here is a master list of great art tools that can make your workflow easier! 👇 (updating, please consider supporting me on kofi or check out my other works)
posemaniacs.com/en
if you want to learn human anatomy with the benefit of preset poses, this is for you! you can use it standalone, but as a bonus you can also import poses into the clip studio paint 3D models. (File -> Import -> 3D Pose (Posemaniacs)
Finally turned some of my favorite real brush and stamp textures into a custom brush pack!
This set includes 16 texture brushes (.abr) that work in Photoshop, Procreate, and Clip Studio Paint (v1.10.5+). They’re beginner-friendly and great for adding subtle grain, texture, and depth to digital artwork.
What’s included:
✦ 16 custom texture brushes
✦ 3 process video tutorials / time-lapse demos
☁️ Cloud
⭐ Shooting Star
🍳 Fried Egg
✦ 3 beginner-friendly step-by-step tutorials to follow along
The tutorials show how I use the brushes in actual illustrations so you can easily recreate the effects or adapt them to your own style!
✔️ Can be used in personal and commercial artwork
❗ Redistribution or reselling of the brushes themselves is not allowed.
If you have any issues downloading or installing the brushes, feel free to contact me with your receipt at [email protected].
It also ties neatly into the simplest version of the formula for getting people emotionally engaged with your characters: or how to build the moment in which your character starts moving from their initial state to the state in which they'll start changing their own lives.
First, you figure out the one important thing the character believes that they're wrong about. There's usually a core misperception that they haven't examined. Once they're forced to engage with it, it'll start to change everything about their perception of the world they're inhabiting and/or the people in it.
Then, as V.E. says, you identify the character's great desire and their great fear: the thing that character wants more than anything, and the thing or situation that terrifies them, and that they'll go to any lengths to avoid.
And having identified these two objects or situations, you build a situation in which the two forces will be in close, direct opposition to one another... then drop the character down in between them, and squeeze. Those two opposing forces become the jaws of a vise... and you crank the vise more and more tightly closed until the character has no choice but to acknowledge those opposing forces, and start (even in a small way) to deal with the pressure being exerted and push their way through.
This does not have to be, initially, a great climactic moment. In fact, it works better if it's not. It's more effective if your character has a brief low-intensity brush with these conditions-in-conflict early on. That way, when your big resolution scene comes along about two-thirds or three-quarters of the way along through the story arc, you'll have set up a resonance between that earlier hint or intimation of what's to come, and the really big blowoff. Your readers will recognize the resonance—the throb of tension between the two occurrences, like the vibration of a plucked string—and will find satisfaction both in the true resolution having been partially telegraphed earlier, and in how it's now being experienced and resolved in full.
This approach also allows you to set up more minor resonances between the realization of the conflict and its final resolution. These can serve to bind the structure of the work more closely together: to make it look (and be) less like a series of loosely strung-together plot events, and more like a unified whole, in which ripples of story business flow backwards and forwards, interpenetrating and influencing one another, and hinting at the big one to come.
But none of this can happen until the paired and opposing what-do-they-most-desire, what-do-they-most-fear axes have been defined. So that's a subject it's smart to spend some while thinking about (and for all your characters, not just the major ones), to be sure you're getting it right.
It's not unusual to get the wrong answers, or merely superficial ones, while you're still working out what's actually going on with the characters. So take your time. Eventually you'll find a set of answers that feel unquestionably right... and you can then nail those down in your notes and get on with making the kind of "good trouble" for your characters that will see them made complete.
As well as countless of others from the AI generator community. Just talking about how "inaccessible art" is, I decided why not show how wrong these guys are while also helping anyone who actually wants to learn.
Here is the first one ART TEACHERS! There are plenty online and in places like youtube.
📺Here is my list:
Proko (Free, mostly teaches anatomy and how to draw people. But does have art talks and teaches the basics.)
Marc Brunet (Free but he does have other classes for a cheap price. Use to work for Blizzard and teaches you everything)
Aaron Rutten (free, tips about art, talks about art programs and the best products for digital art)
BoroCG (free, teaches a verity of art mediums from 3D modeling to digital painting. As well as some tips that can be used across styles)
Jesse J. Jones (free, talks about animating)
Jesus Conde (free, teaches digital painting and has classes in Spanish)
Mohammed Agbadi (free, he gives some advice in some videos and talks about art)
Ross Draws (free, he does have other classes for a good price. Mostly teaching character designs and simple backgrounds.)
SamDoesArts (free, gives good advice and critiques)
Drawfee Show (free, they do give some good advice and great inspiration)
The Art of Aaron Blaise ( useful tips for digital art and animation. Was an animator for Disney. Mostly nature art)
Bobby Chiu ( useful tips and interviews with artist who are in the industry or making a living as artist)
Sinix Design (has some tips on drawing people)
Winged canvas (art school for free on a verity of mediums)
Bob Ross (just a good time, learn how to paint, as well as how too relax when doing art. "there are no mistakes only happy accidents", this channel also provides tips from another artist)
Scott Christian Sava (Inspiration and provides tips and advice)
Pikat (art advice and critiques)
Drawbox (a suggested cheap online art school, made of a community of artist)
Skillshare (A cheap learning site that has art classes ranging from traditional to digital. As well as Animation and tutorials on art programs. All under one price, in the USA it's around $34 a month)
Human anatomy for artist (not a video or teacher but the site is full of awesome refs to practice and get better at anatomy)
Second part BOOKS, I have collected some books that have helped me and might help others.
📚Here is my list:
The "how to draw manga" series produced by Graphic-sha. These are for manga artist but they give great advice and information.
"Creating characters with personality" by Tom Bancroft. A great book that can help not just people who draw cartoons but also realistic ones. As it helps you with facial ques and how to make a character interesting.
"Albinus on anatomy" by Robert Beverly Hale and Terence Coyle. Great book to help someone learn basic anatomy.
"Artistic Anatomy" by Dr. Paul Richer and Robert Beverly Hale. A good book if you want to go further in-depth with anatomy.
"Directing the story" by Francis Glebas. A good book if you want to Story board or make comics.
"Animal Anatomy for Artists" by Eliot Goldfinger. A good book for if you want to draw animals or creatures.
"Constructive Anatomy: with almost 500 illustrations" by George B. Bridgman. A great book to help you block out shadows in your figures and see them in a more 3 diamantine way.
"Dynamic Anatomy: Revised and expand" by Burne Hogarth. A book that shows how to block out shapes and easily understand what you are looking out. When it comes to human subjects.
"An Atlas of animal anatomy for artist" by W. Ellenberger and H. Dittrich and H. Baum. This is another good one for people who want to draw animals or creatures.
Etherington Brothers, they make books and have a free blog with art tips.
📝As for Supplies, I recommend starting out cheap, buying Pencils and art paper at dollar tree or 5 below. If you want to go fancy Michaels is always a good place for traditional supplies. They also get in some good sales and discounts. For digital art, I recommend not starting with a screen art drawing tablet as they are usually more expensive.
For the Best art Tablet I recommend either Xp-pen, Bamboo or Huion. Some can range from about 40$ to the thousands.
💻As for art programs here is a list of Free to pay.
Clip Studio paint ( you can choose to pay once or sub and get updates. Galaxy, Windows, macOS, iPad, iPhone, Android, or Chromebook device. )
Procreate ( pay once for $9.99 usd, IPAD & IPHONE ONLY)
Blender (for 3D modules/sculpting, animation and more. Free)
PaintTool SAI (pay but has a 31 day free trail)
Krita (Free)
mypaint (free)
FireAlpaca (free)
Aseprite ($19.99 usd but has a free trail, for pixel art Windows & macOS)
Drawpile (free and for if you want to draw with others)
IbisPaint (free, phone app ONLY)
Medibang (free, IPAD, Android and PC)
NOTE: Some of these can work on almost any computer like Clip and Sai but others will require a bit stronger computer like Blender. Please check their sites for if your computer is compatible.
So do with this information as you will but as you can tell there are ways to learn how to become an artist, without breaking the bank. The only thing that might be stopping YOU from using any of these things, is YOU.
I have made time to learn to draw and many artist have too. Either in-between working two jobs or taking care of your family and a job or regular school and chores. YOU just have to take the time or use some time management, it really doesn't take long to practice for like an hour or less. YOU also don't have to do it every day, just once or three times a week is fine.
Hope this was helpful and have a great day.
"also apologies for any spelling or grammar errors, I have Dyslexia and it makes my brain go XP when it comes to speech or writing"
Boosting this in case any of the programs and books suggested are useful.
All the photos on this tumblr ad the animal photo reference site I run is another resource available for artists to use!
As long as you’re not using AI to create your art, you can reference / trace / draw / recombine / make any sort of art you want, with any of the photos, for free.
There's also MORPHO, a really good book series on anatomy by Michel Lauricella, with very clear explanations and sketches!
And for pose references, there's @adorkastock who shares a ton of them for free, with different models and props, and her website is amazing <3 you can also buy pose packs from her.
here is a master list of great art tools that can make your workflow easier! 👇 (consistently updating)
posemaniacs.com/en
if you want to learn human anatomy with the benefit of preset poses, this is for you! you can use it standalone, but as a bonus you can also import poses into the clip studio paint 3D models. (File -> Import -> 3D Pose (Posemaniacs)
so. i was not happy with the 3D models of horses on offer in the CSP store or literally anywhere else i could find them, i needed one to use for my work, and i went ahead and made my own that is now available for the low low price of FREE in the CSP assets store.
textures included are greyscale basic shapes, multicolor basic shapes, and white with no shapes (but eyes, mouth, nostrils, and hooves emphasized for ease).
shape is ROUGHLY based off the silhouette of an Andalusian. size-wise, it by default stands at around 16 hands, but of course it can be resized to suit your needs. for that, I recommend sizing a human pose doll to the correct height (in centimeters), lining them up on the same plane, and resizing the horse to match the human doll's height. remember that a horse's height is measured at the shoulders!
it also comes with the following preset poses:
if you use CSP and wanna snag it, type 2204263 into the search bar in the CSP assets store. happy horsing!
Given I am straight up done with trusting settlers to accurately and appropriately teach others about residential schools, and given Sept 30 is just around the corner once again, I thought I'd compile some easy to access resources that are from Indigenous voices or at least made in partnership with Indigenous voices.
Websites:
Orange Shirt Society: About Phyllis Webstad
Indigenous Foundations: The Residential School System
Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada: History of Residential Schools
Books (Non-Fiction & Fiction):
A Knock on the Door by Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Out of the Depths by Isabelle Knockwood
Up Ghost River by Edmund Metatawabin
They Called Me Number One by Bev Sellars
The Education of Augie Merasty by Auguste Merasty
By Strength, We Are Still Here by Crystal Gail Fraser
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
Dear Canada: These Are My Words by Ruby Slipperjack
Because someone asked me, a million billion years ago: some information, reference, and explanation of things that might be around when you're writing/drawing someone in the hospital. And if you just,,, have seen some of these things in hospitals and would like to understand them better. It's good for that too I guess lol. Under the cut, because this is long and image-heavy
(Disclaimer--this is mostly for characters hospitalized for traumatic injury, broken bones, etc--I don't work ICU so my advice is less applicable there)
((Double Disclaimer: I've tried to keep this applicable to the general concept of hospitals, but apologies if over-generalization has slipped through!))
IVs
Item one! Because it's very visible and often misunderstood: our friend the IV. Shown below, a pretty bog-standard hand IV, a dressing with a clear window to show the insertion site, and technically-optional but very commonly-used J-loop tubing
(You can also just screw the long infusion tubing directly onto the IV itself, but it's a pain in the ass to do and often pinches the patient when you take it on or off.)
Common Misconception: If we are "taking you off the IV" we are not removing the IV! We're unhooking the tubing from that hub you can see at the end of the J-loop.
Common Misconception: The actual “IV” is the very thin plastic tube that goes into the vein itself, and the plastic hub that rests on the skin outside. The needle used to guide the IV is retracted once the catheter is into the vein. There’s no needle in there. Irritation to the inside of the vein may feel sharp, but it's not because you're being literally stabbed.
Artists: Note that the IV is inserted pointed up the arm, toward the heart! I've seen it drawn the other way once or twice. Nope!
Artists: most likely areas to see an IV placed ^^^
Writers: IVs in the elbow-bend/antecubital vein/"AC" tend to kink when the arm bends, which causes the pump to beep. Perhaps to the annoyance of Blorbo, who would like to be able to use their arms for things.
Somebody more critical could be getting medications and fluids through several IVs at once, and will often have at least one that's not currently in use as well--the most IVs I've seen in one patient is five, with three of those all running infusions at once, but generally I'd expect one or two IVs in a routine surgical patient, and probably two to three in a trauma patient.
Patients who have had surgery or a traumatic injury, or who aren't able to eat/drink like normal, will often be getting a slow drip from a big bag of fluid (i.e. saline! laypeople know saline, I think right?)
Artists: these bigger hydration infusions are compatible with most other medications, so when someone gets an IV medication--an IV antibiotic, an electrolyte, etc--they'll often be hung "piggyback" or as a "secondary infusion" (see below). If blorbo has two bags hanging on connected tubing, one should be notably lower than the other.
If Blorbo has medications running, and/or is anywhere but the emergency room, the tubing will also run through an IV pump, to moderate how fast it goes. (reference: IV pump).
There are other types of venous access, and also arterial lines, but we don't have a million words to do a primer on access types unfortunately.
RE: IVs being dramatically yanked out so Blorbo can run off to do Drama: should stop bleeding with a minute or two of light pressure, and bleed in a dark, welling trickle, not a bright red gush or spurt. Unless Blorbo got an IV accidentally placed in their artery, which is *LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER*.
Dressings/Bandages
There are approximately eight billion types of dressing, but this is specifically a PSA that there are a lot of options that aren't the classic White Wrapped Bandage.
Dressings of the Wrapped Bandage genre are used, especially on things like a hand or foot wound, or to (try to) wrap a head wound. (Bandaging somebody's face/head, my beloathed. it does NOT stay on.)
BUT injuries not on a part of the body with fiddly surfaces like toes/fingers or facial orifices are often covered by what I'd broadly call an "island dressing"--essentially a big bandaid sealed on all sides, or gauze pads laid down and taped to fit the wound. Looking up "surgical dressing" has provided me with a lot of the ones I was thinking of, and minimal gore, so I recommend it! Things of this general species:
Those dressings ARE sometimes paired with essentially a wide ACE bandage--in my field, I often see a smaller dressing on the hip/knee/ankle surgery site, and then an elasticated wrap around a large part of the leg, to gently compress the limb.
Oxygen (reference:nasal cannula or hospital oxygen mask)
Writers: Oxygen flow is measured in "liters per minute" which is confusing but true. You'll hear medical people shorten it to "they're on two liters nasal cannula" or "they're on ten liters nonrebreather", etc--or if Blorbo isn't on oxygen at all, they're on "room air".
The nasal cannula is a tube to deliver extra oxygen through the patient’s nose; the tubing goes back over the top of the ears, loops forward and meets under the chin. The other end is usually hooked to a wall port if the patient’s in bed.
This is one of the biggest ones I see people draw funky. The versions people come up with are very funny but also that's probably not what you're going for so pls. Take this reference I am gently handing to you.
A CLOSED LOOP: two small tubes in the nose, then the tubing goes back over the ears, then down onto the chest where the loop joins back up into one length of tubing.
It’s not actually as common to wear an O2 mask--masks deliver a higher concentration of oxygen than the cannula does, and if someone is struggling enough on a regular nursing floor that they need a mask to get their oxygen up, that's something their nurse is most likely keeping a close eye on. The Intensive Care Unit/ICU, the Emergency Room after a trauma, or in the hour or two after surgery are the places I'd expect to see a lot of O2 masks.
Artists: If you're looking up reference for oxygen masks, note that the kind shown on the left, with the bag (a nonrebreather) is a further step past the simple face mask shown on the right and delivers a pretty hefty dose of oxygen. Things have gotten pretty serious breathing-wise if Blorbo needs a nonrebreather.
Many people in the hospital don't actually need oxygen. Some common reasons people DO: lung injuries/diseases, a sleepy/sedated/unconscious patient, or something like broken ribs, where breathing is painful/hard. (looking at u, hurt/comfort writers).
We check oxygen on the finger the majority of the time (reference: pulse oximeter clip, pulse oximeter sticker)--if the patient’s unstable/sedated or has problems with their oxygen levels, the sticker is made to stay on continuously while the clip is easier to apply for occasional checks and then take off.
A little guy of this general variety, although you can honestly freestyle the shape. Note the norm is that the cord comes out on top. These can actually be used on any finger, or even the toes, although the fingers tend to read better.
Fun fact: the little finger doodad, whichever kind you choose, simultaneously reads oxygen and heart rate. If Blorbo has a little clip on their finger, their monitor should probably be showing both!
Drains (Careful looking up ref of these--they’re usually used for wounds, and the image searches can sometimes be unexpectedly graphic)
Inserted into somewhere there’s going to be drainage (because of infection or after some kinds of surgery/injury)
There are a million kinds of these, but I most commonly see the JP/Jackson-Pratt. The little hand grenade guy. He shouldn't be round unless he's full and needs emptied; the suction comes from compressing the bulb and corking it that way.
On a non traumatic-injury-related topic: to my knowledge, this is commonly what you'll see placed after top surgery! Congratulations to Blorbo on the top surgery.
Another useful friend for more traumatic art/writing is the humble chest tube, inserted for injuries around the lungs; severely broken ribs, blunt or penetrating trauma, etc.
Injuries around the lungs can cause air or blood to pool in the space the lungs are supposed to take up, and a tube can be inserted so the lungs can do their thing again. They drain into a weird flat tall little box that collects the drainage and can be hooked up to suction to help the drainage along. (reference: chest tube dressing, pleur evac)
There are a million pieces and parts to a pleur-evac and I could explain them all but to be frank you do not need to know. Face it away from the illustration and I will still be applauding, impressed that someone drew a chest tube.
Heart monitors
Most people who are hospitalized for a run-of-the-mill fanfic-style traumatic injury (and who don’t have heart problems/symptoms) don’t necessarily need their heart monitored, but if they’re critical/have heart issues, a telemetry box is a common piece of hospital equipment.
It’s hooked up by five wires to five stickers that go on the patient’s chest--if you want to get the placement right and make a nurse quietly impressed, look up five-lead telemetry
Incredible. A whole eight pixels of telemetry setup. >:Ic To simplify it down: one on either side a little below the collarbones, one on either side of the ribs, and one about in the middle. That's close enough for horseshoes or hand grenades, at least!
I've talked about this on the blog before, but the formula for a passable heart rhythm is a little rounded bump up from the base line, then a narrow spike up, down below baseline, and back to center, then another rounded bump. That makes one total heartbeat. Keep those clustered pretty close; if it’s a slower heartbeat, they space out slightly more but most of the space comes BETWEEN those clusters, not separating the parts themselves.
This is another one I see artists freehanding often, to often very humorous effect! Remember y'all, BUMP SPIKE BUMP.
Feeding Tubes
Unless the character’s going to need tubefeed long-term, hospital feeding tubes mostly go through the nose rather than in through the abdominal wall. They can be taped onto the nose (reference: NG tube tape) or we can loop something up one nostril and down the other to hold it in if it’s staying for a while/it keeps getting pulled out (reference: bridled corpak).
If your character had a gut injury/surgery, or is very malnourished from some form of illness and needs concentrated nutrition but can’t tolerate a lot of food, a hospital might give them tubefeed.
(we can also give nutrition through an IV! Sometimes tubefeed and TPN or PPN (IV nutrition) are given at the same time, especially for very malnourished patients or ones we're weaning off of the IV nutrition)
Vital Signs
This one's mostly for the writers lol. A very simplified rundown:
Vital signs are usually taken at regular intervals, often every 4-8 hours on a regular nursing floor, or more frequently in ICU/ER, where they often leave the machine hooked to the patient and can set it to automatically cycle at an ordered frequency
TEMPERATURE:
often in celsius, yes even in America
PULSE:
Patients who have lost blood and are stressed and in pain--aka most trauma patients--will often run faster heart-rates. Some young traumas especially will sometimes just maintain 100s-120s even at rest.
BREATHS PER MINUTE:
Pretty self-explanatory. I often hear respirations shortened to "respers". Counting them is not often noticeable but might include glancing from the patient to the clock/a watch and/or having a hand on their shoulder or back.
Narcotic pain medications are a notorious reducer of respiratory rate/depth, especially when somebody has had enough to make them drowsy.
OXYGEN SATURATION:
(AKA "pulse ox"/"sats"/"O2")
100% is obviously the best
95-ish on a young person who's been sedentary or sleeping heavily wouldn't surprise me too greatly but I would expect it to come up with deep breaths and coughing.
If young previously-healthy Blorbo is needing oxygen to get above the 93-94% range or below, especially all of a sudden, I'm looking for why! Sometimes "why" is obvious--rib fractures, sedation from anesthesia or pain medication, pneumonia, etc--but if it's not, we might be getting a chest x-ray.
Older patients who smoke and/or have long-term respiratory diseases can sometimes just run around 88-90%, but it's sure the fuck not a sign of good health. :T
BLOOD PRESSURE:
Hoo boy there's a lot here. In case this is new information: "blood pressure" is TWO numbers, written as X/Y and usually spoken as "X over Y". "120 over 80" being the old textbook "normal" number.
The patient's BASELINE blood pressure and how it's TRENDING (is it going up, down, has it dropped or spiked suddenly) are very important parts of assessing a blood pressure, so trying to assign meaning to specific numbers gets tricky!
High blood pressures are not usually going to be the problem in Blorbo-torment situations, which tend toward blood loss etc, so to broadly cover the opposite:
100s/60s is what I'd generally call a "soft" blood pressure; on the low side but not necessarily concerning in isolation.
90s/50s is eyebrow-raising. We're looking closely at other vital signs, assessing the patient, seeing if they've had a lot of medication that can lower blood pressure (pain medication/narcotics a common suspect). We're likely calling doctors for blood work (to look for signs of bleeding) and/or asking for a "bolus" (a half or whole liter bag of fluid run very quickly). Some people just exist in the 90s/50s! But if Blorbo doesn't, or if they're having other symptoms (dizzy, sleepy, lethargic, pale, heart-rate rising from their baseline rate). CONCERNING.
80s/40s is "if a doctor doesn't come up here ASAP and/or order some stuff right now, I'm activating my hospital's rapid response team" territory.
70s/30s is "I'm going straight to the rapid response team and calling a doctor once that's called because I'm worried this is going to turn into a full-blown Code Blue" territory.
Either the top or bottom number (systolic and diastolic, to their friends) being low to the degree above is of note--they don't exactly go up and down in lock-step. Unfortunately to get into the minutiae of "well if the systolic is THIS but the diastolic is THAT, I'm less concerned than--" would take a million years lol.
ARTISTS: there are about a million formats for vital machine readouts, so the exact design isn't important! But I do note that having several different colors is a very common feature. Here the heart-related vital signs are all red, the oxygen is blue, and the temperature is green.
"THEIR VITALS ARE DROPPING"--@ hospital drama TV what are you doing. that's nothing. it's nothing. Stop it. if I've heard any phrase used to a similar effect it's "they're crashing" but also like. If there's a team of medical professionals in the room we don't need someone to announce generally that things are going bad. We can tell. Calling out a specific vital sign--"blood pressure's tanking, 64 over 30"--"I'm getting 76% O2, I need a nonrebreather"--is way more specific and lets us know exactly how bad and in what way. 😤
CODES
Big bad! Blorbo has 1. stopped breathing, 2. abruptly stopped responding to stimuli, 3. stopped having a pulse, or some combination!
This does not just happen, so if you're going to write a code being run you might have to do some extracurricular looking around to find a story-compatible reason WHY blorbo tanked. Extreme electrolyte imbalance caused a dangerous heart arrhythmia? Very severe blood loss->hypovolemic shock? Vomited and choked on it? Vasovagal response when they were trying to poop made them pass out and it's a false alarm?
If someone's found unresponsive, you might see a "sternal rub"--a quick and dirty way to figure out if someone is just really drowsy and lethargic vs completely unresponsive, scrubbing your knuckles down hard against their breastbone. It hurts! And if someone doesn't react to it you can pretty decisively say "shit this person's unresponsive" and get help.
The phrases "CALL A CODE" and a coworker's voice yelling "I NEED SOME HELP IN HERE!" down the hallway galvanize me into an immediate adrenaline response at this point.
In a hospital, there will also be some kind of alert or alarm to immediately summon everybody. On my unit it's a little lever on the wall that immediately turns the call light system a bright flashing blue and has a very urgent and distinct alarm, but tbh most variations on "easy to activate and makes a loud distinctive alert" would be believable to me as a nurse.
The defibrillator will be brought in and hooked up (modern defibs use stick-on pads, not the paddles), but not all codes involve the classic "CLEAR!" and a shock; the defibrillator scans the heart rhythm and determines if the heart's in one of the two (2) shockable rhythms. Even when the code IS heart-related, which not all codes are, the heart rhythm is not always going to be shockable, in which case it will be a matter of CPR and IV medications for heart rhythms, and potentially intubation for breathing problems.
OF NOTE: 'no heartbeat at all' is not actually one of the shockable rhythms! People tend to treat shocking someone as a "restart the heart" thing but it's a "jolt it back into the right rhythm" thing, actually!
Just whacking somebody on the chest, AKA "precordial thump" or slapping them and telling them to Fight It are not accepted medical treatments lol. The first one has SOME very limited utility as a last-ditch thing with no other equipment available but if somebody did either one in the hospital they would look fully unhinged.
This has turned out very meandering, but hopefully also helpful in some regard! Obligatory disclaimer again that my experiences are not universal, although I've tried to keep this generally applicable. UoU
reminder that adhd medication isn’t a luxury or preference, but a lifesaving medication. a 10 year long study in the usa showed that, when properly medicated, the rate of car crashes people with adhd get into goes down significantly–men’s rate drops by 38%, and women’s by 42%. the med shortage, denial of meds by doctors, rising prices, and war on drugs has killed–with such a car dependent society, not driving frequently isn’t an option, which means we need better healthcare and need it now.
https://shorturl.at/8VD8B
edit because i forgot to explain: short link is to an article by the washington post, it should be free to read
I’m pretty sure there’s also been a study that unmedicated ADHD increases the risk of developing dementia in old age. I’ll get back to yall when I find the study
@icy-moons thank you for this incredibly important addition!!! People with adhd are almost 3 times as likely to get dementia, and the way to prevent that is stimulant medication–more people need to know this
ADD-certified therapist here. These claims are ALL TRUE. I don’t have the link to hand but properly medicating ADHD also reduces anxiety and depression rates and I’ve seen it improve eating and sleep over the long haul, and improve aggression in young children.
What to do if you find yourself homless- written by someone who has actually been homeless
Most important: Spend the money you have on a motel. Churches probably will not actually help and shelters can be dangerous or turn you away. At a motel you have free breakfast, access to running water, and a lockable place to sleep. Do not waste money on a gym membership like the popular version of this post says to do, YMCA memberships are like $40.
2. Contact family and friends. Now is not the time to worry about being a burden. Your survival and safety comes first and that is all that matters, anyone worth having in your life will agree.
3. Start a gofundme. Even if someone can’t offer you a place to stay, they might be willing to toss out $5 so you can eat today.
4. Libraries have free wifi. Apply to any and all jobs you can think of if you aren’t already working.
5. Any home is a good home. Even if it’s a dingy apartment in a bad neighborhood. If its cheap and you can afford it, snatch it up.
6. Pancake mix and peanut butter are filling, cheap, and last a long time.
1) Long stay hotels are NOT cheap when you add it up, but they can work for a week or so.
2) It is imperative you find someone willing to let you use their address for local job applications and security screenings. It needs to be someone willing to let you check the mail/give your mail to you who lives in the area you’re trying to find work in.
3) You have a higher chance of accessing emergency social services if you’re actually sleeping outside in an area where they can reach you. It’s fucked up, but if you’re going that route your situation needs to look as dire as possible.
a tip i got from a woman who works with the homeless: if you have to pick between spending money on food or on shelter, pick shelter and go to the food bank. it’s easier to get food from the food bank than to get free shelter, and shelter gives you more opportunities.
also, check out any clothing depots in your area. we have one connected to our food bank. they can help you with clothes for a job interview, work boots, etc.
libraries also have so much to offer! like op mentioned they have free wifi (and won’t kick you out like businesses), but you can also ask librarians about services they offer such as seminars or any technology you can borrow. they’re also a good safe place to hang out during the day to get out of the heat/cold.
find out about cool off/warm up places in your area. you can usually find these by looking up local harm reduction agencies. harm reduction agencies do a lot of essential work, and the people there will be able to help you. harm reduction encompasses more than just drug use, and those organizations have experience working with the homeless.
shot deck is a massive database of film shots searchable by grading, tod, shot type, characters and content! Studying from films really helps improve your values and composition as the shots are usually very carefully constructed! It helps you find ways to maintain realism while still packing mood and narrative into your work!
master paintings! I recommend the orientalists like Jean Leon Gerome in particular their environments had great compositions and throw around a ton of colour and light! I like the modern artists Craig Mullins and Richard Schmid also, as there is so much impressionist lost detail and simplicity yet the environments feel so real.
The 1960s era disney background artists like eyvind earle are a masterclass in stylisation and simplification and make a wonderful choice for studies. (That being said modern disney visdev artists like Nathan Fowkes are just as fantastic to study for the same reason)
architectural photography can be a great resource too- I love to look for work by urbEX people!
thumbnailing and comp studies- trying to break down a photo into as few values as possible and still have it be readable- this really helps train your brain in the relationship between light exposure and local value.
Im begging you if doing it in colour is too hard to start with just do it in black and white!!!!! Greyscale painting is an essential step in learning to paint and understand lighting scenarios!! Colour is hard!!!
there is no substitute for going outside and doing some plein air painting- really looking first hand at how the light effects different materials and objects, how it bounces around, what edges your eye naturally loses in certain lighting scenarios. Just go outside and draw and try to notice stuff.
for characters:
figure studies!!!! from life if you can but if you cant there are a ton of great resources out there- personally I love croquis cafe and posespace, but if you can afford it (and are interested in intense anatomy study) then scott eaton has a site called bodies in motion which is fantaaaastic. I think by now everyone knows nyx and senshistock, I also use a lot of grafit studio photorefs to study more complicated poses!!
Master studies (again). I particularly like to study the work of John Singer Sargent, Joaquin Sorolla, Edwin Austin Abbey, Alphonse Mucha (his le pater compositions are out of this world), any of the New Rochelle artists (e.g rockwell, tom lovell, those 1950s illustrators REALLY knew their shit).
I literally have a resin skull on my desk that I've used to do quick studies with different lighting, just 10 mins a day back when I was doing it and it levelled up my skill a lot!.
Material studies are essential to leveling up your character painting!!! Look at fur, look at metal, look at the way something embroidered reflects light vs tooled leather!!
gesture studies! Look at a dynamic pose and see how you can exaggerate the motion in away that captures the sense of movement. This is tricky to start with but its really worthwhile especially when you combine it with other exercises. Mixamo is a cool library to look into for this kind of thing as you can pause and rotate the models in the middle of their actions!
breakdown the work of artists you admire- it's ok to study other living artists (and try to reverse engineer how they are making their decisions) it's a very effective learning tool! Really figure out what it is about that persons workflow you like, and how you might incorporate that element into your own. Obviously, dont post studies of living artists work!
The most important thing is that when you do a study you go into it knowing what you want to learn. Dont try to do everything at once! It's ok to focus on the muscle structure and not give a damn about the gesture. It's ok to focus on the texture of the fur and completely ignore the characters face.
The best way to keep doing studies is to find refs you like- things you are interested in and that capture your imagination! Follow your curiosity and remember that just a tiny little bit a day makes a huge difference.
Gunna take a sec to recommend the tutorials of Devin Korwin. He talks about how to study and how to breakdown art fundamentals in a way that is at once both very advanced but also digestible. I highly recommend his pdfs!
Recall uses AI features "to take images of your active screen every few seconds."
I think every computer user needs to read this because holy fucking shit this is fucking horrible.
So Windows has a new feature incoming called Recall where your computer will first, monitor everything you do with screenshots every couple of seconds and "process that" with an AI.
Hey, errrr, fuck no? This isn't merely because AI is really energy intensive to the point that it causes environmental damage. This is because it's basically surveilling what you are doing on your fucking desktop.
This AI is not going to be on your desktop, like all AI, it's going to be done on another server, "in the cloud" to be precise, so all those data and screenshot? They're going to go off to Microsoft. Microsoft are going to be monitoring what you do on your own computer.
Now of course Microsoft are going to be all "oooh, it's okay, we'll keep your data safe". They won't. Let me just remind you that evidence given over from Facebook has been used to prosecute a mother and daughter for an "illegal abortion", Microsoft will likely do the same.
And before someone goes "durrr, nuthin' to fear, nuthin to hide", let me remind you that you can be doing completely legal and righteous acts and still have the police on your arse. Are you an activist? Don't even need to be a hackivist, you can just be very vocal about something concerning and have the fucking police on your arse. They did this with environmental protesters in the UK. The culture war against transgender people looks likely to be heading in a direction wherein people looking for information on transgender people or help transitioning will be tracked down too. You have plenty to hide from the government, including your opinions and ideas.
Again, look into backing up your shit and switching to Linux Mint or Ubuntu to get away from Microsoft doing this shit.
Steps to Disable or Uninstall 'Recall' in Windows 11 24H2
there are multiple options here depending on how comfortable you are digging into your computer's registry. You can either simply disable it surface level through settings or excise it entirely from the system registry
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.
I appreciate this video a lot--people don't realize how important it is to start slow if you're trying to come back from a completely sedentary lifestyle, and they get really hurt as a result. Straining your muscles too much, too suddenly can land you in the E.R. and the wrong joint injury can permanently affect your mobility, so please start with absolute basics and easy stretches!
theartofmadeline
kianamaiart
blakekathryn
germansingergirl
romaincrisis
stormborns
annaxmalina
