Please Bother Me With Questions And Statements

idk if this is a contreversial take or not but i think that the ideal internet experience is being able to remove specific things (triggers, nsfw, gore) if you truly dont want to see them but overall being also shown things you aren’t interested in. i think one of my fave things about tumblr is seeing like 50% of my dash be about fandoms im not in, bands i dont like and quotes from books i dont want to read rather than this endless feedback loop of tiktok showing me ‘exactly what i want to see’ in a trap to keep me online as long as possible and blind to communities outside of my own. i want a mix of curating my own experience and a healthy dose of content i don’t already know i want to see, yknow?

I also forgot to mention! The very obvious theme of motherhood here, especially when you look at Sarto’s other works, infants and mothers are very prevalent.

One of the first things I thought when I saw this piece for the first time was the way it feels to raise a child while being surrounded by violence. To nurture a child, but you cannot change what they’ll be exposed to.

Now that I’m looking for common threads between Sarto’s works, consumption and predation are both extremely relevant.

The framing of this piece COULD even be to suggest the woman and baby are also among the meat to be consumed, thus the name— they’re in the butcher-shop as another product, not as predators themselves.

I still don’t understand the frog symbolism, but that’s another frequent mention.

Esther Sarto. Butchershop Bliss. 2019. Watercolour and Gouache on 300gsm hotpressed Watercolour paper.

24 x 16 inches

I’ve been thinking about this piece for weeks. I keep coming back to it trying to figure it out. I’ve seen some discussion, but no interpretation has ever really resonated with me.

There’s nothing particularly uncanny about the woman or baby, the surroundings seem normal for them. The lighting is bright, the room is cluttered but not obscured. The meat frames them in, but I’m not sure if that feels like an oppressive force.

The surroundings are visceral, but not scary in any way. Despite the raw meat, there’s no blood in the room, It seems clean.

The only conclusion I can come to is it’s about survival, food, and eating. The baby breastfeeding vs the butchers room. That comes back to the title, though, which doesn’t make much sense to me in that context.

There’s also several feminist and class conscious readings you could do of this; but I’m still not sure.

Please help me figure it out, I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on this piece!!!

Transfem butches, reblog if you agree

frankly, the people whose kneejerk reaction to bisan asking for a global strike form the 21st-28th is to say that it takes years to organize a general strike are really unhelpful! no one is saying otherwise, but palestine will be a smoking crater if we all wait for years to do anything - bisan is asking us to do something now. Like are we only supposed to do something if we can do it perfectly??? At some point it’s a valid critique about the work that goes into social movement, and at another point I feel like some people are just trying to absolve themselves from not putting any effort into observing a week of economic inaction.

like idk! I get it, okay! People have bills to pay that don’t magically go away for a strike, we don’t have nearly enough social infrastructure in place to support people to fully stop going to work for a week. But fuck, dude! Stop immediately responding in such a defeatist way! Cut out unnecessary purchases! Try to shop local! Put more effort into promoting Palestinian voices online! Attend a protest, call a local rep, do something!

✨A beautiful and stunning Black Swan✨

I want to tell a story to the artists and would-be artists out there.

When I was 19, I made a large oil painting of the nerd I would eventually marry. I poured all my attention and care into this painting. It's the only art I have from back then that still holds up as a work I'm proud of today.

I entered it into a judged show at the local art center. It got an honorable mention. I went to see the show with my beloved model. One of the judges came up to talk to me, and highlighted that all the judges really liked the painting. It would have placed, except, you see, the feet were incorrect. They were too wide and short, and if I just studied a bit more anatomy-

I called over my future wife, and asked her to take off her shoe. Being already very used to humoring me, she did. The judge looked at her very short, very wide little foot. Exactly as I'd lovingly rendered it. I would never edit her appearance in any way.

The judge looked me in the eye, and to his credit, he really looked like he meant it when he said "Oh I'm so sorry."

Anyways the moral of the story is that all of those anatomy books that teach you proportions are either showing you averages, or a very specific idea of an idealized body. Actual bodies are much more varied than that.

So don't forget to draw from observation, and remember that humans aren't mass produced mannequins. Delight in our variation. Because it's supposed to be there.

Commission's for Palestine

I'm finally reopening my art comms, in hopes of driving some support towards Muhammad Shehab's efforts to escape Gaza.

All donations of 10$ or more, with proof of donation (A screenshot of your GoFundMe receipt), will be given art equal to the amount you donated!

If, for some reason, you aren't able to donate toward the GoFundMe, you can commission me via PayPal, and 100% of the profit will be donated on your behalf, and I will provide screenshots of the transaction.

[PLAINTEXT PRICING]

Bust/Headshot

• 10$ sketch - 15$ flat color - 20$ shaded - 25$ rendered

Halfbody

• 15$ sketch - 20$ flat color - 25$ shaded - 30$ rendered

Fullbody

• 20$ sketch - 25$ flat color - 30$ shaded - 45$ rendered

Complex Background

• 30-80 USD, depending on size/detail

Ref Sheet

• 30-60 USD, depending on size

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• 3-10 days turnaround time, I will provide frequent updates throughout the process

• I will draw just about anything. I'm serious. Humans, non-humans, anthro, mecha, explicit art, etc. I do not care, as long as it isn't hateful.

• Commissions are for personal use only, I have zero AI and art theft tolerance.

If you donate to Muhammad’s GoFundMe, the amount you donate = the art you receive!

Had to ban the phrase “tricky dick” from my classroom during watergate lesson because saying the word dick in front of 30 fifteen year olds is like lighting a bomb and throwing it through the doorway but now they’re just calling him Richard the Treacherous like they’re all medieval peasants. gonna lose it

Electrochemistry - Honourably done. You have given up some of your own blood -- for theirs.