Just a little psa, although I think everyone is aware already:
If there's a blog in my new follower notifications with pics of pretty half-dressed girls in the icon and/ or header, especially if the blog is otherwise empty and especially if the blog name is [girlname][somenumbers], I'm ruthlessly insta-blocking those.
If you're a genuine person and want to follow, please make sure to make your blog NOT look like a porn bot. BEFORE hitting the follow button.
Edit: also going to report each of them from now on. I didn't realize I needed to do that, too, in order to help Tumblr best deal with it. From what I gather they're already working on finding a solution.
How nice of the next one to show up so soon so that I can practice the reporting too 🤣👌 And I now know how to do it on mobile too, so I can get it done even more quickly.
I've been getting a lot of empty blog followers lately that still look like bots even without the numbers in their names, so again:
If you're a genuine person, please make sure your blog doesn't look like a bot! I will report and block empty blogs with pretty girls in their icons/ headers on sight.
This year's art summary. Not a monthly order, but chronological. I've learned a lot this year, and I'm proud of my progress, despite being "out of order" for 4 months this year due to having tendonitis in my right hand.
Here's to 2023! Thank you all for being here for my art journey c:
This is a method I started using when NFTs were on the rise - thieves would have to put actual work into getting rid of the mark - and one that I am now grateful for with the arrival of AI. Why? Because anyone who tries to train an AI on my work will end up with random, disruptive color blobs.
I can't say for sure it'll stop theft entirely, but it WILL make your images annoying for databases to incorporate, and add an extra layer of inconvenience for thieves. So as far as I'm concerned, that's a win/win.
I'll be showing the steps in CSP, but it should all be pretty easy to replicate in Photoshop.
Now: let's use the above image as our new signature file. I set mine to be 2500 x 1000 pixels when I'm just starting out.
Note that your text should not have a lot of anti-aliasing, so using a paint brush to start isn't going to work well with this method. Just use the standard G-Pen if you're doing this by hand, or, just use the text tool and whichever font you prefer.
Once that's done, take your magic wand tool, and select all the black. Here are the magic wand settings I'm using to make the selections:
All selected?
Good.
Now, find a brush with a scattering/tone scraping effect. I use one like this.
You can theoretically use any colors you want for this next part, but I'd recommend pastels as they tend to blend better.
Either way, let's add some color to the text.
Once that's finished,
You're going to want to go to Layer Property, and Border Effect
You'll be given an option of choosing color and thickness. Choose black, and go for at least a 5 in thickness. Adjust per your own preferences.
Now create a layer beneath your sig layer, and merge the sig down onto the blank layer.
This effectively 'locks in' the border effect, which is exactly what we want.
Hooray, you've finished your watermark!
Now let's place that bad boy into your finished piece.
You'll get the best mileage out of a mark if you can place it over a spot that isn't black of white, since you'll get better blending options that way. My preference is for Overlay.
From here, I'll adjust the opacity to around 20-25, depending on the image.
If you don't have a spot to use overlay, however, there's a couple other options. For white, there's Linear Burn, which imho doesn't look as good, but it still works in a pinch.
And for lots of black, you have Linear Light
Either way, you're in business!
EDIT since this has escaped my usual circles, and folks aren't as familiar with my personal usage:
An example of one of my own finished pieces, with watermark, so you can see what I mean about 'relatively unobtrusive'-- I try to at least use them as framing devices, or let them work with the image somehow (or, at the very least, not actively against it).
I know it's a bummer for some people to "ruin" their work with watermarks, which is part of the reason I developed this mark in particular. Its disruption is about as minimal as I can make it while still letting it serve its intended purpose.
There's other methods, too, of course! But this is the one I use, and the one I can speak on. Hope it helps some of you!
I‘ve been experimenting with Sai‘s design. I hope to develop this further when I can use my right hand properly again. I disliked her horns and blue pattern for a while now. So pls bear in mind I drew all of this with my left (non-dominant) hand. :‘D
annaxmalina
jacobvanloon
janainaart
stormborns
germansingergirl
