#tone practice

[pauliemcpockets]

The.. the.. the… mccartney… 😲

[carminencobalt]

The Sandman, Dream of the Endless - tone studies ✨️

[camotherogue]

practice tones and do world concepts in one fell swoop? yes please

[splendidsneb]

Purple and Pink.

(and purple and white)

[wyspydraws]

2 quick Sketches I did this week. Trying to work on my Photoshop technique again now that I have the time to do it.

[spare-parts-in-space]

[leperturbia]

Figure drawing at Dr. Sketchy's, this time with an alien costume :D I decided to use chalk pastel today, and it was a fun medium to use to sketch quickly in color, but damn that stuff gets *everywhere*. I think I need to focus more on proportions and placing figures and masses correctly instead of off in a corner of the page, I think I've gotten pretty sloppy there. And I won the contest at the end! The prize was a gift card, I think I might get some gel pens or glitter paint... Definitely something sparkly...

[honestlyvan]

Unpacking a thing my brain does when I'm stressing out

(Yes, bear with me. I know concepts don't have heads and kicking people in the head is rude as shit, but I don't choose how my subconscious visualises stuff, okay?)

It's always the same kind of kick -- a reverse roundhouse, aimed heel first at the junction of the neck and the shoulder, or slightly higher, if it's coming less with torque and more with sheer weight. I actually know how to pull that kick off, but in this image, I'm doing it perfectly -- from the hip, with good balance, knee straight and mostly with momentum -- which is something I've tried to get right for years, yet have never quite succeeded.

Other than that, the stance I'm kicking from still has the same flaws as it always does -- my knees are ramrod straight, I'm leaning too much forward, and I'm not defending properly, my other elbow too close and my arm stretched almost directly on top of my leg, instead of in front of it.

Also, I'm always kicking from an elevated position. I can tell, because firstly, it's been years since I've managed to kick over my head the last time. Secondly, I'm always kicking horizontally and still hitting the neck, which would only work if the target only came up to my waist. And I'm pretty sure they don't, because these are always either big things I'm trying to kick, or actual people, who woefully are always fuckhuge compared to me.

I've been trying to unpack it for a while, because while it's a supremely satisfying mental image, too many details seem off. First of all, even though I'm kicking from a high place, I'm still kicking the same way I would, if I was meeting someone on even ground. That is to say, I'm not using my elevated position in any way -- not to get more weight behind the kick, nor to use it to my advantage to defend properly.

Then there's the kick itself. It's powerful, yes, but it also has technical flaws and is telegraphed as shit, so anyone with cursory knowledge of how I fight (or just good reflexes) would be able to dodge it or defend against it, leaving me out of balance and unable to cover myself, because again, I'm clearly not paying attention to my arms.

And lastly, I'm watching all of this unfold from third person, usually just behind my target's back.

I'm not really a violent person (don't laugh, little brother), I don't actually enjoy being angry or even frustrated, mostly because I have some major self-control issues that only get worse when I'm upset by other things. Kicking, or violence in general, is always a last-resort backed-to-a-corner kind of thing.

This is in contradiction with the mental image, though, because there, I have a definite upper-hand position compared to my target. I'm quite literally standing above them. I'm not in a position where using violence is justifiable, unless I'm somehow been backed into a high position.

I'm also clearly taking initiative with my attack -- going for the first strike, judging from how my target usually doesn't have their guard up -- and I clearly aim to end things in one, or I'm not thinking about the consequences, because my guard is terribly shoddy.

I always figured this mental image is cautioning me against aggressively taking initiative when I'm in an insecure position. My initial argument (the kick) might be strong, yes, but it's being delivered from a position emotional uncertainty (bad balance) or, more likely, it's being delivered by a person with questionable judgement (my bad overall stance), and thus could be easily countered. And if that were to happen, I would be left in a position where I can neither catch my balance to try again or defend myself, leaving me entirely open to a counterattack.

So, even if it would feel good to go into solving the problem dukes up, doing that would only be self-serving and pandering to my ego, and it could easily land me in a worse position than the one I was in before. At least at the moment, I have something resembling an advantageous position, and by taking initiative, I both risk losing it and don't necessarily stand to gain anything from risking it, other than indulging my belief that I'm in such a tight spot that violence is justified.

The problem with this, of course, is that being repeatedly discouraged from taking initiative means that I rarely will, and place too much burden on the other party to do the same. This results in stalemates where neither is willing to make a move because they see that that's what the other one is expecting.

And then there's the fact that I never get to see the consequences of my kick. I'd like to believe that my gamble works and my adversary goes down in one, but it's just as likely that they dodge or block, which leaves me fumbling and entirely open. I'm being presented with the level one consequences of deciding to charging headfirst and solving my problems with violence -- the direct RESULT of making that decision. But the part that matters -- the part where we see if the gamble payed off -- is omitted.

My problem is that my intuition can solve any problem and give me the right answer in just about every situation, but my intuition is balanced out by my neuroses and my anxiety, that do their hardest to convince me that any attempt I make will end in failure, and my megalomania, which tries to convince me every turn that I CAN'T make mistakes. And it's not always possible for me to tell apart what is my sixth sense talking and what's just me being delusional.

So really, whatever my subconscious is trying to tell me by showing me this image every time I get into a pinch is probably just that -- presenting me with an as-objective-as-possible view of the situation, and telling me t make my own calls.