It's High Time I Show You Guys My Progress Over The Past Month. (I Seriously Can't Believe It's Been

Happy belated Valentine's Day and happy Singles Awareness Day (which if you didn't know is Feb 15). Here's a throwback to some art I did in 2014 and 2013 for Valentine's Day. Regardless of whether you have a significant other or not, I hope you all have a wonderful day and know that you are loved by the one that matters. The one above. 😊☝🏼 🔹 #throwbackthursday #throwback #valentinesday #webstagram #valentine #tbt #tb #heart #hearts #red #art #arts #arty #artsy #instaart #DailyArt #ArtoftheDay #instaartist #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #artist #CrystaltheCC

Internet prepares for final online protest ahead of net neutrality CRA deadline

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 27, 2018 Contact: Evan Greer, 978-852-6457, press@fightforthefuture.org

Major web companies, celebrities, and thousands of Internet users to call on Congress to reverse FCC repeal

#CyberMonday wasn’t the only major Internet event this week. Internet activists, startups, celebrities, and major web companies are preparing for DeadlineForNetNeutrality.com, a final Internet-Wide Day of Action this Thursday, November 29th, ahead of the December 10th deadline for the House to act on the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution (H.J.Res. 129) to reverse the FCC’s resoundingly unpopular repeal of net neutrality protections.

The effort is backed by musicians and celebrities like Hollywood star Evangeline Lilly (Ant-Man and the Wasp, The Hobbit, Lost), Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, and EDM star Bassnectar, along with startups and major web companies like online selling platform Etsy, delivery service Postmates, publishing platform Tumblr, Private Internet Access VPN, popular blog BoingBoing, domain registrar Namecheap, search engine StartPage, and speaker company Sonos.

On Thursday thousands of Internet users will sign an open letter to Congress containing a heartfelt plea to overturn the FCC’s repeal. Then users will be asked to submit an “I support net neutrality” photo to show House reps the human face of net neutrality supporters. Over 2000 photos have already submitted and activists have pledged to flood lawmakers’ social media feeds with photos between now and the deadline. While the open letter is addressed to all of Congress, Fight for the Future will be putting additional pressure on the handful of remaining Democrats who have yet to support the CRA despite the party’s repeated promise to help restore net neutrality.

“These folks are taking on the telecom lobby machine and fighting for a free, open, and uncensored Internet,” said Tom Morello, “Net neutrality is the free speech fight of this generation and time is running out. It’s time for the Internet to rise up again.”

“This is not a partisan issue, the battle for the net is a fight for our most basic freedoms. People from across the entire political spectrum can agree that we don’t want anyone to control or manipulate what we see and do on the Internet,” added actress Evangeline Lilly.

“Net neutrality is not dead yet. Not even close,” said Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future (pronouns: she/her), “But as the clock runs out for this Congress to act, we have an opportunity to show the entire world which elected officials are willing to fight for net neutrality, and which ones decide to sit on their hands and let big telecom companies take control over what we can see and do on the Internet.”

###

Reblogging because this is really good advice!

Hi Jenny, I was curious and looking for advice. I graduated from LCAD just last year, but I'm still having a lot of trouble achieving a more natural look to my digital art and linework. (I took Vargo's digital painting class, but my linework usually looks like stairsteps instead of smooth). Your work is always very lovely, smooth, and natural looking, is it okay if I ask what you do to achieve it? Or what program/tablet do you prefer to use?

Hi there, thanks for the kind words! First off I want to make a disclaimer for everyone here at the top: these are my own thoughts and opinions based on how I personally work & perceive my work. This advice is not for everyone, if it’s not for you that’s totally cool, everyone has their own path!As for your question this is a really difficult one to answer. There is no program or brush that helps with what you are trying to achieve. All the drawings I do are done in photoshop on a Wacom Cintiq (sometimes an iPad) and each drawing uses a variety of the Kyle brushes. I understand the frustration of not being taught how to clean digital line work or even to be able to sketch digitally but the best way to think of it is if you are inking on paper and to treat it the same way- difference is there is the safety net of the Cntrl Z hah. I also was never taught how to sketch or draw in any program so I was self taught, even through college. I had to just practice constantly until I was able to achieve the line quality that I was after. 

Here are some great tips I have gotten over the years:

-The line is the essence of what you are drawing, it’s more than just the contour of the form or an identifiable path; it is the flow and movement in which the drawing is given life

-Try not to make mindless lines, every line should have it’s purpose so do it thoughtfully. This means being thoughtful of your silhouettes, straight against curves, so on & so forth.

-Try not to lift your pencil off of the paper so much, if you want to avoid the “hairy line” 

-Be aware if you are using your shoulder/ elbow movement to draw or if you are tensing up & only using your wrist. This breaks fluidity in your body thus also breaking the fluidity of the drawing.

-Be confident in your lines- it shows!

-Less is more

I’m sorry there isn’t a definitive answer for this question but I hope these tips help. In the end it really just took me a lot of practice, self study & self discipline. Don’t give up & just keep practicing! <3

BlizzCon protesters announce online day of action October 29, calling on Game Developers & BlizzCon Sponsors to voice their support for political and human rights speech in advance of major rally

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 24, 2019 Contact: Dayton Young, press@fightforthefuture.org, (508) 368-3026

Before gamers descend on Activision-Blizzard’s annual conference, BlizzCon, to protest their censorship of political speech and free expression, they are planning an online day of action. On October 29, activists & gamers will launch an all-out campaign to demand game developers & BlizzCon sponsors take a stand and state that they will not participate in authoritarian censorship. It’s a way for everyone to protest, even if they can’t show up outside BlizzCon.

Info about the online day of action is here: https://www.gamersforfreedom.com/#online

GamersForFreedom.com includes a scorecard to keep track of which companies have publicly pledged to not censor players the way Blizzard did, and which companies may already be caving to pressure from authoritarian governments. Companies including Epic Games and Immutable have made statements confirming they support free expression. In a statement to The Verge, an Epic spokesperson said that “Epic supports everyone’s right to express their views on politics and human rights. We wouldn’t ban or punish a Fortnite player or content creator for speaking on these topics.”

Three days before the BlizzCon protests, gamers will storm the internet to demand the same courage from others in the industry, using the #GamersForFreedom hashtag. 

“Many people have reached out saying they want to do more, but cannot make it to the protests in Anaheim. Now, they can. We’re calling on every gamer to tweet and email their favorite developers, pros, and event sponsors. We’re calling on artists to send us art of their favorite characters supporting the protest. We’re calling on sponsors to pull out. And most of all, we’re calling on game developers to speak out in solidarity,” said Dayton Young, Product Director at Fight for the Future, (pronouns he/him). “Game developers have been mysteriously silent, despite the blowback from BlizzCon’s censorship being the talk of the industry. Silence is complicity, and they need to see that this isn’t just going to go away.”

Meanwhile, with their social media overrun by #FreeHongKong comments, Blizzard broke 19 days of silence to announced their schedule Tuesday, with a significant portion of panel programming marked as “Coming Soon!” only days from the event. Current sponsors of the event include Facebook, T-Mobile, Coca Cola, Intel, Nvidia, Samsung, Cisco, HyperX, Corsair, MSI, & ESPN.

Protest organizing has only intensified after Blizzard issued a statement where it attempted to quell backlash by reducing its punishment of Hong Kong-based professional gamer Blitzchung, but doubled down on it’s absurd policy that bans all forms of political speech and free expression. 

Fight for the Future is calling for the protests to be nonviolent and creative, encouraging participants to show up with umbrellas, in relevant costumes, and with signs and banners focused on free expression for all. The group is crowdfunding to support the protests.

“Decisions about how to moderate online speech are some of the most important decisions of our generation, and have profound implications for the future of humanity. Companies should not be making these decisions under pressure from ANY government, whether it’s China, the US, or the UK,” said Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future (pronouns: she/her), “Blizzard’s attempt to quell this controversy is cowardly and it’s only going to backfire. This is not just about Blitzchung or Hong Kong –– they need to make a clear commitment to not act as the speech police on behalf of governments in general. A blanket ban on all political speech is inherently at odds with basic free expression. It’s taking sides with the status quo, and those who wish to suppress free speech. How you determine what is “political” is a political decision in and of itself.”

“Blizzard, and other companies who are engaging in censorship on behalf of an authoritarian government, are not going to get away with it,” she added. “They have no idea what kind of Internet shitstorm they’ve unleashed. We’re going to make an example out of them to make sure that all companies know that throwing human rights and free expression under the bus to make some extra money will not be tolerated.”

Fight for the Future is coordinating with gamers and activists in a Discord channel and across social media, where game fans from around the world have been voicing their outrage at Blizzard and planning their own creative protests for BlizzCon. More updates to come.

###

Tutor Tues. PDF Next Week

Hey folks, Paul here! Sorry to be missing a TUTOR TUESDAY update, but my schedule this week’s a bit hectic–the books are keeping me busy, and tomorrow’s not just Fourth of July, but also my niece’s first birthday!

I’ll be back with the next PDF next week. In the meantime, here’s the list again of the PDFs so far:

TutorTues_PDF_01_Fundamentals1.pdf

TutorTues_PDF_02_Fundamentals2.pdf

TutorTues_PDF_03_Environments.pdf

TutorTues_PDF_04_Scenery_and_Props.pdf

TutorTues_PDF_05_Positivity.pdf

TutorTues_PDF_06_Color_Theory.pdf

TutorTues_PDF_07_Digital_Color.pdf

TutorTues_PDF_08_Digital_Tools.pdf

Thanks for your patience!

Paul

My OC Jasper making his best scary face. He’s normally more human looking, but since he can morph into a dragon he’s using his powers to his advantage. 🔹 #art #instaart #DailyArt #ArtoftheDay #artwork #ink #inked #sketchbook #traditionalart #traditionalartwork #sketch #draw #inktober #inktober2018 #halloween #inkpen #drawing #artoftheday #originalartwork #originalcharacter #instaartist #illustrator #sketch #penandink #pendrawing #instadraw #artist #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #CrystaltheCC https://www.instagram.com/p/BpAdMUwBnGP/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1reozq6s2nb3f

Happy Halloween everyone! 🎃 I drew my plant-loving OC Ivy as a hippie. Spread the peace, love, and happiness mannn. ✌🏼 🔹 #art #instaart #DailyArt #ArtoftheDay #artwork #ink #inked #sketchbook #traditionalart #traditionalartwork #sketch #draw #inktober #inktober2018 #halloween #inkpen #drawing #artoftheday #originalartwork #originalcharacter #instaartist #illustrator #sketch #penandink #pendrawing #instadraw #artist #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #CrystaltheCC https://www.instagram.com/p/BpsQyQGBH23/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1w1gztcz6bpbx

Sorry for the lack of art guys! Who knew that the beginning of the year would be so busy? 😩 I'm trying to get back into a groove of drawing everyday, starting with yesterday's Cognitive Drawing exercise: draw a flexing man from memory (no references). How do y'all think I did? 🔹 Honestly I feel like I'm looking at one of my high school drawings. Not that bad, but not that great either. Let's see how much I learn with the next exercises yeah? 😁

OAC Day 8: Ivy the Witch! 😊🧙🏽🧹🎃⁠ I’ve been feeling like drawing witches so I wanted to make this my last prompt for October. Swipe ➡️ to see a previous iteration of this theme. 🔹 https://www.instagram.com/p/CHeOYfmDx_l/?igshid=1cdkagdldwwvn

I'm finished with Theme # 1 Name! 😊 Took me quite a bit longer than my target goal, but what can I say? Life happens. 🔷 Here's where I tell you a bit about the scene. When I first made the list of themes, I picked "Name" as the first theme because it stood out to me; I thought it would be a great starting point for the project as it would give me a chance to introduce myself and what's in the name. The name itself being Crystal; short for Crystal-the-CC being my artist alias. I came up with this name a few years ago when I was making a DeviantArt account, and because I've really liked the name Crystal (for as long as I can remember), it's just stuck with me. 🔷 Since the time I started creating characters, I named my first one (on the right) after the obvious, Crystal, simply because I liked the name. The character on the left is also named similarly, but more so because the character is my fursona, or my animal personification. As for the object in the middle, it IS a crystal; the thing which I've named myself and 2 OCs after. 🔷 In retrospect, I think I've always had an affinity for crystals and precious gemstones, but didn't realize it until more recent years. I still like the name today. I can't see myself having any other artist alias other than Crystal-the-CC, as I think it very much fits me and what I like to do the most: create creatures. 🔷 Aside, I thought I'd share my old drawing of this theme as well. Looking at it and my new one side-by-side just astonishes me. I don't know what else to say other than that I'm very happy with the improvements that have been made thus far. 🔷 I hope you guys enjoy what I have to share! There will be many more of these to come (99 more to be exact) so stay tuned! 😊 💎 ✨