Ah, what a wonderful world I see

Just another art blog

[vampireapologist-archive-deacti]

the fact is, writing and poetry are overtly and obviously undervalued as artforms online as compared to visual art.

There is no shortage of posts discussing how undervalued visual art is by society at large, how to fairly price commissions, how to properly tip visual artists, how much work goes into visual art, why visual artists deserve more recognition, higher pay, and more respect.

And this is good!! It’s true! Society and the professional field notoriously underappreciates, dismisses, and underpays visual artists.

However, the reason these types of posts don’t really make it around about writing, is because, well, writing is so dismissed in general, even by other artists and fans, that charging for writing isn’t even on most writers’ radars.

Go to an artist alley at a convention, visual fanart abounds. There are beautiful prints, models, keychains, stickers, etc. And yes, notoriously artists have to undercharge for these things, but there is a space to sell them.

Imagine seeing a  fanfic booth in an artist alley. Imagine a fanfic author charging for and successfully selling a written product. Imagine them being able to advertise their original work along with it, which sometimes gets appreciated and purchased.

I’m a writer, and even I catch myself thinking “well, that just wouldn’t make sense.”

Why not?

Why have we formed a culture in which visual art can be sold, but we expect and even demand writing for free or else we’re not interested?

Visual artists work hard, and they post countless pieces for free on their blogs, and they deserve any support they get. But given the opportunity, they can take that product to a space designed specifically for them to profit from it.

Writers work hard, post countless poems, fanfics, and original works for free on their blogs. And it ends there.

We need to reframe the way we think about nonvisual art.

[vampireapologist-archive-deacti]

val-ritz

The difference between writing and visual media is the mythology of “there’s no way I could ever do something like that.” But now anyone with a keyboard subconsciously or consciously thinks “huh, I could probably do that. It’s just a bunch of words in the right order.”

this is EXACTLY it. people think if they had an hour or two, they could make something just as good. They don’t consider writing as something that requires practice, as something with a unique voice and style, the same as visual art.

[sarahtastic-cake]

art tips post

for all the artist following me

Have two sketchbooks: One for finished and high-quality art (stuff made with Prismacolor or Copic if you use that or art for your portfolio) and the other sketchbook for more messy doodles. This way you have a place to try new things and mess up as much as you need. When I only had one sketchbook I was scared to draw in it because I didn't want to mess it up

Do studies. I cant tell you how much I've improved just by doing studies of shoes, hands, noses, and all that. This works for when you have art block too since you’re not really making stuff up and just learning how real things work.

Learn from others. I’ve never taken a real art class because 1. I can’t afford it and 2. there’s no good art classes/programs at my school. I’ve been following several artists and learning from them over the years and they’ve helped me tremendously. Just please do not steal art because that is never okay.

Break down concepts. If you notice there’s something wrong with your piece then figure out why. You can’t get better if you leave mistakes and don't try to understand whats going on. If the color is weird figure out if the values look right or maybe its the saturation of the color.

Watch youtube tutorials. Here are some youtubers I think are pretty good art teaching all things art: Draw with Jazza |  DrawingWiffWaffles |  Proko |  Baylee Jae

Have an inspiration folder/blog. Sometimes you just need a collection of starry nights or a misty forest or even a French bakery. All of those things can help you get inspired to draw. It could even be completely unrelated to what you plan to draw.

There are no dumb ideas in the creative process. If you want to draw a lizard in a dress go for it! If you want to draw various pastries with faces do it! Don’t let the thought of it being too dumb stop you because if I’ve learned anything in my several years of drawing it’s that an idea can lead to another and another and another and you may get a really good idea just from doodling dumb things.

Here’s a few things that can get you started on drawing better:

Dynamic poses | Dynamic clothes | Dynamic figure drawing

COMPOSITION | PERSPECTIVE | CONSTRUCTION

Anatomy:

Legs

Arms

Hands

Heads

Body (Female) (Male

Color Theory

Improving your sketchbook

Most importantly, don’t give up! You may not immediately get notes or followers but it’s more important you get better than to have popularity. How do you think those popular artists got to where they are now? To be good you’ve got to work at it.

[artmagine]

Top 12 alternatives to Photoshop for digital painters and illustrators

Hello there!

Yes, we haven’t done this in a while… but our inbox and chat are swamped with questions on the subject, so this article was very much needed.

it’s a simple list of art apps, but we know you love those :D

Enough with the intro, here it is, a list of twelve art apps you may want to check out.

ArtRage is an art program for beginners and professionals. With its minimal interface, it’s easy to keep the essential tools at hand without stealing space from the canvas. Panels can be moved around and tools can be customised. We all know how important it is for digital artists to be able to modify brushes!

Pros: easy to use; friendly interface; essential tools from professional apps available; available for iOS, Android, Windows and Mac

Cons: it may get sluggish with big files and when using big brushes, but performances also depend on the running machine; limited selection of editing tools if compared to Photoshop - ArtRage is more of a painting program rather than an editing one.

Paid

ArtRage Lite is a different version at a cheaper price, mostly for beginners, but also for professionals if they need the essential.

Now free, Sketchbook is the famous app created by Autodesk for various platforms.

Pros: clean, friendly interface; easy to use; professional features

Cons: lack of official tutorials; doesn’t offer as many tools as other apps (it’s down to the essential); paid subscription in Adobe style for multiple licenses

Free and paid

Black Ink is a powerful little program few actually know, but there’s a reason: this isn’t your classing drawing app. What’s cool about it is the vast selection of special brushes, completely non-realistic, and definitely able to boost your creativity.

Pros: vast selection of customisable brushes; excellent performance

Cons: not very easy to use; non-intuitive interface

Paid

This is probably the most complete software for painting, drawing and animation. It was originally known as Manga Studio, but with its updates and addition of features, it became Clip Studio Paint. 

This doesn’t say much about the quality of the features themselves considering the affordable price (if you haven’t used the app yet, that is), but among graphic apps, this one is the top seller.

Pros: professional features for illustrators; layout tools for comic/manga artists; 3D reference models; customisable tools; various sales with special prices

Cons: the interface may not appear intuitive at first; the program may lag (again, performance also depends on the running machine)

Paid

GIMP is the famous open source image editor originally created for GNU/Linux and available for OS X and Windows. 

Best known as Photoshop’s main competition, this is a manipulation program for both beginners and professionals who love design.

It offers many professional features, making the program a powerful tool.

Pros: professional editing tools; supports different formats; supported by different platforms; active community

Cons: in spite of the simple design, many options are hidden and it takes time to discover all the features; slow startup

Free

Krita is an open source painting app created by artists for artists.

Pros: easy to use; intuitive interface; great brush workflow; brush stabilizer; customisable brushes; general good performance; very enthusiastic, although small, community

Cons: it may be slow or even crash depending on the running computer and the app’s version; very few editing tools compared to Photoshop

Free

MediBang Paint is a free and light app for drawing and painting, perfect for manga and comic creation.

Pros: vast selection of brushes; cloud sharing; friendly, minimal interface (non-desktop app); also available for iPad, iPhone and Android

Cons: requires an account to use all features; non-intuitive interface (desktop version)

Free

Mischief is a sketching app with essential tools, useful for brainstorming and ideation.

Pros: infinite drawing canvas; friendly interface; easy to use; cheap pro version

Cons: few updates; offers only the essential (but that’s the point); no editing/adjustment tools

Free and paid

Corel’s jewel, Painter is the most famous software that offers digital tools able to give a traditional feel to brushes and canvas.

Pros: different selection of media; many professional features; PS-friendly

Cons: certain brushes may work slow; not easy to use at first; the software may crash (this is the most common report); pricey

Paid

Paintstorm Studio is a professional software for digital painting. It’s focused on the use of brushes and blending, which makes the software a little gem in the digital painting field.

Pros: good brush workflow; brush stabilizer; “close gap” feature; customisable interface and tools; professional features; affordable price

Cons: non-intuitive interface (desktop version)

Paid

Procreate is the powerful drawing app for iOS. 

With the very sensitive Apple Pencil, Procreate is so easy to use that many artists chose the iPad over the most famous graphic tablets.

Pros: friendly interface; makes it easy to organise files; excellent brush workflow; customisable brushes; video recording; affordable price

Cons: hidden features; only available for iPad

Paid

SAI is a simple app for artists who want to focus on painting and drawing. 

It’s well known for its good pressure support and its essential tools for manga artists, but SAI can be used by any kind of artist who wants to paint.

Pros: easy to use; friendly interface; light software; customisable brushes; tons of (non-official) tutorials

Cons: limited selection of tools, even basic ones; limited canvas sizes and uses; it might crash from intensive work, especially with big canvases and brushes; supports only RGB colour mode; lack of support

Paid

We hope you’ll find this list useful. 

If you think there are other apps that should have made this list, don’t hesitate to let us know!

Thank you and peace out,

G&M

Buy us a coffee ❤

Other articles:

10 inspiring and helpful YouTube channels for digital artists

6 inspiring Art Podcasts for digital artists

7 amazing Photoshop extensions and tools for digital artists

[oekaki-chan]

An artist : Aw man! I saw my arts were reposted on Instagram. I’ve asked them to take my arts down but they ignored me.

Me : Say no more! Click this link, then click ‘fill out this form’. Fill the form and wait for about 1-2 days, the staffs will remove the image you were reporting from the reposter’s account :^)

[elleap]

hope you don’t mind me adding some more info :’D

Many websites have those complaint forms you need to fill out to submit DMCA notice. Here are some of them:

Tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/dmca

DeviantArt https://help.deviantart.com/dmca

Instagram http://help.instagram.com/contact/372592039493026?helpref=faq_content

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/634636770043106?helpref=page_content

Twitter https://support.twitter.com/forms/dmca

VKontakte https://vk.com/dmca

Pinterest https://pinterest.com/about/copyright/dmca-pin/

Youtube https://www.youtube.com/copyright_complaint_form

Flickr https://ipr.yahoo.com/copyright?.lang=en-US

Google https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/dmca-notice

Usually links to those forms can be found on website’s Terms of Service pages. (search for copyright or DMCA)

Any content you’ve created, is copyrighted by you. You have full right to ask staff to delete repost. Your works deserve to be protected. ♥

[kelogsloops]

back to painting in the sketchbook

[alisonzai]

[noctuary-eyes]

Your art is stunning! I love the flow of movement in your drawings. Especially in the wispy, wavy hair! Do you have any tips on how to get a characters hair to have such voluminous shape and movement?

Thank you so much!! I don’t know if i’m the best for tips but i can show how i do it and maybe it will help point you in the direction you want to go for? defs don’t take this as how it should be done, this is just my way of doing it! its also just for 1 type of hair ofc, not a catch all guide or anything.

1. I start out with a rough head shape (usually not colored at this stage but i thought it’d make this look nicer) i like knowing what the head shape is and stuff since it helps me visualize how the hair would look around it!

2. then i sketch the vague shape of how the hair would look, how big it is, what direction i want it flowing in maybe? just a really simple thing to build off of!

3. then i start adding the motion to it, and some wiggles. just trying to get the overall silhouette how i feel looks good!4. then i start layering inside the hair, so i add shorter chunks coming from the scalp and stuff!! as well as adding more detail and wiggles/waves to the outer parts so it matches up! i try to keep a lot of it going in the same general direction, and having those that break direction slightly swirl back around in some way so it doesn’t look too random!

A few other things i’ll do after i have something i like (and color it, yes this is when i’d normally color something) is add extra little strands, adjust anything that looks TOO weird, and color the hair based on how it sits on the head! i like to make stuff darker towards the top of the head, and a little lighter at the tips just since i feel it looks nice! ~~~hopefully i explained my process okay! i think you should do what feels right in your work, and if anything i said helps you that’d be really cool! i spend a lot of time experimenting and doing minor adjustments to try and improve how i draw flowy hair, so practice is also a huge part!

[mcubed35]

Writers, remember this.

…you guys…

Just read an excerpt from a productivity/goal setting book that concerned Tolkien.

His publisher mentioned that people wanted more about the hobbits after Tolkien published The Hobbit.

So Tolkien started another novel.

And apparently bounced between the depths of despair and the height of confidence for the entire process (he said that: “his ‘labour of delight’ had been ‘transformed into a nightmare.’”)

He gave up multiple times.

That book? Fellowship of the Ring.

You know what kept him going? C.S. Lewis’ support.

First lesson: if you’re stressing over your book, remember that Tolkien did too.

Second lesson: Writers have to support each other. Seriously. It might be the difference between a book that becomes beloved by hundreds of thousands (maybe even millions) even existing or not.

[elodieunderglass]

 This is fair! This is so nice! I love this!

You know what else kept him going while he wrote Lord of the Rings? Well, 

having an income while he wrote, that he didn’t really have to work for. In fact, he held his dream job (Professor of Literature) with a full-time income, that came with a pleasant private office. He sat at work, for which he was being paid to do something else, and actively avoided doing his actual job while he pursued his own unrelated novel.

having a stay-at-home wife to run his entire home and family for him.

having servants…. that helps….

having a large, pretty house within a pleasant 25-minute walk of work.

never having to do:

household maintenance

laundry

cooking

cleaning

Life Admin

the not-fun gardening

the not-fun childcare

The work day of Men of His Time ended when they came home. Women of His Time, and Staff, existed to run the rest of his life. And that’s what they did. Jonald Ronald Rolkien Tolkien was the center of his household universe, which existed to support him in every possible way.

Let’s be real: he was not the person who was up in the night with a teething baby. That was what the nanny was for, followed by the wife. It would have been unthinkable for a man of his time/class to do his own childcare.

Actually, it’s worth noting that he had in particular a Very Intelligent Icelandic nanny, who lived in his house and looked after his four children all day, and was never given a holiday, and told the children lovely bedtime stories about trolls and the Icelandic Edda, and who provided a useful resource for the language and myth he used in LoTR, until his wife became too jealous.

I mean, what could YOU do if you had that much support? Write an epic! probably!!

Because nobody was forcing him to do anything, ever, he slept late and woke up late. sounds nice

Tolkien did not do laundry. He did not cook meals. He did not clean the house. He did not wrestle rice pudding down the necks of his screaming babies, while calmly and lovingly answering his schoolchild’s questions. He wasn’t making a cake while talking to his boss on the phone and wiping up the dog’s sick. He did not spend hours every day in the process of keeping his home together, or sorting the affairs of his four children, or sorting out the wifi. The Care and Keeping of Tolkien was outsourced to wife, servants, scouts, assistants, waitstaff.

He would have received free meals at work, although he usually walked home for lunch, where he was served food and alcohol that he took into his private study. but if he didn’t want to do that, Oxford profs of His Time could just get free lunch. He could ring a bell to be brought tea and snacks at work. And then he would go home and be served dinner.

Going to the pub with his friends, who supported and admired him! Sure!

not having to go home in the evening to his four toddlers and children, because he was a Man of His Times! and he could totally just spend evenings holed up in a pub with his admirers, because he was not required at home to help, or parent, or do anything in the home, except be served a glass of beer and go into his study.

god, imagine spending hours in the pub on a work night with a bunch of highly qualified literature professors telling you how smart and lovely and amazing you are. heck YES you’d be encouraged.

The Hobbit was already popular so it was probably quite helpful to know that while writing the next work.

Working and writing in a place that is generally considered to be an inspiring setting for academia and literature. Want to write Elrond’s Council? Sit down at a beautiful old stone table and start writing about the table. Want to write about a tree? Go write under your favorite ancient tree in the Botanical Gardens. Want a snack? Ring a bell and a scout will bring you toast and a cup of tea.

I mean, he wasn’t exactly spending his 40 hours a week under a manager’s baleful eye while he manned the self-checkouts at the Tesco in Coventry, or pumped gas for minimum wage in Montauk, scribbling notes into his phone. He floated around The City of Dreaming Spires, dreamily making art, while several people labored very hard so that he would be untroubled by Real Life while he floated.

Let’s be real. Tolkien’s literary accomplishments are very impressive, but he L I T E R A L L Y

was doing them on his work clock with the full support of a pit crew.

To be fair, I love the man. And I love the huffy apologism in the Tolkien Gateway: “Writing  [The Fellowship of the Ring] was slow due to Tolkien’s perfectionism, and was frequently interrupted by his obligations as an examiner, and other academic duties.”

I’m ??? sorry that writing a novel on the company dime was frequently interrupted by occasionally having to do his job???? oh my god I love and hate this so much,

Dianna Wynne Jones, of Tolkien’s students at Oxford, commenting “of Tolkien, they said he was wasting his time on hobbits when he should have been writing learned articles…”

maybe because that’s what academics are SUPPOSED TO DO, it is their job,,,

He would also deliberately mumble incomprehensibly, ignoring his students, deliberately delivering terrible lectures, so that they would all go away; but Dianna actually wanted to receive some of the education she’d been promised:

“I imagine I caused Tolkien much grief by turning up to hear him lecture week after week, while he was trying to wrap his lectures up after a fortnight and get on with The Lord of the Rings (you could do that in those days, if you lacked an audience, and still get paid).”

God love the man! Deliberately teaching so badly because he planned to alienate his students and collect a paycheck! He would be flayed on social media for less, today. There would be news articles about the Lazy Professor. He would be fired, and buried, and dug up, and fired again.

In conclusion: yeah, CS Lewis was very encouraging and that helped immensely! But probably so did a secure income, freedom from chores and labor, and a crew of support staff. Who knows what we might do, if we all had that kind of encouragement. We’d probably be very productive.

[madtumbleson]

A choice Diana Wynne Jones quote on Tolkien’s mumbling, from her essay “The Shape of the Narrative in The Lord of the Rings”:

“When I was an undergraduate, I went to a course of lectures he gave on the subject—at least, I think that was the subject, because Tolkien was all but inaudible. He evidently hated lecturing, and I suspect he also hated giving his thoughts away. At any rate, within two weeks he succeeded in reducing his substantial audience to myself and four others. We stuck on, despite his efforts. He worked at it: when it did appear that we might be hearing what he said, it was his custom to turn around and address the blackboard.”

It’s a lovely essay about The Lord of the Rings, but you can tell that she was still very salty about the man’s lecture style, however many years later it was that she was writing this essay.

[petermorwood]

One of my Uni tutors had also gone to lectures by Tolkien, and said more than once that whatever else he had learned, the most important was “This is how not to give lectures”…

[argodeon]

Hi!! I’m in love with your art! If it’s no bother, could you give some tips for choosing colors/palettes? I still struggle with color theory, and my pieces either end up looking too washed out or oversaturated. Your vibrant artwork truly is an inspiration :)

Be sure to use color/level sliders and tone curves whenever the colors don’t look good.

Avoid colors that blend too much or look too muddy with each other

(idk how to call it but apparently colors have their own ‘brightness’. Just looked this up and I think its a thing idk)

Try to avoid the portions of the color picker marked in red below as much as possible

This tutorial thing

And moar tutorials in my blog. #tutorial / #art tutorial

Also tysmm! ;w; <3

[diamondwerewolf]

Quickly requested

[alexielapril]

my personal version,and yes i have a fetish for long ears elves

[dredsina]

i have some more tips but i have to get back to homework!!! i hope this was helpful anon

[gingercatsneeze]

1. Ah Fai was a chief animator for McDull’s animated features. He’s super cool. Ultimate senpai. 

2. Previous post on breakdowns right here 

Some thoughts on acceleration and force

I presented this in the order of how I slowly understood the trick of delivering force - first an abstract concept of impact taught by Ah Fai, then a more complicated discovery on the acceleration pattern, last back to a more abstract concept of breakdowns. 

Like I’ve previously stressed, 2D animation is everything but one single approach. There’s no one rule that rules them all, but interchangeable ideas with math, or physics, or music, etc. There’s no “perfect” animation either, but what is perceived as organic and dynamic. E.g., using the Fibonacci numbers to animate didn’t bring me a perfect animation! On the other hand, a tiny change in the pattern could already make the feeling of force so much more powerful. 

Not so much of a tutorial than a personal experience. I hope you find this interesting hahaha 

[dolli-dreams]

Day #2: Sitches

The one on the left is the edited version while the one on the right is the original drawing!

[dolli-dreams]

This is my D&D baby , Nemiri ... they are a very dramatic anxious Bard who is the definition of “Fake it till you make it”

[dolli-dreams]

Day #1 : Extra Limbs

[zaccrimart]

If you can’t read it the order is: 01. TEETH 02. STITCHES 03. PLANT GROWTH 04. TONGUE/MOUTH TRAUMA 05. BROKEN BONES 06. MELTING 07. ARROWS 08. AMPUTATION/FLOATING LIMBS 09. NIGHTMARES 10. EXPOSED INSIDES 11. EYE TRAUMA/MULTIPLE EYES 12. DECAPITATION 13. INSECTS 14. IMPALED 15. FREE DAY! 16. HANAKI 17. HANDS 18. BITES 19. CLAWS/SCRATCHES 20. KNIVES 21. HEART 22. STRANGULATION 23. CANDY 24. BLOOD 25. EXTRA LIMBS 26. PUKING/ILLNESS 27. HALLUCINATIONS 28. ANIMAL SKULLS 29. ROTTING 30. MARIONETTE 31. TAROT HERE’S A SORT OF UPDATED VER. OF MY PREVIOUS ONE (FEEL FREE TO DO EITHER BUT I’LL BE DOING THIS ONE THIS YEAR!) I WANTED TO ALSO MAKE A PASTEL GORE ONE BUT IDK ANYTHING FOR THAT MAYBE NEXT YEAR!! ANYWAY DONT FORGET TO HAVE FUN EVERYONE! DON’T FEEL BAD IF YOU DON’T FINISH IT! IT’S FOR FUN AND PRACTICE!!!! HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!