![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Also:
- "You are the wrong type of gay if you like big strong men" okay well what if I make them BIGGER and STRONGER.
- "You are the wrong type of gay if you like big strong men" okay well what if I make them BIGGER and STRONGER.
Monsters + Flowers
Sep. 23rd, 2025 10:43 amSilksong
https://hannahlockillustration.tumblr.com/post/794407609977421825/silksong-just-beat-phantom-in-the-game-u-where
I love Hannah Lock's art in general, and I especially love this illustration in particular.
I'm linking to the piece here as a reference to myself. What I hear is that the way to develop your style as an artist is to allow yourself to be as horny as you need to be about one specific thing, and this is exactly the sort of thing I can't get enough of: A little guy in a lushly green environment. This is, for example, why I still love the Zelda games despite also kind of genuinely hating the Zelda games.
While studying my social media metrics over the past two years (which is a totally normal thing to do), I realized that reception is totally random. In addition, nothing I draw is ever going to do numbers in the current social media ecosystem. So why not give up and do whatever I want instead? Specifically, given that I love color and composition but suck at linework, why not loosen up a bit and just fill the page with rough lines and color blocks? And if I draw dozens of pieces just like the illustration I linked to above, so much the better! In the art world I believe they call this a "theme."
I have a handful of pieces I need to wrap up; but after that, it's little guys in green environments time. 🌿
https://hannahlockillustration.tumblr.com/post/794407609977421825/silksong-just-beat-phantom-in-the-game-u-where
I love Hannah Lock's art in general, and I especially love this illustration in particular.
I'm linking to the piece here as a reference to myself. What I hear is that the way to develop your style as an artist is to allow yourself to be as horny as you need to be about one specific thing, and this is exactly the sort of thing I can't get enough of: A little guy in a lushly green environment. This is, for example, why I still love the Zelda games despite also kind of genuinely hating the Zelda games.
While studying my social media metrics over the past two years (which is a totally normal thing to do), I realized that reception is totally random. In addition, nothing I draw is ever going to do numbers in the current social media ecosystem. So why not give up and do whatever I want instead? Specifically, given that I love color and composition but suck at linework, why not loosen up a bit and just fill the page with rough lines and color blocks? And if I draw dozens of pieces just like the illustration I linked to above, so much the better! In the art world I believe they call this a "theme."
I have a handful of pieces I need to wrap up; but after that, it's little guys in green environments time. 🌿
Haters Gonna Hate
Sep. 3rd, 2025 02:41 pmI recently wrote a review of Adam Ellis's upcoming comics collection Let Me in Your Window, which is going to be released on September 9. I'll link to the review here when it's posted (ETA: it's here) but the TLDR is that the collection is good. It's my favorite book of 2025, and I love everything I've reviewed this year.
I've been spending time on Ellis's Tumblr (here), and he's so fucking good at responding to haters. As someone who reviews comics by queer and progressive artists, I get the sense that many of them (especially ones who didn't grow up speaking English as their native language) self-censor their work to preemptively ward off exactly these types of shitty comments from the Tumblr moral purity police. Needless to say, I'm always sorry to see this happen. It's so nice to watch Ellis snapping back at that sort of reactionary culture, and I appreciate him.
One of the main reasons I stopped drawing comics myself was precisely because of these sorts of comments.* But honestly, fuck it. If even Adam Ellis gets nasty comments based on aggressively bad-faith readings, then I think that's as good of an indication as anything that the problem is the haters. Let them hate. The mental illness of random people on the internet shouldn't stop anyone from drawing silly comics.
* Literally the one that broke me: "This person claims to hate capitalism, and yet they have a job."
I've been spending time on Ellis's Tumblr (here), and he's so fucking good at responding to haters. As someone who reviews comics by queer and progressive artists, I get the sense that many of them (especially ones who didn't grow up speaking English as their native language) self-censor their work to preemptively ward off exactly these types of shitty comments from the Tumblr moral purity police. Needless to say, I'm always sorry to see this happen. It's so nice to watch Ellis snapping back at that sort of reactionary culture, and I appreciate him.
One of the main reasons I stopped drawing comics myself was precisely because of these sorts of comments.* But honestly, fuck it. If even Adam Ellis gets nasty comments based on aggressively bad-faith readings, then I think that's as good of an indication as anything that the problem is the haters. Let them hate. The mental illness of random people on the internet shouldn't stop anyone from drawing silly comics.
* Literally the one that broke me: "This person claims to hate capitalism, and yet they have a job."
Be Comrades Do Science
Jan. 24th, 2025 09:53 amGarfield: You are not immune to propaganda!
Propaganda:
( Read more... )
So anyway I'm studying the art style of socialist realism, and it's amazing.
Propaganda:
( Read more... )
So anyway I'm studying the art style of socialist realism, and it's amazing.
This boy is serving
Jan. 9th, 2025 08:50 amOne of my current art projects is to draw a sticker sheet of cute animals infested with moss and fungi.
I'm starting to collect reference materials, but first I have to decide on what animals I want to include. I'm not the sort of person who has a favorite animal, so I'm just poking around various archives and seeing what might be fun to draw as I collect photos.
So anyway, I have a question. Why do all crocodiles have this look on their face. What do they know that I don't.
( Read more... )
I'm starting to collect reference materials, but first I have to decide on what animals I want to include. I'm not the sort of person who has a favorite animal, so I'm just poking around various archives and seeing what might be fun to draw as I collect photos.
So anyway, I have a question. Why do all crocodiles have this look on their face. What do they know that I don't.
( Read more... )
2025 Resolutions #2
Dec. 29th, 2024 08:40 amI want to create three illustrations for next December:
- The winter solstice will be on December 21, and I want to post ablatantly homoerotic spooky illustration of the horned god framed by mistletoe.
- I have decided to embrace my longstanding cringefail love of Gawain and the Green Knight and celebrate Bisexual Beheading Games on December 25. I want to draw an epic botanical horror kiss.
( Read more... )
- 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse. Will I learn to draw horses? Absolutely not. I will trace over a stock photo borrowed from Pexels dot com. But I will do something really cool with it (that may or may not involve mounted archery). And I will do this far enough in advance to print postcards to send to friends at the beginning of December.
- The winter solstice will be on December 21, and I want to post a
- I have decided to embrace my longstanding cringefail love of Gawain and the Green Knight and celebrate Bisexual Beheading Games on December 25. I want to draw an epic botanical horror kiss.
( Read more... )
- 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse. Will I learn to draw horses? Absolutely not. I will trace over a stock photo borrowed from Pexels dot com. But I will do something really cool with it (that may or may not involve mounted archery). And I will do this far enough in advance to print postcards to send to friends at the beginning of December.
2025 Resolutions #1
Dec. 20th, 2024 09:08 amOne of my resolutions for 2025 is to draw Ganondorf in this iconic outfit from the classic 1982 movie The Thing. Which Kurt Russell totally did wear btw.
( Read more... )
ETA: Also he'll be wearing these boots:
https://cursedtrekedits.tumblr.com/post/739341698854944768/this-is-for-everyone-who-was-upset-that-i-didnt
( Read more... )
ETA: Also he'll be wearing these boots:
https://cursedtrekedits.tumblr.com/post/739341698854944768/this-is-for-everyone-who-was-upset-that-i-didnt
What makes a man attractive, part three
Dec. 9th, 2024 02:08 pm"I'm not interested in drawing men who look like Batman," I wrote, an unrepentant liar.
( Read more... )
This week I'm going to rip off a Hellboy cover. I feel like every artist-in-training goes through a Mike Mignola phase, and I was a bit overdue.
( Read more... )
This week I'm going to rip off a Hellboy cover. I feel like every artist-in-training goes through a Mike Mignola phase, and I was a bit overdue.
Re: What makes a man attractive
Oct. 28th, 2024 07:32 amThis exercise feels very strange to me. I love visual art, but I don't think visually. If you asked me to write a 5k word story about "a man with beautiful handwriting," I would gladly do just that, but I'm not sure how to communicate that sort of "attractive" character trait in a drawing. And if you asked me for specific examples of famous men I find attractive, I couldn't say. Like, Toshiro Mifune in Seven Samurai and whatever Kurt Russell has going on in The Thing. Sean Connery in Name of the Rose, maybe. Idk man. Cheekbones.
Anyway, the fandom side of the internet seems to agree that a German artist who goes by Hansoeii draws extremely attractive men, so let's go.
( Read more... )
That's doable, I guess. If nothing else, it's worth a try.
Anyway, the fandom side of the internet seems to agree that a German artist who goes by Hansoeii draws extremely attractive men, so let's go.
( Read more... )
That's doable, I guess. If nothing else, it's worth a try.
What makes a man attractive
Oct. 27th, 2024 08:42 amI’m thinking seriously about not posting art on social media anymore. Not because of AI image scraping or anything like that, but rather to hide my shame. I think I’m going to be silly and draw a lot of Ganondorf fan art just for shits and giggles, but what I’d really like to do is to learn how to draw attractive men.
( Read more... )
By the way, if you’re curious about what type of women I find attractive, the answer is all women.
Honestly maybe I should throw in the towel and draw beautiful women surrounded by plants exactly as the Good Lord put me on this earth to do, but what is life without challenge.
( Read more... )
By the way, if you’re curious about what type of women I find attractive, the answer is all women.
Honestly maybe I should throw in the towel and draw beautiful women surrounded by plants exactly as the Good Lord put me on this earth to do, but what is life without challenge.
Agnes in the Archives
Oct. 4th, 2024 01:19 pmAt a certain point I realized that, if my art posts are only going to get one or two notes, then it doesn't matter if they're perfect. I can draw whatever I want. It can be messy, and that's fine. I can be self-indulgent and draw backgrounds filled with mistakes. That's okay actually.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Re: Writing Advocacy Day
Sep. 20th, 2024 07:27 amSo, how did it all work out?
( Read more... )
I have the immense privilege to know an extremely talented writer in real life, and she's just as smart and magnetic in person as she is on paper. Aside from running a popular pseudonymous account on Twitter, however, the only thing she's published is fanfiction. She once explained to me that this is a deliberate choice, as she'd prefer not to mix the joy of writing with the hell of self-promotion. And I totally get that.
( Read more... )
I have the immense privilege to know an extremely talented writer in real life, and she's just as smart and magnetic in person as she is on paper. Aside from running a popular pseudonymous account on Twitter, however, the only thing she's published is fanfiction. She once explained to me that this is a deliberate choice, as she'd prefer not to mix the joy of writing with the hell of self-promotion. And I totally get that.
Fun with Fiverr, Part Three
Aug. 15th, 2024 10:45 amI picked up a few new-to-me editions of Lovecraft in Europe earlier this summer, and I've been spending the past two months slowly reading through them. The only way I know how to explain this is to say that Lovecraft's Gothic-inspired prose has grown on me, and I enjoy reading each different set of annotations and endnotes.
Out of curiosity, I decided to reread "The Annotated Kitab al-Azif," the dark academia Lovecraftian queer romance story I wrote last summer. To my surprise, it's good. It's very good. I kind of can't believe that something this good was written by me. My writing style has changed during the past year, but every word of this story is perfect. The characters and central mystery are interesting and compelling from the very first page, and there's not a single paragraph out of place.
Still, the story was rejected by three separate magazines, as well as a micropublisher that contacted me to request an original short story to publish as a chapbook. I understand that "three magazines" isn't a lot of magazines, but the micropublisher rejection really hurt. I decided that the story was worthless; but, on reading it again after going through a great deal of "influenced by Lovecraft" short fiction during the past year, I'm starting to think that it might be something special. Also, given that there's a huge audience for "soft but weird gay horror" podcasts like Welcome to Night Vale and The Magnus Archives, there has to be a readership and a market for my story. I just have to find it.
So I hired an editor on Fivver to provide developmental feedback and help me pinpoint a few additional submission venues. Again, I know it's cringe to pay for this sort of service instead of, idk, organically finding a mentor and a supportive writing community, but I will take any help I can get. I hope I make it. No matter how each of us gets there, I hope we all make it.
Out of curiosity, I decided to reread "The Annotated Kitab al-Azif," the dark academia Lovecraftian queer romance story I wrote last summer. To my surprise, it's good. It's very good. I kind of can't believe that something this good was written by me. My writing style has changed during the past year, but every word of this story is perfect. The characters and central mystery are interesting and compelling from the very first page, and there's not a single paragraph out of place.
Still, the story was rejected by three separate magazines, as well as a micropublisher that contacted me to request an original short story to publish as a chapbook. I understand that "three magazines" isn't a lot of magazines, but the micropublisher rejection really hurt. I decided that the story was worthless; but, on reading it again after going through a great deal of "influenced by Lovecraft" short fiction during the past year, I'm starting to think that it might be something special. Also, given that there's a huge audience for "soft but weird gay horror" podcasts like Welcome to Night Vale and The Magnus Archives, there has to be a readership and a market for my story. I just have to find it.
So I hired an editor on Fivver to provide developmental feedback and help me pinpoint a few additional submission venues. Again, I know it's cringe to pay for this sort of service instead of, idk, organically finding a mentor and a supportive writing community, but I will take any help I can get. I hope I make it. No matter how each of us gets there, I hope we all make it.
Fun with Fiverr, Part Two
Aug. 12th, 2024 07:52 amAbout two years ago, I had a short dark fantasy story accepted into a magazine that closed before the last issue could be published. This was disheartening, and I never did anything with the story. This weekend, I gathered my courage and paid a published author and dark fantasy editor $15 on Fivver to suggest a handful of venues where the story might be able to find a good home. After two days, she returned a beautiful PDF document containing a nicely formatted list. She noticed that I like plants, so she put a few photos of plants in the unused white space. To help keep the submission process green and chill, she told me.
Another fantastic experience. And I know it's cringe to pay people for help, but please consider:
(1) Having ADHD and dyslexia sucks.
(2) Asking for help hasn't gotten me anywhere.
(3) Once I figure this out, I can help other people.
(4) It's cheaper than an MFA.
Another fantastic experience. And I know it's cringe to pay people for help, but please consider:
(1) Having ADHD and dyslexia sucks.
(2) Asking for help hasn't gotten me anywhere.
(3) Once I figure this out, I can help other people.
(4) It's cheaper than an MFA.
New achievement unlocked
Aug. 8th, 2024 04:42 pmI made my first pixel sprite! It's tiny, but still:
This took less than five minutes in Aseprite. Nice!
This took less than five minutes in Aseprite. Nice!
Re: Fun with Fiverr
Jul. 30th, 2024 12:42 pmOkay yeah that was fucking fantastic. Holy shit.
The editor I hired did a marvelous job and cut to the chase without beating around the bush, and my essay is much stronger for her feedback. Pure professionalism all around.
I was worried that, for just $10, the editor would simply run the essay through AI or something. She did not do this. Also, speaking of AI, I'm happy I hired an editor instead of using an automated service myself. Writing is an art as well as a craft; and, in the end, you can't beat a human.
The editor I hired did a marvelous job and cut to the chase without beating around the bush, and my essay is much stronger for her feedback. Pure professionalism all around.
I was worried that, for just $10, the editor would simply run the essay through AI or something. She did not do this. Also, speaking of AI, I'm happy I hired an editor instead of using an automated service myself. Writing is an art as well as a craft; and, in the end, you can't beat a human.
Fun with Fiverr
Jul. 29th, 2024 08:34 amThis past weekend, I finished my 1k-word Legend of Zelda meta essay for the Silent Princess zine. The essay is an empowering feminist reading of how the trope of the "captive princess" applies to the Zelda of the original 1986 game. My goal is to demonstrate that, while this Zelda is an action hero in her own right, her wisdom lies in patience, strategy, and the careful coordination of allies.
It's a good essay, I think. It was easy to write and easy to edit.
But I'm nervous. I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to participate in this zine, and I want to submit my best work. Even for the first check-in, I'd like to share a highly polished draft.
I therefore signed up with Fiverr and hired someone with more than a hundred positive reviews to edit the essay. I pitched it as an edited first draft and said that I was looking for suggestions on style, organization, and flow.
Idk man. $10 for next-day editorial feedback seems too good to be true, but we'll see.
It's a good essay, I think. It was easy to write and easy to edit.
But I'm nervous. I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to participate in this zine, and I want to submit my best work. Even for the first check-in, I'd like to share a highly polished draft.
I therefore signed up with Fiverr and hired someone with more than a hundred positive reviews to edit the essay. I pitched it as an edited first draft and said that I was looking for suggestions on style, organization, and flow.
Idk man. $10 for next-day editorial feedback seems too good to be true, but we'll see.
Low Resolution Pixels
Jun. 18th, 2024 07:36 amHow do you make an image into something that looks pixelated?
https://tofupixel.tumblr.com/738472174126612480/how-do-you-make-an-image-into-something-that-looks
so here is a tutorial for aseprite on how to crunch the colours of a photo like this into any palette!!
And here is a link to Aseprite: https://aseprite.org/
I should really take the time to learn how to use this software. I want to make pixel art so bad.
https://tofupixel.tumblr.com/738472174126612480/how-do-you-make-an-image-into-something-that-looks
so here is a tutorial for aseprite on how to crunch the colours of a photo like this into any palette!!
And here is a link to Aseprite: https://aseprite.org/
I should really take the time to learn how to use this software. I want to make pixel art so bad.
2024 Writing Log, Part 7.5
Feb. 24th, 2024 12:23 pmI've written fuck all this week, but I've been keeping busy, and also I want to share a WIP of a drawing that's taken way too much of my time.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
