The Air Of The Room Hung Heavy With Smoke From The Doctor’s Cigarette. The Draught Kept Us From Opening

Any advice on artists who want to consider making comics? Or general advice on how you do expressions and canvas composition?

All of my advice is trash because I’m still SUPER inexperienced in the comics making department but general comic making tips:

• Read lots of comics. Watch lots of movies. Read lots of stories.

• Have an idea of where you’re going with your story before you get into the heavy duty work of making the comic. Trust me. You’ll be glad you had a direction to go in, instead of wasting your entire pilot episode like I did.

• TRY to keep the cast small and give good character introductions before adding new characters. (I didn’t do this. My story has suffered for it.)

• Make ref sheets for your characters. Bare minimum, if you don’t want to draw new sheets entirely, compile a collage of all the existing images you already use as ref for each character.

• Save your color palettes for each character.

• Draw your KEY panels first. Filler can be done last. Working linearly might cause your art to deteriorate as the page/episode progresses, so get those bigger impact panels done first, and smaller/less impactful panels done last.

Expressions?

• Mirror. Selfies. Etc. When idk how an open mouth looks from a certain angle, I’ll use my own face as reference. It’s fool proof.

• Use OBSCENE amounts of reference. YouTubers. Actors in movies. Etc.

• Appreciate the Art of Subtlety. Not every expression has to be big, dynamic, and bold. Practice working in both extremes. Soft, gentle expressions can be just as good storytellers as bold, extreme expressions.

Canvas composition?

• WOOF IDK IM STILL SUPER BAD AT THIS LOL

dad thoughts (repurposing twitter)

[…] it only takes two facing mirrors to construct a labyrinth.

Jorge Luis Borges, Nightmares; Seven Nights (tr. by Eliot Weinberger), 1977 (via megairea)

This goes along with my last post as an exercise that can be one from observation. 

The steps explained briefly:

A. Draw in the big proportions with few lines. B. Draw in the basic shadow shapes, keeping the structure of the head in mind at all times. C. Establish big tonal relationships in the image. D. Bring in halftones to describe forms turning. E. Some extra information in the shadow. F. Modify edges throughout the picture.

A quick word on edges:

Edges and their variations are integral to creating a visual impression of the experience of seeing the world. The eye sees selectively and doesn’t observe everything around us with equal clarity. Edges in painting are not only the boundaries of one form, object or surface material to another, they occur on every side of every tonal shape. Like with tone, there is a range of edges to choose from, going from a total blur to razor sharp. Decisions must be made on the relative ‘softness’ or ‘hardness’ of these transitions to achieve a desired result. When working from observation, most of the answers can be found by observing and especially squinting at your subject. However in many cases it is appropriate to soften or harden an edge based on personal taste and compositional design choices.

VOLTRON WOULDNT GIVE ME /AT LEAST/ ONE SEASON OF CLONE!SHIRO ANGST SO I GOTTA DO EVERYTHING MYSELF (electric boogaloo)

I build fights like I build conversations and dialogue, if one person does something, how is the other going to react?

Yo, do you have any tips on writing fight/action scenes? Yours are really good so I thought I'd ask someone who seems like they know what they're doing lol

oh thankee!!

I’m not sure what to say exactly, I usually just use my instincts or research I’ve done previously. The best thing I can say is to know your character’s ability levels when it comes to fighting or combat. If a character is a good fighter, they might end a fight easily with a few movements. If they’re up against a fight that’s as good as them, then it might be longer.

Do some research into different types of fights, I took a class last year on self-defense, and as a result, I watched a bit of fight choreography, and did some myself. A gun fight is gonna end differently than say, a fist fight. Research is your best friend for this!

Describe the actions in detail, make sure to add both actions and reactions, if your character does something, say, throw a punch, (your action), then the person they’re fighting is going to do something, (reaction). I build fights like I build conversations and dialogue, if one person does something, how is the other going to react? This is where you can thread in skill level. If a character isn’t well versed in fighting, their action might be to throw a punch, but the punch might be weak, and therefore the reaction would be to either catch or block the punch. Other details that are important are the characters own reactions to the fight. If they throw a punch, are they prepared for their knuckles getting hurt? If they get hit, can they handle both the pain and the shock? Is their adrenaline pumping because they’re afraid or are they calm and cool? Research into how certain things feel, (like where you can get hit with a knife and not completely bleed out), can also be good.

Figure out how you want the fight to end before it begins. If you want your character getting out without a scratch, then they should reflect that in their fight. If they get hurt, show that too! 

hope this helps!

new life plans, nursing career path

Alright. So, I’m going back to school. I graduated highschool 6 years ago, and here I am, about to start TAFE. A Diploma of Nursing, to be specific, and most likely at Chisholm. But hey, free TAFE which is great.

One big thing though, is that I’ll absolutely have to stick with it, whatever I do.

Also man, I gotta budget for a laptop and other shit. To get my shit together.

Do you listen to classical music/Piano/Instrumental? If yes can you suggest me some?🤍

classical music is my whole life. my highest highs, my lowest lows, everything in-between. a few of my favorites, categorized by mood:

music that wrecks me:

tomaso antonio vitali: chaconne in g minor

ludwig van beethoven: string quartet no. 15 in a minor

arvo pärt: cantus in memory of benjamin britten / spiegel im spiegel

gregorio allegri: miserere mei, deus

frédéric chopin: nocturne in g minor / prelude in d-flat major

ludwig van beethoven: symphony no. 3, mvt ii

j.s. bach: toccata and fugue in d minor: ii. fugue

johannes brahms: ein deutsches requiem: ii

music that brings me back:

ludwig van beethoven: moonlight sonata: iii. presto agitato 

henri vieuxtemps: violin concerto no. 5 in a minor: iii. allegro con fuoco

antonio vivaldi: violin concerto in e minor

j.s. bach: harpsichord concerto in d minor / piano concerto in a minor: iii

ludwig van beethoven: symphony no. 7: ii. allegretto

camille saint-saëns: introduction and rondo capriccioso

niccolò paganini: violin concerto no. 2 in b minor: iii. “la campanella”

franz schubert: quartet no. 14 in d minor (“death and the maiden”)

edvard grieg: piano concerto in a minor, op. 16

pyotr ilyich tchaikovsky: the nutcracker: scene xiv - pas de deux

music that makes me yearn:

w.a. mozart: piano concerto no. 21 in c major, k. 461: ii. andante

ludwig van beethoven: piano concerto no. 5 in e-flat major, op. 73: ii. adagio / sonata “pathetique” op. 13: ii. adagio cantabile

g.f. handel: sarabande in d minor, hwv 437

j.s. bach: adagio from concerto no. 3 in d minor

ludwig van beethoven: piano concerto no. 3 in c minor, op. 37: ii. largo

erik satie: gnossiennes

claude debussy: suite bergamesque, clair de lune, no. 3

franz liszt: liebestraum no. 3, notturno

gabriel fauré: après un rêve

frédéric chopin: nocturne in c-sharp minor / nocturne in b-flat minor

w.a. mozart: piano concerto no. 23: ii. adagio

franz schubert: 4 impromptus, op. 90, d. 899: no. 3 in g-flat: andante

christoph willibald von gluck: dance of the blessed spirits, orfeo ed euridice

music that feels like a dark fairy-tale:

béla bartók: romanian folk dances, sz. 56 - iii. 

claude debussy: children’s corner, l. 113: iv. the snow is dancing

hildur guðnadóttir: leyfðu ijósinu 

christoph willibald von gluck: melodie, orfeo ed euridice

gabriel fauré: pavane op. 50

jean-philippe rameau: le rappel des oiseaux

camille saint-saëns: le carnaval des animaux: aquarium

jean sibelius: nocturne op. 51, no. 3

heinrich wilhelm ernst: grand caprice on schubert’s der erlkönig, op. 26 

pyotr ilyich tchaikovsky: swan lake (suite), op. 20: i. scene (swan theme)

franz schubert: schwanengesang: ständchen, d. 957

music that reminds me of dusty practice rooms, quiet cobblestone streets after the opera, and resonant cathedral bells:

w.a. mozart: piano sonata in c-major, k. 545: ii. adagio 

w.a. mozart: piano sonata no. 11, k. 331: i. theme (andante grazioso)

ludwig van beethoven: piano sonata in g-major, op. 49, no. 2

franz schubert: impromptu op. 142, d.935: no. 3 in b-flat, var 3

w.a. mozart: deh vieni non tardar, le nozze di figaro

j.s. bach: invention 1 / invention 6 / goldberg variations

stephen heller: 30 études mélodiques et progressives: op. 46, no. 8

j.b. cramer: 60 selected studies: étude no. 10

arcangelo corelli: concerto grosso in g minor: ii. allegro

some devastatingly beautiful soundtracks and instrumental pieces:

sufjan stevens: untitled (all delighted people side d - ep) 

ólafur arnalds: improvisations /  loftið verður skyndilega kalt / erla’s waltz 

hildur guðnadóttir: strokur / torrek / Þoka / elevation 

keaton henson: romantic works / la naissance

coeur de pirate: pilgrims on a long journey / leave your castle

dario marianelli: atonement / pride and prejudice

abel korzeniowski: evgeni’s waltz / come, gentle night

yann tiersen: comptine d’un autre été, l’après-midi 

and some vocal shout-outs:

g.b. pergolesi: stabat mater

j.s. bach: quia respexit, magnificat in d major

a. scarlatti: mentro io godo, il giardino di rose

g.f. handel: ombra mai fu, serse

gaetano donizetti: il dolce suono, lucia di lammermoor

vincenzo bellini: casta diva, norma

w.a. mozart: requiem in d minor

“Who has never killed an hour? Not casually or without thought, but carefully: a premeditated murder of minutes. The violence comes from a combination of giving up, not caring, and a resignation that getting past it is all you can hope to accomplish. So you kill the hour. You do not work, you do not read, you do not daydream. If you sleep it is not because you need to sleep. And when at last it is over, there is no evidence: no weapon, no blood, and no body. The only clue might be the shadows beneath your eyes or a terribly thin line near the corner of your mouth indicating something has been suffered, that in the privacy of your life you have lost something and the loss is too empty to share.”

— Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves