#happy little tree bob ross style or something
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they are like a pine tree to me...
"veri what does that even mean"
idk tbh but i mean it affectionately
#mog art#artists on tumblr#anthro#dragon#lamarr#monster#happy little tree bob ross style or something#local guy's imagination able to recreate what the sky is supposed to look like despite an evil god taking it away centuries ago#when and where did that info seed get planted in your unconscious there guy#smoking cw#alcohol cw
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Another day, another portal, another object being ejected through that portal.
This one is directed at Forbi, it if it will make it to it.
It's a 18" by 24" canvas painted in the style of Bob Ross, although this one is nowhere near the level of caliber of quality Bob Ross himself was capable of producing.
The painting itself depicts your typical Bob Ross scenery of majestic mountains and happy little trees situated around a lake.
There is no signature on it anywhere. All there is is the image.
@parables-for-days
Forbi is actually hit by it, a quiet huff coming from it as it turns around and sees the painting on the ground. Mountain s and trees, and a lake, it's quite a nice piece. Why would someone give this to it though? Why a painti-
Oh wait, wasn't there that one narrator that kept trying to get it to narrate stories about mountains and trees? Yeah there is one! Perhaps this is from them, if only it could place its mind on their name.
Quietly, Forbi attaches something to it and hangs it in the employee lounge before deciding to go back to where it left off watching its first ever character pause himself.
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THE CELESTIAL JUKEBOX, PRESENT TENSE - 250 SONGS
Again, some of this is personal and sentimental, linked to time and place and experience.
50 Cent, “Many Men (Wish Death)”
100 gecs, “800db cloud”
10,000 Maniacs, “Candy Everybody Wants”
Bryan Adams, “Everything I Do”
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, “Spanish Flea”
America, “Sister Golden Hair”
Julie Andrews, “My Favorite Things”
Animal Collective, “Brother Sport”
Aphex Twin, “Tha”
Fiona Apple, “Extraordinary Machine”
Louis Armstrong, “What a Wonderful World”
Ash, “Shining Light”
Atlantic Starr, “Always”
Atlas Sound, “Washington School”
Autechre, “Vose In”
The B-52s, “Deadbeat Club”
Bananarama, “Cruel Summer”
The Beatles, “All My Loving”
Beck, “Girl”
Belle & Sebastian, “Seymour Stein”
Benoit & Sergio, “Boy Trouble”
Beyoncé, “Countdown”
Bikini Kill, “Alien She”
Bilal, “West Side Girl”
Bjork, “It’s Oh So Quiet”
Black Dice, “Pigs”
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, “Stop”
The Black-Eyed Peas, “Imma Be”
Blast Off Country Style, “Cutie Pie”
Blondie, “Heart of Glass”
The Bloodhound Gang, “Your Only Friends Are Make-Believe”
The Box Tops, “The Letter”
Brainiac, “I Am A Cracked Machine”
Michelle Branch, “Everywhere”
Laura Branigan, “Gloria”
The Breeders, “Off You”
Danny Brown, “Gremlins”
James Brown, “Get Up I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine”
Jackson Browne, “Somebody’s Baby”
Vanessa Carlton, “A Thousand Miles”
Harry Chapin, “Cat’s in the Cradle”
Tracy Chapman, “Fast Car”
The Carpenters, “Yesterday Once More”
Julian Casablancas and the Voidz, “Human Sadness”
The Chemical Brothers, “Free Yourself”
Chixdiggit!, “My Restaurant”
Cibo Matto, “Sunday, Pt. 1”
Ciara feat. Missy Elliott, “One, Two Step”
Clipse, “Dirty Money”
Jim Croce, “Operator”
Crosby, Stills, and Nash, “You Don’t Have To Cry”
Christopher Cross, “Ride Like the Wind”
Cryptacize, “Mythomania”
Crystal Castles, “Air War”
Culture Club, “Karma Chameleon”
Terrence Trent D’Arby, “Sign Your Name”
Daft Punk, “Around the World”
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, “Hold Tight”
Dead Kennedys, “Kill the Poor”
DeBarge, “The Rhythm of the Night”
Deerhoof, “+81”
Deerhunter, ���Octet”
Depeche Mode, “Personal Jesus”
Dial, “Helium”
The Diplomats, “Dipset Anthem”
DMX, “Stop Being Greedy”
The Doobie Brothers, “Black Water”
Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg, “Nuthin’ But a G Thang”
The-Dream, “Love King”
Duran Duran, “Hungry Like The Wolf”
Bob Dylan, “Positively 4th Street”
The Eagles, “Lyin’ Eyes”
Eat Skull, “Cooking a Way to be Happy”
Elastica, “Connection”
The Everly Brothers, “All I Have to Do is Dream”
The Ben Folds Five, “The Battle of Who Could Care Less”
Eleanor Friedberger, “Stare at the Sun”
Eminem feat. Dido, “Stan”
Brian Eno, “Cindy Tells Me”
Eurythmics, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”
Extreme, “More Than Words”
The Fall, “Glam-Racket”
Roberta Flack, “Killing Me Softly With His Song”
Flipper, “Ha Ha Ha”
Dan Fogelberg, “Longer”
The Free Design, “The Proper Ornaments”
Fur, “Devil to the Lamb”
Garbage, “Only Happy When It Rains”
Judy Garland, “Over the Rainbow”
Kevin Gates, “Paper Chasers”
Ghostface Killah, “Shakey Dog”
Freddie Gibbs, “20 Karat Jesus”
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, “The Dead Flag Blues”
Gorillaz feat. De La Soul, “Feel Good Inc.”
Go Sailor, “I’m Still Crying”
Granddaddy, “A.M. 180”
Colleen Green, “I Want to Grow Up”
Green Day, “Basket Case”
Grimes, “REALITi”
Gucci Mane, “Break Ya Self (Brrrussia version)”
Guided By Voices, “Teenage FBI”
Harvey Danger, “Flagpole Sitta”
Helium, “XXX”
Keri Hilson, “Pretty Girl Rock”
Hole, “Malibu”
The Hollies, “All I Need Is The Air That I Breathe”
Michael Jackson, “Rock With You”
Jay-Z, “Hard Knock Life”
Henry Jacobs, “Guitar Lesson”
Jawbreaker, “Fireman”
Jeremih, “Oui”
Jewel, “Standing Still”
Jimmy Eat World, “Sweetness”
Billy Joel, “Uptown Girl”
Scott Joplin, “The Entertainer”
Journey, “Don’t Stop Believin’”
Juelz Santana, “Mixin’ up the Medicine”
R. Kelly feat. T.I. & T-Pain, “I’m a Flirt (Remix)”
Kool and the Gang, “Celebration”
Lana Del Rey, “Off to the Races”
Lagwagon, “May 16”
The Libertines, “Horror Show”
Limp Bizkit, “Re-Arranged”
Lindstrom, “Where You Go I Go Too”
Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, “Lost in Emotion”
Lit, “My Own Worst Enemy”
The Lonely Island feat. T-Pain, “I’m on a Boat”
Lotus Plaza, “What Grows?”
Lower Dens, “Candy”
Courtney Love, “I’ll Do Anything”
Love As Laughter, “Idol Worship”
M.I.A, “Bamboo Banga”
Madonna, “Hung Up”
Madlib, “Mystic Bounce”
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, “Ramp of Death”
The Mamas and the Papas, “California Dreamin’”
John Mayer, “New Light”
Meek Mill, “Dreams and Nightmares Intro”
Men at Work, “Safety Dance”
George Michael, “Faith”
The Modern Lovers, “I’m Straight”
Modest Mouse, “Heart Cooks Brain”
The Moldy Peaches, “Nothing Came Out”
Chris Montez, “The More I See You”
Alanis Morissette, “Head Over Feet”
Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat, “Lucky”
MXPX, “Party, My House, Be There”
My Bloody Valentine, “You Never Should”
Nas, “The World Is Yours”
Johnny Nash, “I Can See Clearly Now”
Neu!, “Hallogallo”
New Order, “Subculture”
New Pornographers, “The Laws Have Changed”
Wayne Newton, “Danke Schoen”
Harry Nilsson, “Jump into the Fire”
Nine Inch Nails, “Wish”
Nirvana, “About a Girl”
The Notorious B.I.G., “Warning”
Maura O’Connell, “Summerfly”
The Orb, “Little Fluffy Clouds”
Panda Bear, “Mr Noah”
Pavement, “Harness Your Hopes (BBC Evening Session)”
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)”
Liz Phair, “Shane”
Pinhead Gunpowder, “I Am An Elephant”
The Platters, “Only You (And You Alone)”
The Pointer Sisters, “Jump”
Michael Praetorius, “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen”
Elvis Presley, “A Little Less Conversation”
Primal Scream, “Keep Your Dreams”
The Prodigy, “Breathe”
Propaghandi, “Anti-Manifesto”
Brian Protheroe, “Pinball”
Psychic Graveyard, “No”
Public Enemy, “Fight The Power”
Aileen Quinn, “Tomorrow”
Radiohead, “A Wolf at the Door”
Gerry Rafferty, “Right Down the Line”
Bonnie Raitt, “Something to Talk About”
The Ramones, “Chain Saw”
Otis Redding, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, “In Motion”
Lou Reed and Metallica, “Junior Dad”
Rihanna feat. Jay-Z, “Umbrella”
Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, “Islands in the Stream”
The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil”
Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram, “Somewhere Out There”
Rosemary Krust, “Private Amber”
Diana Ross, “Theme From Mahogany”
Roxy Music, “More Than This”
A Savage, “Eyeballs”
The Shangri-Las, “Leader of the Pack”
Shanice, “I Love Your Smile”
Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”
Sightings, “Yellow”
The Silver Jews, “Blue Arrangements”
Alan Silvestri, “The Back to the Future theme”
Paul Simon, “Kodachrome”
Ashlee Simpson, “Pieces of Me”
Slade, “Cum On Feel the Noize”
The Smashing Pumpkins, “Here’s to the Atom Bomb (New Wave version)”
The Soft Pink Truth, “Do They Owe Us A Living?”
Sonic Youth, “Jams Run Free”
Jordan Sparks and Chris Brown, “No Air”
Spoon, “The Mystery Zone”
Starving Weirdos, “Land Lines”
Stereolab, “Plastic Mile”
The Strokes, “12:51”
Swell Maps, “Let’s Build A Car”
Taylor Swift, “Style”
Stylophonic, “R U Experienced”
Jazmine Sullivan, “Mascara”
Suicidal Tendencies, “Institutionalized”
Taco, “Puttin’ on the Ritz”
James Taylor, “You’ve Got a Friend”
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”
Throwing Muses, “Not Too Soon”
TLC, “Baby-Baby-Baby”
Tortoise, “Djed”
The Toys, “A Lover’s Concerto”
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, “Summer Nights”
A Tribe Called Quest, “Can I Kick It?”
UB40, “Red Red Wine”
Joe Walsh, “Life’s Been Good”
Scott Weiland, “Paralysis”
Steely Dan, “Do It Again”
Stiff Little Fingers, “Suspect Device”
Stylophonic, “RU Experienced?”
T.I., “What You Know”
Mary Timony, “Blood Tree”
that dog., “I’m Gonna See You”
The Tymes, “So Much In Love”
Ultimate Painting, “Out in the Cold”
The Unicorns, “Child Star”
The Velvet Underground, “The Gift”
Waka Flocka Flame, “Hard in da Paint”
Ween, “Even If You Don’t”
Weezer, “Endless Bummer”
Kanye West, “Devil in a New Dress (G.O.O.D. Fridays version)”
WHAM!, “Wake Me Up (Before You Go-Go)”
White Hassle, “Oh, What a Feeling”
Matthew Wilder, “Break My Stride”
Bill Withers, “Lean on Me”
Wolf Eyes, “Human Animal”
Stevie Wonder, “My Cherie Amour”
Wye Oak, “Siamese”
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Maps”
Yo La Tengo, “My Heart’s Reflection”
Zaimph, “Removing Bits of History”
The Zombies, “Time of the Season”
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Boy howdy I do love the Bad Batch
Howdy ya'll, so I recently got a bunch of asks/headcannons from the ingenious @burntoutwizard ; These are all wonderful thoughts that I definitely had a lot of fun answering.
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The group is very bored when not on a mission, usually it's back to back action, but when they do get a moment to relax, it's a very long moment. They all get rather stir crazy, but luckily they've picked up a few things to keep them from losing it.
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Tech:
He got into music because he gets quite ancy in silence. He likes to talk, but he only likes doing so if he knows his brothers are paying attention. He likes to hum or tap to a beat, so his brothers surprised him one day.
Crosshair got him a keyboard that they definitely have jam sessions with. Crosshair has fast hands and learned sheet music for Tech. Hunter got him a trumpet, he honestly wishes he didn't. (I mean, have you heard a trumpet??) but Tech had a knack for brass instuments. Hunter tried playing it once but he couldn't buzz his lips, but he's fine just listening. Wrecker got Tech a drumset.
They're only allowed to play when on a planet so the other two can leave. Tech and Wrecker can be found singing along to whatever song is playing on the radio. Due to this, Tech is also the only brother that knows Wrecker has a voice as beautiful as Christopher Jackson's. As for composing his own music, he's written some songs for Wrecker, when composing sheet music, he gets very sucked in to the music realm. So do not disturb him, he'll be very upset at you for disturbing his genius.
Wrecker:
Wrecker loves nature, especially flowers, little bugs and animals. One day he was angry and stomping around, he punched a tree and down it went. He felt so bad. He was sitting there sobbing over the tree he killed for hours. Crosshair found him and was amused until he saw how distraught Wrecker was. So Crosshair told him to carve the trunk into a bunch of animals in hope to get him to stop crying. Wrecker's face lit up so fast. He started carving and can make some pretty impressive works of art. They'll go to planets in search of fallen trees Wrecker can give life to again.
His wooden figure collection got so big they were running out of room to put them, so they go to outer rim planets and sell them. Hunter has a few of his drawing for sale too, they can't get Crosshair to sell his paintings though. Wrecker's carvings are honest where a majority of their credits come from. When he has wood and a few hours to kill, it's the most quiet and focused you'll ever see him.
Crosshair:
Crosshair has had his hobby much longer than any of his brothers have had theirs. When growing up on Kamino, he was always laying down, he never wanted to do anything. But one day 99 and his brothers introduced him to paints. He was hooked instantly. He didn't have to leave his bed and could create a whole new world before his eyes. They all loved seeing Crosshair doing something other than lay around
His paintings definitely aren't a Bob Ross. Crosshair has a darker style. But they make him happy. A lot of his pieces are abstract, Wrecker teased him once about not being able to 'actually' paint, so out of spite Crosshair painted all of them (it's still in Wrecker's room to this day). Though he knows he's good, he doesn't want to share his art, he rarely does with brothers. Mainly because unlike being a sniper, you're either good or your not, art is so much more complicated.
Hunter:
The Bad Batch all have a deep hatred (and fear) of needles. Hunter figured out if he has a pencil to scribble on while getting the shot he can manage. He had a bunch paper with scribbles gathering up. Crosshair was walking around their room one day and found them. Hunter found him on the floor with all the drawings spread around him. Hunter saw how Crosshair's face lit up when he looked at his brother's art.
So Hunter learned to draw. He'd rather spend his time doing something else, but his brother was brought so much happiness when looking at his drawings. Over time, Hunter grew fond of drawing, and he got good at it. He doesn't like to draw people, though he can. He perfers to draw animals and landscapes. He finds them very relaxing. Nowadays, Hunter draws on his datapad. He has hundreds of little drawings.
He doesn't like leaving his stuff out, he's just the slightest bit of a neat freak. But Hunter will purposely leave it out and leave with the boys if Crosshair doesn't want to come, he knows Crosshair will sneak into Hunter's room and look at his brother's newest creations.
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Kindness is a lost art, which can be difficult to find.
He was mean, and he was loud, screaming and scaring some of the toughest men around..
He spent 20 years in the Air Force, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, retiring with the rank of master sergeant.
"I was the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, the guy who makes you make your bed, the guy who screams at you for being late to work," he told a reporter in an interview with The Orlando Sentinel.
That was his job, requiring him "to be a mean, tough person. And I was fed up with it. I promised myself that if I ever got away from it, it wasn't going to be that way anymore."
There was another side of him, not many knew while he was in the Air Force - a nicer, kinder, gentler side.
He was born on October 29, 1942. And, when he was younger, he actually enjoyed caring for injured animals.
So, when he retired from the Air Force, he said he didn't want to be the mean guy anymore, and he vowed never to scream again.
In 1983, he accepted an unpaid job at the PBS station WIPB in Muncie, Indiana, as the host of a simple, painting show.
He quickly gained a following.
Instead of planes, he envisioned beautiful birds flying in the horizon. Instead of yelling at recruits, he learned how to talk gently in a soothing voice to the animals and the trees, "happy little trees," he called them.
Rather than screaming at recruits for making mistakes, he instead just said, it's okay, let's just call them "happy little accidents" and make the most out it.
And, his weapon of choice became . . . a paintbrush, which he used for 11 seasons on his PBS show, "The Joy of Painting." His name was Bob Ross.
"Bob Ross, the Air Force sergeant-turned-painter . . . rose to public media fame . . . with his TV show 'The Joy of Painting' . . . Ross became known for his hushed, soothing tones, big bushy hair, vivid landscapes and 'happy little trees", according to NPR.
"Ross' how-to painting show . . . was first broadcast on public television in 1983 and ended in 1994. Over the course of the show's 403 episodes, Ross completed over 1,000 paintings, all of them landscapes," according to CNN.
"His signature outfit -- a button-down or chambray shirt neatly tucked into blue jeans -- was perhaps at odds with his slightly unkempt beard and gigantic perm," according to CNN. "Yet the perm -- a cost saving measure to avoid haircuts -- cemented his persona to the point that even once he grew to despise it, he could no longer get rid of it. It had become the logo of his own company."
"Ross died from cancer in 1995 at age 52. But the popularity of this quirky pop icon continues to soar, among fans old and new," according to NPR.
"There's no big secret to this enduring popularity: It's just hard to stop watching a Bob Ross show," said CNN. "Try it. His soothing voice and enchanting delivery seems to transcend the act of painting."
"Like a Mr. Rogers with a palette, Ross whispers in hushed tones, painting in 'a happy little tree' here and a 'happy little cloud' there. For the frazzled viewer, his style is as soothing as warm milk and cookies," wrote Linda Shrieves of The Orlando Sentinel.
"Little kids starting at like 4, all the way to grandmas and grandpas and every ethnicity, you know, every state. It's everybody," Elizabeth Bracey, who worked with Bob Ross, Inc. said. " "Everybody loves him, [he] resonates with [everybody] in some way."
His popularity is evidenced in the many fan letters he received, which are now at the Smithsonian, according to the New York Times. “These letters help reveal the significant impact Ross has had on diverse individuals and communities, helping them to express and feel better about themselves,” said Eric Jentsch, the entertainment and sports curator for the National Museum of American History.
"I don't intimidate anyone," he said. "Instead, I try to get people to believe in themselves. I tell people, 'You can do this.' And they write back and say, 'You were right. I can do this. And now I believe I can do anything.'"
His kindness not only translated on his show, but also in his everyday life, to all living things.
He said, “I guess I’m a little weird. I like to talk to trees and animals. That’s okay though; I have more fun than most people.”
When he said he talked to the trees and the critters, he actually did, helping a variety of critters he was trying to help rehabilitate, such as birds with broken wings, orphaned baby squirrels, including an epileptic squirrel named "Squirrely Wirrelly Brown" (which was given 6 months to live by a veterinarian, but with Ross' care, Squirrely Wirrelly lived 4 to 5 years more.)
“If we’re going to have animals around we all have to be concerned about them and take care of them,” he said.
But, Ross' legacy was never just his paintings, his show, or his hairstyle, it was his kindness, which showed in each program and each stroke of his paintbrush, something sorely lacking in today's world.
His easygoing "pep talks", which some considered philosophical, bring comfort, ease, and sometimes understanding in even today's busy, hectic environment.
Fans remember his homespun sayings, such as:
“The secret to doing anything is believing that you can do it. Anything that you believe you can do strong enough, you can do. Anything. As long as you believe.”
“Don’t forget to tell these special people in your life just how special they are to you.”
He also had a sense of humor, which was evident when he said, "We want happy paintings. Happy paintings. If you want sad things, watch the news” or “That’s a crooked tree. We’ll send him to Washington.”
One of his most memorable sayings is, if there is something you don't like, you have the power to change it, like a painting on canvas, transforming something you don't like into something you do like...say, a bird, or, a happy little tree.
NPR notes that "one that pops up often is from an episode that Ross taped in 1992, after his wife, Jane, died from cancer. In the episode, he's painting a scene with a lake resting between two majestic mountains. He loads his brush up with a dark mixture of paint and starts to dab it all across the bottom of the mountains.
"'Don't worry,' he tells viewers, 'I'm only adding this dark for contrast.'
"Gotta have dark. Gotta have opposites, dark and light, light and dark, continually in painting. If you have light on light, you have nothing. If you have dark on dark, you basically have nothing,' he practically whispers, his brush tapping rhythmically on the canvas. 'It's like in life. Gotta have a little sadness once in a while so you know when the good times come."
He looks at the camera and quietly says, "I'm waiting on the good times now."
The Jon S. Randal Peace Page
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Hello!!
So in light of Phil’s newest video (the Bob Ross Painting tutorial festive edition) I figured it would be fun to share some of the things I’ve learned when learning how to oil paint over the past year.
(Note: i swear I’m not trying to be mean I love Phil with my whole heart and I think he tried his very best. But that being said, I cringed the whole time I watched it because I couldn’t get over the tiny details of things he could’ve done differently to make the painting less of a happy accident)
Not in any particular order, but I’ve sectioned it into things petaining to supplies and technique.
Supplies:
1. Buy good paint thinner. Lots of it (I’ve spilt it on a rug, myself, a table, etc, and trust me that scent is HARD to remove)
2. Wear something you don’t care about to paint in. I have a sweatshirt specifically for oil painting days because I know I’m going to make a mess.
3. Invest in cheap paper towels or set aside an old towel you don’t use anymore for your paint excess. Trust me on this.
4. When you first start painting, you’re going to think that those little tubes of oil paint are only going to last you one, maybe two paintings. You will use too much at once thinking you are doing yourself a favor so you don’t have to keep refilling the palate. You will be wrong. As long as you’ve prepped the canvas and it’s nice and Moist™️ I swear that a little paint will generally go a long way.
5. Gesso is fancy and expensive but I’ve never found myself in a bind without it, so as long as you buy enough titanium white and wet your brush with a tiny bit of thinner first, your canvas prep will be *chefs kiss*
6. BUY. GOOD. BRUSHES.
7. SERIOUSLY.
8. Full disclosure, I acrylic painted for about a year and a half before I decided to try oil painting and I thought I’d be clever and use my all purpose brushes, which is fine in a bind, but they are very. Very soft. And soft.... does not cut it with oil painting. I have since bought stiffer brushes and they are my favorite things. So if in doubt and you’re buying supplies for the first time, I recommend Master’s Touch brand, which are generally not very expensive but good quality for the money spent.
9. Probably less important if you’re patient and willing to deal with it, but a steady easel does wonders for your state of mind when painting. Not having to hold onto the edge of the painting to keep it steady makes it much easier and more relaxing to paint. The downside is these are expensive af so I do not know the comfort of this and live in fear that my easel will fall over at literally any minute.
10. Save your floor! If you don’t have a floor that’s easy to mop like I do, make sure the surrounding area is covered because oil paint will splatter on the floor like you wouldn’t believe.
Technique:
(I’m not an expert clearly, so this is just things that help me as an amateur who is only doing this as a sort of therapy exercise. For serious advice pls pls reach out to someone who knows wtf they’re doing bc that is not me)
1. Watch tutorials. Before, so you know what to expect. During, so you have a point of reference. And after, to see where you went wrong and how you can improve. Bob Ross is of course fantastic, and I also like to watch MazArtStudio on YouTube, as she does some really beautiful landscape tutorials.
2. Everyone does something different with their technique, so figure out what works for you. Try different brushes and different styles, different types of paintings (I stick to landscapes because there’s more blending and I suck at doing any sort of precision work) so just try different things and find something that vibes with you.
3. Be careful how you hold brushes and knives. It’s easy to make something look messy if you’re holding the brush at a more narrow angle to the canvas, so if you’re following a tutorial step by step, pay close attention to how they hold their brushes and knives. I swear it helps.
4. The palate knife. The heckin palate knife. May or may not be your best friend. Definitely needs the devil beat out of it on principle alone. Bob explains it a little bit a more detailed tutorial on how to use that specific knife is better if it’s your first time trying to use it. My best personal advice is give yourself plenty of room on your palate to spread the paint, make sure it’s t h i n and scrape just a little roll onto the edge. Don’t just scoop up some paint and try to flatten it on the canvas: that probably won’t work. It’s frustrating and annoying but eventually you’ll get a feel for it and it might make it easier to use and handle.
5. The sky is where you’ll start generally, and I like to take my colors and paint in figure-8 motions, especially when I start blending a sunset or something together. It just looks nice and it’s an easy way to make the painting look less flat (in my amateur opinion)
6. Clouds are the worst in my opinion, and I suck at them. However, they’re pretty so if you’re going to do them, I find it easier to use a rounded brush and make more whimsical, round clouds (especially if I’m not striving for hyper realism)
7. Water is my favorite thing to do because it’s just... so nice. When I paint something I almost always have water in it, but be not afraid!! Water is not always blue!! I always take whatever color I have on top for the sky, drop to the bottom of the canvas, and paint from mid-canvas to the bottom in even, vertical strokes. So if you’re doing a sunset and you have yellow in the very center at the top, drop it down and do vertical strokes of that same color at the bottom. After you’ve copied the top to the bottom in vertical strokes (the direction of the strokes is important) take your (clean, and slightly damp with thinner if you’re me and have no patience) brush and blend the colors in even, horizontal, side to side, strokes. It makes the water look like it’s moving and it’s just. I love it. (Also, I like to go back and dab a brush in a little bit of white and do some white spots randomly through the water and blend that the same way, just to look more like reflection of the sun)
8. Trees!!!! Tress can be hard!!! But don’t lose hope, it’s fine, everything is fine. My best advice with trees is probably use a thin brush to make a line where you want your tree, then go back and add the limbs and leaves with a fan brush. I find it easier to start out from the top and hold the fan so that it’s vertical, and as soon as your tree starts getting thicker, flip it so it’s horizontal and just dab the brush against the canvas from side to side on the line (I don’t know how to describe it the way I do it but I do some variation of what Bob does, just less pretty.)
9. Not really a technique just a pet peeve, but if you’re giving a painting to someone or you’re hanging it up, and it’s a stretched canvas (meaning there’s canvas on the edges too) please please PLEASE paint the edges. I hate when I forget that and I hang something up and realize that the edges are white with very noticeable paint at the very edge. So do yourself a service and do that, especially if you’re someone who’s easily bothered by details like that.
And I guess that’s it from me!! I’ve only ever painted landscapes so I have no advice for portraits or anything else. Also, like I said, I’m not a professional, I’ve never taken a single art class, so take my opinions with a grain of salt because I’m really just shouting into the void here.
To prove how not a professional I am and also to flex that I indeed do watch Bob Ross tutorials, here’s some of the things I’ve painted, from oldest to most recent.
As you can see..... I do not qualify as someone to give advice, so these are just my opinions on what I think works for me so feel free to disregard this as you will lmao.
Anyway, subscribe to AmazingPhil and may all your holiday festivities be wonderful and bright ✨✨
#amazingphil#phil#phandom#sort of#not really but inspired by#ily phil live your artist dreams bb#art#lmao jk#unless#also i dont fuck with mountains in any serious capacity so i have no advice there#yeet these tips off into the sunset if you are a serious artist and i am sorry for even offending you by posting it
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please share more headcanons of cody tormenting the seeds i love them and her so much
here’s just small snapshots of Her Royal Heinousness
- - -
“Theoretically–and I mean, really, just hear me out, bud–wouldn’t a forced confession not really be a confession? I mean, if you did it right, you could have me confess to turning into a magnificently enormous cockroach and under pain of torture or death, I would have to say that it’s totally legitimate.”“…”“So confessing to a sin I haven’t even committed, or I dunno, theoretically committed seems kinda baseless. Again, like being a giant cockroach.”
“Are you using Metamorphosis as a metaphor for your sins?”
“No– Oh my god, that’s great. Say that five times fast, though! Metamorphosis metaphor metamorphosis metaphor metmamorph– fuck. Wait let me try that again.”
“Deputy. Please.”
- - -
“You ever think about trying something other than Bliss? Like, how about persuading people through the power of Bob Ross-styled painting lessons? Just you making happy little trees! No mistakes, just happy accidents.”
“I don’t think that’s–”
“Yeah! Think about it! Use the convent as like a little arena. You, an easel, a dozen or so people that aren’t brain dead and flinging themselves off statues of your weird brother? It would be great.”
“I’m not sure the Father would approve of your methods.”
“Hey, he approves all sorts of weird shit! Seriously, Weird Gassy Manifestation of Faith, think about it!”
“I… Gassy?”
“Happy trees, Faith. Happy trees.”
- - -
“You know, real Darwinian theory is just about who’s really the best at fucking.”
“Deputy.”
“No, for real! Like, natural selection has shit-all to do with weaker members of a species dying off. They could die for all the rest of the species cares, but the weaker members might have a genetic trait that actually benefits the next generation, and so long as they reproduce, that’s what makes their offspring stronger, and their offspring after that. It’s all about getting dick wet.”
“That’s the antithesis of the survival of the group.”
“Ooooh, fifty cent word! Not the antithesis, though. Actually, what you’re doing is the antithesis, considering you’re, y’know, killing entire groups in the first place. Humankind has yet to develop a genetic trait that makes them resistant to bullets.”
“If they’re not capable of protecting themselves–”
“If I shot you while you were mid-shit, then by that logic, because you’re not armed to the death in a bowel movement, you’re weak.”
“You’re testing my patience, deputy.”
“And you obviously flunked physical anthropology, beefsteak.”
#far cry 5#this isn't a prompt but oh well!#prompt fill#oc: cody oakley#john seed#faith seed#jacob seed
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The Senshi Paint Along With Bob Ross
Usagi: Usagi loves everything about Bob Ross; his positivity, his gentle demeanor, his voice, everything. Sure, she doesn't exactly make the best painting (she's not really good at it) but she's actually pretty satisfied by the results.
Ami: Ami appreciates the show, but really doesn't have much desire to actually paint along with Bob. She likes to listen and watch the other Senshi paint, as she finds Bob's voice relaxing. Plus, it's useful practice for her English class.
Rei: Rei will paint a masterpiece, OR SOMEONE WILL DIE IN THE ATTEMPT. Rei watches the video over and over, constantly painting and repainting over and over. There are moments when Rei just screams 'HOW DOES HE DO THAT?!' before storming off, but she always comes back.
Mako: Mako isn't much for painting, but proves to be surprisingly good at it. She falters every so often and tends to be a bit heavy-handed with the brush or the palette knife, but she is nothing if determined. Her results are quite good.
Mina: Mina mostly does this whole painting thing as a way to tease Rei. She quickly picks up on a lot of Bob's little catchphrases and uses them to perpetually needle Rei. Any mention of 'Happy Little Trees' is usually followed by Mako trying to wrestle the palette knife out of Rei's grip before she stabs Mina.
Haruka: Haruka tries this out as a way to impress Michiru. She takes it very seriously and tries her hardest to mimic Bob's actions on screen, but doesn't always get it right. Michiru appreciates the effort and hangs Haruka's pieces up like a mother hangs up her child's drawings.
Michiru: Michiru is mostly here for Haruka. While she appreciates the technical aspects of Bob's work, she finds it just a bit too pedestrian for her tastes. She rarely follows along with the video, preferring to paint in her own style along with the others. Rei finds it infuriating.
Setsuna: Setsuna cheats. Hey, she has to do SOMETHING while she's at the Gate of Time. She tries to help the others while they work but ends up just getting ignored. Except by Rei. Rei finds her skills even more infuriating than Michiru.
Chibiusa: Chibs likes Bob Ross, and likes to paint alongside Usagi, though they often get super competitive. She often gets frustrated whenever Usagi (against all odds and logic) pulls something off that she can’t, but Hotaru usually reigns her in.
Hotaru: Hotaru is unused to really being creative, so this is a nice change of pace for her. She usually has to stick between Usagi and Chibiusa though, and usually ends up a bit paint-splattered as a result.
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#49: Momentum
Welcome to another Writing Update — a weekly journal where I document the ups and downs of my writing life. If you saw the last couple of updates from me (here and here), you know that I have been in a bit of a funk. This week, things have started to turn around once again. All hail, the endless cycle of creation!
I edited a number of chapters. Got a few decent ideas for short stories. Worked hard. Enjoyed it. Except for Saturday. That was a bit weird, to say the least.
The best way to describe what I did on Saturday would be rolling around in mud. I wanted to do something, but I just couldn’t decide what. So I watched a couple of Bob Ross videos, wanting to paint happy trees. I considered taking my camera out to the city, but I was too lazy for that. I read for a bit, and I even revived my old World of Warcraft account, seriously thinking about subscribing again (I quit playing WoW 10 years ago). Then I forced myself out for a run, and we went to see the latest Mission Impossible at the local cinema in the evening.
At the very end of the day when my eyes were closing and my head falling over, I sat down at the computer to write. I really didn’t want to, but a few months ago, I made a deal with myself that I will write every single day. My minimum is 15 minutes. When I absolutely cannot do anything else, I can at least stare at the manuscript for 15 minutes. That’s what I did. I wrote about 100 words and went to bed.
As you can see, I give myself a lot of slack regarding how much I write — from 15 minutes to 8 or 10 hours. Not all days are the same. Sometimes it’s productive to push yourself, other times it may do more harm than good. But I don’t give myself any slack regarding whether I’ll write. I write every single day. No excuses.
Getting back to your manuscript every day builds momentum. It keeps the little creative fire burning. Add a log or a bunch of sticks, it doesn’t matter. Whatever you can do to prevent it from dying out.
On the contrary, every day you skip your writing, you will be more likely to skip it the next day and the day after. You will grow apart from your project and will have to work much harder to get back to it. Momentum works both ways.
Be on the right side of it.
Deliberate Practice
This week I finished a piece of flash fiction of about 300 words. It’s out of every possible genre that I’ve ever written in, but I got this idea that kept nagging at me so what the hell, I wrote it. You can read it here:
SHORT STORY: Beautiful Cadavers
And if you do, I’d love to hear what you think!
What I’m Reading
I’m in the final 100 pages of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I’m very fond of the author’s style which is much more subdued in comparison to US crime fiction. It’s atmospheric and quietly thrilling. I will read the next one for sure.
After that, I’ll be picking up The Lost City of Z by David Grann. I bought it pretty much almost a year ago, and it kept getting bumped down the to-read pile by other books. I’ve read a lot of pretty violent thrillers recently, so it feels like a good time to read something a bit more adventure-y.
Subscribe to my list
My email subscribers (also known as persons of the most distinguished taste :P) receive a digest of what I published or found helpful in their inboxes every week. Hit subscribe below to join the club. (I won’t spam you or pass your address to a third party. You can unsubscribe at any time.)
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Past Editions
#48: Plodding Along, July 2018
#47: The only way out is through, July 2018
#46: Deliberate practice, July 2018
#45: Us and them, July 2018
#44: Too little time or too many excuses?, June 2018
#writing#writers#write#writing tips#writing advice#amwriting#writing life#writing update#personal#me#writingcoffee#writingdotcoffee#writing updates
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AMA Transcript: Simple Melody
For our final AMA of Resbang 2017, @alliope, @bbbutterfingers & @daciafu stopped in to answer questions about their Resbang, Simple Melody! Here’s some of what went down:
Q: My first question for Allie is what inspired you to do this AU?
Allie: Well I've generally had the idea for an Over the Garden Wall AU for a while, not necessarily for SE, but as the first check-ins deadline was approaching I ended up rewatching bits of Over the Garden Wall and it just kinda clicked? Mainly I think it came from Crona's betrayal and Beatrice's betrayal and everything fell into place from there. I thought the eerie atmospheres would work well together! So I ended up scrapping my previous idea and wrote 3k plus a summary like three days before the first check-ins, rip.
Q: For butter/dacia, what went into how you decided which scene(s) to art?
butterfingers: HM well there was some chitchat when we started about what kind of work we wanted to do and I said that I loved the Boom comics covers, and then I shouted WHAT IF I MADE COMIC BOOK COVERS! and I think Dacia went WHAT IF I DID BACKGROUNDS and I guess we just approached it as if we were doing something comic-y haha!
Allie: You two were the power duo.
daciafu: I've always been in love with the style of the backgrounds of OTGW since that's where all those cozy and spooky feelings of fall and the Unknown really shine and I'm honestly HORRIBLE at designing backgrounds so I wanted to take the challenge and push myself to get better! Mimicking other people's styles really helps me break down how they make their choices and teaches me how to make things look Decent so I was super hyped to pick up the OTGW style! And then when Butters and I were trying to figure out What Do and she said she wanted to tackle covers, I decided to do background-heavy scenes. 😊
Q: What is generally your guys’ process (writing for Allie and arting for butters and dacia)?
Allie: Well, I wrote in little scenes, like I would get an idea for a scene and just go for it, the fic wasn't at all coherent until maybe a few days before posting. This actually posed a problem since linking scenes took longer than I thought it would. Because I had most of my scenes written, I thought I had more finished than I really did. By the end of Resbang, I had 56k written but only 20k remotely post-able. I'm a super obsessive planner though, so my whole fic was outlined in detail early on, which was nice cause I knew what I was doing lol
butterfingers: I loved going through Allie's notes, I was always excited to see how they'd connect the dots! My art process is as follows: scribble something, put it aside, look at it a lot throughout the day with the thought that maybe I can surprise myself into seeing something new, find something I hate, fix it, rinse and repeat. For this project I actually... have a friend who works with Boom Comics and she was able to hook me up with a nice little gallery of illustrations for the OTGW comic so I got to go through and put together my mood board for it 😊
daciafu: I read over the gloriousness that was Allie's draft and immediately picked out some neat scenes or wanted to reimagine the classic OTWG ones. I spent a lot of time studying first! Looking at the art books, and poring over the show’s scenes and kind of getting a feel for the color palettes, textures and compositions. Then I watched a tutorial on Youtube where someone just deadass uploaded their painting process on a piece of official art that made it into the show. So that was EXTREMELY helpful to watch the way they painted back-to-front and kind of blended the planes without like, losing depth?? The internet is so, so wonderful. And then I got to work! Started with a soft brush for lineart so it wouldn't be too prevalent, moved onto base colors, then shading, and then really trying to establish textures and make the atmosphere Just Right(tm).
butterfingers: Genius!! Oh damn that sounds like such great advice vis à vis backgrounds. /takes notes
Q: You sound like the dream art partner Allie, I weep for my artists and my last minute HERE IS 10K I JUST TYPED UP BC IM A MESS.
Allie: Ahh geez, these two were the dream partners honestly, like I'm so glad they could gather stuff from my notes, cause I've always got everything together in my head, but then it gets out there and it's a mess, these two deserve all the love.
butterfingers: There was one thing I regret that I didn't have the chance to draw and it was like a throwaway line somewhere in your notes about Maka presenting Soul with a praying mantis and him freaking out. I resonated with that so hard hahaha.
Q: What was the hardest scene for you to write?
Allie: The hardest scene to write that's actually posted was anything with Justin really, I don't get his character and it was tough to write him. There were a few scenes that were hard to write because I rushed them, but I wouldn't say they were genuinely difficult scenes, I just gotta rewrite 'em! But overall the ending scene I'm still struggling to write and there's a dream scene that occurs which has been difficult to write just for making it dream-like enough?
Q: And what was the hardest to art? :o
butterfingers: I had a hard time with Maka's expressions. I had many scribbles designing a Ragnarok lantern, too, but it was very fun!!
Allie: Your design for the Ragnarok lantern was so good, I still cry over it.
butterfingers: Ahaha thank you! He was very Calcifer inspired ;)
daciafu: I struggled quite a bit with the first one I painted, just because it was all so new to me. I had to base color 3 different times because the soft lineart bothered me if something extended too far, or there was white background peeking through. And then reimagining the texture in the leaves and the ground to try to separate the planes there but also wanting them to be cohesive was a bit of a headache. If I had to go back and do that one over again I think I'd be more prepared to deal with the foliage lmao.
butterfingers: Your textures were very excellent, that was a quality I struggled with as well!
daciafu: The first one I painted was the Golden Light scene where Maka and Soul are leaving the woods and entering the fields.
butterfingers: Trees r hard.
Allie: They all came out so incredible though, I'm in awe of how you were able to create those leaves.
daciafu: Omg ;;;;; At the same time trees are so organic and flowy and the chances of getting them wrong are pretty slim considering they can get janked as hell lol they're super fun to just zone out to. "I’ll just put a happy little leaf here, ooh and how’s about another one right next to it. They can be happy friends. Oh look, the squad showed up!!" Channeling my inner Bob Ross... but yeah you can just do whatever with them and they somehow come together.
Q: Daciafu how do u.....background, like you did so well and all I hear from art friends is various levels of pterodactyl screeching when the word background is mentioned.
daciafu: I heavily based the Leafing the Forest scene and the church scene after stills from the show so I don't get composition points there, but I built the pumpkin fields just based off of the environment’s design elements. I really wanted to push the depth of that scene but also give it that same never-ending quality to it, and I'm super happy with the results. Another note is that I omitted the characters entirely while building the backgrounds. Since I'm usually a pretty character-heavy artist, I wanted to tackle it like I was preparing the scene for an animator later. And then once they were done, I added in our sweet kids. Doing it that way first really helped to cement the characters in the space rather than my usual "character is done, how can I put them in an interesting physical space?" struggle lmao.
Q: Did you guys feel like your writing/arting changed at all or that you learned anything/picked up new skills/honed old ones etc. etc. during Resbang?
Allie: Gosh yeah, it changed a lot. In hindsight a bad idea, but this was the first fic I'd ever written with intention of posting and the longest piece I'd ever written. Before this I had written very little and my longest piece was maybe 10k. Throughout Resbang I've learned most of everything from the ground up, it's taught me a lot about my limits, how I work and writing in general. I've definitely improved a lot from the experience!
butterfingers: Let me tell you all about the airbrush tool that I discovered during Resbang. Amazing. Incredible.
daciafu: I learned how to paint backgrounds!!! Which is something I've always wanted to get better at. And I got super comfortable in Clip Studio (I'd just gotten it) as well as using texture brushes, so overall it was a very helpful and wonderful experience as a Resbang participant and as an arteest.
Q: Oh that reminds me butters, what program do you use?
butterfingers: Paint Tool SAI for the most part, and then Photoshop for color correction, borders, and, like, finesse things! :)
Q: Did you guys listen to any music that inspired you or helped you create?
Allie: Ah, yeah! I had a playlist actually! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjTCaFkFU6rkD1edJwCZmHvJiUwlSUeGZ
If you want I can explain some bits of it? I use music a lot when writing aha. I like to associate certain songs with characters and character relationships, so most of the songs are connected to a particular part of the story. The Monroe Transfer, Wayfaring Stranger, and Mountains were all more general atmosphere stuff. Blame was very much related to Maka, which may not be apparent now, but yeah. Ragnarok I actually connected a lot with Willow Tree March. Soul was probably closest with A Lady. Crona had a lot of songs, but Neptune was most specific to them, as was probably Ghost Towns. Some character relationships I associated with certain songs, Crona-Ragnarok and Soul-Maka were both pretty connected to Always Gold, especially that dang last line "there were holes in you, the kind that I could not mend" oh man. Crona-Maka was definitely We Could Be Friends, Bloom, and Spell. Meet Me in The Woods I thought was a pretty good group song! Those are just some general bits of my thinking with the music aha.
daciafu: Definitely checked out Allie's dope playlist. For most of my working time, tho, I was either listening to TAZ: Commitment or MBMBaM oddly enough lol. I will forever think of Justin's uproarious laughter whenever I look at them lmao.
Q: Were any of the relationships difficult to characterize?
Allie: Mmm this may sound weird but early Maka-Crona was weird for me, cause they were kinda at that point where they want to (or at least Maka wants to) like each other, but they don’t like or trust each other at all and it's a weird spot for them. I'm used to writing them as at least interested by one another, if not enemies or already fond of one another, so this felt like a very odd place to start with them.
Q: Do you guys have future plans for writing/drawing? Aside from polishing and posting the rest of the fic!
Allie: I have,,, too many plans,, I need less plans,, someone please take them away from me, I can't be trusted with them,,,, I do want to do a sequel for this when I get it finished, playing on the detail about crows memory lasting five years so. Beyond that I have a SoMa fic to finish for the prompt challenge!! I'm working on a gift for Crescentcrona, which is a fantasy Kirona fic called Eat The Rich. I have polyam week fics that I'm cleaning up, I think my favorite so far is a Azusa/Naigus/Sid/Mifune one for Through The Seasons. And God I have so many CroMa fics I want to write, I gotta fill the AO3 tag. I think the biggest one right now is a wings-related soulmates au that I've been working on on the side since October I think?
daciafu: Yo there's one scene that I'm like sUPER hyped to do if Allie does the sequel because I already know exactly how I wanna draw it but I wasn't able to fit that in near the end, and it didn't end up in the first part. But there are a couple of other scenes Allie and I workshopped that would be super fun to do and I would love to draw them. Other than that, my drawing plans are pretty much working on commissions as they come in. Surprisingly my queue has been maxed out and I just got a full time job so of course now I'm like.... hm.... I'll get 'em done eventually!!
----
That’s the end of the AMAs for the 2017 season! Thanks again for reading along with us, and see you next year! :)
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Accessories - Adult Bob Ross Kit
Halloween Costumes
Accessory Kits
Some people go gaga over Picasso. Others love the influential works of Leonardo da Vinci. Us? Well, we’re a little more simple when it comes art. We like…happy little clouds and their friends. We like happy trees and, well, gosh darn it, we like Bob Ross. There’s just something about his zen-like attitude and those calm brush strokes that make us feel at peace. There’s something about his deep, yet gentle voice that lulls us into a zone of comfort. And there’s definitely something going on with that fluffy afro on the top of his head. We’re not sure exactly what’s going on with that thing, but we love it! If only there was a way for anyone to harness that style…Wait! Now you CAN become just like the legendary painter on PBS with this Bob Ross kit! Of course, the kit comes with that unmistakable permed hair in the form of a synthetic wig, along with his signature facial hair, so you can start your painting career with ease! Just make sure to paint a few happy trees for us!
See Details & Get More Deals at: Best Halloween Costumes 2019 :: Shop
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Day 2, #100daysofart #carmencreates #artist ⚜️ I can’t think of anything more outside the box for me! I decided to explore painting in a Bob Ross style this morning. I did it just to see how it felt and to see if I could make something I liked. I have very mixed feelings about this painting. ⚜️ In art school, one of my Professors who saw someone painting like this would take the student apart at the seams. He was brutal about it. #notcool While it’s true that formulaic painting and teaching someone to paint just like you do is problematic at the collegiate level... there is still something special about Bob Ross as an artist, and many of his paintings are nice actually. ⚜️ And to add to the complexity, Bob Ross was an amazing man. He did those PBS videos for free and made his money solely from his product line. Could he have made more money if he had set that up differently? Yep. Did he leave money on the table? You bet! I think that shows a generosity of spirit that is a real blessing. #PBS has brought us some real heroes over the years! #welldone ⚜️ “Happy little trees” and baby squirrels... Watching him paint is a life affirming experience. My hubs was out somewhere one evening recently and got home crazy late and I watched Bob Ross on Netflix. Yes, it’s really on there - I couldn’t believe it. Things do come full circle sometimes. So I watched, and this morning I painted while listening to some great music. And it was fun. ⚜️ Bob Ross taught us that any ordinary person could paint something to enjoy in their home. This is accessible art for the people. He took the idea of art out of the institutions and put it back in the hands of the people!! And for that - he is a hero! ⚜️ Art is not a luxury for the wealthy. Making art is not just for when you have extra time, space, and money. For many people, making art is the difference between a lovely day and one that just never felt right. I’m working at making art more central to my life. And who wouldn’t love making a happy little tree?! ⚜️ What creative thing will you do today? #dosomething #showupandshine #happylittletrees #happylittleaccidents #happylittleclouds (at Staunton, Virginia) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsIycnThWYD/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=vhmv2tsuedo6
#100daysofart#carmencreates#artist#notcool#pbs#welldone#dosomething#showupandshine#happylittletrees#happylittleaccidents#happylittleclouds
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I just failed an online quiz for class so I’m gonna do a longwinded character assessment that brittany reblogged for mama debeste to cheer myself up. feel free to challenge me on anything tbh.
1) I sort of like the idea that mama debeste was also a foster kid, but like- she’s 8 or so years removed from her foster siblings? like I don’t think there’s anyone in her age group to hang out with. I think she’s closest to the youngest brother? he’s 7 years older than her or something and usually was the one who was sent to ~babysit~ but actually this little kid is sort of neat. Self-same brother isn’t dead but he’s not. there. I sort of like the idea of military deployment for him. they exchange letters when they can.
2&3) okay so I’m finally gonna make up a healthy marriage and it’s these people. the Fosters (lmao) are a very elderly couple who suffered heavily from Empty Nest Syndrome in like the 70s and have been taking kids in ever since. They are VERY OLD but very kind.
-mama foster is a short woman who likes to garden even though it sometimes fucks with her Arthritis. She’s very plainspoken and knows exactly what the internet is but has some trouble accessing it by herself. Her sense of humor is very deadpan, which doesn’t match her face at all but that makes it much better. mama debeste is a Good Kid who picks tomatoes and collects caterpillars in jars. mama foster has some trouble with younger kids because sarcasm is hard sometimes and her temper is a little short but she loves mama debeste. mama debeste’s favorite part of the usual day-to-day is watching wheel of fortune with her.
-dad foster is a guy who likes to hike. its getting hard for him but he can still go thanks to his kids. they go whenever they can and picnic. mama debeste sometimes gets a little ahead of him to put the collected caterpillars back into the wild. anyway dad foster has like an incredible appreciation for nature and I’m sorely tempted to make him a Bob Ross-esque landscape painter. he’s the kind of dad that gives you candy before dinner and winks. he connects easily to mama debeste because she’s young and likes to get dirty and messes up a picturesque scene just right enough for it to be painted.
when the kids grow up the Fosters have pretty much come to accept that they’ll lose contact with them. mama debeste was determined to not do that and visited regularly but then her own kid died. She went back to see the Fosters for help and they told her that it wasn’t right, not so soon, but losing children is as much a part of life as losing parents, and that she can still come back from it. Mama debeste told them she was leaving for Zheng Fa and they told her to be careful, to be safe, to be smart, and to be kind above all. They were smiling when they said it but there was an air of finality about it, because they knew they had lost her, too.
4) aside from her house burning down with her child inside??
I like to think that her and her brother went wandering around on streets and stuff together and saw some regular stuff yknow. stray animals helping each other, hurting each other, people doing about the same.
Once her brother punched a guy in the face on the subway for spitting at someone and that sort of justified retaliation always stuck with her.
5) mama debeste carries around a swiss army knife like a girl scout, a shitty plastic cigarette lighter, a keychain that was probably a gift that has her house keys on it, two or three pieces of nicotine gum, an instant camera, and her wallet (which in turn contains her driver’s license, Interpol id, library card, two credit cards in Blaise’s name, several pictures of the kiddos, and about $400 in nonconsecutive twenties)
6) mama debeste dreams of her kid. like. what they (he, I’m vaguely leaning towards) would be like growing up and stuff. she also dreams of Zheng Fa and the forest.
7) mama debeste killing people maybe unnecessarily is kind of my jam and they don’t haunt her per se but sometimes she trips over their bodies literally. sometimes she imagines shooting herself because what the hell, she’s a bad person. anyway mama debeste also hates funerals so probably those too and [fire noises].
Silence, notably, too. If you’ve got kids there should never be silence. if you’re anywhere natural there should never be perfect silence.
8) hi welcome to Interpol here’s a paper target except we didn’t tell you there was a watermelon behind the head so that the red explosion would disturb you into perhaps not firing sometimes.
(it failed.)
9) the Fosters are actually fairly well off despite having So Many Kids with expensive extracurriculars and stuff? because they had like, regular people expenditures, it was a little bit more of a natural life. Blaise’s blood money is far less wholesome which is one reason mama debeste goes to such great lengths to get rid of it fast and frivolously. She burns the money in an attempt to warm the home.
10) mama debeste is a sundress lady or a biker leather lady with no inbetween. The former is an expression of serenity and safety. I think the latter gives her more confidence, like the Interpol days.
11) she couldn’t get back into her fucking burning house. the second time she felt so scared was when she realized phoenix was in the second house doomed to fall.
(there were little bits, in the middle, where she lost phoenix in a crowd or sebastian swallowed something he shouldn’t have.)
12) lmao marrying blaise debeste actually. she’s shot people with less conviction, less assurance than she had standing on the altar.
on a calm of a different note, the forest is her friend and the first time she saw phoenix try to paint a tree was great.
13) HAHAHAHAHA next question.
(idk if mama debeste: forensics expert is exactly canon but she’s definitely less sensitive to blood than she should be)
14) mama debeste will never forget a face as long as she lives.
15) mama debeste is concerned with the concept of Doing and will blow through all of blaise’s blood money so that her kids can like, have experiences and stuff, but her preoccupation is more spending and acquisition than frugality or anything.
16) let mama debeste be happy 2kwhatever. she knows she probably never will be so she tries to make others happy.
17) her brother made mama debeste a teddy bear out of felt and button eyes and pillow stuffing. he told her later it was because he was really attached to the one he was supposed to Hand Me Down to her but that’s only half-truth. Its name is Growls.
18) probably wisdom considering “ambition” burned her crops and poisoned the kid’s groundwater honestly? blaise seems like the kind to both hide behind and weaponize that word.
19) mama debeste doesn’t say anything. like she’s the ultimate in something is bothering her but she sticks to the gentle smile persona and lets wounds fester until its way too late. this trait is kicked up to eleven with blaise and the kids, which is part of the reason that phoenix has such a sunny memory of her.
20) I don’t think she does compare herself to anyone except for Greg and Desiree Delite. The former is for validation in her parenting style. the latter is when she’s really loathing herself and thinking about what she could do if she would just fucking leave blaise and this petty revenge shit behind and take the kids somewhere–
21) I mean technically the only bad thing that really happens to mama debeste that’s her fault is that she fucking dies and she knows it. she takes sole responsibility for that.
she splits responsibility with people she killed because tbh most of them sort of. deserved it.
she blames blaise for almost one hundred percent for everything else.
22) mama debeste appreciates honesty and kindness. she likes thoughtfulness and dedication to a hobby. she also likes good parents.
23) mama debeste will fight the westboro baptist church. she will also fight anything that reminds her of herself before she loved the kids. and also blaise debeste and everything related to him.
24) mama debeste trusts no one except for maybe people that phoenix trusts. She genuinely likes Greg and lets phoenix sleep over there even though she’s only met him a handful of times.
25) hahahaha mama debeste is the ultimate in seeing through people. she’s super suspicious of strangers and people she doesn’t know getting close to the house. acquaintances are graded based on how much they hate blaise (maximum hate being minimum suspicion). the only people close to mama debeste are phoenix and sebastian.
she worries about what might happen to phoenix and sebastian.
26) I’M CALLING HER MAMA DEBESTE FOR A REASON because at the end of her life she’s really really devoted to the safety of her kids. For the long childless period in the middle she believed that kids could be tools for revenge, but she never really lost the mothering touch, as it were. Shi-Long Lang remembers her very very fondly.
27) have you ever played a really long game of clue with someone and they figure out the answer but instead of running to the pool and announcing it they walk into the foyer and shoot the murderer in the face? yeah. the last logic battle with the ~true antagonist~ of aai2 wouldn’t have even happened because she would have shot him on sight.
her conflict with blaise is too personal for that though so they have a marriage of hate and she’s biding her time. I think that once her USE THE CHILDREN plan broke down she lost sight of whatever her goal was which ultimately ended up killing her.
28) mama debeste is a fan of the fists and an even greater fan of shooting things but she does her absolute best to remain passive and unassuming for as long as she possibly can.
29) I think mama debeste wanted to help people? she definitely had like, a brain surgeon phase, but once that passed I think she settled fairly well on public service through Interpol. there was probably a speaker that came to school or something tbh.
30) mama debeste won’t eat mushrooms and passes this trait onto her kids. she hates socks and sandals. wash ya damn hands. blaise debeste. she also isn’t a particular fan of praying mantises specifically.
31) welcome to the forest. three people are there, herself included. One of them is drawing, the other is fumbling around in the picnic basket looking for an orange. it is later in the day, but evening isn’t in the sky yet. The breeze is gentle and smells like pine.
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Ori and the Will of the Wisps PC Review
It is hard to believe five years have passed since Ori and the Blind Forest debuted on our screens. Developers Moon Studios crafted a momentous game that not only reinvigorated the metroidvania genre, but also reminded gamers how beautiful and intricate these titles can be. Now the long-awaited sequel is finally on our shelves, but how could any studio follow up on lightning in a bottle like this?
The answer is in Ori and the Will of the Wisps. I mentioned in my Rage 2 review that all good sequels have the ability to reach the full potential of their I.P’s. It is not just about more, bigger or prettier. Good sequels elevate themselves to those untouched areas of gameplay that their predecessors never reached, and this is precisely what Moon Studios achievedwith their second Ori game.
Enjoying the pleasures of home
If ever there was a write-up willing to criticise Ori and the Will of the Wisps (hereafter Ori 2), you will not find it here. Perhaps this will not be a review of Ori 2, but my best attempt to express what a masterpiece this sequel has turned out to be. Moon Studios maxed out every strength from their first game, and remind us once again why metroidvanias can be some of the most fulfilling experiences in our industry.
A picture is worth a thousand words
One of the highlights from Ori and the Blind Forest was Moon Studios’s incredible talent for using visual language. Like many other metroidvanias, the first Ori game could impart a lot to the player using only modest resources. There wasn’t much exposition, there were limited snippets of dialogue, and the game had a very conservative use of cut scenes.
Nonetheless, it was still an experience you could get lost in. The devs allowed their game itself to communicate with the player on a visual level, and this design philosophy spills over into almost everything in Ori 2. In short, Ori 2 is a game that shows rather than tells in that the visuals of Ori’s story are a fundamental bridge between both the narrative and the gameplay.
Take the eponymous (and very cute) Ori, for example. Even a noob taking a cursory glance at this little critter would immediately tell there is something agile, yet vulnerable about… it. Hold on a second, is Ori a boy or a girl? Only thing I know is that the name has a Hebrew origin meaning ‘my light’, so perhaps Ori is Jewish?
Name of the game (Image from Ori and the Blind forest Wiki)
Anyway, I digress. True to the sloping lines and gossamer-like luminance of the character model, Ori once again felt super smooth and an utter pleasure to control for the thirteen-ish hours I spent leaping and bounding throughout the various biomes. There is a weightless momentum in how Ori handles, which encourages the player to keep moving and to experiment with acrobatics.
It seems that virtually niggles and annoyances have been ironed out from the first game, and it is clear the devs wanted to push the boundaries of traversal in this series to the next level. Moreover, Ori’s revamped animations are equally slick in this sequel, both in the twirls or somersaults when leaping weightlessly through the levels, but also in the combat or ranged attacks against enemies.
A battle in spirit
Ori has been given quite a substantial upgrade in terms of how players will fight against the malicious bugs, slugs and even bosses scattered around the world. Combat is now closer to the metroidvanias that have followed in the interim from the first game’s release (for example, Hollow Knight) in that Ori can now swap on the fly between a spirit sword, ranged spirited projectiles, heavy weapons, and more.
The player will really have their reflexes tested on normal or hard difficulties since the combat is fast and frantic. I strongly recommend a first playthrough on ‘easy’, particularly since you cannot adjust the difficulty later. Nonetheless, this spirit bunny is every bit as agile and responsive during battle as he is with traversal, and there is a decent variety of ranged and melee attacks to make up your fighting strategy.
The spirit trees that give Ori his abilities
It is from the combat I noticed that Ori 2 now boasts a more varied menu and progression system. Moon Studious have swapped out the linear style of the previous game, and have implemented something closer to an RPG’s structure, which allows for abilites and weapons to unlock quicker, and thereby leaving the choice to the player on what to upgrade and define their own playing style.
The forest lives on
The reason why Ori possesses these abilities and, frankly, why he glows in the dark, is because he was one of several spirits inhabiting a mystical willow tree – the heart of the entire forest’s spiritual energy. The first game saw Ori being adopted by a creature called Naru after falling out of the willow tree during a great storm, and eventually setting out to rescue the forest dying from a malicious corruption.
With the forest now restored to its lavish glory, Ori 2 opens with a touching scene of the pair living a serene life, along with their new friends Guma and Ku. All is well until Ku, who is the cutest little owlet EVER, finally becomes overwhelmed by the desire to fly. Unfortunately, Ku’s tiny little wing got mangled, leaving the owlet grounded and very depressed as it watches the other birds go by.
First flight
Ori and co. therefore try to help Ku with a makeshift wing which seems to work quite well until, during its first flight, Ku is caught in an angry storm, not unlike the one that shook Ori from its tree. With Ori riding on Ku’s back, the duo crash land in a desolate area of the forest, and they become separated.
The stage is set for Ori to embark on a rescue mission, and as a surprise to no one, Ori finds that all is still not well in the deep, forgotten places of the forest. The mission to rescue Ku therefore becomes intertwined with restoring the forest’s life force to an abandoned and hostile world, and Ori soon finds that it is not only Ku’s life that hangs in the balance.
In certain segments there are chase sequences. You really feel Ori’s vulnerability here, and it is utterly terrifying.
Thanks to absolutely superb animation and expert use of potent imagery, the story in Ori 2 is nothing less than sublime. Without spoiling anything, I will just say that the narrative plays out as a riveting and engrossing mix of fairy tale tropes, which are interspersed with gut-wrenching climaxes of triumph and failure.
The hauntingly beautiful soundtrack is also a crucial component here. The melody is a beautiful reflection of the game itself in that the orchestral swells alongside dream-like notes are constantly tinged with an undertone of sadness and melancholia.
In all honesty, I was taken on a rollercoaster ride of emotions during my play-through, and it has been a long time since a game has had this effect on me. Seeing that poor baby owl frightened and alone in the dead forest wasteland brought me right to verge of tears, while I beamed like adoring parent during the more happy moments. This is really fantastic story-telling.
Breaking boundaries
Both the story and the gameplay is of course sustained by two immaculate pillars: The graphics and the level-design. You often hear about video games blurring the boundaries between art and entertainment, but Ori 2 utterly shatters this division. This game IS art. The visuals are so imaginative and aesthetically pleasing that it looks like you are playing through Bob Ross painting brought to life.
With Unreal dominating the source-available market at the moment, I am really glad Moon Studios showed us how Unity still has a lot more to offer
Running on the Unity engine, the devs have created a massive world rendered with more detailed textures, a much higher particle count, and a more complex lighting system than the first game. The forest feels alive and breathing with several different biomes for Ori to explore, and each area has been coloured with a very distinct palette to reinforce the player’s awareness of location.
I mentioned visual language earlier, and it is in environmental design that Moon Studios have really put this to work. The greens, browns and blues represent colours that guide Ori, that beckon the little critter to safety. The reds, yellows and purples on the other hand represent danger, and it is astounding to see how consistently the devs have endorsed this system throughout the entire game.
I simply could not get enough of this beautiful world. From races against the ghosts of other players, to doing small quests for animals that inhabit in the forest, to feeling that satisfaction of nimbly making it through heavily-spiked, narrow corridors, it is mesmerizing that all of this is functioning so well in one game. It is a model of excellence in environmental design.
Ori, the paragon
We often hear people complaining that ‘they don’t make games like they used to’ and I somewhat agree. I feel like modern studios tend to put money before their vision for making their game because of how alarmingly competitive the industry has become. As such, games rarely take risks, and the industry often faces something of an identity crisis.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps stands as a shining contradiction to this ethos. This game oozes creative energy, and was quite obviously made by people who really have a passion for this genre. It shows how we can use technology not just to enhance everything in a game, but also how complex systems can be made to function alongside one other.
It is so rare that we see excellence in our games these days, which is why Ori and the Will of the Wisps truly is a non-negotiable moment. This is not just a game: It is an education to what gaming as a medium can accomplish. You simply have to play this.
Breathtaking soundtrack
Gorgeous art style
Immaculate level design
Great story
Controls well
Good dev support
Some bugs
Long start up loading time
PC Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using Nvidia GTX 1070, i5 4690K CPU, 16GB RAM – Played using an Xbox One Contoller
The post Ori and the Will of the Wisps PC Review appeared first on DSOGaming.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps PC Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/
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Painting and drawing aren’t mediums I tend to practice as often as writing and music, but nevertheless, I enjoy them and they are apart of my time at the moment. I only recently decided to get back into them since I’ve had the time and since my sister also wanted to dabble in painting, the opportunity just kinda arose. This post will only focus on painting and I will make a new post about my drawings later.
Armed with some episodes of Bob Ross and the plethora of paintbrushes which we bought last time we went through a painting phase, we started doing some landscapes. While my sister went for the scenic mountains and happy little trees approach – and she did well on them, they are very lovely – I decided to try out a seascape after finding a couple episodes of the Joy of Painting which took a break from the forest and mountain formula. I love the ocean, lakes, ponds, I just love water, the way it flows, the life that it holds, so if I was gonna paint nature, I was gonna make the ocean the star of the show. Here’s the first seascape I made about a month ago:
There are some water droplets in the clouds, the trees are a bit rough and the pelicans are kinda awkward, but I decided to start off with a pacific kind of scene. I don’t care for how the waves in the water turned out, but I still just love the colour and how it gets lighter towards the bottom edge. Not bad for a first painting though. Next I went on to make these:
I attempted another seascape with a more tropical theme, and decided to mix with the colours a bit more, adding multiple colours to one line – this shows most in the clouds. I came upon an episode of the Joy of Painting in which Bob hosted artist Ben Stahl, who painted a beautiful portrait which I absolutely loved. Watching this episode is what got me interested in mixing colours around and layering up colours instead of going the realism route.
After those, I found an old painting that I had started and never finished. I had attempted to do a kind of geometric abstract piece, so I decided to try using oil paints for the first time. I felt like oil paints might create a certain richness to what might otherwise be a boring painting. I enjoy painting abstracts, but I never know how I feel about them when I am finished. It’s hard to tell if they are good or not, but if richness is what I was going for, I think I accomplished that.
Lastly, we had a big canvas hanging around the house and I really wanted to paint another seascape with vibrant colours and a tropical feel, and so I went ahead and painted this next:
It is definitely the piece I am most proud of. It has everything I love in a painting. This picture doesn’t display it in the best lighting, but I love the contrast between the colourful sky and the black shadowed palm trees, the reflections in the water, the sea turtles swimming at the bottom showing a hint of life. I love this piece a lot and I’m going to be hanging it up in my room in the near future.
So, this was the last piece I made. Now for inspirations:
I have long been inspired by the pop art, eye-catchiness and personalities surrounding the inimitable Andy Warhol. I think it is his work which has given me such a strong love of vibrancy, blocked colours, and a slight abstractism. Here are some works which I feel inspired some of my paintings.
“Mick Jagger” (ca 1975)
“Untitled (Pink Rose)” (ca 1955)
“Heart” (ca 1982)
I think I related to Warhol because of the way celebrity culture inspired him. Though I’m not particularly fond of mainstream celebrity culture, something about idolizing someone and being inspired by their essence, their style, their beliefs – even if they are created or exaggerated as a persona – can be so intoxicating. Especially when it comes to musicians, which Andy was no stranger to, because you begin to feel as if you know someone through their music. Sure, you may not know them personally but a lot of a person comes out in their art: their vibe, their way of thinking, of putting chords and notes together, the tone in the voice of a singer singing a sad song, or a happy, or angry song. It’s the perfect reference for art because it creates images in your head without showing you what to see.
It’s different with Warhol: it’s about being iconic. It’s about taking that recognizable face and letting it speak for itself. He doesn’t try to interpret anything, he just shows us the person as they are. It can seem superficial at first glance, but I think the superficiality is just to draw people in. It’s what the person represents and means to someone that will keep someone interested.
Anyways, I’d like to move on to another artist whose style broke the mold: Frida Kahlo. I think a lot of artists, of all sorts, relate so well to Frida’s art because, at its root, it is about loneliness. It is about the self, and about pain, but also loneliness. Often, Kahlo herself is the subject of her paintings and often they show her seemingly in the middle of nowhere, perhaps in a vast, empty desert of sorts. I think that alone demonstrates an immense solitude.
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“The Two Fridas” (ca 1939)
Kahlo painting “The Two Fridas” in her studio
“Henry Ford Hospital” (ca 1932)
“The Broken Column” (ca 1944)
Kahlo’s paintings speak for themselves, and they do so very loudly – fitting for a woman who lived so unapologetically as herself. These paintings don’t just show you the pain in her life, they grab you and make you feel it. Though the paintings are very surreal, there is something very realistic about them. The pain is real. The loneliness is real. And those are the things illustrated. In a way, I find her paintings more real than even painters who spend a lifetime trying to paint photo-realistically.
I feel like her art is something I aspire to, to make others feel so strongly that they are nearly feeling the emotion in the art. It’s a long term goal for me, and I have no smaller steps to get there and achieve it really aside from just keep creating. Just keep making things. I don’t know how much painting I will do in the near future, but this is something I aspire to in all mediums I dabble in. This is a goal I have in my music and writing as well. I truly believe that this is the height of art and creativity: using our loneliness to help make others feel, perhaps, a little less lonely.
Happy Little (Palm) Trees Painting and drawing aren't mediums I tend to practice as often as writing and music, but nevertheless, I enjoy them and they are apart of my time at the moment.
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Ori and the Will of the Wisps PC Review
It is hard to believe five years have passed since Ori and the Blind Forest debuted on our screens. Developers Moon Studios crafted a momentous game that not only reinvigorated the metroidvania genre, but also reminded gamers how beautiful and intricate these titles can be. Now the long-awaited sequel is finally on our shelves, but how could any studio follow up on lightning in a bottle like this?
The answer is in Ori and the Will of the Wisps. I mentioned in my Rage 2 review that all good sequels have the ability to reach the full potential of their I.P’s. It is not just about more, bigger or prettier. Good sequels elevate themselves to those untouched areas of gameplay that their predecessors never reached, and this is precisely what Moon Studios achievedwith their second Ori game.
Enjoying the pleasures of home
If ever there was a write-up willing to criticise Ori and the Will of the Wisps (hereafter Ori 2), you will not find it here. Perhaps this will not be a review of Ori 2, but my best attempt to express what a masterpiece this sequel has turned out to be. Moon Studios maxed out every strength from their first game, and remind us once again why metroidvanias can be some of the most fulfilling experiences in our industry.
A picture is worth a thousand words
One of the highlights from Ori and the Blind Forest was Moon Studios’s incredible talent for using visual language. Like many other metroidvanias, the first Ori game could impart a lot to the player using only modest resources. There wasn’t much exposition, there were limited snippets of dialogue, and the game had a very conservative use of cut scenes.
Nonetheless, it was still an experience you could get lost in. The devs allowed their game itself to communicate with the player on a visual level, and this design philosophy spills over into almost everything in Ori 2. In short, Ori 2 is a game that shows rather than tells in that the visuals of Ori’s story are a fundamental bridge between both the narrative and the gameplay.
Take the eponymous (and very cute) Ori, for example. Even a noob taking a cursory glance at this little critter would immediately tell there is something agile, yet vulnerable about… it. Hold on a second, is Ori a boy or a girl? Only thing I know is that the name has a Hebrew origin meaning ‘my light’, so perhaps Ori is Jewish?
Name of the game (Image from Ori and the Blind forest Wiki)
Anyway, I digress. True to the sloping lines and gossamer-like luminance of the character model, Ori once again felt super smooth and an utter pleasure to control for the thirteen-ish hours I spent leaping and bounding throughout the various biomes. There is a weightless momentum in how Ori handles, which encourages the player to keep moving and to experiment with acrobatics.
It seems that virtually niggles and annoyances have been ironed out from the first game, and it is clear the devs wanted to push the boundaries of traversal in this series to the next level. Moreover, Ori’s revamped animations are equally slick in this sequel, both in the twirls or somersaults when leaping weightlessly through the levels, but also in the combat or ranged attacks against enemies.
A battle in spirit
Ori has been given quite a substantial upgrade in terms of how players will fight against the malicious bugs, slugs and even bosses scattered around the world. Combat is now closer to the metroidvanias that have followed in the interim from the first game’s release (for example, Hollow Knight) in that Ori can now swap on the fly between a spirit sword, ranged spirited projectiles, heavy weapons, and more.
The player will really have their reflexes tested on normal or hard difficulties since the combat is fast and frantic. I strongly recommend a first playthrough on ‘easy’, particularly since you cannot adjust the difficulty later. Nonetheless, this spirit bunny is every bit as agile and responsive during battle as he is with traversal, and there is a decent variety of ranged and melee attacks to make up your fighting strategy.
The spirit trees that give Ori his abilities
It is from the combat I noticed that Ori 2 now boasts a more varied menu and progression system. Moon Studious have swapped out the linear style of the previous game, and have implemented something closer to an RPG’s structure, which allows for abilites and weapons to unlock quicker, and thereby leaving the choice to the player on what to upgrade and define their own playing style.
The forest lives on
The reason why Ori possesses these abilities and, frankly, why he glows in the dark, is because he was one of several spirits inhabiting a mystical willow tree – the heart of the entire forest’s spiritual energy. The first game saw Ori being adopted by a creature called Naru after falling out of the willow tree during a great storm, and eventually setting out to rescue the forest dying from a malicious corruption.
With the forest now restored to its lavish glory, Ori 2 opens with a touching scene of the pair living a serene life, along with their new friends Guma and Ku. All is well until Ku, who is the cutest little owlet EVER, finally becomes overwhelmed by the desire to fly. Unfortunately, Ku’s tiny little wing got mangled, leaving the owlet grounded and very depressed as it watches the other birds go by.
First flight
Ori and co. therefore try to help Ku with a makeshift wing which seems to work quite well until, during its first flight, Ku is caught in an angry storm, not unlike the one that shook Ori from its tree. With Ori riding on Ku’s back, the duo crash land in a desolate area of the forest, and they become separated.
The stage is set for Ori to embark on a rescue mission, and as a surprise to no one, Ori finds that all is still not well in the deep, forgotten places of the forest. The mission to rescue Ku therefore becomes intertwined with restoring the forest’s life force to an abandoned and hostile world, and Ori soon finds that it is not only Ku’s life that hangs in the balance.
In certain segments there are chase sequences. You really feel Ori’s vulnerability here, and it is utterly terrifying.
Thanks to absolutely superb animation and expert use of potent imagery, the story in Ori 2 is nothing less than sublime. Without spoiling anything, I will just say that the narrative plays out as a riveting and engrossing mix of fairy tale tropes, which are interspersed with gut-wrenching climaxes of triumph and failure.
The hauntingly beautiful soundtrack is also a crucial component here. The melody is a beautiful reflection of the game itself in that the orchestral swells alongside dream-like notes are constantly tinged with an undertone of sadness and melancholia.
In all honesty, I was taken on a rollercoaster ride of emotions during my play-through, and it has been a long time since a game has had this effect on me. Seeing that poor baby owl frightened and alone in the dead forest wasteland brought me right to verge of tears, while I beamed like adoring parent during the more happy moments. This is really fantastic story-telling.
Breaking boundaries
Both the story and the gameplay is of course sustained by two immaculate pillars: The graphics and the level-design. You often hear about video games blurring the boundaries between art and entertainment, but Ori 2 utterly shatters this division. This game IS art. The visuals are so imaginative and aesthetically pleasing that it looks like you are playing through Bob Ross painting brought to life.
With Unreal dominating the source-available market at the moment, I am really glad Moon Studios showed us how Unity still has a lot more to offer
Running on the Unity engine, the devs have created a massive world rendered with more detailed textures, a much higher particle count, and a more complex lighting system than the first game. The forest feels alive and breathing with several different biomes for Ori to explore, and each area has been coloured with a very distinct palette to reinforce the player’s awareness of location.
I mentioned visual language earlier, and it is in environmental design that Moon Studios have really put this to work. The greens, browns and blues represent colours that guide Ori, that beckon the little critter to safety. The reds, yellows and purples on the other hand represent danger, and it is astounding to see how consistently the devs have endorsed this system throughout the entire game.
I simply could not get enough of this beautiful world. From races against the ghosts of other players, to doing small quests for animals that inhabit in the forest, to feeling that satisfaction of nimbly making it through heavily-spiked, narrow corridors, it is mesmerizing that all of this is functioning so well in one game. It is a model of excellence in environmental design.
Ori, the paragon
We often hear people complaining that ‘they don’t make games like they used to’ and I somewhat agree. I feel like modern studios tend to put money before their vision for making their game because of how alarmingly competitive the industry has become. As such, games rarely take risks, and the industry often faces something of an identity crisis.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps stands as a shining contradiction to this ethos. This game oozes creative energy, and was quite obviously made by people who really have a passion for this genre. It shows how we can use technology not just to enhance everything in a game, but also how complex systems can be made to function alongside one other.
It is so rare that we see excellence in our games these days, which is why Ori and the Will of the Wisps truly is a non-negotiable moment. This is not just a game: It is an education to what gaming as a medium can accomplish. You simply have to play this.
Breathtaking soundtrack
Gorgeous art style
Immaculate level design
Great story
Controls well
Good dev support
Some bugs
Long start up loading time
PC Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using Nvidia GTX 1070, i5 4690K CPU, 16GB RAM – Played using an Xbox One Contoller
The post Ori and the Will of the Wisps PC Review appeared first on DSOGaming.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps PC Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/
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