Curate, connect, and discover
Useful - Blog Posts
hot artists don't gatekeep
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.
i dont consider myself a 'fashion guru' by any means but one thing i will say is guys you dont need to know the specific brand an item you like is - you need to know what the item is called. very rarely does a brand matter, but knowing that pair of pants is called 'cargo' vs 'boot cut' or the names of dress styles is going to help you find clothes you like WAAAYYYY faster than brand shopping
Exercises for all the homies who want to have a long career drawing.
The true problem with being an artist and drawing all day (as I wanted my whole life) is that human backs are not designed to hold that position, so it is very common for artists and designers to have really stiff shoulder blades, creating a chain of muscle strain towards the arm AND the back… and a lot of pain.
These are some physical exercises for artists and honestly anyone who works at a desk.
(all credit to my physiotherapist)
Can't afford art school?
After seeing post like this 👇
And this gem 👇
As well as countless of others from the AI generator community. Just talking about how "inaccessible art" is, I decided why not show how wrong these guys are while also helping anyone who actually wants to learn.
Here is the first one ART TEACHERS! There are plenty online and in places like youtube.
📺Here is my list:
Proko (Free, mostly teaches anatomy and how to draw people. But does have art talks and teaches the basics.)
Marc Brunet (Free but he does have other classes for a cheap price. Use to work for Blizzard and teaches you everything)
Aaron Rutten (free, tips about art, talks about art programs and the best products for digital art)
BoroCG (free, teaches a verity of art mediums from 3D modeling to digital painting. As well as some tips that can be used across styles)
Jesse J. Jones (free, talks about animating)
Jesus Conde (free, teaches digital painting and has classes in Spanish)
Mohammed Agbadi (free, he gives some advice in some videos and talks about art)
Ross Draws (free, he does have other classes for a good price. Mostly teaching character designs and simple backgrounds.)
SamDoesArts (free, gives good advice and critiques)
Drawfee Show (free, they do give some good advice and great inspiration)
The Art of Aaron Blaise ( useful tips for digital art and animation. Was an animator for Disney. Mostly nature art)
Bobby Chiu ( useful tips and interviews with artist who are in the industry or making a living as artist)
Sinix Design (has some tips on drawing people)
Winged canvas (art school for free on a verity of mediums)
Bob Ross (just a good time, learn how to paint, as well as how too relax when doing art. "there are no mistakes only happy accidents", this channel also provides tips from another artist)
Scott Christian Sava (Inspiration and provides tips and advice)
Pikat (art advice and critiques)
Drawbox (a suggested cheap online art school, made of a community of artist)
Skillshare (A cheap learning site that has art classes ranging from traditional to digital. As well as Animation and tutorials on art programs. All under one price, in the USA it's around $34 a month)
Human anatomy for artist (not a video or teacher but the site is full of awesome refs to practice and get better at anatomy)
Second part BOOKS, I have collected some books that have helped me and might help others.
📚Here is my list:
The "how to draw manga" series produced by Graphic-sha. These are for manga artist but they give great advice and information.
"Creating characters with personality" by Tom Bancroft. A great book that can help not just people who draw cartoons but also realistic ones. As it helps you with facial ques and how to make a character interesting.
"Albinus on anatomy" by Robert Beverly Hale and Terence Coyle. Great book to help someone learn basic anatomy.
"Artistic Anatomy" by Dr. Paul Richer and Robert Beverly Hale. A good book if you want to go further in-depth with anatomy.
"Directing the story" by Francis Glebas. A good book if you want to Story board or make comics.
"Animal Anatomy for Artists" by Eliot Goldfinger. A good book for if you want to draw animals or creatures.
"Constructive Anatomy: with almost 500 illustrations" by George B. Bridgman. A great book to help you block out shadows in your figures and see them in a more 3 diamantine way.
"Dynamic Anatomy: Revised and expand" by Burne Hogarth. A book that shows how to block out shapes and easily understand what you are looking out. When it comes to human subjects.
"An Atlas of animal anatomy for artist" by W. Ellenberger and H. Dittrich and H. Baum. This is another good one for people who want to draw animals or creatures.
Etherington Brothers, they make books and have a free blog with art tips.
📝As for Supplies, I recommend starting out cheap, buying Pencils and art paper at dollar tree or 5 below. If you want to go fancy Michaels is always a good place for traditional supplies. They also get in some good sales and discounts. For digital art, I recommend not starting with a screen art drawing tablet as they are usually more expensive.
For the Best art Tablet I recommend either Xp-pen, Bamboo or Huion. Some can range from about 40$ to the thousands.
💻As for art programs here is a list of Free to pay.
Clip Studio paint ( you can choose to pay once or sub and get updates. Galaxy, Windows, macOS, iPad, iPhone, Android, or Chromebook device. )
Procreate ( pay once for $9.99 usd, IPAD & IPHONE ONLY)
Blender (for 3D modules/sculpting, animation and more. Free)
PaintTool SAI (pay but has a 31 day free trail)
Krita (Free)
mypaint (free)
FireAlpaca (free)
Aseprite ($19.99 usd but has a free trail, for pixel art Windows & macOS)
Drawpile (free and for if you want to draw with others)
IbisPaint (free, phone app ONLY)
Medibang (free, IPAD, Android and PC)
NOTE: Some of these can work on almost any computer like Clip and Sai but others will require a bit stronger computer like Blender. Please check their sites for if your computer is compatible.
So do with this information as you will but as you can tell there are ways to learn how to become an artist, without breaking the bank. The only thing that might be stopping YOU from using any of these things, is YOU.
I have made time to learn to draw and many artist have too. Either in-between working two jobs or taking care of your family and a job or regular school and chores. YOU just have to take the time or use some time management, it really doesn't take long to practice for like an hour or less. YOU also don't have to do it every day, just once or three times a week is fine.
Hope this was helpful and have a great day.
"also apologies for any spelling or grammar errors, I have Dyslexia and it makes my brain go XP when it comes to speech or writing"
something my mum always taught us was to look for the resources we're entitled to, and use them. public land? know your access rights and responsibilities, go there and exercise them. libraries? go there and talk to librarians and read community notice boards, find out what other people are doing around you, ask questions, use the printers. public records offices? go in there, learn what they hold and what you can access, look at old maps, get your full birth certificate copied, check out the census from your neighbourhood a hundred years ago. are you entitled to social support? find out, take it, use it. does the local art college have facilities open to the public? go in, look around, check out their exhibit on ancient looms or whatever, shop in their campus art supply store. it applies online too, there is so much shit in the world that belongs to the public commons that you can access and use if you just take a minute to wonder what might exist!!!
Literal definition of spyware:
Also From Microsoft’s own FAQ: "Note that Recall does not perform content moderation. It will not hide information such as passwords or financial account numbers. 🤡
i know we're all sick of self-care being a marketing tactic now, but i don't think a lot of us have any other concept of self-care beyond what companies have tried to sell us, so i thought i'd share my favorite self-care hand out
brought to you by how mad i just got at a Target ad
There is a new Chrome extension that detects if a video you’re streaming has a strobe in it, will freeze the video and stick this warning up there until you approve it.
WHERE THE HELL HAS THIS BEEN ALL MY LIFE????
（❀˙ᵕ˙）
stars:
★ ☆ ✦ ✧ ✩ ✪ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯ ✰
✵ ✶ ✷ ✸ ✹ ✺ ⍟ ⭒ ⋆ ❂ ⟣ ⟡ ⟢
flowers:
✻ ✼ ✽ ✾ ✿ ❀ ❁ ❃ ❋ ❊ ✤ ✣ ✢
snowflakes:
❆ ❅ ✲ ✱
hearts:
♡ <3 ❥ ‹𝟹 ♥︎
music:
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♭ ♮ ♯ °
astrology:
☼ ☽ ☾
symbols with spaces:
ㆍ﹒╴・：﹕﹢﹐﹗﹠ ﹪﹙﹚︔ ︉
？﹔◞ ◟ ◝ ◜﹫『』 ！〝 〞〈 〉（ ），
．｜╵
others:
⟅ ∬ ˃˂ — ꜝ ﹏ ▢ ᵎᵎ ↻ ┈ ◯ ⊞
⊡ ⊚ ⊟ ⊹ ⨏ 𖦝 ⁁ ＜ ❍ ◍ ◦ ⌑ ┊
⏆ ⌅ ⏇
♡ ⌢ non-lang symbols
show, don't tell:
anticipation - bouncing legs - darting eyes - breathing deeply - useless / mindless tasks - eyes on the clock - checking and re-checking
frustration - grumbling - heavy footsteps - hot flush - narrowed eyes - pointing fingers - pacing / stomping
sadness - eyes filling up with tears - blinking quickly - hiccuped breaths - face turned away - red / burning cheeks - short sentences with gulps
happiness - smiling / cheeks hurting - animated - chest hurts from laughing - rapid movements - eye contact - quick speaking
boredom - complaining - sighing - grumbling - pacing - leg bouncing - picking at nails
fear - quick heartbeat - shaking / clammy hands - pinching self - tuck away - closing eyes - clenched hands
disappointment - no eye contact - hard swallow - clenched hands - tears, occasionally - mhm-hmm
tiredness - spacing out - eyes closing - nodding head absently - long sighs - no eye contact - grim smile
confidence - prolonged eye contact - appreciates instead of apologizing - active listening - shoulders back - micro reactions
The Language Of Flowers
Acacia: Hidden love, beauty in withdrawal
Amaryllis: Pride, a hard won success
Anemone: Vanishing hopes
Bells of Ireland: Wish for good luck
Carnation: Fascination, love and distinction
Daffodil (Narcissus): Honesty and truth
Dahlia flower: Warnings and change
Daisy: Innocence, loyal love and purity
Delphinium: Open heart, ardent attachement
Gardenia: Symbol of secret love
Gladiolus: Remembrance, faithfulness and sincerity
Hyacinth: I’m sorry, please forgive me.
Iris: Eloquence
Lily (general) : Purity of the heart and refined beauty
Lily of the valley: Return of happiness
Marigold: Passion and creativity
Orchid: Beauty, refinement and love
Peony: Happy marriage
Lavender: Love at first sight
Red rose: Love, respect, courage and passion
White rose: Purity, secrecy, silence, innocence and charm
Sunflower: Good luck and ambition
Tulip: Irresistible love
Violet: Faithfulness, modesty and delicate love
Zinnia: Lasting affection, daily remembrance and good memories
I havent seen anyone talk about this yet so im making a post.
So lets say you’re researching something for a paper (or just for fun) and the research paper you want to read is behind a paywall, or the site makes you create an account first, or makes you pay to download, or limits you to only 5 free articles, or otherwise makes it difficult for you to read what you want.
do not fear! copy the link to the article
go to sci-hub.se (the url is always changing so its best to check out whereisscihub.now.sh to find what the current url is)
slap the article link in there
bam! free access!
Am I the only one a little worried about some of those thoughts? Like, are you ok? Do you want a hug or something? Just me? Yeah? No? Ok
Pretend ur invasive self hating thoughts r being said to u by a 13 y/o boy on xbox live trying to get a rise out of you like “Your girlfriend dumped you because you’re ugly” that’s nice tim isn’t it past ur bedtime
How to make a character's death sadder
Don’t have them die of old age after a long, fulfilling life. Many people don’t even think of this as sad (note that this can still work if you have enough of the other factors).
Leave one of their major goals unfinished. The more enthusiastic they are about completing the goal, the sadder.
Give them strong relationships with other characters.
Make them fight against whatever is causing their death. Their ultimate loss is sadder if they struggle.
Kill them in the middle of their character arc.
Don’t describe their funeral in detail. Maybe it’s just me, but I find that long descriptions of funerals kill the sadness.
here is a life hack for throwing up: sniffing isopropyl alcohol (like an alcohol swab or basic bathroom alcohol) often works to prevent vomiting when you are about to barf and do not want to. anxiety nausea, need to keep pills down, motion sickness etc. i learned this in the ICU and it really works, a nurse ripped open an alcohol swab under my nose and suddenly i wasn't about to throw up anymore. it's research supported too!
Drawing Wrinkles
I made a tutorial-thing about drawing clothing wrinkles - something I’ve had a few requests for. For all the banality of wrinkles, they’re an expansive topic. Anyway, these are some previews. The full tutorial is available to all $1+ Patreon supporters. You can find it here!
people NEED to stop gatekeeping making music like ohhhh i don’t have an instrument ohhhhh i don’t know music theory ohhhhh i’m not gonna pay for some program. SHUT UP. take my hand.
you need NONE of that shit!!!!! there’s a website called beepbox.co. literally all you have to do is press things until it sounds a modicum of nice. it’s easy it’s free and it works on anything which has a browser because it’s a website.
if even ONE person starts making music bc of this post it will be worth it.
making bad music is just as important and okay as it is to write badly or draw badly or sing badly. you AREN’T BEHOLDEN TO MAKE GOOD MUSIC. making music is not utilitarian HAVE FUN. HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!
i have a few resources i look to consistently but i'm gonna plug anatomy for sculptors as One Of The Most Useful. great if you're a 3D artist, INVALUABLE if you're a 2D artist. gives you turnarounds of specific limbs/fiddly body parts like ears. great especially if you're referencing a photo and start looking at an individual part like 'wait, what the hell is going on in there'
so i've been working on a full FFXIV game script
have YOU ever wondered "hey, when's the first time they mentioned Meracydia in game?" or "hey, how can i check every time they've ever mentioned souls?" or thought "gee i'd love to find the exact wording of this line without having to watch the whole cutscene again"?
now you can!!!!!!!!!! through 2.55, and MSQ/Crystal Tower only so far
Click here to check it out!!!!!!!!!!
i owe my life to people putting game scripts for PS1 JRPGs on gamefaqs, and i couldn't believe a similar script didn't already exist for xiv when i went looking for one, so i took matters into my own hands. also i added a couple of neat features like being able to filter content and add in your own WoL's name :)
obviously this is a very large undertaking for a single person, especially since i'm getting 99% of the text directly in-game playing through on an alt, rather than using a text dump or something, so updates won't be super fast. but i hope that it can help some people in its current state, and that i'll one day catch up to current content! (i'm also 100% open to corrections and suggestions)
BEHOLD: a 118-page compilation of (almost) every scrap of lore about Ishgard I could find – its social organization, history, religious beliefs, and culture.
Every piece of lore is sourced with a footnote in order to make it easy to look up – and to tell canon from my informed inferences and wild speculations. This makes the doc a little heavy and slow to load; my apologies! To look up a topic of interest, I recommend giving it a second to load, then using Ctrl+F to search.
Don’t feel shy about getting in touch with comments and corrections! If you have a question about Ishgard that isn’t answered in the doc…… I probably don’t know the answer, since I’ve put everything I know in there, but I’m always happy to theorize!
FFXIV Lore Resources
Hey dudes! Lately I’ve been reaching out a bit to some FFXIV players who expressed interest in getting a hold of lore resources. I mentioned to them I’d try to set up a post making the most helpful ones I’ve encountered readily available, and this?
It’s that post.
MIRKEMENAGERIE: Easily one of (if not the) most complete and comprehensive collections of lore I’ve encountered online. Includes quotes from NPCs in-game, Encyclopedia Eorzea I and II, item references, and more. The Twelve posts and location lore are some of my favorites but really all of this is fantastic. Very accessible.
HARMONEA: Has assembled a HUGE collection of lets plays on youtube that are organized and well-paced, showing everything from MSQ to Ascian-lore specifically to Job quests and beyond. This has been truly helpful whenever I want to check a reference but don’t necessarily have time to New Game + or check the Unending Journey in-game. It’s easy to jump around to find exactly the scenes you’re looking for, and compare moments from different points during the game.
GARLAND TOOLS DATABASE: Sometimes I need lore details from specific quests, that aren’t in cutscenes or easily found in a video. Garland Tools helps with tracking down quotes, character information, and much more. Also contains data around NPC designs. Doesn’t have cutscene quotes, but does have enough info to find what cutscenes you’ll likely need to watch. Whether on youtube or in the Unending Journey, it gets much easier spotting references.
TALES FROM THE CALAMITY, TALES FROM THE DRAGONSONG WAR, TALES FROM THE STORM, CHRONICLES OF LIGHT: THE HUNT BEGINS, TALES FROM THE SHADOWS, TALES FROM THE TWILIGHT: These are official FFXIV short stories associated with A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, Stormblood, and Shadowbringers respectively. The story from Chronicles of Light is also canon but insanely difficult to locate, contains details surrounding Zenos’s backstory and psychology. These absolutely carry lore details! You don’t need them to understand and enjoy the game, but they give added information and context.
ALL FINAL FANTASY XIV 1.X MAIN SCENARIO CUTSCENES: I have not gone through all of this yet but you can bet your ass I have it saved.
FINAL FANTASY XIV 1.X LETS PLAY: Likewise haven’t gone through all of this yet but if you want really detailed 1.0 lore info, this has it.
OZMA’S ASCIAN REFERENCE PILE: Contains both concrete known information, game data, and speculation by Ozma as a longstanding Ascian fan. 1.0 WHITE MAGE QUESTLINE: This isn’t 100% canon anymore, but I’m including it because it actually shows the Elementals in voiced roles and that is a huge deal. Worth noting this youtuber has other 1.0 videos documented too.
BOTANICA EORZEA: This contains all lore surrounding the plants of Eorzea, organized and accessible.
MINERICA EORZEA: Sent by @firecattebird, A fully searchable, organized, and accessible doc containing all the lore I could find in-game about the things we pull from mining nodes.
LODESTONE SONG LYRICS COMPILATION: There are often other places you can google around for official song lyrics and I usually use those, but if you want everything in one place this is your spot!
ETHYS ASHER: Has some really good coverage of the niche parts of Eorzea’s history and solid discussion/speculation surrounding various lore elements. I haven’t gotten to investigate deeply but did enjoy his coverage around Belah’dia and the Great Wyrms.
Lastly, while not lore related I do want to share a particularly fun resource with the people who might be peeking over.
EORZEA COLLECTION: A lot of players in FFXIV are heavily invested in the design components of the game, and this is a hub for that. Whether you’re looking for something in the vein of Dark Souls, something outrageously silly, something cute, something majestic, etc. you can basically find all kinds of tones/experiments here. You can restrict what you see by job, race, gender, etc. and order according to recency or loves. It’s also somewhere you can see how gear looks with different characters, dyes, and combinations. Very organized and can be a useful resource for farming.
Shopping for laptops fucking sucks ‘cause I don’t know shit about computers. I’ve never had a computer with a functional webcam or microphone or the ability to play computer games made later than 2005 or a speaker that could play anything loud enough to hear from more than a foot away. How the hell should I know what I want?!
