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sarasa-cat · 7 months

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Healthy Sustainable Writing Habit November (#NoNaNo)

I am spending time this November on rebooting my fiction writing habit while also keeping other writing (my nonfiction) moving forward too.

These are my "rules," where rules just means "guidelines for keeping a certain mindset towards writing habits" at the front of my mind:

#NoNaNo Rules/Guidelines:

Set aside a period of time most days of the week for working on writing, aiming for 4 to 6 days per week.

Keep track of what I accomplish each day that I spend on writing

Keep track of the when I take days off and what I did instead on those days (rest/breaks are necessary --- I know this but I want to remind people of this fact, especially while NaNo rages on in the background, immediately after Inktober).

Work on anything that is writing related: original fiction and fan fiction (both of which I am trying to reboot), poetry, nonfiction, etc. It all counts. Open up any project and work on it.

ANYTHING that actively pushes a project forward counts as writing. This doesn't necessarily mean "writing more words in the manuscript."

A sampling of activities that "count":

Drafting a scene

Editing and rewriting a scene

Outlining or refining an outline

Writing a poem

Spending 15 minutes writing list of as many different character conflict I can think of --- ideas that might be useful for current or future fiction

Researching information for a story while actively taking notes and organizing those notes for future use

"Interviewing" a character with the hopes of better understanding something about them that sparks story ideas

Drawing maps of settings and making notes about that setting

Creating a moodboard for a character or a conflict or a setting and making notes about how that moodboard captures the feelings of that person, conflict, or place.

Read someone else's writing that I admire and actively pick apart what makes it work so well, and what techniques can I borrow for my own work. Make some notes and give it a quick go on my own writing (or my outlines, etc).

Doing *any* writing exercise that is merely designed to juice up one's creative writing skills

Grabbing a fanfiction prompt and banging out a short one-shot

As for nonfiction writing activities:

Outlining

Actively reading research/reference materials while taking notes that will drive future writing

Drafting some text

Editing and rewriting some text

Creating a mind-map to visualize connections between concepts

etc.

ALL I NEED TO DO EACH DAY IS:

A. Set aside time to do at least one writing activity for at least 20 minutes (more is great but 20 minutes is perfectly fine too) and then DO the activity.

B. Note on my calendar what I did.

C. When I take a day off during November, make a note on my calendar what I did to relax or what I did that was important for life.

The goal here is a healthy, sustainable writing habit that prioritizes ALL aspects of writing.

I'll use the tag #NoNaNo throughout this month to say what I have done.

Feel free to join in and use the same tag too! And feel free to reblog this post if it resonates with you. <3

@zenatness @stealthnoodle -- tagging you both given a recent convo on a post I made last week/weekend. ;)

#NoNaNo #writing #writing challenge #writing habits #writers on tumblr

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oonaluna-art · 5 months

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For the artist asks!

4, 21 & 27

Great blog btw!

Thank you! I'm on my lunch break right now, so I'll go ahead and go through these.

4. "piece you wish got more love?"

I never want to sound un-thankful, but I think all artists can relate to the feeling of disappointment when they spend hours on a piece and it gets little-to-know interaction. It is during these moments that i try to remind myself that the main priority is still drawing for my enjoyment.

I did hope that the cover art for my Our New Hope fanfic would get more interaction after how long I worked on it: https://oonaluna-art.tumblr.com/post/729199741311893504/skinning-the-children-for-a-war-drum-putting-food

Additionally, my OC art is never as popular as fan art. I understand this phenomenon as well, as people are more likely to interact with characters they are familiar with. My mind works the same. However, I can't deny a bit of sadness that my OCs don't get as much interactions: https://oonaluna-art.tumblr.com/post/732373891357491200/inktober-day-27-as-i-drew-caesarions-mom-a-few

21. "what do you think your artstyle would taste like?"

I've never thought of that. I don't tend to associate visuals with specific tastes. Maybe my style would be something caffinated?

27. "do you ever have multiple WIPs going at once?"

Yes! It's pretty common for me to move between several projects at once. Here's a screenshot from my Ipad's procreate app.

Thank you for enjoying my art blog!

Oona

#shaun-d-wane #ask game #artist ask game #long answer #oonaluna art

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goron-king-darunia · 2 years

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Eggtober 11

Tonkotsu Ramen (Featuring Ramen Egg, Enoki Mushrooms, Kikurage/Wood Ear Mushrooms, Chashu Pork, and Green Onion Garnish.) Clip Studio Paint, Gouache Brush, 20 colors, ~1 hour (I forgot to count, I got too into it.) Tonkotsu ramen has to be one of my favorite comfort foods, especially with all the good stuff you can put in it. I’m a sucker for mushrooms if you haven’t noticed. Love them almost as much as I love eggs. Strangely I’m a bit picky about pork, but chashu pork is always so tasty that I’ll just wolf it down. No picking around the fatty bits or picking it apart for fear of gristle. Just shove the little slabs of meat in my mouth and delight in all the flavor. Used the same technique as last time, which means a lot of the detail got covered. But it ALSO means less volleying between colors and a better end product in my opinion. Getting ahead and doing/posting this Eggtober item early today since I keep waking up late and getting to my egg art at midnight. So technically I did an egg, took a break, and then did another instead of going straight into other stuff. Honestly? A delightful way to spend my time. Once again, huge thanks to @quezify. Art is actually starting to be fun again. For the longest time I was so shy about it because none of my stuff measured up to my own expectations. But I’m honestly just... starting to love the process and the product again. The stress of it is just... melting off. I find myself EXCITED to draw a new egg every day. Best Inktober niche ever. All eggs. 😊

#Eggtober 2022 #Tonkotsu Ramen #Ramen Egg #Soft-boiled Egg #my art #unironically I kind of want to cry. I can't remember art being this fun before #not even my personal projects #Eggtober is the best thing ever

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evilspiritweek · 2 months

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Hi! First of all, wanted to say that you are wonderful for still doing some little fun stuff for RC9GN fandom! I can't say how much I appreciate seeing the activity in the tag from you! Thank you.

Now, the reason I'm sending an ask, is I have a few suggestions/ideas that I wondered you might be interested to hear? If not, feel free to ignore this! ;D its totally cool.

You mentioned in the DTIYS post that you might be getting busy since the break is ending, and it got me thinking, maybe DTIYS could be extended for other artists? Like, if you are busy that week, or do not have an idea for DTIYS (or just dont feel like it, we all have those days lol), you can do a sort of 'feature artist for the week' to do a DTIYS drawing? I understand there might be a contacting/scheduling problem with that idea, but you can always just make a post/notice and see if anyone wanted to do this/next week DTIYS.

If you are worried about the complexity of the featured art, you can also make a list of requirement for DTIYS (like, only a single character, no/little background, props, themed and etc), so it would be relatively similar for everyone?

It also will give you an opportunity to participate in DTIYS too rather than just make it, if you wanted to! I kinda feel bad that you seem to do all the work, even if I know that you are doing it from love to this fandom haha.

Another idea I wanted to offer/discuss is the polls! I actually thought poll/episode bracket idea was a fun one, but i know its not the most favorite one. However, maybe it could be sorta implemented in DTIYS? Maybe a poll for a character/theme/episode-related idea for DTIYS people would want to see next week? It doesn't have to be constant polls every week, maybe just occasional if you do not feel particularly inspired that week, it could give you an idea?

I know that you started these new smaller events, because they were less stressful and urgent than prompt week/month, but still fun enough to engage with! If these ideas seems like too much worry/work, I totally get it.

Anyway, I wish you a good day! Thanks for reading.

(also ur art is ridiculously adorable ok bye)

Sorry for the delayed response!! You wrote a lot of good points and I wanted to make sure I addressed them all <3

The post was getting a bit long, so it's under cut. TL;DR I think I'm going to treat this year as a test run and then create a more formal one for next year! That will involve a Google Forum probably(?), but do note that one of the questions will be on a specific date. One problem I've found with events is the time they take place. Not planning on moving Ninjavember's month, but that for example is sandwiched between October/Inktober and December/Holidays/Finals, so it can get busy. Considering this is a new event, I want to give people in the fandom currently the freedom to kinda pick and choose when this might be done.

I think extending the DTIYS event idea to other artists is a great idea! I know that I started this rather suddenly without warning, so people weren't given a sooner notice, but if I do this again, I can perhaps create a forum for people to submit things to or have people submit things here. Nothing super formal (because organizing that might get messy), but that way it can feel a bit more like a community event :D

For this event, I'm kinda sort of just drawing by the week, so if anyone wants to submit stuff now, that's totally fine too! Worst case is we have more than 5 by the end of April, and that's definitely not a bad thing lol

As for complexity of DTIYS prompts, I wanted to keep it varied for fun, but I also think focusing on simple doodles is fine. At least then, it gives people more of chance to focus on their style first rather than figuring out how to draw a car or something (bane of my existence)

I also like your idea for polls, and perhaps if we do a more formal one for this next year, we can implement that.

#NOTE: there's also a possibility this is justa one time thing #the downside of being in a small fandom womp womp #still though. these are fun to organize imo #totally appreciate the thorough message!#feedback is always good!!#long post #anon #ask #rambles

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roseofhybrids · 6 months

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My favorite drawings of 2023

January A poppet character I designed for a Pathfinder game. Strange lil panda-horse guy

February This is the only one I have from February this year, so this clown monster wins by default. He was a DND enemy, hand puppet possessed by a demon.

March A short concept comic featuring Hermes, a ticket taker from a dream world, and Amuri, the ticketless child that he's trying to escort to the main ticket office so she can get back home

April A fancy'll dressed Jacob's ram. Still really happy with this one

May The first of many. The month I finally got around to watching Murder Drones (and then proceeded to watch the first 4 episodes multiple times a day for about 2 weeks). A lot more drawings to pick from for the rest of the months. I don't know what it is about MD and Circus, they just check so many of my favorite trope/element boxes.

June Was really close call between this one and Night Stalker. Night Stalker is definitely more detailed and took more work, but this one is just so nice.

July Nothing like a bit of monster anatomy

August As said before: Nothing like a bit of monster anatomy!

September It's a bit messy and chaotic with the centipede body in the background, but I still love how the color and CYN herself turned out in this one. Especially the hair, probably my favorite part of it.

October Wasn't able to finish Inktober after having my wisdom teeth removed, but of the days I did do, Junji Ito shark is hands down my favorite

November What can I say, it's END MY SUFFERING Uzi

December (for now) The month is 3/4 of the way done, so there's still a chance I might make something in this last week that steals my heart. But at the moment, this one is my favorite. I love how the line art and shading turned out.

Absolute favorite of 2023? September - "Gentle Drone's Tea Break"

There's a reason it's my dashboard header. Little gremlin took ~27 hours, give or take, to complete. For the last couple drawing sessions, I worked on it while listening to these two video essays by Keyan Carlile about the Suite Life of Zack and Cody that combined lasted about 9 hours. The title is a reference to a song from the game Chulip that I listened to at some point while drawing. A strange song from an even stranger game.

#digital art #traditional art #fanart #art #artists on tumblr #2023 #art of 2023 #year end review

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tessathegamefreak · 8 months

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Announcement:

I said before I was just skipping Day 9. Well, now I am putting a halt on Inktober entries for the moment. School has been too busy, and I stressed myself staying past 3am to get multiple assignments done last night. I was so tired I had forgotten to leave my tablet on the charger last night, and I think it'd do me some good to take a break from Inktober.

I will continue when I am feeling better and more secure. For now, I am just focusing on getting my schoolwork done. I will still draw fusion sketches since that's what's helping me keep sane in between class and assignments, but they won't be posted to DA until a later time, so any asks in my inbox asking for info on new, not yet posted to DA OCs will have to wait until I do. Any Inktober days I missed during this time will be posted at a later date, including Day 9 and any others I choose to miss

Thank you for understanding.

#announcment #stressed #i will pause on Inktober #inktober #i have been too preoccupied

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gessshoku · 2 years

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Inktober Day 5, Turf War

Grrrr I did it!! You can obviously see that Day 5 got the most out of me.. hehe. Lately I've been drawing too many depressing stuff so I'm taking a break from that and giving y'all some light hearted stuff </3

This is my Splatoon Sona! When I created them I didn't know the difference between an octoling and a squidling so I accidentally made them a hybrid. (Squids have pointer ears and their suctions under the hair while octolings have rounded ears and their suctions over the hair! I believe that’s correct) I love them very much, they have murdered many, and they will continue to murder many. The hardest part about this piece were the ink splatters, but I did the best I could QuQ

Inktober Day 6, Follow Along

I made these lil guys in the past for fun, I don't have the original file but I recreated it based on memory. I know there were four but I cannot remember the fourths design sadly. It was just a fun doodle.

These were incredibly fun to do!! I honestly didn’t expect myself to not only fit in a call, eating, talking with mom, working out, showering, and then these two pieces today. Like wow.. if only I was this efficient with my homework QuQ

Anyways hope you enjoyed! I’ll be drawing more splatoon because the brainrot and happiness this game brings me is real and my subscription to play online is running out hahaaaaa ima buy it again screw it.

#I’ll buy it when I NEED it #like if a friend wants to play them fucc yeah buddy #let’s kill some bitches #anyways! hope you all had a great day!#if not I hope me sending you many hugs makes it a bit better <:3 #splatoon 3 #splatoon #splatoon art #splatoon sona #turf war #inktober #inktober 2022 #inktober challenge #drawtober 2022 #drawtober #doodle #my ocs #my sona

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lorspolairepeluche · 2 years

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TOBER 2022!

made my own prompts this year, mostly pulled from The Great Ideas: A Syntopicon, but i wrote the sub-prompts (captions? subtitles? i dunno) myself. i chose these ones because they apply the most to the project I’m planning for NaNo in November, but I thought I’d share them here if anyone else needs a kick in the pants to write (or draw, or whatever).

The prompts can absolutely be done in any order, but they’re listed alphabetically here. My usual Tober rule (absolutely not mandatory for anyone else) is that I write the scene by hand in pen (since it was, of course, originally Inktober) before typing it up.

Full list of prompts below the cut.

Animal Animals are animals only when to be human is to be more than an animal.

Beauty Do you find the same things beautiful as I do?

Change I may change, but I stay myself throughout the change.

Courage What makes a hero, if not courage?

Custom Do you take refuge in tradition? Do you resist it? Both?

Desire Wanting and having are not mutually exclusive.

Dialogue When we speak as equals, we may not agree, but we can understand.

Duty What holds you? What must you do, and for whom do you do it?

9. Element A particular thing, a particular state, a particular you.

Emotion My chest fills up with something intangible, so much that I can’t breathe.

Eternity What lasts forever?

Family They’re who you choose. Or maybe they’re who chooses you.

Fate What path are you on?

Good and Evil We choose. We are never not choosing. Aren’t we?

Life and Death Where’s the line between? Is it crossed, or does it cross you?

Love How does the fall happen to you? And do you stay where you fell?

Memory What is real? Make it up. (Nostalgia’s a liar.)

Monarchy Reign and rule and renew and ruin.

Nature Soft leaf, sharp thorn, gentle rain, biting cold, timid beast, and ferocious being.

Pleasure and Pain Do you really want to taste it?

Prophecy See the future. Dread it. Hope for it. Will it be what you saw?

Revolution No indignity lasts forever. Something always cracks, snaps, ignites.

Same and Other Isn’t that you?

Sin Do you feel in your heart when you’ve done something wrong? …Do you feel that?

Soul That part of you inside that whispers for love. Your very center — what’s in it?

Thrall Bowing to a power that is not your own. Bowing so far you break your back under the abuse.

Time It passes you by — did you notice?

Tyranny The iron fist, the whip, the boot and heel used only to subjugate.

Will Act deliberately, of your own choice. Aren’t you free?

Wisdom To know past your knowledge. Deep down, what do you hold true?

[Wildcard!]

(happy tober!!)

#tober #inktober #writing prompts #writeblr #prompts #this was fun to write!#making sure all the individual text bits were lined up? not so much!!

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hikapoi · 1 year

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This is from the Artists Asks List. You can just pick the ones you're interested in answering if this is too much lol.

1, 9, 12, 15, and 25

I've answered #25 over here! (= 1. Do you prefer traditional drawing, or digital?

AHHHHH this is such a good question.. I always want to say a real pencil in my hand is the way to go even after all these years doing digital art but last year I don't think I did any traditional art at all... It honestly makes me so sad that the only time I do any traditional work is during Inktober or Sketchvember.. when the months roll by I just think, "ah darnit another year goes where I only do traditional work as part of a game." Man I just think traditional is when I'm at ease and most relaxed bc I can just feel fluid if I'm drawing for fun, but with digital you can really clean things up to look really good. A part of the reason I enjoy doing the yearly holiday cards when I ACTUALLY SEND ANY is that it's a time I can do special traditional art for my friends to make them really happy. I think I'm good at digital art but am even better with traditional, but I don't think I can say that anymore if I haven't really touched a pencil in recent years. It might be the opposite now, my traditional work lacks the precision and finesse of my digital work but since I have art supplies I PAID for and HAVE TO USE I have a tendency to experiment with traditional media more. I am STILL buying loads of art supplies to this date..

9. How much time do you spend drawing on an average day?

HNGNGHGH it really depends.. Ah, average day? Hmmm when I'm on fire I might say at least 2 hours a day, whether it's to work on a quick doodle or to continue a more time-consuming piece. There are days where I might spend 4-6 hours. The craziest for me for one day might be 8 hours-- with or without breaks in between.

12. Is it okay for people to ask you about your process?

YEAH ABSOLUTELY ALWAYS it's no secret. I always did the circle/stick man base but when I really got into One Punch Man in 2012 or so when Murata-sensei was streaming, I noticed he skipped that step and went straight to defining muscles, limbs, faces, etc. I thought DANG if I could do that I could draw SO MUCH FASTER and SO MUCH MORE!! It was horrible at first and I hated a lot of my art while I was trying out this new thing but now I'd say I'm fairly decent and it does get me to do more art faster.

Anyway! My process is to start with a pose idea. The timing on this varies, but I usually thumbnail with little stick figures until something sticks. If there is one I like I might blow it up or redraw it on a larger scale. I always start with the face shape and eyes first. It helps me get a good idea on how to frame the hair. I cannot feel I am drawing the character until I get this right. I'll then detail until I color. I skip a line art step most of the time because I clean my sketches along the way ((I KNOW, RISA)). If it's a piece I'm serious about being a "best" I might seriously do a line art layer but I usually have trouble because I can never find a comfortable inking pen AND I feel line art makes my art suddenly stiff. I used to never color but I try to do it as much as I can because I have always admired my friends for their bold colors and I told myself that that's my own personal goal to have more colored work.

15. How long does an average piece take you to complete?

If it's a fairly simple/rushed drawing that is semi-refined that can take me about 2-4 hours? I can get a lot done in just 1 hour as well thanks to all those Mob Psycho 100 60 min challenges. But if I just take my time drawing something that I don't particularly hate I'd say 2 hours is a good average. For a more detailed one with backgrounds or groups or lots of detail, that could take me at least 8 hours of actually drawing. The hours spent into references/getting ideas/thinking of a background add to an illustration's turnaround time even if I am not actually moving a pen.

Thank you for your interest in me! I hope maybe I've said something interesting!

These questions are from this art meme if you want to do it too: https://hikapoi.tumblr.com/post/708522112589119488/artist-asks

#art meme #hika talks

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rowdycloudyart · 1 year

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Normalize not finishing art challenges bc they're rlly HARD Studio Ghibli: Watercolors 🎨 (inktober 2021)

additional Kiki & Jiji for my bf ✨☁️

Drawing every day is doable, but making presentable work every single day is SO FRUSTRATING and it quickly becomes unenjoyable... for me at least!

I'm not ashamed to admit that I've never completed an art challenge. Okay, fine maybe a lil bit!! Can we talk about that horrible feeling of letting yourself down because you couldn't stay committed to a prompt? I've participated in a couple of inktober challenges and a 30-day project, the farthest I got was day 15, so halfway through.

I feel guilty for posting on and off but these breaks in between really do make a difference. Here are some things I learned from burnout & art block:

Take a walk when things get overwhelming

Poop out ur shitty drawings to get to the good stuff

Plan ahead!!! there's nothing wrong with a head start, or at least thumbnail/sketch it out

USE REFERENCES FOR EVERYTHING

Get a second opinion (regarding anatomy) take a step back to look at your work, flip it, & ask someone you trust for feedback

Hope this was helpful! Whenever I hop back into posting my art on social media it feels very stressful seeing the follower count fluctuate and likes begin to get lower. I have to remind myself that each post is for my development, and the OG's will always pull through with support, I appreciate you!!

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cathrynworrell · 8 months

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5 obvious mistakes artists with a chronic illness should avoid during Inktober

As someone who’s lived with ME/CFS for 18 years, I’d like to be able to say how well I manage, or pace, my day-to-day activities. However, if I were going to be charitable, I’d say there’s room for improvement there.

What is pacing?

Pacing therapy is a way of balancing periods of rest with periods of physical and mental activity in such a way that you avoid doing more than you’re able to and, therefore, avoid triggering a relapse of your worst symptoms that may take days or weeks to recover from.

Ideally, you keep things moving at a gentle, steady rate, stopping frequently for breaks and not pushing beyond your limits. And that applies even on days when you might feel you could do more, because that could impact on what you’re able to do the following day.

It’s a tricky thing to get right and as human beings, the ‘baseline’ of energy for someone with ME can change over time just to make things more complicated.

If you can master this way of balancing ‘doing’ and ‘resting’ it can also be a really helpful approach to things like making art, especially for daily art challenges like Inktober.

What is Inktober?

For those who aren’t in the know, Inktober is a popular annual art challenge where artists create work with ink during October. They might do this every day or whenever they can, and they might share it on Instagram too.

I’d say that the ideal Inktober approach is to create a drawing each day that is small and/or doesn’t take more than 20 minutes. That way, you can build momentum without the challenge becoming tedious, tiring or too time-consuming for you to continue with.

Can you see the link here between pacing and Inktober? A small amount each day, maybe less than you think you can manage and that way, you can keep going. Gently, steadily.

So, in spite of the impression I seem to have given to a few friends, my approach to pacing my health is hit-and-miss. I tend to overdo things, leaving me depleted for days (or months sometimes) afterwards. And this seems to have spilled over into my creative practice too. I was comforted recently when someone described my tendency to do too much on some days as ‘very human’.

Based on my own ‘human’ mistakes, here are 5 things any artist with a chronic illness like ME/CFS should avoid doing during Inktober.

1. Trying to get a ‘head start’ with your drawings

In September, I started planning my Inktober drawings. I found some prompts that I liked the look of and felt quite excited. But then my internal monkey brain piped up, suggesting that I could start Inktober early and get ‘ahead’.

I mean, that’s not necessarily a terrible idea, but when you let yourself run too far with that, the drawing challenge is no longer enjoyable and starts becoming work or even a chore. It feels like you’re trying to blast through your homework so you can hand it in 2 weeks early instead of taking your time to do your best.

Remember, Inktober is supposed to be fun. You’re making drawings, not performing heart surgery, so just go with the flow. Start when you can and make as many drawings as you want or feel able to.

2. Making more than 1 drawing a day

This is a bit like pacing your energy when you have a chronic illness. You might have days when you feel like you could do more than you’d planned. You could knock out 5 drawings today and again get ‘ahead’ so you can put your feet up for a few days before starting again.

There are 2 things I’d say about this

Making 5 drawings every few days is more likely to leave you feeling like Inktober’s a chore, something to ‘get done’. And after making those 5 drawings, you’re more likely to have dampened your enthusiasm for it.

If you make 5 drawings in 1 day and then no drawings for the next few days, when you next start, you’ll have to try and get back into the swing of the habit. If you do a little every day, something manageable, the momentum will build. This doesn’t mean you’ll work faster or be more prolific, but it will be easier because it’s becoming part of your daily rhythm.

3. Using art materials you’re less comfortable with

This might feel like a great time to experiment with those bottles of acrylic ink that have been sitting on your shelves for the past few months. And maybe it is, which is great but don’t use these new materials as a way to make Inktober harder for yourself.

If you’re trying to make this a habit that creates as little friction as possible in your day, make getting started as easy as possible.

Create a space where you can leave your inks and brushes out without having to do too much cleaning up each day. Or better yet, choose your favourite pen and use that. You know you like it. It’s comfortable to use, and you already have some confidence drawing with it.

Keep in mind this quote I once heard, which I believe is from Tim Ferriss: ‘What would this look like if it were easy?’

4. Expecting a perfect drawing every day

I can relate to the fantasy of imagining a perfect set of inked drawings at the end of October. Every single one a piece of art that you’re proud to share and that everyone will be impressed by.

But you know what? Trying to achieve that is just being hard on yourself. Kind of mean, actually. Like you’re telling yourself that unless every single drawing is something you’d want to frame and hang on your wall, then you’ve failed.

Let’s face it, living with a chronic illness is hard enough. Life’s hard enough full stop, whether you have a chronic illness or not. None of us need this unnecessary extra layer of self-imposed pressure.

Go easy on yourself. Again, this is supposed to be fun. Be curious, play and allow yourself to make 31 rubbish drawings. Maybe you’ll surprise yourself and like a couple of them.

5. Forcing yourself to make 31 drawings

If you can build some gentle momentum in Inktober, maybe you’ll make a drawing every day, which would be nice. But if there are some days you just don’t have the energy or brain power for it, then that’s OK.

Join in if you want, when you want, and when you can, but don’t use Inktober as a stick to beat yourself with. Fun - remember?

No one gets it right all the time

So, like I said earlier, if you can master creating balance between ‘doing’ and resting, between drawing for Inktober and doing other stuff, then maybe you can create some gentle momentum that will see you through 31 days of drawing.

But, and it’s a big ‘but’, I have yet to meet anyone with ME/CFS who’s got pacing down to a fine art. Everyone I know overdoes things sometimes for all kinds of reasons. And sometimes, even without pushing ourselves, we can end up inexplicably drained some days and just need to stop.

It’s the same with Inktober. Maybe you can find the perfect pace to maintain a little bit of drawing every day for the whole month. But if not, that’s OK. You’ll get back to it when you can (and want to). What’s the worst that can happen? You make 1 drawing instead of 31. What’s so bad about that?

#M-E #M.E #Inktober #creative habit #health #pacing #daily drawing #drawing

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frogsandfries · 2 years

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I love migraine days

I got basically none of the diamond painting done that I intended to do today. However!

I did, this evening, finally bridge the gap between the old thumbnails and the new lineworks and I am so grateful to have this script because honestly, that is really me doing the job of lineworking for myself. Now I'm just going through the new lineworks and making sure that they also line up with the script, like I did with the lineworks from the old thumbnails. I'm getting pretty close to the end of the issue, so it's also getting to be time to find my transition to issue three.

Hopefully I'm feeling better tomorrow so I can take a really thorough crack at finishing the diamond painting.

Anyway, while I'm here, I saw an article this evening which reminded me of something I've been wanting to reflect on, but by the time I've had time and it's been on my mind these last few days, I've been too tired to actually think on the topic:

I've felt out of things to watch on YouTube, out of cool, interesting or inspiring podcasts to listen to while I work on my graphic novel. As a result, I've been watching like sketchbook tours and stuff like that. It gets me wishing that I had a YouTube-worthy, vlog-worthy sketchbook, filled with cool, colorful watercolor explorations or experiments in gouache.

I suppose I could definitely make/purchase a sketchbook just for doing like, 100 animal challenges and 100 face challenges and I could buy watercolors and colored pencils (or heck, watercolor pencils) and gouache and stuff and do line of motion studies improve my style and anatomy.

But I don't need Mermay or Inktober to inspire me or tell me what to draw. I already feel quite overwhelmed, creatively speaking, by trying to write and illustrate this absolutely gargantuan graphic novel.

Maybe one day (I doubt it), I'll need something like Mermay to inspire me and get my hand and mind moving. Maybe one day, I'll want to improve my anatomy and my style and filling a sketchbook with page after page of line of action and five-minute studies will be requisite.

Additionally, on the one hand, I don't think anyone really wants to see my linework sketchbooks or maybe it would be more of a Patreon reward kind of thing, since I'm miles ahead in linework of where I am in computing, never even mind posting. At the same time, it would definitely be fun to splash some watercolor down to break up the monotony of plain white pages. It would be fun to use colored gel pens to make my linework, instead of constantly using plain, boring black ink. I could probably even print patterned paper, but I guess I can't lose too much sleep over something that's meant to be utilitarian. The sketchbook is just a sketchbook, it's not an art journal.

And that really boils down my whole philosophy on sketchbooks. For me, sketchbooks make it easier to keep track of things like sticker/pin/patch or even poster ideas, but I'm just not really the type for little stickers or gluing in ephemera or using color in my sketches. I'm not even really comfortable with color media.

I would like to give it a try. I would kinda like to print all this stuff for my next project, but I literally probably have hundreds of pages of like, base pages and stuff to cut and layer. I was thinking about making this, I guess artist journal, the project itself, so I'm honestly not quite sure how that would go--almost might as just well make this sketchbook digitally anyway, right?

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the-silliest-idiot · 4 years

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TPN Inktober day 1: Little bunny Alternate version under cut

Putting Lewis in dumb outfits is a blessing

#some of my drawings actually turned out cool #not this one #it's like there is a pendulum #and it swings between cool and stupid #and occasionally #it'll break and fly straight to WHY #tpn inktober #tpn inktober 2020 #the promised neverland #tpn #tpn demons #tpn lewis #my art

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paint-lady · 3 years

Text

Vamptober 2021 Reflection Week 1

Heres your TLDR folks: I do spooky vampire drawings its fun I have a kofi see you next week

Hiya! For those of you that follow me, you may remember that last inktober I did a weekly reflection on each piece I do. I highly encourage any artist participating in any monthly art challenge to do this for 3 big reasons.

The task of 31 drawings can feel overwhelming- and breaking it down weekly feels much more manageable.

It encourages you to praise and reward yourself for getting this far. I and many of my artist friends are exceptionally critical of ourselves, and these reflections force you to be positive about your own work. Through these challenges I always see tremendous growth in my skills.

If you want to be critical about your work- you can find patterns easier by looking at a collection rather than each individual piece.

The secret 4th reason is that I get to spam your dash with vampire art AGAIN. >:)

I presented myself with a challenge for all of these pieces- to do them all in under 1 hr and 30 minutes. This doesn’t count the amount of time I spend conceptualizing and researching, but I don’t let myself spend too much time on that either. Not that I can. I work about 30-36 hours a week and am attempting to draw a comic at the same time. There aren’t a lot of hours in the day. This time limit challenge was simultaneously to force myself to get looser and trust my instincts AND make sure I clock in on time. Secondly, I aim to do all of these digitally. By hand has dry times. In 2020, if I wanted to spend 4 hours waiting for a piece to dry- I could. Can’t this year. Additionally, I know Clip Studio fairly well, but by no means do I consider myself an expert. By doing this digitally, I am going to improve my literacy with this program.

So, without delay, lets take a look at what I’ve done so far!

Vamptober Day 1: Fangs Out!

1 HR 20 MIN

I am really happy with this piece for a multitude of reasons. The composition is well balanced, drawing your eyes down center to the text, then up to the pearly whites. The hands are so simple, I just went to town with the digital dry ink brush. The nails are so shiny, I love them. There’s this sense of someone else controlling and going to grab them--thats not the smiler’s claws.

I am critical about my shading in some places- namely the tongue. I think it looks phallic. I should have erased it and drawn the other fang. Also, the vein work is a bit too controlled for my liking. I should have taken more time to vary the widths of the veins- so it looks more like the effects of diablerie than cracked porcelain.

Vamptober Day 2: Sweet Embrace

1 HR 10 MIN

To quote a successful local manga artist I met in a comic shop, “Just vibe. Just draw the fun vibes. If you aren’t having fun, what is even the point?” So I did just that.

I definitely was inspired by some of those romance mangas I was eyeing on the shelves of that comic shop. I am really happy with her hair, it looks like it curls so effortlessly. Additionally, it look like it has weight. Hair is heavy. How her hair drapes over her shoulder or across her face feels very accurate. I like how I used the dry ink brush to end the piece, hiding the shadows of their shirt with a “hey this is the end of the drawing.” My favorite quick detail is her hand, gently playing with their hair. I think I could have made it a little bigger, but It was enlightening that I just drew it- and didnt spend 15 minutes looking for a reference or oddly angling my own hand to see how it would look.

I think I needed to be a bit more careful with my layers. The grey from her clip layer is showing between curls, blocking the textured background. That is a small enough fix I should have taken the couple minutes to do it.

Vamptober Day 3: Where The Undead Gather

1 HR 45 MIN

THINBLOOD SAFEHOUSE THINBLOOD SAFEHOUSE THINBLOOD SAFEHOUSE!

Most of you know I’ve been tossing this idea around- perhaps in my vampire posts or on my rp blog as Hazel. But actually visualizing it has proven quite a challenge. Last year I wasn’t even up to the task- I couldn’t capture it the way I wanted to and ended up posting Hazel’s jacket instead.

But this... this feels right. Its cramped. It’s absolutely drenched in saturated red light, hiding any stains and drips. Bright red, like a fucking target. Hiding plain sight has so many advantages... but once you are spotted its game over.

I really feel like I managed to get loose as you look into the background. It feels like the right level of lack of detail. I am very proud of the neon light up top, its the alchemical symbol for thinbloods. The text is also very good, it has the right textures for the atmosphere I’ve created. The side shave with the mark is subtle enough that it is noticed after your eye has glanced around the entire piece. I think there is only one note I’d give myself. I which I had done the bricks a little better. With the neon light illuminating the arch so vibrantly, I should have spent a little more time highlighting textures and perspective.

Vamptober Day 4: Elysium Fashion

2 HOURS

Ever just know you have a masterpiece concept and you know exactly how you want to do it? Thats how I felt about this piece. When I read through the prompts, I considered doing some haute couture fashion... and then it hit me. That line my storyteller used on me to understand the nature of Elysium. Its a place to see and be seen... its a chance to make a statement. And a thinblood walking in with the mark they branded her with on full display- as they commanded her. How dare she walk without shame. How dare she not lower herself to us. CHEFS KISS

My only note for myself is that I need to be careful with compositions. I borrowed a lot of elements from a full page piece from a Catwoman comic for this. And although I have made it my own and am not aiming to monetize this piece, there is a part of me that knows to be cautious with what I claim is mine. I am capable of replicating work without tracing, yet I look at this and see that the lines are still too similar. I do believe that if I let myself continue working on this overnight (I stopped at like 1 am oops) that this would be less of an issue- as I would have continued to add details and textures to my background characters.

Vamptober Day 5: The Very First Bite

1 HR 9 MIN

I streamed this drawing with a friend and it was wonderfully fun. I am really happy with the sense of motion from the ink in the background with the splashes of blood drops. I think I did a good job with the proportions and subtle highlights on black ink. The soft eraser on a separate layer is a godsend.

The parts I am critical about are in two places. The head of the vampire feels a bit too big. Namely the side shave. I think if I had worked the airbrush there and shortened how far the shave goes, the head wouldn’t feel as cartooned and a bit more proportioned. The other spot is where the victim’s hand is going. I definitely knew this when i was drawing- but I couldn’t find a way to properly incorporate it. I commend myself to making my shading consistent to hide this- but i really wish I could’ve gotten that part to feel less “wait...where’d her hand go?”

Vamptober Day 6: Undead Love

1 HR 3 MINUTES

HAZEL AND LISA MY BELOVEDS

I based this piece off of what I drew in 2019 from my first ever chronicle. One of the most striking scenes I have ever played with Hazel was with her girlfriend, Lisa. That night Lisa agreed to drink some of Hazel’s vitae for her to tell her...everything. There’s poison under the layers of comfort.

When I had first drawn this piece, I noticed a lot of odd proportions. Hazel’s head was oddly shaped, Lisa’s arms were weirdly long for her body shape. In this piece, I have mostly remedied those errors. However, there is something about the piece having these sketchy mistakes left in that feels right. Theres a softness to the original sketch that I managed to keep with the updated version- although it feels different. The original definitely looks like they are cuddling after having sex- not just had the most intense discussion about continuing their relationship despite all the trouble they know is going to head their way. Not that they didn’t have sex after this discussion but details. I think I managed to retain their relaxed expressions, though I wish I could have incorporated a bit more detail about the influence of the blood into the piece.

Vamptober Day 7: The Hideout

1 HR 45 MIN

For some reason, I wanted to paint this. I started messing around with the water color brushes and before I knew it, there was color on the page. I think i did a good job capturing the atmosphere of this moment. My friend commented, [paraphrasing here] “Its exactly what I like about VTM, its a layer over our world. It doesn’t take much to peel back the layer and see the story within it.” The last thing you see is the person calling at the bottom right- and you don’t know if thats good or bad for the person watching the sky. I let my viewer form their own story of what is happening here.

I think I had a hard time with the lighting. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how intense of a yellow-green i needed to place on objects and scenery. Ultimately, I returned to the just vibe rules.

Week 1 Reflection:

So that’s 7 pieces. WOO! I did it! While bumping myself up to a full time position AND writing a comic. AND doing commissions. And am somewhat being social...

There’s a part of me that is like when do I mess up and fall behind?

And I’m wrestling on why that feels like such a failure to me. I’ve put so much on my plate, it would not be surprising to fall behind. And is it so bad? Its okay, life is like that. Things come up. I am still trying to wrestle my own brain on I don’t have to do it all. I think giving myself that time limit has extremely helped. if I didn’t have that self discipline, I definitely could have spent hours and hours on each piece and felt overwhelmed. I think being extremely strict with myself about my vitamin and food intake as we head into seasonal depression time is helping. I am very good at hiding the big Sad tm with tons and tons of tasks. The sad can’t get me if I’m constantly busy. I am hoping that as I continue, I will be more at peace with this, and feel less anxious about this inevitable fuck up. Because....what if I manage to pull it off? I know I can. I know I can.

Completely switching gears here and back to technical shit, I notice how much I am utilizing the Dry Ink Brush, the Rough water color brush, and my Tapered Ink Liner. Nothing wrong with finding what works, I am just surprised that this is becoming my go-to tool set after a year of swearing by the “For Effect” Line (it just autocorrects curves). I am noticing how I like to frame things with a lot of rough brush strokes. Some are images I find on open source sites like pixabay, some are my own creations I’ve saved to a personal library of stock images. Right now, I feel as if I am at a crossroads of style. There’s a part that likes the rigid structure, and a part that is absolutely vibing with being lose and unstructured. I can’t wait to see what else I create and how my digital style evolves.

Thank you for reading and supporting through this entire thing! Now here comes the shameless self promotion. If you like my work and want to support me- I have a Ko-Fi! No pressure to donate though! Supporting me can be reblogging my art, sharing it with your friends, or leaving outrageous comments in the tags. I read every single one and cherish it! Thank you all!

Lets have a Fangtastic Week 2 to Vamptober!

#vamptober #vamptober 2021 #stephanie's sketchbook #my art #reflection #long post #inktober #okay to reblog #ko-fi link

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