I was rambling on the issue of museums and human remains and how certain populations are more likely to have their bodies put on display to be gawked at and then went "well I guess the Pompeii casts were of Europeans. there are bones in there right?" and Googled it to make sure, at which point I confirmed that yes there are bones in there, but more interestingly DNA testing revealed that a cast of an adult holding a child everyone assumed was a mother and child were, in fact, a man and a kid entirely unrelated to him. Honestly that's more moving to me. Maybe they were connected in a way other than blood, but maybe a stranger saw a child when the world was ending and thought the one thing he could do was hold them.
do u have a set of little brain tools u like to use to think about things? here are some of mine
grass sheep: based on the story of an ai who identified photos of sheep correctly, but then it turned out it was recognizing photos with grass in the background. i try to find the grass of a sheep when i'm thinking about the "proof" of something to identify possible other things that could produce that result other than the thing that is assumed to be being proven
hot swap: when thinking about something's place in the world, i like to try to imagine what would need to be different about the larger context for something else to take its place. what would need to be different? what would follow as a change? i often do this to two things that are presented as opposites.
sterility vs bioactivity: there's two solutions to reptile husbandry, one of having sterile and frequently cleaned items to manually remove waste and kill disease, and the other of creating a small ecosystem to reduce and process waste and prevent disease by having other things living there. i use this to think about what alternate routes of solutions could be other than manual control/reduction/elimination of problems
third axis: if i get stuck on a problem that seems to have only two answers, i try to move "vertically" away from it. if something must be either true or false, what would it mean for it to not matter either way? if something must be either supported or fought against, what would it mean to make it irrelevant entirely?
I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard
Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.
Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.
Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.
Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.
SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.
SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.
Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.
Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.
Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.
Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.
Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.
In case anyone finds it helpful because mobility aids are horrifically expensive and inaccessible…
And for those people who have access to mobility devices but might benefit from a second chair they can abuse without risking expensive damage…
Erik Kondo has made a website, Open Source Innovations, that details plans for DIY wheelchairs. These wheelchairs can be made from common materials like wood, plastic, and pvc. They are lightweight and can be custom fit to the user allowing from the same degree of movement you would get from a custom chair. And they are durable and easily repairable. (he has been stress testing his latest design by dropping it down stairs, dropping it out of a car, launching it across a driveway, and throwing it off a deck). Its 12lbs and I think he said its was in the $200 ish range for parts.
He also is working on cheap, open source, accessible designs for beach chairs, off road chairs, motorized attachments (think smart drive), and so on. Plus he skateboards in his wheelchair. Cool dude, helpful info, pass it on.
do you ever have an idea that kinda just grabs you out of nowhere and won’t leave you alone until you inflict it on the world? because that’s absolutely what happened to me re: this comic
Hi, i did this cuz i thought it would be fun
and i enjoyed all of it.....but also....never again,,,,