Lin Mei Wei

I like Jane Austen, historical stuff, especially historical fiction, Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, historical romance in general, and lots and lots of historical fashion and Jane Austen again. Occasionally, I publish Jane Austen variations. AO3│Goodreads│Amazon

[the-forest-library]

seen on independent bookstore day

[that-windy-place-tho]

@firawren

[firawren]

Not my bumper sticker, but it's true. I would rather be reading Jane Austen.

[nattousan]

ok so, I approached my local library with a proposal to donate a mural as a way to A: build portfolio/gain practical experience and B: give back to a beloved public institution. The director was very enthusiastic about it and i've been working on it since the beginning of March. Come with me as I endeavor to paint what is in all honesty an excessive amount of birds

I wanted the birds to look like they were actually in the space so first thing after doing the draft was to do a lighting study

after that I covered the walls in letters in lieu of a projector/vr headset bc i have neither of those :) Then i take a picture of the section of wall and superimpose the lineart over top of it so I can pencil in the lines

et voila

and that was a whole week on it's own so next comes the paintin' >:)

[nattousan]

and now, the birds

Birds 1 and 2/14: Red Winged Blackbird, Male and female, Agelaius phoeniceus

[nattousan]

Bird 3/14, American Robin, Turdus migratorius

[nattousan]

hoo boy, ok *out of breath*

GIVE IT UP FOR BIRD NUMBUH 5, THE CANADIAN GOOSE, Branta canadensis!!!!

this guy took me about 4 days to completely finish, all of those freakingk coverts were a bear to render

[nattousan]

speaking of obnoxious coverts:

bird 5/14, Bluejay, Cyanocitta cristata

the friggin stripes almost got me chat, i may not make it

[nattousan]

Madam....

[nattousan]

birds 6 and 7: American Goldfinch, Spinus tristis, male and female

pleasantly simple to paint! next is the flickerrrrr

[nattousan]

*melts into goo*

BIRD NUMBER 8, (yellow shafted) NORTHERN FLICKERRRRR, Colaptes auratus

genuinely made me start questioning my sanity around day 3, it's half the size the of the goose, WHY did it take me 4 days to finish??

nothing but pain and suffering, i'm sure hope the next bird will be much easier and with FAR less barring :)

[nattousan]

in other news, I am losing my mind hairline

[nattousan]

SHE'S DONE!!

Bird number 9: Red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis

my chains are broken i am FREE. although i did have a great deal of fun with this, the barring on the wings itself took me like four days and i am READY to move on

this was a week and a half of continuous work so please excuse me for getting a little emotional in the bg 🙏

[nattousan]

*does a little jig*

BIRD NUMBER 10!!! The Male Mallard Duck, Anas platyrhynchos

the male and female ones are gonna be posted separately bc they're taking a lot longer lol but yea! super happy i was able to capture the iridescent green of the head, i found metallic green and blue paint at a craft store that really made his head POP. it looks better in person i promise

ALSO!! As this is the 10th one, BIG announcement. The end is in sight!!!!! I plan to finish within the next 3 weeks and there will be a small dedication ceremony/ unveiling happening at the library to commemorate its completion on the 16th of May. If you live in the Western New York region and want to check it out for yourself shoot me a dm!

Also thank you everyone for your kind words and support throughout this whole process, it's been a genuine treat thinking there are potentially thousands of you out there cheering me on while I paint this 🥹

[nattousan]

aaaand another one bites the duck,

we're movin right along with bird numero 11!! The lady Mallard!! Anas platyrhyncos

the 16th is looming in the distance so i'm trying to get thru these as quickly as i can so i can have as much time for the GBH as possible. i still need to do the names next to all of them so i've got about a week and a half to finish everything which is GREAT because i have adhd and nothing gets my ass in gear like a fuckin deadline, let me tell you

[nattousan]

power couple that they are, here's bird number 12 and 13,

the Northern Cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis

and NOW that they are complete, ITS GO TIME, in the next five days (library's closed for mother's day 😭😭) i need to have the GBH fully rendered, the names of the birds vectored, weeded, masked, applied to the wall, and then painted, plus additional cattails throughout. I may be able to get away with just getting the GBH done in time for the unveiling and then just have the names and cattails added later, but i'm gonna really try to get it all done in time. BUT, i have a plan. Part of why i take so long on these is because i really am just figuring it out as I do it lmao. there have been many a time where i am sitting on top of the ladder googling "how to paint birds" but I think if i take the time tomorro to do all that figuring out how to approach it beforehand, this will go a lot faster. I may also recruit some of my artist friends to help with the placing of the names... hrmm we'll see.

Anyways, shout out to the librarian who tracked down exactly the thing i needed so i could figure out where to place the highlights in my birds eyes, ur the real mvp

[nattousan]

thanks for the reminder, kid

[nattousan]

at long last, we've reached the end...

Bird number 14 out of 14,

The Great blue heron, Ardea herodius

thank you to everyone who reached out or got excited about this project, it genuinely gave me the fuel i needed to keep going. In total, the 480+ total hrs it took me to cover this wall pales in comparison to how long its expected to spend on there, hopefully imparting a sense of beauty and love for the natural world to the next generation and here's hoping i'm only getting started with these.

i'll see y'all soon :')

[melangeandtea]

[itspileofgoodthings]

A drawing of Lizzy from P&P by a student, based on the cover art of the copy we’re reading.

[pennilessandplain]

Tom Inside voice: how much jail time would I get if I yeeted Ryder off this mountain? Asking for a friend

[eddie-redcliffe]

The Other Bennet Sister - Chapter 9

[blekitnyzamek]

More illustrations✨

Some time ago I saw post on Facebook with another illustrated version of The Blue Castle after the one, I showed you at the beginning of the blog. It's from Latvian edition* from 1998, illustrator was David Bathrurs. Right now I will post only the first one shared in the post, to not spoil anything for first time riders of our book club 👀

[source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/253587391363122/?multi_permalinks=9507376225984146&hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen]

I believe it's from chapter one. The crack on the mirror is on point. And Valancy looks so beautiful with her hair down <3

*I suppose we don't have any Latvian Maudience members who'd like to ship a copy of this edition to me xd? I see it on local sites with old books but there is no option of sending it to Poland. Sooo... I wrote to one seller, maybe they'll be kind enough to reupload it, so I could purchase it by Vinted, keep your fingers crossed 🤞

[theworstcontentontheweb-deactiv]

There was something better in life than this rubbish, if only he could get to it—love—nobility—big spaces where passion clasped peace, spaces no science could reach, but they existed for ever, full of woods some of them, and arched with majestic sky and a friend…

— E.M. Forster, Maurice

[leche-flandom]

Love love love how Persuasion opens with Elizabeth saying no one will want Anne in Bath and then in Bath Anne's dodging admiring glances and engagement rumors left and right like Neo with the bullets. Jane Austen was cackling over her inkpots, I just know it.

[illustration-alcove]

Mark Smith’s illustrations for Josephine Tey’sThe Singing Sands.

[docs-and-guitars]

One of my favourite types of Taskmaster Contestant is, “Really sweet and chill guy who you’ll assume will just try his best and have lots of fun, but ends up actually being the most unhinged psychopath you will ever see. Just an absolute muppet of a man.”

[mapetitefeedeslilas]

#freethehemorrhoid #freethebollocks

[graysongoal]

I love this.

[dreamdiscovery]

fmk: james acaster, nish kumar, ed gamble

fuck james, marry nish, kill ed

fuck james, marry ed, kill nish

fuck ed, marry nish, kill james

fuck ed, marry james, kill nish

fuck nish, marry james, kill ed

fuck nish, marry ed, kill james

Voting ended onMay 30

[cultivating-wildflowers]

"He's Twentieth Century," she said. "That means he's out of his area. I can't authorize his going without his being prepped." "Fine," Mr. Dunworthy said. He turned to me. "Darwin, Disraeli, the Indian question, Alice in Wonderland, Little Nell, Turner, Tennyson, Three Men in a Boat, crinolines, croquet--" "Penwipers," I said. "Penwipers, crocheted antimacassars, hair wreaths, Prince Albert, Flush, frock coats, sexual repression, Ruskin, Fagin, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, George Bernard Shaw, Gladstone, Galsworthy, Gothic Revival, Gilbert and Sullivan, lawn tennis, and parasols. There," he said to the seraphim. "He's been prepped."

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

[mosswolf]

But to Lord Peter the world presented itself as an entertaining labyrinth of side-issues.

god me too mate. adhd king

[taciturn-nerd]

Lord Peter learns the connection between advertising and the working class

He had never realized the enormous commercial importance of the comparatively poor. Not on the wealthy, who buy only what they want when they want it, was the vast superstructure of industry founded and built up, but on those who, aching for a luxury beyond their reach and for a leisure for ever denied them, could be bullied or wheedled into spending their few hardly won shillings on whatever might give them, if only for a moment, a leisured and luxurious illusion.

[mariacallous]

Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers