The Pen & The Grey

Idris Grey. They/Them. Black. Queer. Writer, Wattpad Creator, senstivity/authenticity reader, and Publishers Weekly book reviewer. Rep'd by Claire Friedman at Inkwell Management. All opinions mine. You may want to find something to hold onto.

[velvetcloak]

[scarletjedi]

Can the written form be Computer-Rendered Artifical Prose?

[aj-lenoire]

of course violet is ready of course it’s been ‘some time’ of course her ‘garden’ needs ‘watering’ she hasn’t had an orgasm in a WHOLE HYACINTH

[midwinterhunt]

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

[narrettwist]

Homie gonna share this

[studentlifeproblems]

[idrisgrey]

Thanks to the generosity of Mayor Whitmire, via the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA), and the Houston Arts Alliance, I've been selected as the recipient of the Support for Artists and Creative Individuals and Let Creatvity Happen grants. Consequently, 2025 will be devoted to the completion of my current novel and the writing and illustration of my upcoming graphic novel!

My Black queer novel "Eat You Up" is funded in part by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance and their Support for Artists and Creative Individuals (SACI) Grant.

The comic/graphic novel adaptation of "Legally Black" is funded in part by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance and round 3 of their Let Creativity Happen (LCH) Grant.

Stay tuned for news on public readings/presentations of both projects later this year! Please follow the Houston Cultural Events Calendar for more information!

@/houstonmoca @houstonartsalliance

#HoustonArtsAlliance #HoustonMOCA

*Legal name withheld for privacy reasons

[idrisgrey]

Hello, as a recent grant recipient of the Houston Arts Alliance, I'm having a writing convo on IG Live about applying for funding for your art in these trying times. We'll be discussing where to look and how to prepare. I hope, if that's a subject of interest to you, you'll join us.

👋🏾

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGKgiYVxkSj/?igsh=ZGxrdnN6YWh0ODF4

[idrisgrey]

Final Olive Update

https://mobile.twitter.com/TheGreyIdris/status/1590766704451125248

At 11:54 AM CST, the best doggo Olive crossed the rainbow bridge. She was the best girl all the way to the end.

Thank you to everyone who donated and shared in support of her final care. The outstanding balance will go to her cremation and memorial keepsakes. I will also pay it forward as best I can.

[alisaineurope]

sofia • bulgaria

IG: sketches_of_sofia

[hometoursandotherstuff]

This fascinating 1870 home in Richmond, Maine looks kind of nautical and it was bought in 1888 as a wedding present for a shipping magnate’s son.

The house has been thru several transitions over the years. It was divided into 4 apts. and has 4 kitchens, and the current owners converted it into a museum.

According to the real estate ad, it can easily be converted back to apts.,become a B&B, or a developer can make it into condos or offices (I hope not!).

I can’t tell if this is something on the wall that’s original, but it’s vintage.

No idea what this is. I thought it may have been a dumb waiter, but it could be an information window for the museum.

Built-in closet. Every wood surface has been painted white and there may have been a door on this unit.

Displaying the details on the ceiling kind of loses something w/the strip of lights going down the middle of it.

This room may have been a kitchen. 

Here’s a beautiful feature. 

Beautiful marble fireplace. All of the shelving was installed by the museum for their displays.

The gracefully curving stairs.

Some of the floor details. 

These floors are detailed but they look new.

The observatory in the turret was put in by the museum. 

The porthole-like windows offer wonderful views.

In the basement are museum display cases. If they left the statue, that would be cool. 

https://www.redfin.com/ME/Richmond/75-Main-St-04357/home/175407405

[sententiousandbellicose]

My dog Jericho (aka, JJ) was attacked on Saturday afternoon protecting her baby sister Olive from other dogs. We had to wait to take her to the vet and by the time we got her there, she was critical and had to be transferred to an emergency animal hospital.

I'll do pretty much anything for her, but as a freelance writer I do not make much money, and her injuries are pretty extensive. If anyone can help, I would be so grateful.

Venmo: RBGRBG

Tip-Jar: https://ko-fi.com/idrisgrey

See pictures of Jericho and her sister Olive, pre-injury, to see who I'm trying to save.

Any donations or sharing would be appreciated. Thanks, y'all.

[sententiousandbellicose]

My dog Jericho (aka, JJ) was attacked on Saturday afternoon protecting her baby sister Olive from other dogs. We had to wait to take her to the vet and by the time we got her there, she was critical and had to be transferred to an emergency animal hospital.

I'll do pretty much anything for her, but as a freelance writer I do not make much money, and her injuries are pretty extensive. If anyone can help, I would be so grateful.

Venmo: RBGRBG

Tip-Jar: https://ko-fi.com/idrisgrey

See pictures of Jericho and her sister Olive, pre-injury, to see who I'm trying to save.

Any donations or sharing would be appreciated. Thanks, y'all.

[missparker]

You guuuuuuuuuuuys, it's reveal day for my book cover!!!!! I told you LAST YEAR that I had signed with @ylvapublishing to publish my book and now I get to show you the cover!! Life is crazy.

The book is called Honey in the Marrow and it comes out in October 2022. If you want to learn a little bit more about the title, you can read my latest blog post here. If you want to add the title to your wish list so you get reminded when it's available (like I'd let you forget!!), you can do that now on the Ylva website.

I love the cover. I love the cozy vibes. If you've read the fic, I hope you'll support the book, too! And if you haven't read the fic, good! Wait for the book! Buy it if you can, or request it from your local library if you can't.

Thank you so much for all the support.

[missparker]

You guuuuuuuuuuuys, it's reveal day for my book cover!!!!! I told you LAST YEAR that I had signed with @ylvapublishing to publish my book and now I get to show you the cover!! Life is crazy.

The book is called Honey in the Marrow and it comes out in October 2022. If you want to learn a little bit more about the title, you can read my latest blog post here. If you want to add the title to your wish list so you get reminded when it's available (like I'd let you forget!!), you can do that now on the Ylva website.

I love the cover. I love the cozy vibes. If you've read the fic, I hope you'll support the book, too! And if you haven't read the fic, good! Wait for the book! Buy it if you can, or request it from your local library if you can't.

Thank you so much for all the support.

[idrisgrey]

Snap, Crackle, Spa(c)e-Pop (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/1198052347-snap-crackle-spa-c-e-pop

Shreya Duvall, better known as ShreyaVerso, is the one of the most popular online influencers in Spa(c)e-Pop and probably the loudest fan of the nine-member pop group Universo in the entire Milky Way galaxy. When Universo shares their new track, "Snap Pop," Shreya just has to make it her own. Here comes the "Snap, Crackle, Spae-Pop Remix"!!! 

[faustandfurious]

Don’t like that trope where women are forced into arranged marriages against their will for their family’s political advantage, it just reinforces the frankly sexist idea of women as overemotional and obsessed with romance to the point of stupidity, and neglects the reality of all the women throughout history who would gladly marry for power, riches and political advantage as long as the spouse in question wasn’t entirely awful, because ambition is not an inherently gendered trait, you gotta have a roof over your head, and that earl title suits your brother

[faustandfurious]

Something about ambition being a virtue in men and a flaw in women, and how that kind of thinking also influences people’s perception of women in politics and business today

[faustandfurious]

Maybe I’m just very ace, but I feel like if you’re going to sleep with someone, you might as well get an aristocratic title and a few estates out of it

[faustandfurious]

If you’re a woman living in a society and belonging to a social class where getting married is the closest you’ll ever get to having a job, why wouldn’t you marry for social, political and financial advantage? Sure, your husband has a weak chin and the annoying habit of mainly talking about his hunting dogs, but the estates are gorgeous, the horses are fine, the servants are numerous, you’re dining with the Prime Minister and his wife, and you just used your connections to secure a viscount for your younger sister

[pearwaldorf]

[wooteena]

are you telling me americans have stores that open up SPECIFICALLY for halloween and just. dont exist any other time of the year. you people are insane

[offishly]

Imagine an empty storefront. Some business that closed years ago. The building stands empty, unused for literal months. And then boom. Fall comes around and there’s a Spirit Halloween. There’s no escape.

[wooteena]

what the fuck 😁

[enderenby404]

Yeah this is a thing

[krystal-prisms]

Are you serious

[what-even-is-thiss]

Yes and they are divine gifts of beauty and cheap plastic lawn decorations.

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

… I honestly assumed that the existence of Halloween stores was just a running joke in American TV shows.

[what-even-is-thiss]

No they’re very real

[bisexualredactedenergy]

Can confirm this phenomenon also occurs in Canada

[fan-enby-anonymous]

It’s fun

[what-even-is-thiss]

Oh, it’s a blast.

[moonybyte]

Wait, so during non-halloween they are just empty? Like, they don’t switch between seasonal decorations (like christmas, easter, etc), they just…close and wait for next year???

[strawberrydragon]

Yeah, it’s not a permanent store. A company will rent an empty building for the 2-3 months before halloween, sell halloween stuff, and then clean everything up and disappear until the following year. And they’ll usually set up in different buildings from year to year. They just find any good-sized empty store space that will give them a cheap, short-term lease.

It’s so temporary that the halloween stores don’t even have a real sign, they just hang up a banner outside:

[wheeled-jack]

So you’re telling me that every year for a month or two the Spirit of Halloween possesses a dead building then disappears?

[velvety-vixen]

that is exactly what we’re telling you

[ktlsyrtis]

Oh it even gets even better! In my town, they actually put up a huge inflatable pumpkin-shaped Halloween store at the fairgrounds every year

And before you ask - yes, it did absolutely collapse once a few years ago 😂