew about Ebru already, because it's a traditional art technique in Turkey that is a large part of Turkish culture. But I found that we only learned about it as decorative motifs or 2D patterns. So it wasn't very interesting for me to see the same design in different colors. But when I went to Turkey, one of my friends was going to an Ebru workshop and asked if I wanted to join her. I said, 'Sure, why not? Let's give it a try!' [laughs]

RC: So it was purely accidental?

GT: Yes! When I went to the workshop and met the teacher, he quickly became my favorite artist. I feel lucky to know him since he inspired me to pursue this passion. It was his openness to try new things and his approach to teaching that made me feel like he was showing me something new. He allowed me to experiment and told me ‘It's your own world and you can do what you'd like’. It was almost like therapy after school, I visited the workshop every weekend for years!

RC: You’re really lucky to have gotten a teacher that understood that you didn't want to recreate the same images. Do you have a certain personal style that you aim for each time you create something?

GT: At that first workshop I went to, everyone had their own approach to the art, so I learned how to approach this art in a new way. Most of the people in the workshop were retired, so they were doing this as a hobby, which was a different mindset from what I was used to. I was influenced by them because they made me feel that they had experienced life and were doing this art now -

RC: And you were doing it with them!

GT: [laughs] Yes! So you could tell, person to person, that each style was different. What I try to do with mine is to focus on minimizing and modernizing the details by focusing on one color at a time. It lets me focus on the movement and patterns in the paint itself, rather than lots of colors. I also like to use the color blue. [smiles and points at the blue artworks hanging up in her studio].

RC: [laughs] I noticed that!

GT: Blue is my favorite color and my name actually means 'sky blue' and 'sky goddess', so it fits perfectly! Also in this art, blue is the kind of color that you can vividly see every detail in the painting. So for me, the color blue really lets me explore my mind.

RC: When I saw the blue in your paintings, I wondered if you were trying to recreate waves or elements from nature. Is that something that also inspires you?

GT: Yes for sure, the technique is completely organic. The paint is homemade and I bring all the pigments from Turkey. The pigments are basically crushed stones turned into powder or sand [shows some bright colored bottles] This is the concentrated version, it's like powder, which I buy and mix myself without measurements so the paints I make are always different. When I'm painting, I am inspired by nature because I'm closely working with it, which makes me feel like I'm one with nature. So all my paintings are made with natural materials and are a recreation of nature.

RC: It's a full circle kind of cycle…

GT: Exactly! It’s funny because the technique inspires me, but at the same time, I'm inspired by what exists around me. The textures I see on the surface of the water resemble things in real life. It's like looking through a microscope because everything I see actually exists in nature. It just happens to be the kind of things we don't see in our daily lives, especially being surrounded by concrete and buildings.

RC: You’re super lucky to have your studio beside a park then!

GT: Definitely. [chuckles]

RC: This makes me think of it as a therapeutic meditative process.

GT: That's how I feel. My teacher said that the water absorbs your energy, so when I'm nervous, angry, or frustrated, it reflects in my paintings, and I don't like anything I make. For most artists, feeling grief or pain is an inspiration, but for me, feeling happy and energetic is the source of my inspiration. So all of these paintings on the wall here are diaries of when I'm feeling really good.

RC: Art definitely is able to reflect emotion and I think people can tell. What do you hope people take away from your workshops?

GT: So there are two main things I want people to experience when they're at my workshop. This is not just art, but it's a way to develop your personality. I know when I started, if there was a minor detail I didn't like, I'd throw the whole painting away and get quite frustrated. So with my workshops, I really want them to free their minds and understand that they can't control everything.

RC: That's definitely a useful lesson to learn. I imagine this is the kind of art where you can't make alterations - once it's done, it's done. Love it or hate it, it's there. [laughs]

GT: Definitely, another thing I hope to do is create a comfortable space for people to be themselves and explore themselves. I try to get them to relax their mind and realize life is not all that bad: a kind of mental vacation for a day. It can be challenging when I'm not in the mood and have to shake it off. But that's a good lesson too, and I enjoy being around other passionate people.

RC: That's interesting since people come here expecting to learn only one skill and they come away with some big life lessons. [laughs]

GT: [laughs] Exactly! It's linked to another thing I try to show people while they are here; that there are so many things out there that we haven't seen. We should still keep exploring.

RC: And now one technical question, if someone has never heard about Turkish Marble Art. How would you explain it?

GT: I would describe it as a technique that uses water as its canvas. The paint is a mixture of water, earth pigments, and cattle gall. The water we paint on is mixed with a plant substance to make it denser. Its an art technique that stylizes nature: the same way you can't see the same patterns or colors in the sky, you can't make the same thing again in this art. Even if you tried to make it identical, there is no way a painting can be replicated. Marble art has its origins from way back in Asia, a little similar to the Japanese art Suminagashi. The main difference is the choice in materials. I've been doing this art for 7 or 8 years now, and through the years, you learn how to work with water: you learn how to control it and what kind of hand gestures will create different movements and textures.

RC: So this process definitely  involves a lot of experimentation?

GT: Yes! I have a vision in my mind of what I want to create, and I see what color works that day. I usually spend the whole day using the same color and repeating the same gesture to try and achieve an idea. Sometimes it takes a week to get the results I'm looking for. So you have to be really patient, it's not about wanting to make something and creating it. You need to be patient and gentle with water to get it to work with you.

RC: That's a really good takeaway for people today who move so fast; to take it slow, be patient and let go. It feels a little like artistic therapy.

GT: When I look at my paintings, I remember the day and what I was trying to achieve. For many of them, I try to use the traditional tools in a completely new and different way, to the point that you can't tell what tools I was using at all. It's a very different process from other art techniques, where you tend to have an idea and then stick to it. Here, your initial idea changes since you end up being inspired along the way.

RC: So it sounds like your artistic journey has involved lots of innovating and experimentation.

GT: I knew I wanted to pursue art for a very long time, since I was seven and made a booklet about wanting to be a recognized painter. My family has always been huge supporters of me being creative and when I realized I wanted to become an architect after all my travels, I found that I didn't want to let go of this art. So now I’m working on bridging my two interests by designing a building on the water first, and then translating the shapes into an organic technical structure.

RC: That's amazing, I can’t wait to speak to you again once you’ve designed a building! [laughs] On a broader note, what kind of message do you hope to get across to your audience? I feel like part of your message is about learning to take it easy and learning to be patient.

GT: I would say that. It is something I always tell myself as well, but I don’t live in this mindset every day [laughs]. In my daily life, I use my art as a tool to appreciate the small moments, but I do sometimes use art as a tool to express my views, just like with my first exhibition in Turkey. Culture played a big part in what I decided to present. I portrayed women from all kinds of backgrounds and ages to show that we all exist, and all of us should be appreciated. I think art is the best and most peaceful way to communicate with people. They have the chance to look at something and think, before speaking aloud. That exhibition revolved around women and had paintings and nude sculptures of women. For Turkey, my exhibition was considered racy and controversial, even though I feel like women's rights and feminism aren’t political.

RC: That was a very powerful message to share...

GT: That exhibition strongly reflected my inner thoughts and anger in Turkey at that time. I wanted to make my message come across stronger so I created  a sculpture of a strong postered woman covered in wires out of the image of a woman I saw in my marble painting. It was a way to bring the painting alive by making it into a sculpture. And that, for me, was the place of women in society at that point. No matter how strong we were personally, we were being caged up.

RC: I feel like these themes are very timely, because right now there are reports of femicide and gender based violence in Turkey. It feels like you should just copy and paste your exhibition since it's still so relevant.

GT: Exactly! When I had that exhibition in Turkey, I remember talking about it and I could see the faces of some people. They were very intimidated by the topic. I could tell they were thinking: ‘where is she going with this?’. I went with it anyway, and it turned out that people that I would not have expected, really appreciated it. People think themes like these are very political, but they aren’t political to me. It’s about human rights.

RC: I think something nice that you do as an artist, is show a different side of Turkey. Often the negative news that we hear about a place overshadows the other more positive sides. Or we tend to hear only one dimension, and the rest rarely get discussed or celebrated.

GT: I think that's true. Even though I was raised in different countries I can feel the Turkish roots in me, which is what I want to keep alive with this art. It's the most beautiful thing I can teach to others from my culture. We are always talking about Turkish politics and I feel that I don't have enough power to change anything yet, so I can only do my best to make the people around me aware.

[daisyk89-blog]

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[anycontentposter]

Fun winter photo projects for the long, dark days of winter

With the nights and mornings pretty close together for the next few months, and the sun taking some time out to recoup, many photographers head indoors to escape the dark and the rain. Plenty of us are tempted to hang up our cameras until the Spring, with a brief interlude should a decent amount of snow make an appearance.

Don’t be one of those photographers.

Just because bright light and blue skies are a rarer occurrence in the winter months doesn’t mean we have to stop taking pictures. There’s still plenty you can do, provided you're prepared to use some imagination. Here are a few ideas to keep you shooting until the better weather returns.

Still life I used a gold sheet of card from a craft store to send a little warmth back into the subject from the left hand side. The diffused flash was positioned on the right, and contrasting the white light from the flash with the gold light from the reflector emphasizes the warm effect

A good mastery of still life photography should help improve your photography across the board, and the winter months are a very good time to get some practice in. Working with a few objects on the table top with just a single light and a reflector is an ideal way to teach yourself more about lighting, exposure and composition.

If you are new to this area I suggest starting with just an orange and a table lamp, moving the lamp around the orange to see how the direction of the light changes the way the orange looks. Once you’ve done that and looked carefully at the way highlights and shadows control the sense of three dimensions in the image you can move on to everyday objects laying around the house.

Keep things simple by using just one or two objects in your scene, and try lighting with just one source and a couple of reflectors to moderate the shadows.

Here I used a single LED panel at the top of the frame, and a couple of mirror tiles to the left and right of the handle to throw some light back in the opposite direction. A wide aperture created a shallow depth-of-field to draw the eye diagonally up the handle to the point of focus.

The blueberry doesn't need to be sharp for us to know it is a blueberry, and it is used as a counterweight to the main area of interest

Knives, forks and spoons offer interesting shapes and compositional challenges, and natural objects saved from the autumn, like nuts or dried leaves, give you the chance to bring nature into your work. The supermarket is also filled with interesting fruit and vegetables, and home stores and hardware stores stock nice cups, glasses and industrial looking bolts, screws, springs and fascinating sheets of metal/plastic/wood that will make interesting backgrounds.

One of the nice things about still life is that you can take your time and there is usually no rush, so you can look really carefully, try things out and try again when it doesn’t work the first time.

Tips: Work slowly and really look at the effect of the light on your subject Use silver, gold, white and black cards to bounce/block light When used as a reflector, mirrors throw back so much light they can save you having to buy a second flash Macro Planning ahead for your winter shooting can involve collecting interesting items from the garden during the Fall. If you didn't manage to do that don't worry as your local florist will almost certainly thought of it. Here a little light either side is used to demonstrate the three-dimensional qualities of the seed head and the stem, and to lift it from the black-cloth background. I used a pair of hotshoe flash units fired through mini-softboxes attached to an adapter ring

An extension of still life, macro photography will test your ability to see details and to look more closely than usual. Successful macro photography is all about finding hidden textures, patterns and features of everyday objects as well as capturing tiny plants and animals that might otherwise escape our attention.

Macro does require at least some specialist equipment, whether that’s a reversal ring, a coupling ring to mount one lens backwards on another or an actual dedicated macro lens. Using a lens designed for macro will make your life a lot easier and will deliver the best quality without too much effort, but high-quality macro lenses can be costly.

Extension tubes are very affordable, and can be added to a standard lens to help you get a little, or a lot, closer, and a micro adjustment platform for your tripod head can help when it comes to getting accurate focus in the closeup range without having to move the tripod.

Lights don't need to be expensive. This was lit with a small pocket flashlight positioned to make these pasta shells glow in the dark. A sheet of white paper under the lens was enough to throw a touch of light back to reveal some of the details of side of the shells closest to the camera

Cable and remote release devices will help to avoid camera shake with dramatic magnifications and tethering software will allow a bigger preview to ensure anything is perfect before you trip the shutter. How about using the long winter months to teach yourself focus stacking so you can control exactly what is and isn’t sharp in your images?

Tips: Having a dedicated macro lens will make your life easier Use a tripod or support, don’t think you can do this handheld Be aware that depth-of-field is tiny in macro work, so add lots of light if you need small apertures Window portraits Late afternoon light on a winter's day softly passing through a bay window was all that was needed for this portrait. I kept the sitter well back from the window to produce nice soft contrast but still retaining enough to show the shape of her head and features. Using the white balance in Daylight mode shows the coolness of the light and lets us know this is a winter image

It doesn’t matter what time of year it is actually – daylight gliding through a north-facing window will always provide some of the best kind of lighting for natural-looking portraiture. On rainy and overcast days the light levels might be lower but that light will also be softer and more flattering.

Position your subject close to the window if you want more contrast and further away for less, and try turning them 3/4 against the light to get a more dramatic effect. Using a black card on the unlit side of the face can help to deepen shadows if there’s more light than you want bouncing around the room. A net curtain or sheet of thin paper across the window can diffuse the daylight on a sunny day or when you only have south-facing windows to play with.

Positioning the subjects directly in front of a sunny window gives them this stark and very direct frontal lighting. I stood with my back to the window and pulled the shutters across to create the stripes on the groom's jacket. The light on his face is reflected from the white top-side of the shutters.

As he is close to the window the light drops off quite quickly, leaving his friends visible but much darker. This helps to express who is the most important player in the scene, and who are the secondary elements.

Extra diffusion will also cut down the light making it easier to achieve a wide aperture if you want shallow depth-of-field.

Try experimenting with white balance too, so you can create a warm or cool effect whatever the conditions outside.

Tips: Try the sitter at different distances from the window to vary contrast Move your sitter between each end of the window to alter how the light wraps around their face Use net curtains, bubble wrap or paper to diffuse the light even more Home studio

Using quite a small soft light creates strong direction but avoids razor-sharp edges to the shadows. The small light also allows a rapid fall off, so the subject's head is lit more brightly than her body, and positioning the light just slightly behind illuminates the front of her face while leaving the side closest to the camera dark - drawing attention to her closed eyes. A small direct light from behind her lifts her shoulders from the background and helps to create a sense of depth in the picture.

Opera singer Golda Schultz for the BBC Proms Magazine

When there’s not too much natural light coming through the windows, or we need more for smaller apertures and lower ISO settings, it’s a good time to think about alternative light sources. Domestic lights can be very useful for lighting in a home studio but they don’t always deliver enough power, so sometimes we need to look at flash.

There have never been so many flash units available for photographers so we have plenty of choice. Big studio monoblock type studio flash offer the advantage of power and a modeling bulb so we can see what we are doing, but they can feel expensive for the enthusiast. A useful alternative is to use one of the host of hotshoe flash units that are available – either from the manufacturer of your camera or from one of the many independent brands that have sprung up over the last ten or so years.

This is the set-up for the shot above. You can see that I believe in keeping things simple. The lights are Rotolight Annova Pro on the left and the Neo2 on the right. I used a Veydra Mini Prime 35mm T2.2 cinema lens - for a softer feel - on the Panasonic Lumix DC-G9

Modern hotshoe flash units are remarkably powerful, flexible and easy to use, and with auto and TTL modes they can be set to do all the work for you. In manual mode they offer more straight forward options and with wireless control becoming the norm you don’t have to leave the camera position to make your changes – or to check the results of any adjustments you’ve made.

What makes hotshoe style flash units so useful now is the mass of accessories and modifiers that can transform their light to be indistinguishable from that of a professional studio flash. I use adapter clamps so that my flash units can fit inside the softboxes, dishes and snoots that I use with my main studio units, and enjoy the convenience, the shorter set-up time and that they fix in smaller spaces.

Tips: Keep the flash/light source away from the camera for a more three-dimensional effect Bounce light from a white wall/ceiling to create a larger/softer light Use an adapter that allows you to use soft-boxes and accessories with your flash head for a wider range of lighting looks Summing up

I'd find it easier to hold my breath all winter than to keep my lens cap on between the end of November and the middle of February. In fact, shooting in the winter months is exactly as exciting as shooting when the sun shines all day, we just have to think differently and to create shooting situations rather than relying on nature to do it all for us. Indoors we can still enjoy the wonders of natural light but just through a window, and when there's black clouds we can use normal domestic lights or a pop of flash to do the same thing.

All that's required for winter shooting indoors is a little imagination and sometimes a tripod to support those longer shutter speeds. So take a look around your home to see what/who you can aim your camera at, and perhaps take a trip to a florist/hardware store or secondhand shop to see what treasures you can find. The cold weather and shorter days are no excuse - keep on shooting and keep those creative juices flowing until Spring.

Read more about this at dpreview.com

https://coolarticlespinner.com/fun-winter-photo-projects-for-the-long-dark-days-of-winter/

#flash #just #lens #light #macro #more #units #window #winter #your #cameras

[technicalsolutions88]

Google’s Stadia is an impressive piece of engineering to be sure: Delivering high definition, high framerate, low latency video to devices like tablets and phones is an accomplishment in itself. But the game streaming services faces serious challenges if it wants to compete with the likes of Xbox and PlayStation, or even plain old PCs and smartphones.

Here are our nine biggest questions about what the service will be and how it’ll work.

1. What’s the game selection like?

We saw Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (a lot) and Doom: Eternal, and a few other things running on Stadia, but otherwise Google’s presentation was pretty light on details as far as what games exactly we can expect to see on there.

It’s not an easy question to answer, since this isn’t just a question of “all PC games,” or “all games from these 6 publishers.” Stadia requires a game be ported, or partly recoded to fit its new environment — in this case a Linux-powered PC. That’s not unusual, but it isn’t trivial either.

Porting is just part of the job for a major studio like Ubisoft, which regularly publishes on multiple platforms simultaneously, but for a smaller developer or a more specialized game, it’s not so straightforward. Jade Raymond will be in charge of both first-party games just for Stadia as well as developer relations; she said that the team will be “working with external developers to bring all of the bleeding edge Google technology you have seen today available to partner studios big and small.”

What that tells me is that every game that comes to Stadia will require special attention. That’s not a good sign for selection, but it does suggest that anything available on it will run well.

Google scores a custom AMD GPU to power its Stadia cloud gaming hardware

2. What will it cost?

Perhaps the topic Google avoided the most was what the heck the business model is for this whole thing.

Do you pay a subscription fee? Is it part of YouTube or maybe YouTube Red? Do they make money off sales of games after someone plays the instant demo? Is it free for an hour a day? Will it show ads every 15 minutes? Will publishers foot the bill as part of their normal marketing budget? No one knows!

It’s a difficult play because the most obvious way to monetize also limits the product’s exposure. Asking people to subscribe adds a lot of friction to a platform where the entire idea is to get you playing within 5 seconds.

Putting ads in is an easy way to let people jump in and have it be monetized a small amount. You could even advertise the game itself and offer a one-time 10 percent off coupon or something. Then mention that YouTube Red subscribers don’t see ads at all.

Sounds reasonable, but Google didn’t mention anything like this at all. We’ll probably hear more later this year closer to launch, but it’s hard to judge the value of the service when we have no idea what it will cost.

3. What about iOS devices?

Google and Apple are bitter rivals in a lot of ways, but it’s hard to get around the fact that iPhone owners tend to be the most lucrative mobile customers. Yet there were none in the live demo and no availability mentioned for iOS.

Depending on its business model, Google may have locked itself out of the App Store. Apple doesn’t let you essentially run a store within its store (as we have seen in cases like Amazon and Epic) and if that’s part of the Stadia offering, it’s not going to fly.

An app that just lets you play might be a possibility, but since none was mentioned, it’s possible Google is using Stadia as a platform exclusive to draw people to Pixel devices. That kind of puts a limit on the pitch that you can play on devices you already have.

4. What about games you already own?

A big draw of game streaming is to buy a game once and play it anywhere. Sometimes you want to play the big awesome story parts on your 60-inch TV in surround sound, but do a little inventory and quest management on your laptop at the cafe. That’s what systems like Steam Link offer.

Epic Games is taking on Steam with its own digital game store, which includes higher take-home revenue rates for developers.

But Google didn’t mention how its ownership system will work, or whether there would be a way to play games you already own on the service. This is a big consideration for many gamers.

It was mentioned that there would be cross platform play and perhaps even the ability to bring saves to other platforms, but how that would work was left to the imagination. Frankly I’m skeptical.

Letting people show they own a game and giving them access to it is a recipe for scamming and trouble, but not supporting it is missing out on a huge application for the service. Google’s caught between a rock and a hard place here.

5. Can you really convert viewers to players?

This is a bit more of an abstract question, but it comes from the basic idea that people specifically come to YouTube and Twitch to watch games, not play them. Mobile viewership is huge because streams are a great way to kill time on a train or bus ride, or during a break at school. These viewers often don’t want to play at those times, and couldn’t if they did want to!

So the question is, are there really enough people watching gaming content on YouTube who will actually actively switch to playing just like that?

Photo: Maskot / Getty Images

To be fair, the idea of a game trailer that lets you play what you just saw five seconds later is brilliant. I’m 100 percent on board there. But people don’t watch dozens of hours of game trailers a week — they watch famous streamers play Fortnite and PUBG and do speedruns of Dark Souls and Super Mario Bros 1. These audiences are much harder to change into players.

The potential of joining a game with a streamer, or affecting them somehow, or picking up at the spot they left off, to try fighting a boss on your own or seeing how their character controls, is a good one, but making that happen goes far, far beyond the streaming infrastructure Google has created here. It involves rewriting the rules on how games are developed and published. We saw attempts at this from Beam, later acquired by Microsoft, but it never really bloomed.

Streaming is a low-commitment, passive form of entertainment, which is kind of why it’s so popular. Turning that into an active, involved form of entertainment is far from straightforward.

6. How’s the image quality?

Games these days have mind-blowing graphics. I sure had a lot of bad things to say about Anthem, but when it came to looks that game was a showstopper. And part of what made it great were the tiny details in textures and subtle gradations of light that are only just recently possible with advances in shaders, volumetric fog, and so on. Will those details really come through in a stream?

Damn.

Don’t get me wrong. I know a 1080p stream looks decent. But the simple fact is that high-efficiency HD video compression reduces detail in a noticeable way. You just can’t perfectly recreate an image if you have to send it 60 times per second with only a few milliseconds to compress and decompress it. It’s how image compression works.

For some people this won’t be a big deal. They really might not care about the loss of some visual fidelity — the convenience factor may outweigh it by a ton. But there are others for whom it may be distracting, those who have invested in a powerful gaming console or PC that gives them better detail at higher framerates than Stadia can possibly offer.

It’s not apples to apples but Google has to consider these things, especially when the difference is noticeable enough that game developers and publishers start to note that a game is “best experienced locally” or something like that.

7. Will people really game on the go?

I don’t question whether people play games on mobile. That’s one of the biggest businesses in the world. But I’m not sure that people want to play Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey on their iPa… I mean, Pixel Slate. Let alone their smartphone.

Games on phones and tablets are frequently time-killers driven by addictive short-duration game sessions. Even the bigger, more console-like games on mobile usually aim for shorter play sessions. That may be changing in some ways for sure but it’s a consideration, and AAA console games really just aren’t designed for 5-10 minute gaming sessions.

Add to that that you have to carry around what looks like a fairly bulky controller and this becomes less of an option for things like planes, cafes, subway rides, and so on. Even if you did bring it, could you be sure you’ll get the 10 or 20 Mbps you’ll need to get that 60FPS video rate? And don’t say 5G. If anyone says 5G again after the last couple months I’m going to lose it.

Naturally the counterpoint here is Nintendo’s fabulously successful and portable Switch. But the Switch plays both sides, providing a console-like experience on the go that makes sense because of its frictionless game state saving and offline operation. Stadia doesn’t seem to offer anything like that. In some ways it could be more compelling, but it’s a hard sell right now.

Google’s new Stadia game controller has a few tricks up its sleeves

8. How will multiplayer work?

Obviously multiplayer gaming is huge right now and likely will be forever, so the Stadia will for sure support multiplayer one way or another. But multiplayer is also really complicated.

It used to be that someone just picked up the second controller and played Luigi. Now you have friend codes, accounts, user IDs, automatic matchmaking, all kinds of junk. If I want to play The Division 2 with a friend via Stadia, how does that work? Can I use my existing account? How do I log in? Are there IP issues and will the whole rigmarole of the game running in some big server farm set off cheat detectors or send me a security warning email? What if two people want to play a game locally?

Many of the biggest gaming properties in the world are multiplayer focused, and without a very, very clear line on this it’s going to turn a lot of people off. The platform might be great for it — but they have some convincing to do.

9. Stadia?

Branding is hard. Launching a product that aims to reach millions and giving it a name that not only represents it well but isn’t already taken is hard. But that said… Stadia?

I guess the idea is that each player is kind of in a stadium of their own… or that they’re in a stadium where Ninja is playing, and then they can go down to join? Certainly Stadia is more distinctive than stadium and less copyright-fraught than Colosseum or the like. Arena is probably out too.

If only Google already owned something that indicated gaming but was simple, memorable, and fit with its existing “Google ___” set of consumer-focused apps, brands, and services.

Oh well!

from Mobile – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2W4pca6 ORIGINAL CONTENT FROM: https://techcrunch.com/

#Technical Solutions #SEO #Online Earning #Youtube Marketing #Android Developer

[toomanysinks]

The 9 biggest questions about Google’s Stadia game streaming service

Google’s Stadia is an impressive piece of engineering to be sure: Delivering high definition, high framerate, low latency video to devices like tablets and phones is an accomplishment in itself. But the game streaming services faces serious challenges if it wants to compete with the likes of Xbox and PlayStation, or even plain old PCs and smartphones.

Here are our nine biggest questions about what the service will be and how it’ll work.

1. What’s the game selection like?

We saw Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (a lot) and Doom: Eternal, and a few other things running on Stadia, but otherwise Google’s presentation was pretty light on details as far as what games exactly we can expect to see on there.

It’s not an easy question to answer, since this isn’t just a question of “all PC games,” or “all games from these 6 publishers.” Stadia requires a game be ported, or partly recoded to fit its new environment — in this case a Linux-powered PC. That’s not unusual, but it isn’t trivial either.

Porting is just part of the job for a major studio like Ubisoft, which regularly publishes on multiple platforms simultaneously, but for a smaller developer or a more specialized game, it’s not so straightforward. Jade Raymond will be in charge of both first-party games just for Stadia as well as developer relations; she said that the team will be “working with external developers to bring all of the bleeding edge Google technology you have seen today available to partner studios big and small.”

What that tells me is that every game that comes to Stadia will require special attention. That’s not a good sign for selection, but it does suggest that anything available on it will run well.

Google scores a custom AMD GPU to power its Stadia cloud gaming hardware

2. What will it cost?

Perhaps the topic Google avoided the most was what the heck the business model is for this whole thing.

Do you pay a subscription fee? Is it part of YouTube or maybe YouTube Red? Do they make money off sales of games after someone plays the instant demo? Is it free for an hour a day? Will it show ads every 15 minutes? Will publishers foot the bill as part of their normal marketing budget? No one knows!

It’s a difficult play because the most obvious way to monetize also limits the product’s exposure. Asking people to subscribe adds a lot of friction to a platform where the entire idea is to get you playing within 5 seconds.

Putting ads in is an easy way to let people jump in and have it be monetized a small amount. You could even advertise the game itself and offer a one-time 10 percent off coupon or something. Then mention that YouTube Red subscribers don’t see ads at all.

Sounds reasonable, but Google didn’t mention anything like this at all. We’ll probably hear more later this year closer to launch, but it’s hard to judge the value of the service when we have no idea what it will cost.

3. What about iOS devices?

Google and Apple are bitter rivals in a lot of ways, but it’s hard to get around the fact that iPhone owners tend to be the most lucrative mobile customers. Yet there were none in the live demo and no availability mentioned for iOS.

Depending on its business model, Google may have locked itself out of the App Store. Apple doesn’t let you essentially run a store within its store (as we have seen in cases like Amazon and Epic) and if that’s part of the Stadia offering, it’s not going to fly.

An app that just lets you play might be a possibility, but since none was mentioned, it’s possible Google is using Stadia as a platform exclusive to draw people to Pixel devices. That kind of puts a limit on the pitch that you can play on devices you already have.

4. What about games you already own?

A big draw of game streaming is to buy a game once and play it anywhere. Sometimes you want to play the big awesome story parts on your 60-inch TV in surround sound, but do a little inventory and quest management on your laptop at the cafe. That’s what systems like Steam Link offer.

Epic Games is taking on Steam with its own digital game store, which includes higher take-home revenue rates for developers.

But Google didn’t mention how its ownership system will work, or whether there would be a way to play games you already own on the service. This is a big consideration for many gamers.

It was mentioned that there would be cross platform play and perhaps even the ability to bring saves to other platforms, but how that would work was left to the imagination. Frankly I’m skeptical.

Letting people show they own a game and giving them access to it is a recipe for scamming and trouble, but not supporting it is missing out on a huge application for the service. Google’s caught between a rock and a hard place here.

5. Can you really convert viewers to players?

This is a bit more of an abstract question, but it comes from the basic idea that people specifically come to YouTube and Twitch to watch games, not play them. Mobile viewership is huge because streams are a great way to kill time on a train or bus ride, or during a break at school. These viewers often don’t want to play at those times, and couldn’t if they did want to!

So the question is, are there really enough people watching gaming content on YouTube who will actually actively switch to playing just like that?

Photo: Maskot / Getty Images

To be fair, the idea of a game trailer that lets you play what you just saw five seconds later is brilliant. I’m 100 percent on board there. But people don’t watch dozens of hours of game trailers a week — they watch famous streamers play Fortnite and PUBG and do speedruns of Dark Souls and Super Mario Bros 1. These audiences are much harder to change into players.

The potential of joining a game with a streamer, or affecting them somehow, or picking up at the spot they left off, to try fighting a boss on your own or seeing how their character controls, is a good one, but making that happen goes far, far beyond the streaming infrastructure Google has created here. It involves rewriting the rules on how games are developed and published. We saw attempts at this from Beam, later acquired by Microsoft, but it never really bloomed.

Streaming is a low-commitment, passive form of entertainment, which is kind of why it’s so popular. Turning that into an active, involved form of entertainment is far from straightforward.

6. How’s the image quality?

Games these days have mind-blowing graphics. I sure had a lot of bad things to say about Anthem, but when it came to looks that game was a showstopper. And part of what made it great were the tiny details in textures and subtle gradations of light that are only just recently possible with advances in shaders, volumetric fog, and so on. Will those details really come through in a stream?

Damn.

Don’t get me wrong. I know a 1080p stream looks decent. But the simple fact is that high-efficiency HD video compression reduces detail in a noticeable way. You just can’t perfectly recreate an image if you have to send it 60 times per second with only a few milliseconds to compress and decompress it. It’s how image compression works.

For some people this won’t be a big deal. They really might not care about the loss of some visual fidelity — the convenience factor may outweigh it by a ton. But there are others for whom it may be distracting, those who have invested in a powerful gaming console or PC that gives them better detail at higher framerates than Stadia can possibly offer.

It’s not apples to apples but Google has to consider these things, especially when the difference is noticeable enough that game developers and publishers start to note that a game is “best experienced locally” or something like that.

7. Will people really game on the go?

I don’t question whether people play games on mobile. That’s one of the biggest businesses in the world. But I’m not sure that people want to play Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey on their iPa… I mean, Pixel Slate. Let alone their smartphone.

Games on phones and tablets are frequently time-killers driven by addictive short-duration game sessions. Even the bigger, more console-like games on mobile usually aim for shorter play sessions. That may be changing in some ways for sure but it’s a consideration, and AAA console games really just aren’t designed for 5-10 minute gaming sessions.

Add to that that you have to carry around what looks like a fairly bulky controller and this becomes less of an option for things like planes, cafes, subway rides, and so on. Even if you did bring it, could you be sure you’ll get the 10 or 20 Mbps you’ll need to get that 60FPS video rate? And don’t say 5G. If anyone says 5G again after the last couple months I’m going to lose it.

Naturally the counterpoint here is Nintendo’s fabulously successful and portable Switch. But the Switch plays both sides, providing a console-like experience on the go that makes sense because of its frictionless game state saving and offline operation. Stadia doesn’t seem to offer anything like that. In some ways it could be more compelling, but it’s a hard sell right now.

Google’s new Stadia game controller has a few tricks up its sleeves

8. How will multiplayer work?

Obviously multiplayer gaming is huge right now and likely will be forever, so the Stadia will for sure support multiplayer one way or another. But multiplayer is also really complicated.

It used to be that someone just picked up the second controller and played Luigi. Now you have friend codes, accounts, user IDs, automatic matchmaking, all kinds of junk. If I want to play The Division 2 with a friend via Stadia, how does that work? Can I use my existing account? How do I log in? Are there IP issues and will the whole rigmarole of the game running in some big server farm set off cheat detectors or send me a security warning email? What if two people want to play a game locally?

Many of the biggest gaming properties in the world are multiplayer focused, and without a very, very clear line on this it’s going to turn a lot of people off. The platform might be great for it — but they have some convincing to do.

9. Stadia?

Branding is hard. Launching a product that aims to reach millions and giving it a name that not only represents it well but isn’t already taken is hard. But that said… Stadia?

I guess the idea is that each player is kind of in a stadium of their own… or that they’re in a stadium where Ninja is playing, and then they can go down to join? Certainly Stadia is more distinctive than stadium and less copyright-fraught than Colosseum or the like. Arena is probably out too.

If only Google already owned something that indicated gaming but was simple, memorable, and fit with its existing “Google ___” set of consumer-focused apps, brands, and services.

Oh well!

source https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/19/the-9-biggest-questions-about-googles-stadia-game-streaming-service/