Almost all of these are about variety. Humans need stimulation! We need enrichment! We literally cannot do the same thing every day!
The other day I was feeling miserable, so I hopped on a bus and rode it all the way back to where Iâd started, and my brain, which had finally had some proper stimulation via new environments, was suddenly ready to go again!
This is why taking walks/drives and trying new hobbies are good for you! Donât turn yourself into a sad zoo animal! You need some pumpkins to roll around in your enclosure!
Hello, my name is Tofu and I'm a professional pixel artist. I have been supporting myself with freelance pixel art since 2020, when I was let go from my job during the pandemic.
My progress, from 2017 to 2024. IMO the only thing that really matters is time and effort, not some kind of natural talent for art.
This guide will not be comprehensive, as nobody should be expected to read allat. Instead I will lean heavily on my own experience, and share what worked for me, so take everything with a grain of salt. This is a guide, not a tutorial. Cheers!
đš Do I need money?
NO!!! Pixel art is one of the most accessible mediums out there.
I still use a mouse because I prefer it to a tablet! You won't be at any disadvantage here if you can't afford the best hardware or software.
Because our canvases are typically very small, you don't need a good PC to run a good brush engine or anything like that.
â¨Did you know? One of the most skilled and beloved pixel artists uses MS PAINT! Wow!!
đš What software should I use?
Here are some of the most popular programs I see my friends and peers using.
Stars show how much I recommend the software for beginners! â
đ° Paid options:
âââ Aseprite (for PC) - $19.99
This is what I and many other pixel artists use. You may find when applying to jobs that they require some knowledge of Aseprite. Since it has become so popular, companies like that you can swap raw files between artists.
Aseprite is amazingly customizable, with custom skins, scripts and extensions on Itch.io, both free and paid.
If you have ever used any art software before, it has most of the same features and should feel fairly familiar to use. It features a robust animation suite and a tilemap feature, which have saved me thousands of hours of labour in my work. The software is also being updated all the time, and the developers listen to the users. I really recommend Aseprite!
â Photoshop (for PC) - Monthly $$
A decent option for those who already are used to the PS interface. Requires some setup to get it ready for pixel-perfect art, but there are plenty of tutorials for doing so.
Animation is also much more tedious on PS which you may want to consider before investing time!
ââ ProMotion NG (for PC) - $19.00
An advanced and powerful software which has many features Aseprite does not, including Colour Cycling and animated tiles.
âââ Pixquare (for iOS) - $7.99 - $19.99
Probably the best app available for iPad users, in active development, with new features added all the time.
Look! My buddy Jon recommends it highly, and uses it often.
One cool thing about Pixquare is that it takes Aseprite raw files! Many of my friends use it to work on the same project, both in their office and on the go.
â Procreate (for iOS) - $12.99
If you have access to Procreate already, it's a decent option to get used to doing pixel art. It does however require some setup. Artist Pixebo is famously using Procreate, and they have tutorials of their own if you want to learn.
đ Free options:
âââ Libresprite (for PC)
Libresprite is an alternative to Aseprite. It is very, very similar, to the point where documentation for Aseprite will be helpful to Libresprite users.
ââ Pixilart (for PC and mobile)
A free in-browser app, and also a mobile app! It is tied to the website Pixilart, where artists upload and share their work. A good option for those also looking to get involved in a community.
ââ Dotpict (for mobile)
Dotpict is similar to Pixilart, with a mobile app tied to a website, but it's a Japanese service. Did you know that in Japanese, pixel art is called 'Dot Art'?
Dotpict can be a great way to connect with a different community of pixel artists! They also have prompts and challenges often.
đš So I got my software, now what?
â˝Nice! Now it's time for the basics of pixel art.
â WAIT â Before this section, I want to add a little disclaimer. All of these rules/guidelines can be broken at will, and some 'no-nos' can look amazing when done intentionally.
The pixel-art fundamentals can be exceedingly helpful to new artists, who may feel lost or overwhelmed by choice. But if you feel they restrict you too harshly, don't force yourself! At the end of the day it's your art, and you shouldn't try to contort yourself into what people think a pixel artist 'should be'. What matters is your own artistic expression. đđ
â˝Phew! With that out of the way...
đ¸"The Rules"
There are few hard 'rules' of pixel art, mostly about scaling and exporting. Some of these things will frequently trip up newbies if they aren't aware, and are easy to overlook.
đšScaling method
There are a couple ways of scaling your art. The default in most art programs, and the entire internet, is Bi-linear scaling, which usually works out fine for most purposes. But as pixel artists, we need a different method.
Both are scaled up x10. See the difference?
On the left is scaled using Bilinear, and on the right is using Nearest-Neighbor. We love seeing those pixels stay crisp and clean, so we use nearest-neighbor.Â
(Most pixel-art programs have nearest-neighbor enabled by default! So this may not apply to you, but it's important to know.)
đšMixels
Mixels are when there are different (mixed) pixel sizes in the same image.
Here I have scaled up my art- the left is 200%, and the right is 150%. Yuck!
As we can see, the "pixel" sizes end up different. We generally try to scale our work by multiples of 100 - 200%, 300% etc. rather than 150%. At larger scales however, the minute differences in pixel sizes are hardly noticeable!
Mixels are also sometimes seen when an artist scales up their work, then continues drawing on it with a 1 pixel brush.
Many would say that this is not great looking! This type of pixels can be indicative of a beginner artist. But there are plenty of creative pixel artists out there who mixels intentionally, making something modern and cool.
đšSaving Your Files
We usually save our still images as .PNGs as they donât create any JPEG artifacts or loss of quality. It's a little hard to see here, but there are some artifacts, and it looks a little blurry. It also makes the art very hard to work with if we are importing a JPEG.
For animations .GIF is good, but be careful of the 256 colour limit. Try to avoid using too many blending mode layers or gradients when working with animations. If you arenât careful, your animation could flash afterwards, as the .GIF tries to reduce colours wherever it can. It doesnât look great!
Here's an old piece from 2021 where I experienced .GIF lossiness, because I used gradients and transparency, resulting in way too many colours.
đšPixel Art Fundamentals - Techniques and Jargon
ââConfused about Jaggies? Anti-Aliasing? Banding? Dithering? THIS THREAD is for youââ
As far as I'm concerned, this is THE tutorial of all time for understanding pixel art. These are techniques created and named by the community of people who actually put the list together, some of the best pixel artists alive currently. Please read it!!
đ¸How To Learn
Okay, so you have your software, and you're all ready to start. But maybe you need some more guidance? Try these tutorials and resources! It can be helpful to work along with a tutorial until you build your confidence up.
ââ Pixel Logic (A Digital Book) - $10
A very comprehensive visual guide book by a very skilled and established artist in the industry. I own a copy myself.
âââ StudioMiniBoss - free
A collection of visual tutorials, by the artist that worked on Celeste! When starting out, if I got stuck, I would go and scour his tutorials and see how he did it.
â Lospec Tutorials - free
A very large collection of various tutorials from all over the internet. There is a lot to sift through here if you have the time.
âââ Cyangmou's Tutorials - free (tipping optional)
Cyangmou is one of the most respected and accomplished modern pixel artists, and he has amassed a HUGE collection of free and incredibly well-educated visual tutorials.
He also hosts an educational stream every week on Twitch called 'pixelart for beginners'.
âââ Youtube Tutorials - free
There are hundreds, if not thousands of tutorials on YouTube, but it can be tricky to find the good ones.
My personal recommendations are MortMort, Brandon, and AdamCYounis- these guys really know what they're talking about!
đ¸ How to choose a canvas size
When looking at pixel art turorials, we may see people suggest things like 16x16, 32x32 and 64x64. These are standard sizes for pixel art games with tiles. However, if you're just making a drawing, you don't necessarily need to use a standard canvas size like that.
What I like to think about when choosing a canvas size for my illustrations is 'what features do I think it is important to represent?' And make my canvas as small as possible, while still leaving room for my most important elements.
Imagine I have characters in a scene like this:
I made my canvas as small as possible (232 x 314), but just big enough to represent the features and have them be recognizable (it's Good Omens fanart đ¤)!! If I had made it any bigger, I would be working on it for ever, due to how much more foliage I would have to render.
If you want to do an illustration and you're not sure, just start at somewhere around 100x100 - 200x200 and go from there.
It's perfectly okay to crop your canvas, or scale it up, or crunch your art down at any point if you think you need a different size. I do it all the time! It only takes a bit of cleanup to get you back to where you were.
đ¸Where To Post
Outside of just regular socials, Twitter, Tumblr, Deviantart, Instagram etc, there are a few places that lean more towards pixel art that you might not have heard of.
â Lospec
Lospec is a low-res focused art website. Some pieces get given a 'monthly masterpiece' award. Not incredibly active, but I believe there are more features being added often.
ââ Pixilart
Pixilart is a very popular pixel art community, with an app tied to it. The community tends to lean on the young side, so this is a low-pressure place to post with an relaxed vibe.
ââ Pixeljoint
Pixeljoint is one of the big, old-school pixel art websites. You can only upload your art unscaled (1x) because there is a built-in zoom viewer.
It has a bit of a reputation for being elitist (back in the 00s it was), but in my experience it's not like that any more. This is a fine place for a pixel artist to post if they are really interested in learning, and the history.
The Hall of Fame has some of the most famous / impressive pixel art pieces that paved the way for the work we are doing today.
âââ Cafe Dot
Cafe Dot is my art server so I'm a little biased here. đľ
It was created during the recent social media turbulence. We wanted a place to post art with no algorithms, and no NFT or AI chuds. We have a heavy no-self-promotion rule, and are more interested in community than skill or exclusivity.
The other thing is that we have some kind of verification system- you must apply to be a Creator before you can post in the Art feed, or use voice. This helps combat the people who just want to self-promo and dip, or cause trouble, as well as weed out AI/NFT people.
Until then, you are still welcome to post in any of the threads or channels. There is a lot to do in Cafe Dot. I host events weekly, so check the threads!
ââ/r/pixelart
The pixel art subreddit is pretty active! I've also heard some of my friends found work through posting here, so it's worth a try if you're looking.
However, it is still Reddit- so if you're sensitive to rude people, or criticism you didn't ask for, you may want to avoid this one. Lol
đ¸ Where To Find Work
You need money? I got you! As someone who mostly gets scouted on social media, I can share a few tips with you:
Put your email / portfolio in your bio
Recruiters don't have all that much time to find artists, make it as easy as possible for someone to find your important information!
Clean up your profile
If your profile feed is all full of memes, most people will just tab out rather than sift through. Doesn't apply as much to Tumblr if you have an art tag people can look at.
Post regularly, and repost
Activity beats everything in the social media game. It's like rolling the dice, and the more you post the more chances you have. You have to have no shame, it's all business baby
Outside of just posting regularly and hoping people reach out to you, it can be hard to know where to look. Here are a few places you can sign up to and post around on.
/r/INAT
INAT (I Need A Team) is a subreddit for finding a team to work with. You can post your portfolio here, or browse for people who need artists.
/r/GameDevClassifieds
Same as above, but specifically for game-related projects.
Remote Game Jobs / Work With Indies
Like Indeed but for game jobs. Browse them often, or get email notifications.
VGen
VGen is a website specifically for commissions. You need a code from another verified artist before you can upgrade your account and sell, so ask around on social media or ask your friends.
Once your account is upgraded, you can make a 'menu' of services people can purchase, and they send you an offer which you are able to accept, decline, or counter.
The evil websites of doom: Fiverr and Upwork
I don't recommend them!! They take a big cut of your profit, and the sites are teeming with NFT and AI people hoping to make a quick buck. The site is also extremely oversaturated and competitive, resulting in a race to the bottom (the cheapest, the fastest, doing the most for the least).
Imagine the kind of clients who go to these websites, looking for the cheapest option. But if you're really desperate...
đ¸ Community
I do really recommend getting involved in a community. Finding like-minded friends can help you stay motivated to keep drawing. One day, those friends you met when you were just starting out may become your peers in the industry. Making friends is a game changer!
Discord servers
Nowadays, the forums of old are mostly abandoned, and people split off into many different servers. Cafe Dot, Pixel Art Discord (PAD), and if you can stomach scrolling past all the AI slop, you can browse Discord servers here.
Twitch Streams
Twitch has kind of a bad reputation for being home to some of the more edgy gamers online, but the pixel art community is extremely welcoming and inclusive. Some of the people I met on Twitch are my friends to this day, and we've even worked together on different projects!
Browse pixel art streams here, or follow some I recommend: NickWoz, JDZombi, CupOhJoe, GrayLure, LumpyTouch, FrankiePixelShow, MortMort, Sodor, NateyCakes, NyuraKim, ShinySeabass, I could go on for ever really... There are a lot of good eggs on Pixel Art Twitch.
đ¸ Other Helpful Websites
Palettes
Lospec has a huge collection of user-made palettes, for any artist who has trouble choosing their colours, or just wants to try something fun.
Rejected Palettes is full of palettes that didn't quite make it onto Lospec, ran by people who believe there are no bad colours.
The Spriters Resource
TSR is an incredible website where users can upload spritesheets and tilesets from games. You can browse for your favourite childhood game, and see how they made it! This website has helped me so much in understanding how game assets come together in a scene.
VGMaps
Similar to the above, except there are entire maps laid out how they would be played. This is incredible if you have to do level design, or for mocking up a scene for fun.
Game UI Database
Not pixel-art specific, but UI is a very challenging part of graphics, so this site can be a game-changer for finding good references!
Retronator
A digital newspaper for pixel-art lovers! New game releases, tutorials, and artworks!
Itch.io
A website where people can upload, games, assets, tools... An amazing hub for game devs and game fans alike.
A few of my favourite tools: Tiled, PICO-8, Pixel Composer, Juice FX, Magic Pencil for Aseprite
đ¸ The End?
This is just part 1 for now, so please drop me a follow to see any more guides I release in the future. I plan on doing some writeups on how I choose colours, how to practise, and more!
I'm not an expert by any means, but everything I did to get to where I am is outlined in this guide. Pixel art is my passion, my job and my hobby! I want pixel art to be recognized everywhere as an art-form, a medium of its own outside of game-art or computer graphics!
This guide took me a long time, and took a lot of research and experience. Consider following me or supporting me if you are feeling generous.
And good luck to all the fledgling pixel artists, I hope you'll continue and have fun. I hope my guide helped you, and don't hesitate to send me an ask if you have any questions! đ
In all my art classes, I was never taught HOW to use the various tools of art.
Like yes, form, and shape and space and color theory and figure drawing is important, but so is KNOWING what different tools do.
Iâm 29 and I JUST learned this past month that India Ink is fucking waterproof when it dries. Why is this important? Because I can line something in India Ink and then go over it with watercolors. And that has CHANGED the ENTIRE way I art and the ease I can create with.
tldr: Art Teachers: teach your students what different tools do. PLEASE.
WAIT INDIA INK JS WATERPROOF ONCE IT DRIES????? THE ENTIRE REASON IVE AVOIDED MARKERS MY ENTIRE LIFE IS BECAUSE JNK BLEEDS AND YOURE TELLING ME INDIA INK IS
yall calligraphers out there this is extremely fuckin important if u wanna get into illumination shenanigans because i swear to you there will b discoveries like these^
heres some of mine, pls take with a grain of salt im a total gotdamn amateur:
a lot of the time, the ability for colored ink to bleed will vary wildly WITHIN A SINGLE BRAND OF COLORED INKS. my cobalts bleed like fucking CRAZY compared to my reds, which, when u reference manuscripts that tend to put white ink ON TOP of either red or blue⌠you see where shit gets real and real annoying.Â
u can buy an aeresol, fully transparent workable sealant for like 5-10 dollars at your local art store. when i realize a piece ive been working on needs a color on TOP of a bleed happy ink, i give it a layer of this stuff. trouble is it CAN warp the paper so its important as soon as it dries to use heavy things (paperweights, books) to counteract the paper curling.
ink solvent, like koh i noorâs rapido-eeze, is only compatible with SOME inks, but will work on most acrylics. If you happen to be working with sturdy vellum that you have pre-sealed, it can be possible to literally use ink solvent to wipe away your calligraphy mistake like a goddamn bounty commercial
WD40, found at your local hardware store, will remove Sharpie marker from almost any hard surface.Â
 Acrylic inks will show brush strokes in large areas but are waterproof and quick-drying.Â
 Acrylic gouache is vivid, fluid, dried matte, is UTTERLY opaque on black paper, handles exactly like watercolor, and is waterproof.Â
Putting an oil painting in the sun will turn the yellowed portions back to their original white and wont hurt the painting.Â
 Cheap acrylic paintings will bleach out if left in the sun - get UV protectant spray or varnish. Nicer acrylic paints are less prone to sun bleaching, but they still do. Plan accordingly. Oil paints are much less prone to this.Â
Solvent-based markers blend together MUSH MORE SMOOTHLY than alcohol-based markers.Â
There is an acrylic paint medium for literally every effect you can conceivably think of (fabric paint medium, gloss medium, fluid medium, sand medium, fast-dying/slow-drying medium, etc.).Â
 If youâre going to buy student-grade paint to save cash, buy earth-tones (burnt sienna, ochre, etc.); they are made with cheap pigments already, and you wont tell a difference. You WILL tell a difference between student-grade and artist-grade bright colors (all yellows, blues, and reds).Â
If youâre working with markers but arenât using marker paper, you need to switch. Markers donât blend on printer paper, they just layer (even expensive markers).Â
If you want a glass palette for paint mixing but donât want to shell out the cash, buy a giant picture frame at Goodwill, take the glass out, and electrical tape it to a piece of foam board the same size for stability.Â
 Hog bristle brushes are for oil paint, sable brushes are for watercolor, and synthetic brushes are for acrylic and oil (but not watercolor because synthetic bristles canât absorb water).Â
 If youâre going to splurge on any aspect of your creation, splurge on the paper. Get the good stuff - crappy markers/paint/pencils look good on good paper, but not the other way around.Â
(There is more, but these are the big ticket items)
- Palette knives are for mixing paint and TRUST ME you want to learn how to use them. When you mix with your brush you loose paint and itâs hard in your brushes.
- DO NOT FIX YOUR ARTWORK WITH HAIRSPRAY. If youâre proud of your work and want to keep it, buy the actual spray fix. Hairspray is not archival in the slightest and will damage your work.
- On top of that, be careful how you store your work. Newsprint is handy and cheap, but also not acid-free and it will yellow your paper. Foamboard? Matboard? Also not always acid-free (but you can get them acid-free).
- There is no food-safe paint. Period. There are lots of ways you can decorate pottery that arenât glazes, but only glazes are food safe (and even some of those arenât).
- Also not food safe: Polymer clay (sculpey), air dry clay, oil-based clay, ceramics that have not been glaze fired, oil pastels, sharpie, glues of any kind, or mod podge (even the âdishwasher safeâ kind).
- Donât even get me started on mod podge. Itâs not consistent. Itâs not archival. Itâs not a sealant, itâs a glue (setting aside some of the weird hyper-specific ones they make that Iâve literally never seen in real life).
- If your glue isnât archival or at least acid-free, donât use it in your artwork.
- There are so many different kinds of paper out there, just go try them. But also make sure you know if itâs acid-free or not (it probably is).
- Marker paper is usually 15 to 20 lbs. News print is usually 30 to 35 lbs. Tracing paper is usually 25 lbs. Rice paper can range from 20 to 50 lbs. Printer paper is 20 lbs. Vellum paper is usually 48 to 55 lbs. Sketchbook paper is usually 50 to 60 lbs. Drawing paper is usually 70 to 80 lbs. Cardstock can range from 50 to 110 lbs. Charcoal paper is usually 50 to 65 lbs. Pastel paper can range from 70 lbs to board. Bristol paper can range from 50 lbs to board. Mixed media paper can range from 90 to 140 lbs. Printmaking paper can range from lbs 90 to 300 lbs. Watercolor paper can range from 90 to 500 lbs.
- The heavier and rougher the paper is, the more it will absorb. If youâre using a paper too smooth for your medium it will take forever to dry and may smudge. If youâre using a paper too light for your medium, it will warp and curl.
- If youâre working heavily with water, you need to stretch your paper (aka seal down your edges of the paper to a hard, water resistant surface). If you donât like doing that because itâs a hassle, buy a watercolor block instead of a pad/individual peices.
- If youâre working on a thicker paper, and make a mistake that your canât erase or cover- you can scrape and/or cut it out! With a really sharp exacto knife, you can very CAREFULLY remove the top layer of paper fibers on most paper.
- DO NOT USE ACRYLIC AS BODY PAINT. Itâs plastic.
- If you paint with oil, buy a silicoil jar. Itâs the best $10 youâve ever spent.
- Acrylic paint is basically water-based plastic. It will basically fuse with anything plastic (like a plastic palette), and will not stick to anything oil-based.
- Acrylic paint and house paint are not the same thing and you cannot mix them together. Acrylic paint is made from a water-based acrylic polymer, and house paint is almost always latex and can come both water-soluable and not.
I got more (I havenât worked at Dick Blick, but I worked as a colour pencil / ink artist for over a decade):
Coloured pencils can be very waxy and leave a crayon-like waxy residue behind, which you will notice most when burnishing (pressing down very hard). Prismacolors are famous for this, Derwent Studio does it among the least (Derwent Artist does it more, Derwent Lightfast is oil based and Derwent Procolor is a Prisma dupe). If you tried expensive coloured pencils and didnât like how they felt or looked, the waxiness might be the issue! You may love it or hate it, try lots of different kinds. You almost never need Caran D'ache unless you have money to burn or youâre a professional artist re: pencils.
Soft pastels are among the most pigmented mediums there are other than straight pigment. If you buy Schmincke and drop it on the carpet and step on it, especially a carpet, you will have to buy a new carpet. Only use high quality soft pastels in areas where the surfaces donât matter so much if they stain!
Not all ink felt-tip markers are made equal. Micron is superficially waterproof, but will not stand up to repeated heavy washes of water or brush rubbing. Artline Drawing System can stand up to several washes of water. Donât trust whether it says waterfast, water resistant, or waterproof outright, test it based on how you want to use it.
A malleable eraser is your best friend if you ever work with any kind of pencils, pastels, charcoal, graphite etc.
Cheap coloured pencils will sometimes have inclusions in the lead that will literally scratch your paper. Often what makes some of these cheap is often the wood quality, which means the pencil lead will crack more often as a result.
If you ever want to experiment in sketching with lead pencils, HB to 6B+ indicate the darkness/creaminess of the graphite! 2B is a very nice place to start with sketching, HB is excellent for technical sketching, and 6B is fantastic for deep black work but terrible for fine detail. Pacer/technical pencil leads often come in HB, B and 2B! Make sure you buy a lead density that you need. I prefer 2B in my technical pencils for thickness. Technical pencils also come in different lead thicknesses! You can create a lot of different drawing experiences by changing it up (and red leads can be fantastic too).
Good pastel paper will always have decent tooth on one side. Donât bother with cartridge or worse, lithograph paper for something like soft pastels. Shell out for something with tooth. You will see the difference immediately.
Tortillons (and blending stumps) are smudge sticks for smudging soft pastels (some pastels still use toxic pigments and while we all smudge with our fingers sometimes we really shouldnât do it all the time). You can buy them from the store, but you can also make your own by rough-tearing the edge off a piece of printer paper, or thinner watercolour paper, and then rolling it up and taping it. If you roll it very tightly, it behaves more like a tortillon. If you roll it more loosely so thereâs a visible hole in the middle, it behaves more like a blending stump! These are great for blending in fine details.
Pencil extenders cost about $10-20 for two, and will extend the life of your coloured / graphite / pastel pencils until theyâre nothing but nubs, while making them extremely comfortable to continue using. Derwent make two that suit all their range, but you should be able to find many kinds. Trust me, if youâre a heavy pencil user, itâs worth it.
You will almost always run out of white coloured pencil faster than any other colour, this is why many art stores will make it very easy for you to just stock up on white pencils. Do this if youâre getting into coloured pencil work!
Experiment with different coloured paper!
Acrylic pens should never be stored point down, but on their side. Black felt-tip pens like Microns should be stored pointing down, or on their side, but never pointing up. Make sure you know the best way to store your art pens!
If youâre working heavily with soft pastels, and have asthma or respiratory issues, mask up around the dust. Most soft pastels donât use heavy metals anymore (but not all! Iâm looking at you, Schmincke), but even so, inhaling dust is not a good idea. Make sure if youâre working on soft pastels youâre not blowing the dust away. If youâre not working with your paper upright, then tap the dust off if necessary.
i know we're all sick of self-care being a marketing tactic now, but i don't think a lot of us have any other concept of self-care beyond what companies have tried to sell us, so i thought i'd share my favorite self-care hand out
brought to you by how mad i just got at a Target ad
here are some youtube channels I recommend if you want to enjoy some easy-going, chill content in Japanese ^-^
Haru ch. ăŻăđˇăđż i recommend her animal crossing streams! her town is really pretty and the language she uses is quite easy to follow ^^
naoăđż she makes wonderfully calm and relaxing videos of her daily life. she doesnât talk in her videos but she narrates whatâs sheâs doing via subtitles (if you prefer reading then youâll enjoy this channel!)Â Â
Chokiăđż similar to naoăă. lovely aesthetic/asmr videos following her daily life (and lots of delicious cooking!)
ăŤăă§ă¨ăăźă / Nakanoteăđż stationary/study channel. i really like her narration style and note-taking tips!
in living.ăđż one my fave youtube channels! she chats about recent purchases, moving house, morning/night routines etc. super chill and enjoyable to watch.
those are my recommendations! let me know if you end up watching any of these channels (and if you have similar recs please reply and iâll check them out!)
We talk a lot about productivity on studyblr. And seeing what some people accomplish in a single day is absolutely stunning. Like damn you cooked 3 meals, cleaned, studied for 3 hours, worked for 8 hours, took a walk, made espresso, read 3 chapters, AND made a whole painting? Seeing these lists can make you feel lazy or underachieving. I promise you're not. A lot of times you just don't have small "habits" (I can't form habits for some reason so they're more like small, structured items I make a conscious effort to complete daily) that structure your day and mindset. But even if you do, remember that not everyone is 100% every day and some days, you don't do anything and that's ok! Listen to your body!
Firstly, realize that lists like the one I listed are probably exaggerated. I doubt someone can cook themselves a meal while at work and unless they're getting up at 5am, they probably don't have time to get all of that done. This is the first thing you gotta realize. Social media is full of exaggerations and lies. This includes the studyblr community. So don't fall for the expectations that you see here.
Secondly, get a schedule for yourself. Get up at a certain time, make your bed after you get up, go and wash your face. This gets your mind to transition from being asleep to doing things. Wash dishes after you use them. Hang your laundry after you finish it. Put things away after use them. Keep your shoes in the same spot and get a shower schedule going. These small things are hard at first, but get easier as they become more routine.
By doing things immediately, you don't create much clutter and your cleaning time is cut down drastically. It helps so much. Trust me.
Have relax time. I've posted this before because it's IMPORTANT. SCHEDULE YOUR BREAK AND RELAX TIME AND TREAT IT LIKE ANYTHING ELSE. IT'S NOT LESS IMPORTANT.
Find easy snacks and meals! Look at pinterest or Instagram for ideas! Egg and cheese wraps, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, salmon and mashed potatoes, etc. Especially if you work a lot like I do. The majority of my diet is "easy meals" at this point.
Make time for healthy habits. Meditation, yoga, a jog, the gym, running, swimming, reading by the creek, dancing to weird music, just get up and move and give your mind a break. You charge your phone. You need to charge yourself too.
Sleep. Please. Get a full 6-8 hours of sleep. Don't glorify sleeping small amounts. It's not a competition. I hate seeing people compare how little sleep they got, like bro that's like bragging about eating nothing but bacon and potato chips or something. Get sleep. Have a night time routine. Make sleep a sacred night time ritual even. Please. It's good for your body, your mind, your immune system, your skin, your future brain, etc. It can reduce your chances of getting in a car crash even.
Realize that life isn't a race or a competition. Life is something so short and it's meant to be enjoyed and savored. Please do something every day that makes you smile. Do something every day that makes you laugh. Do something every day that makes someone else smile. Live each day like it's the one you'll be remembered for. Spread love and kindness, especially to yourself and make sure you remind those you love that you do every chance you get. At the end of the day, you're living life, not racing in a societal race to be the most accomplished and you need a reminder about that.
âOften we fall in love with a person we think we love only to discover that, for them, we are just someone to pass time with. And all the while, the person who truly loves us either remains a stranger or a casual friend. So hereâs a piece of advice: donât settle for the person whoâs only passing time. Take your time, and be sure. Your life is too precious to waste on the wrong person.â
I have so much love and respect for women who are honest about their own loneliness but also find the good in it like when audrey hepburn said âI have to be alone very often. Iâd be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. Thatâs how I refuelâ and when charlotte bronte said âIÂ care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myselfâ and when jenny slate said âI think Iâve come to terms with the fact that there will always be a ribbon of loneliness running through who I am. But thatâs why I want to do comedy, and why I want to connect with people. You can use that ribbon to be a part of a finer tapestry, or you can choke yourself out with it! Your choice!â and when mary oliver said âwhoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh & exciting - over & over announcing your place in the family of thingsâ
Deep clean your room - I mean stripping the bed, sheets, comforter, pillows! Wash it all. Go through clothes, fold them like Marie Kondo says! Old trinkets and clutter that you donât need, be harsh and get rid of whatâs unnecessary, make room for new adventures. Sweeping and mopping the floors. Dusting surfaces. Move the furniture until it feels right, rearrange the shelves.
Delete old contacts - Do you really talk to all the contacts on your phone? Are they serving you well? Get rid of old ones, strangers, things that clutter. Likewise, think deeply about real-life relationships. Do they still serve you? If not all you have to do is walk away.
Go through your music library - Play all your songs and if you skip a song or seem bored of it delete it without hesitation. What if you miss it? You wonât notice itâs gone, and eventually, you may rediscover your love for it! Make playlists for moods, adventures, stories! Romanticize life!
Go through clothes - Dump everything on the floor, sort, fold, clean. Whatâs ripped and needs to be mended? Whatâs beyond repair? What do you love, what do you hate? Do you really wear it? If not bag it up and donate it to goodwill. This seriously helped me so much. Now everything in your wardrobe serves a purpose. Also, explore new styles, colors, everything! Have fun with it!
Journal/Do a brain dump - Write about everything. Write until thereâs no more to say. Clear your head, let go of things you canât solve. Read through it a week or two later, what do you notice? Were you stressed about a specific type of thing? Was there a way you phrased things? A common thread?
Donât run away from your problems - A big stressor we often push to the back is work, school, or responsibility. If youâre stuck in a procrastination loop make a list of every unfinished task you can think of and do a speed run. Green = What can you do now? Yellow = What can you do soon/with help? Red = What do you need to wait on/handoff to someone else.
Freshen up your nutrition - I do not mean diet. Screw that, learn how to cook foods that are good for you, check to see what vitamins you need and find vegetables/fruits with them. Are you tired a lot? Iron. Nails weak? Calcium. Unusually melancholy? Vitamin D. Donât settle for discomfort. Learn what foods you love! Explore!
Reassess your goals/habits - This part can suck. Sometimes we have goals w hold onto we just canât let go of. But is that what you still want or are you telling yourself you should want it? Make new goals, start small, work up to big ones.
Explore! - Wherever you live I guarantee there is something really neat nearby if you look closer! Go to museums, galleries, parks, forests, restaurants, cafes. Learn about everything. Explore intellectually, listen to TED talks, classical music and literature, join a book club. Explore creatively, find what makes you burn with passion and excitement. Learn a new skill by investing an hour a day
đˇ sometimes, being kind to yourself is to study instead of procrastinating, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable - when the exams and deadlines approach, your anxiety wonât be so bad.
đ¸ sometimes, being kind to yourself is to log off everything, stop looking for the rush of validation - at the end of the day, you canât fill an empty mood with more emptiness.
⨠sometimes, being kind to yourself is to make yourself uncomfortable for a while. to get rid of habits that initially comfort you, but ultimately make you feel worse. all habits are uncomfortable to stop, but the rewards will be so satisfying, and so worth it !!
Being neglected by abusive parents feels safe, because it means theyâre not actively yelling at you, blaming you for existing, making you feel like shit because you cost money, or beating you. It gives you some space to feel like maybe theyâre okay with your existence today, maybe now you can go and build some confidence and live your life, until their next outburst of hatred. So what if youâre going thru crisis and lack survival resources that day, what if youâre feeling lost and dissociated and worried about your future, at least youâre not burdening anyone with that, at least nobody is blaming you for what youâre going thru right now.
The after-effects of being neglected will show after you grow up, and youâre painfully aware that nobody is ever responsible for making you feel okay, for taking care of you, for making sure youâre not in pain. Because nobody ever did care for any of that, and itâs unlikely theyâll ever start caring. So you donât reach out, you donât ask for help, you curl up and wait for pain to pass and blame it on yourself that youâre feeling it. You never realize that for vast majority of your life, there were people responsible for making sure youâre not in pain, that you feel safe and have every support you need; your parents. You donât realize they skipped out on that responsibility because youâre busy being aware of how much worse they could have been to you, and all you can do is try to heal the damage theyâve already done to you.Â
Being neglected can make you neglect yourself, because youâve never been taught that you are someone who is supposed to be nurtured and taken care of. It can mean eating disorders, self-destructive habits, punishing yourself for struggling, feeling like youâre not allowed to have comfort or company, building the hardest possible life for yourself and blaming yourself for being weak if youâre not able to do it all perfectly. It can mean tolerating friends and partners who also neglect you, and not even notice they should be paying attention and caring for what youâre going thru. It means never believing that things will be alright, because nobody is coming to help, nobody is going to fix anything, unless you do it yourself, alone. And thereâs things we canât fix alone. You are forced to emotionally survive on your own, even though humans arenât meant to.Â
Someone should have prevented this happening to you. Someone should have seen you suffering as a kid, and protected you, shown you that this is unacceptable, you havenât deserved it, and you are to be nurtured and cared for, until you can relax and know that thereâs love for you in this world.
