EriksBlue

http://eriksblue.deviantart.com/

[eriksblue]

[eriksblue]

Did a sketch of Russian Gangster from JimChi's asmr videos

[eriksblue]

A updated image of my #CyberpunkRed #ttrpg character Dodge, a Sniper Medic.

[eriksblue]

Andrey’s Apartment WIP

I be came obsessed with GONCHAROV so I’ve been working on this plan, its so hard to find photos for 1970s interior in Naples Italy. q_q if anyone knows of a collection with photos I'd appreciate that #Goncharov

[wondersmith-and-sons]

As Goncharov lies bleeding out, his last memory is that of a clandestine meeting with Andrey, several decades ago. Both of them use aliases for this - Goncharov introduces himself as Rasmus Lofvgren, and Andrey as Felix Strauss. In long overcoats and felt fedora hats, the two meet at nighttime in a park overlooking the city. Andrey looks young and unburdened, and Goncharov greets him warmly like an old friend. They hug, they laugh, and make small talk, like they’ve been doing it for years and will do so for years more.

Then as their conversation fades, there is a gesture of sudden and unexpected intimacy. The two men still, turn to eachother and Goncharov lights Andrey’s cigarette with the fire from his own. He cradles Andrey’s face with shocking tenderness that speaks of a casual familiarity and Andrey leans into the touch, almost indulgent. There is a moment of tension between them before Andrey looks down, uncharacteristically coy. The camera lingers as they stare at eachother for a few seconds before turning away. As they turn towards the glittering city that will doom them, we fade back to a dying Goncharov.

The nature of the scene is intentionally ambiguous— Andrey has only known Goncharov a few months, so chronologically, it’s out of place. Is it a false memory, a hallucination, or the wish fulfilment of a dying man?

Further examination shows another layer. Goncharov’s chosen alias was that of an actor best known for playing a time traveller, a low-budget sci-fi show whose key theme was defying your destiny. Andrey’s was that of a thespian who was playing a London National Theatre post-modernist production of Odysseus at the time. They are pretending to be other people, who pretend to be other people — actors whose characters escape their tragedy, from stories that defy fate. As if, in telling himself a story where tragic characters can escape, Goncharov puts himself in a story where he, too, can survive.

But the story is already over and nothing can be changed. Goncharov dies a lonely, desolate man, having alienated everyone who cares for him and the last act of tenderness we see him commit never even happened.

—Francine Rubek, Violent Delights, Violent Ends: On Queer Readings of Masculine Tragedy (2003, Oxford University Press)

[brynwrites]

Character Development.

Anon asked: 

Hey can you give some tips on the best way to show character development?? And some ideas for it?? And thank you for your blog, love it! 

Character development is an essential aspect of any story, and there’s quite a lot that can be said about it! Here we’ll cover what character develop is, who should have it, how to weave it into your story, and some things not to do with it.

Character development is the transition your character undertakes over the entire course of the story, which either:

Changes them for the better.

Changes them for the worse.

Changes them in a way that’s neither inherently positive or negative but has direct consequences on their actions and views of the world.

Almost changes them but at the last second they retreat to being the way they were before.

Brings them back to a way they once were prior to the story. 

Character development is not…

Characters suddenly deciding to change without any buildup.

Characters hearing a Really Good Speech just before the climax that grants them a miraculous epiphany. 

Characters monologuing themselves into new opinions without ever acting on them.

Characters suddenly revealing they were the changed way all along, with no repercussions or foreshadowing.

Characters completing their character arc only to immediately return to their old self for little or no reason.

Any situation where the character flip flops their personality in order for the plot to proceed unchallenged.

What are some things that can change during a character’s development?

Keep reading

[as-warm-as-choco]

A master post of Thomas Romain’s art tutorials.

There’s not enough space to post all of them, SO here’s links to everything he has posted (on twitter) so far : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. 

Now that new semesters have started, I thought people might need these. Enjoy your lessons!

[ionahi-deactivated20240918]

it’s been a while since my last tutorial! i hope that you can find this helpful. this previous video explains a bit more about the dropper tool method i use to blend: X

[did-you-know]

You’re more likely to find someone attractive if they look like your opposite-sex parent. Source Source 2 Source 3

[hachimitsubani]

How do you archieve that "old anime style" in your drawings? It looks so amazing, I was wondering if you could do a tutorial about it ;; If not it's completely okay!! thank you for your time, sorry if i'm being pushy! ;;

Oh a good question!! I don’t really think about itmuch actually…  but I can try to show my steps in more detail…!Maybe you can try it out for yourself! I only use Paint Tool SAI2 while doing so. (But it is almost like Photoshop, just more simple)Maybe my english and knowledge is not very good for explaining so I am sorry inadvance… (つ▽⊂|| ) and many typos…

First I draw a simple sketch… I use the resolutionof 2432 x 1367 pixels

then I do outlines, maybe you like to see the brushsettings for this:

background lineart on a separate  layer

Since my pencil makes fuzzy outlines, I have to outlineit on a separate layer again, but I use a fancy, gaudy color for thatso I don’t miss!

I use clipping group on top of that layer to cover itwith the actual colors later.

for the sense of the right hue, you may look for thecolors of the old animations, mostly, the darkest color (left) willhave a very dark gray warm color and the brightest color (right) willhave a very bright gray cold color, such colors are still to see indigital colored anime intentionally. Just try to keep the colors verygrayish mostly!

For the shading I like to use blue/green and graycolors… but it is very intuitive and I often just experiment.

( I don’t go too much on detail how to color thebackground since it is basically the same, like with the moving object infront, only difference is, that you don’t do a hard shading, you cansmooth it out with blending and paint it, there is a little bit morespace for artistic freedom in general. Also if you have a darker theme it is good to use the darkest color possible for black shadinglike here)  

blur is very important and I think it’s what itmakes looking old school, since back in the 80s and 90s they oftenused transparentsheet in the cel animation technique (characters are drawn on cel andlaid over a static background drawing *wiki*),that would cast such shadows and make the colors a little blurry onthe film a little. 

So the figure in front would have to gain suchan effect. I copy the layer for color and blur it and give it themode for color too!Also very bright colors would strongly blur soI make another copy of the color layer and just blur it highly and change the mode to screen tofade the contrast against its strong dark background.

At the end, I would just adjust the outlinecolors a little bit to be less apparent if the contrast is too strongon bright spaces (using a clipping group on the outline layer andmake the hue mid-red-grayish)On a final note a slight blur to everything!

Actually that’s it  ((^∀^|||)) hope it helps,I would love to see other people try it out!!full res: here

[maeisgay]

[tealin]

“… how difficult it was to run on the sand.”

[pilferingapples]

“I began this book with the intention of writing a brief article on the ideology of French workers during the Revolution of 1848.”

[rinielle]

“He has earned my loyalty.”

[darrenjolras]

“Well, Mr Lockwood, I argued, and complained, and flatly refused him fifty times; but in the long run he forced me to an agreement…”

[emilysidhe]

The kingdom of Here There Be Dragons is the province of explorers, magicians, and kids.

[mareebrittenford]

Everyone knows that the late Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, was a genius when it came to product design, technological innovation, and marketing.

[asylos]

“What was going on in my life?” Excerpt From: K C Alexander. “ARC: Necrotech.” Angry Robot, 2016-08-31. iBooks.

[theheroheart]

“It’s not that I haven’t wanted to see you. It’s just that I could see I was pulling you in, and I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

[taibhsearachd]

“Pay for your convictions.”

[ruffboi-mags]

“I’LL HEX HER INTO NEXT WEEK”

or, if saved fanfic doesn’t count…

“I should be going.”

[countlessuntruths]

“Madame Morrible would not release Elphaba in the care of Avaric”.

[stardropdream]

“When I thought things couldn’t get any worse, they did.”

[zoi-no-miko]

“So it’s not too long before Anansi’s youngest son starts losing his grip on the ceiling.”

[eriksblue]

Now suppose they marry men from other Israelite tribes; then their inheritence will be taken from our ancestrial inheritence and added to that of the tribe they marry into.

[lauraharrisbooks]

My favourite things about Scrivener

1. Navigation. You can see all your chapters, scenes, character & setting planning at one glance and switch between them very easily - compared to scrolling up and down in one long word processing document. Every file can also be a folder, so you can have collapsible items underneath it.

2. Word count targets. The “Project Targets” are particularly useful for NaNoWriMo so you don’t have to keep looking back at the website to see how you’re doing for the day, but more so outside of it, when you want to keep yourself working to a target but don’t have Nano’s charts and daily word counts. It also gives you a nice ding when you hit your session target.

3. How many pages? I only recently discovered this, but it’s very nice to be able to see in Project Statistics approximately how big your manuscript would be in pages without worrying about formatting. 

4. Outlining. Scrivener has two methods of outlining - one is Corkboard, which is exactly what it sounds like, a digital corkboard with notes pinned on it that represent your chapters/scenes with their summaries. The screenshot above is called ‘outliner’ and lists collapsible chapters/scenes with various statistics you can select as shown in the tick menu. Generally I prefer Corkboard, but Outliner is useful if you just want to see everything in a clear order. 

5. Full screen. I get distracted very easily when writing, so the full-screen writing mode is wonderful for me to avoid that - but you can still choose certain windows from the normal Scrivener view to show up. I have my targets and my summary, so I can stick to my plan when I’m writing and also see what progress I’m making.

6. Notes. No screenshot, but it’s a simple post-it note style box to the side of every document (chapter, scene, character etc.) that allows you to add notes. This may sound very simple, but it’s far more useful than I’d expected. During NaNoWriMo when I’m not meant to be editing at all, but I know something needs fixing, I will jot down something in the side like ‘Take out the horse’ so that when I go through again to edit I know exactly the things to focus on immediately but which would have taken too much time before. It’s linked to the scene so I don’t just have a pile of notes in one document at the end and then have to work out where it needs fixing.

Overall

I downloaded Scrivener for the first time two years ago, and now I can’t imagine working without it. It’s so nice to have the planning and the writing all combined into one place where I can easily switch between the two. I haven’t yet got as far in a novel created in Scrivener to use the compile features so I can’t comment on those, but so far all my experiences of it have been good.

One thing to note is that if transferring project between a Windows and a Mac version of Scrivener, it’s generally best to zip the file first.

[Screenshots from my current novel Kindling Ashes using the Mac version of Scrivener - some features may not be available in Windows yet.]

[eriksblue]

writing

[fictionwritingtips]

How to Give Your Antagonist a Little Humanity

There is such a thing as your antagonist being too over-the-top. There’s a possibility that they can become static or one-dimensional if you don’t understand why they’re the protagonist. Not many people in the world are evil for the sake of being evil. There’s usually a reason behind what they’re thinking and feeling, so try to explore that with your own characters. Remember, the antagonist is usually the hero in their own story.

Focus on background

Knowing your antagonist’s personal background should add more dimensions to your story. Do they have a family? Is there something specific that happened that shaped them? Understanding where each of your characters came from and how they came to be the way they are will really help add depth. Your readers will begin to see what makes them tick.

Know what they want

Antagonists have wants and needs, just like any other character. You should always know what your protagonist wants if you want to drive the story forward and the same can be said for your antagonist. What are they searching for? Why do they want to stop the protagonist? Do they want the same thing as the protagonist? This will help you figure out your conflict.

Is there someone they care about?

Knowing what your antagonist cares about will reveal a lot about them.  Sure, sometimes mindless unstoppable villains are exciting, but it doesn’t work for every story. Smart antagonists that care about something are usually more enticing. You can make them a bit more humane if you reveal what they care about. Do they believe what they’re doing will actually save the world? Do they think they’re doing the right thing? Consider these questions.

What do they think about the protagonist?

It’s not necessary for the antagonist to absolutely hate the protagonist. Sometimes it’s more interesting if they respect each other or if they already have a relationship. Do they think the protagonist is completely wrong? Do they understand their point-of-view? Knowing what your antagonist thinks will help form a realistic relationship between the protagonist and antagonist. It will help you shape your story into something better.

-Kris Noel

[1000storyideas]

10 outline techniques for writers

With this post I listed 10 outline techniques to help writes move their story from a basic idea to a complete set of arcs, plots, sequences and/or scenes. Or to simply expand whatever you have in hands right now.

If you have a vague story idea or a detailed one, this post is for you to both discover and organize. A few technique will work perfectly. A few won’t. Your mission is to find the one that works best for you. That said, I advice you to try out as many techniques as possible.

So, are you ready? Open your notebook, or your digital document, and let’s start.

1. Snowflake method: Start with a one-sentence description of the novel. Then, develop this simple phrase into a paragraph. Your next step is to write a one-page summary based on the paragraph, you can write about characters, motivations, goals, plots, options, whatever you feel like. From this point on, you can either start your book or expand the one-page summary into four pages. And, at last, four pages into a brief description of known sequences of scenes. Your goal is to make the story more and more complex as you add information, much like a forming snowflake.  

2. Chapter by chapter: List ten to twenty chapters, give each chapter a tittle and a brief description of what should happen. Then, break each chapter into three to five basic sequences of scenes. Give each sequence a title, a brief description and a short list of possibilities (possibilities of dialogues, scenarios, outcomes, moods, feelings… just play around with possibilities). From this point on, you can either create the scenes of sequences with a one-sentence description for each or jump straight to writing. Your goal is to shift from the big picture to a detail-oriented point of view.

3. Script: This might sound crazy, but, with this technique, you will write the screenplay of your story as if it’s a movie. No strings attached to creative writing, just plain actions and dialogues with basic information. Writing a script will take time, maybe months, but it will also enlighten your project like no other technique. Your goal is to create a cinematic view of your story. How to write a script here. 

4. Free writing: No rules, no format, no step, just grab a pen or prepare your fingers to write down whatever idea that comes up. Think of possibilities, characters, places, quests, journeys, evolutions, symbolisms, fears, good moments, bad moments, clothing, appearances. Complete five to ten pages. Or even more. The more you write, the more you will unravel. You can even doodle, or paste images. Your mission is to explore freely.

5. Tag: This technique is ideal if you have just a vague idea of the story. Start by listing ten to fifteen tags related to the story. Under each tag, create possible plots. And, under each plot, create possible scenes. Grab a red felt pen and circle plots and scenes that sparkle your interest.

6.  Eight-point arc: With this technique you will divide your story into eight stages. They are Stasis, Trigger, Quest, Surprise, Critical Choice, Climax, Reversal and Resolution. The Stasis is the every-day-life of your main character. Trigger is an event that will change the every-day-life of your character (for better or for worse). Quest is a period of your main characters trying to find a new balance, a new every-day-life (because we all love a good routine). Surprise will take your character away from their new found every-day-life. Critical Choice is a point of no return, a dilemma, your character will have to make the hardest decision out of two outcomes, both equally important. Climax is the critical choice put to practice. Reversal is the consequence of the climax, or how the characters evolved. Resolution is the return to a new (or old) every-day-life, a (maybe everlasting) balance.

7. Reverse: Write down a description of how your story ends, what happens to your characters and to those around them. Make it as detailed as possible. Then, move up to the climax, write a short scenario for the highest point of your story. From there, build all the way back to the beginning. 

8. Zigzag: Draw a zigzag with as many up and downs as you want. Every up represents your main character moving closer to their goal. Every down represents your main character moving further from their goal. Fill in your zigzag with sequences that will take your character closer and farther from the goal.

9. Listing: The focus of this technique is exploring new ideas when your story feels empty, short or stagnated. You’ll, basically make lists. Make a long list of plot ideas. Make another list of places and settings. Make a list of elements. And a list of possible characters. Maybe a list of book titles. Or a list of interesting scenes. A list of bad things that could happen inside this universe. A list of good things. A list of symbolism. A list of visual inspiration. A list of absurd ideas you’ll probably never use. Then, gather all this material and circle the good items. Try to organize them into a timeline.

10. Character-driven: Create a character. Don’t worry about anything else. Just think of a character, their appearance and style. Give them a name. Give them a basic personality. Give them a backstory. Develop their personality based on the backstory. Now, give this character a story that mirrors their backstory (maybe a way to overcome the past, or to grow, or to revenge, or to restore). Based on your character’s personality, come up with a few scenes to drive their story from beginning to end. Now, do the same thing for the antagonist and secondary characters.

So, when is it time to stop outlining and start writing?

This is your call. Some writers need as many details as they can get, some need just an basic plot to use as a North. Just remember, an outline is not a strict format, you can and you will improvise along the way. The most important is being comfortable with your story, exploring new ideas, expanding old concepts and, maybe, changing your mind many times. There’s no right or wrong, just follow your intuition.  

[design-sketchbook]

A simple guide to picking a great color palette. No matter what the colors are, using colors that are certain distances from each other on the color wheel result in a great contrast of colors. The simple color schemes shown above are used in the most popular logos, posters, websites, paintings, and even movies and television.

[eriksblue]

*Silent Screams*

[krinkshaming-deactivated2017021]

[skypig357]

Lmao

[bigwordsandsharpedges]

modern art

[cuentosallaround]

Okay, at this point there has to be something wrong with me, right? I’ve watched this 20 times in the last half hour, I still don’t know what they are saying half the time, but it doesn’t seem to matter because i’ve been crying my eyes out laughing for the entire last half hour …

[vergak]

what the fuck is this from i gotta know

[carry-on-my-wayward-butt]

it’s called letterkenny and it’s about a man who gets dumped and then goes on to shirk his pacifism and reclaim and hold his title as the toughest dude in the rural town of letterkenny ontario. every episode cold opens like this in increasingly bizarre ways.