RadenWA Is Honestly A Hero For These

Some notes I put together for my CDA Class. Just stuff that I use. Take with grain of salt.

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friday night tutorial time

this post is massive but i tried to cover both the conceptual and technical side, hopefully it’s somewhat coherent

continued under cut

Keep reading

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been scrolling on your art tag for a good 38 mins

(can you tell there's something desperately wrong with me)

and HOW DO YOU HANDDSSSSS ghhhhh theyre so perfect how like EURGHH chomp chomp delicious but HOW??? 😭 youre magic dude

OMG. OMGGG. THANK YOUUU WHAT THE HELL I JUST BLUSHED. and im glad u like how i draw hands hehe thats so nce... theyre pretty fun(most of the time) to draw for me(when i actually do draw them) so i hope it shows. idk if this is you asking for hand tips BUT EVEN IF ITS NOT. IM DOING IT ANYWAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HANDS are all about SHAPES!!!!! theyre just a bunch of wobbley squares and wonky cubes and sometimes triangles too depending on the angle.

and if the pose/angle is more complicated? break the shapes down into even MORE squares and cubes. They are your best friend. we love cubes. (sorry. these arent great outlines bc im using my mouse. but you get the deal)

and im still not great at drawing softer hands tbh, but if you want them to not be so pointy and tough looking, just round out the corners and throw in more slopes and squishes.

and now im gonna say something and youre probably gonna groan really loud but just hold on for a second. hold my hand. okay. i feel like my mind awakened when i learned how to make hands in blender. NOW im not saying you have to learn blender just to figure out how to draw hands. because i still dont know blender either. and hands still stump me from time to time. but just the act of building a shitty hand out of cubes put me on this mindset for the rest of my life. i dont even know if this is anything, but heres a good video of someone building a very simple hand in blender and maybe itll lock into your brain like it did mine.

Trying to draw buildings

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Art I’ve created in 2016

I didn’t include all because this post is already ridiculously long, but thank yall so much for all the support! It makes making art a lil easier haha.

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Waffle tutorial by BabyPippo

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Kind of a little random (probably incorrect) guide to basic sorts of shading- I also forgot flat shading which is no shading or highlighting at all But here’s something to ah… look at I guess.

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Homemaking, gardening, and self-sufficiency resources that won’t radicalize you into a hate group

It seems like self-sufficiency and homemaking skills are blowing up right now. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the current economic crisis, a lot of folks, especially young people, are looking to develop skills that will help them be a little bit less dependent on our consumerist economy. And I think that’s generally a good thing. I think more of us should know how to cook a meal from scratch, grow our own vegetables, and mend our own clothes. Those are good skills to have.

Unfortunately, these “self-sufficiency” skills are often used as a recruiting tactic by white supremacists, TERFs, and other hate groups. They become a way to reconnect to or relive the “good old days,” a romanticized (false) past before modern society and civil rights. And for a lot of people, these skills are inseparably connected to their politics and may even be used as a tool to indoctrinate new people.

In the spirit of building safe communities, here’s a complete list of the safe resources I’ve found for learning homemaking, gardening, and related skills. Safe for me means queer- and trans-friendly, inclusive of different races and cultures, does not contain Christian preaching, and does not contain white supremacist or TERF dog whistles.

Homemaking/Housekeeping/Caring for your home:

Making It by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen [book] (The big crunchy household DIY book; includes every level of self-sufficiency from making your own toothpaste and laundry soap to setting up raised beds to butchering a chicken. Authors are explicitly left-leaning.)

Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair by Mercury Stardust [book] (A guide to simple home repair tasks, written with rentals in mind; very compassionate and accessible language.)

How To Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis [book] (The book about cleaning and housework for people who get overwhelmed by cleaning and housework, based on the premise that messiness is not a moral failing; disability and neurodivergence friendly; genuinely changed how I approach cleaning tasks.)

Gardening

Rebel Gardening by Alessandro Vitale [book] (Really great introduction to urban gardening; explicitly discusses renter-friendly garden designs in small spaces; lots of DIY solutions using recycled materials; note that the author lives in England, so check if plants are invasive in your area before putting them in the ground.)

Country/Rural Living:

Woodsqueer by Gretchen Legler [book] (Memoir of a lesbian who lives and works on a rural farm in Maine with her wife; does a good job of showing what it’s like to be queer in a rural space; CW for mentions of domestic violence, infidelity/cheating, and internalized homophobia)

“Debunking the Off-Grid Fantasy” by Maggie Mae Fish [video essay] (Deconstructs the off-grid lifestyle and the myth of self-reliance)

Sewing/Mending:

Annika Victoria [YouTube channel] (No longer active, but their videos are still a great resource for anyone learning to sew; check out the beginner project playlist to start. This is where I learned a lot of what I know about sewing.)

Make, Sew, and Mend by Bernadette Banner [book] (A very thorough written introduction to hand-sewing, written by a clothing historian; lots of fun garment history facts; explicitly inclusive of BIPOC, queer, and trans sewists.)

Sustainability/Land Stewardship

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer [book] (Most of you have probably already read this one or had it recommended to you, but it really is that good; excellent example of how traditional animist beliefs – in this case, indigenous American beliefs – can exist in healthy symbiosis with science; more philosophy than how-to, but a great foundational resource.)

Wild Witchcraft by Rebecca Beyer [book] (This one is for my fellow witches; one of my favorite witchcraft books, and an excellent example of a place-based practice deeply rooted in the land.)

Avoiding the “Crunchy to Alt Right Pipeline”

Note: the “crunchy to alt-right pipeline” is a term used to describe how white supremacists and other far right groups use “crunchy” spaces (i.e., spaces dedicated to farming, homemaking, alternative medicine, simple living/slow living, etc.) to recruit and indoctrinate people into their movements. Knowing how this recruitment works can help you recognize it when you do encounter it and avoid being influenced by it.

“The Crunchy-to-Alt-Right Pipeline” by Kathleen Belew [magazine article] (Good, short introduction to this issue and its history.)

Sisters in Hate by Seyward Darby (I feel like I need to give a content warning: this book contains explicit descriptions of racism, white supremacy, and Neo Nazis, and it’s a very difficult read, but it really is a great, in-depth breakdown of the role women play in the alt-right; also explicitly addresses the crunchy to alt-right pipeline.)

These are just the resources I’ve personally found helpful, so if anyone else has any they want to add, please, please do!

“Where should I host my webcomic?”

If you’re making a new webcomic it’s often difficult to decide where to put it, especially since if you need this kind of resource you’re probably just starting out. So, here’s some info I’ve gathered on some popular hosting platforms and their benefits/downsides. I’m not an artist, so this isn’t an inside scoop, but I’ve put some research into this and I know what artists have said about their experiences. All of these platforms are free and public to use unless noted otherwise.

Tapas (aka Tapastic)

Tapas is a website and app that is made for hosting webcomics.

Example - Example

Benefits:

VERY well known, one the most popular hosting platforms around.

It’s mostly set up so users check out as many comics as possible -> easier time attracting readership.

Once you start getting subscriptions it starts figuring out what other comics get similar readership. It’ll start recommending your comic and you’ll get more consistent readers.

It’s very easy to use and smoothly designed. Pefect for new artists.

There’s kind of a social aspect to it? I don’t know how to describe it. Every user has a page you can comment on and there’s a robust comment system on pages/episodes.

TAPAS TIPPING. A brilliant, original system. Users can watch ads for “tapas coins”, which they can “tip” towards their favorite artists! This turns into free real money for you. You can also apply to tapas premium to make a comic or novel that’s unlocked per episode with coins. (novels are only acessible on the tapas app, which it seems to be moving towards)

Downsides:

It’s very reader-centered. Not so much on artists.

In fact it recently tried a really sketchy move where it added a clause to its terms of service potentially restricting where else artists could post even the free comics. It was later removed after sitewide backlash and mass comic removal.

No control over how your website appears. You get to make a banner and an icon, that’s it. This could be a good thing, since you don’t have to worry about it and its theme works very well.

Sometimes it’s a little buggy. I’ve noticed a lot of artists post with links to other platforms and apologies because it won’t let them add an update.

How to Join:

Create a free account.

Create your comic.

LINE Webtoon

Example - Example

Webtoons is a free website and app for hosting webcomics.

Benefits:

Similar to Tapas, but with a more high-class feel.

(By that I mean I see very few debut artists and more professionals there.)

It’s about as easy to use, and it’s becoming much more well-known, especially after the mass exodus to Webtoons after the Tapas TOS incident. They also advertise comics on others’ pages with similar readership, but it’s kinda skewed towards comics that already have a lot of readers. I get the feeling that it’s focused on providing a good experience for its users more than reading a lot of comics.

You still cannot control how your site works, but again, what they give you is very good.

Every month the staff chooses some comics to become “featured” artists. Featured Artists make $2000/month as long as they don’t post on any other webcomic sites. As the name implies, they also advertise you more. They really like to mention this benefit.

Downsides:

You might not get any traffic? Mostly the biggest problem is just having to use its framework which is designed for webcomics.

How to Join:

Create a free account.

Create your comic.

Smackjeeves

Example - Example

Smackjeeves is yet another free host for webcomics.

Benefits:

You get a subdomain automatically, which you can heavily customize the appearance of.

It has a very social format compared other hosts.

Smackjeeves also recommends comics, but not on other comics’ pages. You can explore comics throughtout the site.

Downsides:

I personally find the website very confusing. I can’t imagine it’s much better on the artist side of things.

How to Join:

Create a free account.

Create your comic.

Tumblr

Example - Example

You’re on it! Tumblr is a social media platfrom that is based on users having one or more blogs to create streams of posts with.

Benefits:

Tumblr blogs already have a “page” format for scrolling through chunks of posts. Just set your post per page ratio to one and voila! Already looks very similar to actual webomic sites.

One of the highlights of Tumblr as a social media platform is being able to manually edit your blog’s HTML. There are even publicly available user-made themes for webcomics.

It’s a social media platform! It’s very easy to interact with your fanbase.

A lot of webcomic fans use Tumblr - it’s well-suited to fandom in particular.

Your updates would in reality be posts on a blog. Readers might reblog them and share your work with other people. It’s by far the best platform for word-of-mouth advertisement.

If you’re reading this you probably already know how to use it.

Downsides:

Tumblr is just … not made for webcomics. At all.

Archiving in particular is very counterintuitive for webcomics. Page urls are not static - “page 2” is the second-most recent update, not the second page. In order to find an individual update you have to actually page back to it or scroll through the default uneditable archive.

How to Join:

Get a free account.

If you already have one, you can simply create a sideblog. But you might want a whole account just for the comic - outgoing likes and asks show up as your main blog, so if you’re using a sideblog it exposes your personal/main blog whenever you interact with fans.

Edit your blog’s theme extensively.

Begin posting your updates.

Custom Website

Example - Example

No external host. Make your own website, just for your comic!

Benefits:

ABSOLUTE CONTROL. You decide how it looks, how it works, and what features it has. Most webcomic sites have similar formats: prominent centered pages (and usually the current update on the “main” page), first/previous/next/recent buttons, an archive, an about page, information on when it updates, etc. But in general everything is 100% up to you.

I cannot stress that ^^^ enough.

No license or restrictions of any kind. Except, like, laws. Obviously.

Many features are easy to add to your website. Disqus (Insertable commenting platform. Sorta structured like Reddit) is getting more and more popular and I haven’t heard anyone mention it costing anything.

You can get ad revenue from your site, and 100% of it goes to you.

Downsides:

Unless you have the skills to make a functional professional website on your own, it costs money. Plus, there’s the relatively small monthly/yearly cost of reserving a domain name.

Finicky and difficult to fix problems. When Tapas eats your update, you wait a day or two before it works again. When the commenting system disappears, you have to call whoever made your website or fix it yourself.

There’s no real way of attracting readership (and ad revenue!) other than word-of-mouth or paying for ads. No handy recommendation system in place. This is ONLY a move for someone who already has a guaranteed reader base. However, almost every popular comic artist eventually gets their own site so it must be worth it past a certain threshold.

How to Join:

Get a domain name and a website.

Post your comic on your new website.

Advertise the heck out of it.

SpiderForest

Example - Example

SpiderForest is a collective of comic artists, not a public service. You must apply to join.

Benefits:

The application process isn’t very strict; it’s there so that it isn’t flooded with low-quality comics. Not sure how I feel about it but it works pretty well for them.

You get the benefits of any vetted group. They advertise you on their main site, and being a member adds credibility to your work.

Even though it is an exclusive group, its policy allows unlimited mirrors, so you can still use anything else you want.

Downsides:

In order to be a member you have to have at least one mirror on a custom site they can link to or host directly on their site. Not much of a downside but still.

Your comic should already exist somewhere else. They generally won’t approve pitches for potential projects, unless you’re already an established creator with previous work to show instead.

It’s not as well known? It’s still pretty high up there.

How to Join:

Apply using the link at the top of their main page.

Be accepted.

Post your comic on your associated Spiderworks site.

Hiveworks

Example - Example

Hiveworks is a for-profit professional organization. You don’t ask to be a member, Hiveworks asks you to join. There’s like a 95% chance you should SAY YES.

Benefits:

Hiveworks gives you a free website (see: custom website benefits)

All Hiveworks sites have a little sidebar advertising other hiveworks comics. They also advertise your comic on their main aggregate site.

They look for good comics, it’s their job. Having their logo on your site is a testament to the quality of your work. You’ll get so many readers and comissions, trust me on this one.

Downsides:

You do have to provide some art to them. They’ll sell merch of your comic (which you get a large cut of!), and you need to provide icons and banners for them to advertise you with. When they do well, you do well, and vice versa.

If you are a member you cannot host your comic any new sites, especially their biggest competitor, SpiderForest. This contract lasts a while. Sometimes you get to keep your existing ones, though.

^^ Contracts. There’s still the tiniest bit of risk, but it’s a reputable organization.

How to Join:

Be asked to by Hiveworks.

Negotiate a contract.

This is all of the things I have been able to learn as a reader. If one or more of them sounds promising for you, try and send a message asking an artist who uses these platforms for what they think. Good luck!

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I’ve been studying the classic black tie dress code (mainly from here) so I thought I could share my notes. Maybe they can be helpful to someone else, too. If I made any mistakes or things are really confusing please tell me.  I also have some notes on white tie which I could share as well…

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