#concerning art

[devilrose]

Whenever I return to work on comics after a pause, at first I tend to be like: eehh why do I even do this? it's so much work. maybe I should have only focused on writing

then once I'm there doing it: I LOVE MAKING COMICS. I LOVE MAKING COMICS SO MUCH. Storytelling becomes composition. Words become motion and time. The tiniest "he smiled" in the writing becomes a picture in which that smile is the only one drawn in that particular way ever. And it's the first time every time! Every page is a different and amazing process, even ten years of comic in!

I do wish people would read my comics more, and even more I wish people would tell me about my comics, but I'll be honest: I love the process of making comics so much that I keep doing it no matter if people read them. They're mine. Nobody can take them away from me.

[noegrets]

Psst, I think you're mixing this contest up with their Salon Roquet gig in Pokemon Fashion Flash, that last one was just them doing makeovers, this one (Beauty and the Breeder--which is the return episode for Suzie), Team Rocket teeeechnically did abduct the real first competitor and stuffed him and his Marill in a closet to compete in their place. : D;;; So, there was an abduction and police was involved.

Aw, what's a little abduction in the name of fashion!!!

(you are absolutely right, we were thinking of "Pokemon Fashion Flash", not sure if we've actually seen the follow-up episode yet...)

[niennawept]

Somewhere along the way, I forgot that my goal was "make more art." Not good art, not meaningful or 'important' art. I got to the point where I wouldn't make anything if it wouldn't be perfect.

Then, I had the year from hell and couldn't create at all because things IRL were very hard and I bitterly regretted not writing or drawing when I could have.

And now I'm back to trying to make more art.

Make that dumb comic (and don't try to make it "good")! Write that unhinged fan theory because it's silly and it makes you laugh. Start writing that fic you held off on because it's so self-indulgent you don't even know if you'll post it in the end (Valinor AU, my beloved).

I wish I could say that this cured my perfectionism (it didn't - I'm still very afraid not to be perfect) but I can say that making those silly things no one was asking for did help me make progress on art that matters more to me.

So I guess my point is - priorities can be for IRL responsibilities (work, school, home) but for me, art might need to have fewer rules so that I'll actually do it.

[devilrose]

Speedpainting = the act of making an artwork fast, often within an allotted time. Often for concept art purposes, or maybe as a show of abilities. An artwork made in such a way is often referred to as a speedpaint.

Timelapse = a sped-up video of a process. In the case of artwork, an artwork timelapse shows the process of making that artwork, sped-up for viewing ease.

Using the correct term matters because, if one calls a timelapse a speedpaint, some people might think that the video they are watching shows how this artwork was speedpainted, which would lead to believe that the speed shown is unedited and factual. Other than this being not the case, it might be detrimental to both oneself and fellow artists, as some people might assume that is indeed the speed one is capable of and therefore expect it as normal. And with all the AI bullshit going on and commodification of creativity, it's already a tough time to be artists, let's not make it worse by mistake.

[devilrose]

I wish there could be a visual arts equivalent of when in a song the voice breaks...

[devilrose]

Antonio Allegri, called Correggio (1489 - 1534): Portrait of a man reading, 1517-1523

+

Rosangela Ludovico, called Devilrose (1990 -): Portrait of a man reading on my phone, 2025

[noegrets]

A fabulously gay blind author.

If you take enough creative writing classes, or listen to enough "gurus," you start to realize that 90% of writing advice is just gatekeeping wearing a monocle. It’s classist, it’s often ableist, and it is obsessed with "restraint." Kill your darlings. Show, don't tell. Trim the fat. Fanfiction teaches you to burn the rulebook. It teaches you that "indulgence" is actually a rigorous study of emotional resonance. It allows you to sprawl. It allows you to write 50,000 words of pure angst just to explore the specific texture of grief, or an entire chapter dedicated to the domestic intimacy of two people sharing a bed, focusing on nothing but the warmth of skin and the sound of breathing. Traditional publishing calls that "pacing issues." Fanfiction calls it "what we actually came here for." It is a better teacher because it prioritizes impact over propriety. It taught me how to write not for a critic in a tweed jacket, but for a person alone in their room at 3 AM who desperately needs to feel like they aren't the only broken thing in the universe.