C’mon Y’all! Suck It Up And Help Get LaES Back Up And Running Again!!

Hey so first off, absolutely love your blog. I have learned so much and I can hardly wait to implement it! My question is: I have a character with vitiligo (and’s Celiac’s and rheumatoid arthritis) in a comic book I’m working on, and I want to represent that, but the problem is the comic is abstractly colored to display the characters’ emotions rather than their actual physical appearances, and my art style is designed to be pretty minimalist so I don’t need huge amounts of time and energy to actually make the comic itself (I’ll attach a picture at the bottom for easier reference). My current plan is just make lighter patches of the abstract color in place of skin color, but while that works great in theory, in practice it doesn’t show up well in lighter colors, including his default color, and since absence of color indicates absence of emotion, I don’t want to just leave them blank for the lighter colors either. Do you guys have any suggestions for alterations so I can more clearly represent that?

Thank you so much in advance!!

This is the guy in his default color. This was also the drawing I first ran into the light color problem with

Hi!

So I don't really think there are other ways to draw it than “lighter skin” for vitiligo, as that's kinda what it is, visually speaking.

What I'd keep in mind is that vitiligo isn't always super visible.

[source for images: 1 2 3 4]

If the character's skin color changes, then the vitiligo patches will be less visible when it's lighter. That doesn't mean he suddenly doesn't have it, just like how people with pale skin still have their vitiligo, no matter how apparent it is at first glance.

Regardless of skin color, vitiligo patches will tend to be of a very similar color - it's not just lighter skin (an incredibly wide category), but loss of pigment.

However, if his skin isn't human-colored but instead gray or green (or anything else), the shade of the patches will slightly shift to be less saturated or have a different undertone. But if he goes between going dark blue and light blue, the vitiligo would still be the same shade of very light blue, rather than getting darker when the rest of skin is darker. I see this a lot with how people draw characters with vitiligo, and it just Doesn't Work Like That (top right on the image above, also featuring the trope of pale people never having vitiligo for some reason).

If his skin color constantly shifts, then his vitiligo will be more visible one time and less at other times - there's not much you can do about that, it's just how contrast works. That said, sharp-edged and larger patches will be more apparent to readers than smaller ones.

So basically his vitiligo patches should probably float at a similar amount of pigment regardless of how the rest of the skin looks like, with slightly different undertones depending on the skin color at the moment. Sometimes it will show up more, sometimes less, if you want to make it clear to the readers then you can first show him in a color that makes it more obvious.

Either way, he has vitiligo!

Hope this helps,

mod Sasza

Dialogue Thing #14

"Alright, we have your name...uh...are you a boy or a girl?"

"I'm a servant of the Most High."

"... Okay. And you?"

"I'm...the personification of death?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Okay, go on in."

practical writing advice

part 2

avoid writing in bed if you can. writing in bed is the mind-killer. writing in bed is the little death that brings obliteration. you may think "but i can write AND be cozy" you will get sleepy so fast. 98% of the time when i try to get a nighttime writing session done in bed i go to sleep. maybe 70% of the time if it's an afternoon writing session. also it fucking kills your wrists.

STRETCH before writing. stretch as many parts of your body as possible ESPECIALLY YOUR WRISTS! i have chronic tendonitis in both of my arms from not doing this and it is manageable but it is Not Fun!

plug your phone in on the other side of the room. better yet, plug it in and leave it in another room. better yet, power it off and leave it in another room. "i'll just check one quick thing" do not underestimate the power of the doomscroll.

do a warmup. look up writing prompts (i like one-word prompts or prompts that focus on a general theme as it's easier to integrate into my writing style), set a timer for fifteen minutes, or ten, or five, and go ham. make it shitty or incomprehensible, as long as you make it. create a dump document for all your warmups. i currently have two novels in the works that started as one of these fifteen minute little warmups.

pick your background noise ahead of time if you use it, and look for something long. i listen to 3-hour-long silent hill ambient mixes on youtube dot com.

take breaks. around every 45 minutes, as i'm noticing myself begin to lose focus, i get up, grab a drink, get my blood flowing, and give myself some space to breathe.

sometimes i sit down to write and i think "every atom in my body is averse to doing this right now. i would rather dance barefoot on a bed of nails than open my laptop and start typing." and you know what i do? i go do something else instead. don't force it! it will become a chore.

that being said! write as often as possible. try to write every day. try to write at the same time. don't beat yourself up if you can’t, BUT the more often you write, the more often you'll want to write.

if you're stuck on a scene or a page or a chapter, go back to the last place where you felt like you knew what you were doing and start writing from there. keep a copy of your other writing in case you want to reuse it or refer back!

i don't know if this is something that will be helpful for other people but i start mentally preparing myself for my writing session a few hours ahead of time. i will say to myself, "today, at this time, i'm gonna sit down and write that scene where mina walks out on her book club, and it's going to be awesome and i'm looking forward to it." then, by the time i actually begin, i basically have the whole thing written out in my head and can just put it down to paper. it's a good way to at least kickstart the session !

ok thanks bye

*Busts In Through The Ceiling* Okay, Two Things...

One, I am SUPER happy for Sun for getting better! I am absolutely certain that things will not get worse after this-

(I'm so sorry, but we can all sense it coming.)

Two, it's really cute seeing Moon and Dazzle interact. I was kind of scared when he pointed out that Dazzle was able to talk without their voice box. For a minute, I thought he would figure it out.

But, I guess we'll have to wait for July 16th for this devastating secret to come to light.

I'm gonna go fix the ceiling.

New Headcannon:

On a day when Sun can't clean anything to make himself feel better, Earth casually mentions the game A Little to the Left.

Two days pass. Sun is finally found hiding in the gift shop, playing the game. It takes two people to pull him away from it, and he finally lets go when Moon shouts,

"YOUR CATS MISS YOU!!"

(Please note that this is a joke and not my actual interpretation of this character. But I do think Sun would love the game ❤️)

Since the current arc is making a point to bring up withers and Sun is now sensing wither shards I'm posting the wither trilogy for those confused on it's constant mention

HEY SAMS FANS HOW WE FEELING TODAY? CAUSE I AM NOT OKAY-

"p.s. let me know if Brandy and the kids want one, too! I can have them done in a jiffy."

(★ my Kofi) | (★ commission info)

Are fedoras really that bad?

YES YES THEY ARE

Dialogue Thing #12 (It's been a minute...)

(CW for meds, I guess. If that's not right, lmk)

"You know what's great about living where I live!? There's just...free cats. Cats everywhere."

"Uh-huh. Those meds are really workin', aren't they bud?"

"I can feel them."

"That is a rug. You are lying on the floor."

"Why do... these cats taste salty?"

"And it's time to get you to bed."