Latest Posts by mr-sheridan - Page 3
And speaking of scurvy, I am eternally amused by the thing where some ancient form of healing that was born in a time where people didn't know exactly how the human body works, or what causes it to stop working sometimes, that still somehow worked. Like how so many old folk medicinal plants were listed as a cure for various ailments that - from a modern view - are clearly just symptoms of scurvy, and the plant itself is rich in vitamin C.
I recall reading some story, no recollection of the exact time or place, where the king of a large empire suffered from constant horrible headaches and was incapable of falling asleep unless drugged or blackout drunk. Sick of taking temporary fixes to dull the pain and having to be sedated every night, he called up some old sage healer who was said to know how to fix things nobody else could explain, and the healer heard his symptoms and went
"Hmm. You spend too much time being a king. Your skull is packed so full of kingly thoughts that they don't all fit in there and that's why your head is in pain. You need to spend time not being a king." And prescribed him to schedule three days every month where he must go to a peasant village where nobody knows he's the king, live with a family there under a fake name and identity, work in the rice fields with them, eating the same food and sleeping on the same mats. Absolutely nobody is allowed to address him as the king, speak to him of any royal or political matters, and he himself is not allowed to think any kingly thoughts or think of himself as the king.
And naturally, this worked. Taking a regular scheduled break from a highly stressful office desk job to completely decompress, paired with physical exercise in the form of hard but simple physical labour, plain and simple food and Just Not Thinking About Your Fucking Job All The Time does help chronic stress, which here was worded as "spending too much time being a king clogs your brain."
Sometimes you do have ghosts in your blood, though I'm not entirely sure whether you should do cocaine about it.
Clam's Quick Tips for Starting Your Very First Webcomic
Howdy! Here are the three bits of advice I tend to give people who ask me about getting into webcomic-making. Maybe they can help you jump into the fray with a little less fear.
1) Make Your First Chapter a Pilot Episode
You will be told by webcomic veterans to start with a short, simple comic idea first - which is wise - but if all you can think about is your big magnum opus, then you might as well hop in, right? Otherwise you'll just be glancing back at the other cooler project forever.
But if you can't start with a small simple story, start on a small, simple part of that larger story. Your first chapter should be a snapshot of the main conflict - show us a simple scene with few characters, ease us in slowly, keep things clear and focus on emotion/impact/clarity. Get the audience to care by offering something easily digested, but full of promise.
Once you're done with that 'pilot' chapter, and you're feeling more comfortable with the whole comic process, you can open the gates and show us the larger world. At that point, you'll be way more ready.
2) Simplify Your Art Style For Your Own Sanity
Always try to make your webcomic's art style as simple as possible - the standard rule is to use only 75% of your artistic skill for every comic page you make. Otherwise you will burn out quickly and terribly.
But you also need to be PROUD of your art style. If you're really feeling itchy, add a couple bells and whistles to your style so you can look at the finished page and say "Yeah, looks cool." You'll find the right balance the more you draw.
Also, don't be afraid to change your art style as you go along. Ultimate consistency is often impossible in webcomics anyway - so embrace your desire to try new things, streamline your work, whatever you feel needs to happen to be happiest. Sometimes the coolest part of reading a webcomic is noticing that style change - so don't hesitate to embrace it!
3) Resist the Reboot! RESIST!
The curse/blessing of drawing the same things over and over is that you'll inevitably get better at drawing those things. The trouble comes when you look back at old stuff and start thinking "Damn, I could draw that way better now."
You must recognize that this feeling never goes away. Not after a hundred pages. Not after three hundred. Not after a thousand.
I think everyone should be allowed one soft reboot for their first webcomic. Redraw some panels that bother you. Change up some dialogue if it doesn't make sense with your new story ideas. Do maintenance, basically. One of the beauties of webcomics is that they can be easily edited, without reprinting a whole book or remaking a whole game.
But if the ultimate purpose of a webcomic is to tell a story, then constant reboots will just be retelling the same story - slightly better each time, but the same at its core. We've heard it before. Most audiences would rather you save your strength and just keep going, rather than circling back year after year and going "Wait wait wait! I'll do it better this time."
Reboot early, not often, and only when you absolutely must! You're a storyteller, and you're constantly getting better at telling your story. Don't be ashamed of it - look back how much ground you've covered, and keep walking!
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That's a good start. Happy webcomicking - don't be afraid to jump in, but be prepared to learn a lot very quickly. And if this advice doesn't work for you or adhere to how you did it, that's absolutely fine - webcomics are diverse by nature, and so are their creation processes. Feel out what works best for you, and good luck!
Abend am Gipfel des Mont Barral (1903 m), Blick zur Montagne de Jocou (2051 m)
YOUNG MAN
there's no need to look down, i said
YOUNG MAN
really, please don't look down, i said
YOUNG MAN
cast your gaze not upon
t h e d r e a d
R I F T
O F
C O S M I C
T E R R O R S
苗疆miaojiang style fashion designed by hanfu stores
i would like to present a modern alternative to sewing pockets because not everyone wears large dresses you can hids your pockets in: thigh bags.
features:
- expanded pocket storage
- separate compartments to organize your keys, cards, fidgetspinners, and other nicknacks
- look cool like that tomb runner lady
- excellent addition to your techwear outfit
- gender neutral so you and your homies can all wear them
- strappy bois.
We spend so much time arguing about corsets when we could be spreading the gospel of "women's clothes DID used to have pockets and they were F*CKING HUGE and we should bring them back"
Hello! I've rewritten this ask like five times so I'll just come out and say, you're one of my favorite artists, thank you for all the good stuff you put out, it's inspiring <3 I wanted to ask, what's your method of studying anatomy and expressions?
Thank you! <3 Ngl the last time I studied anatomy with effort, I was a kid in high-school. The only book I had on the subject was the Anatomy for the Artist from Jeno Barcsay. It was huge and detailed, literally muscle and bone deep, but I think my brain is wired more for the feel of things than the understanding 😅
I try to find nude or mostly nude pics for anatomy stuff. Adult photo sites rule as a source, people contort their bodies in all sorts of weird ways and I can usually find someone with the build I'm looking for.
When I sketch based on a ref, I try to pay attention to the silhouette, negative spaces and alignments. They help me correct mistakes.
And obviously I love to exaggarate things. (Evident on the waistline and pulled up leg here.)
Same with expressions, I guess. I try to push them but stay within the realm of believable. It's so easy to make a face look uncanny or creepy or w/e with a smile too wide. I have had a couple commissioners ask me before to tone down the initial expressions on their characters, and I think that was a nice reminder to pull me back to reality lol It can get especially weird with long narrow faces like Buttons'. I find it a bit tricky to make him have a large open smile while fitting it all on his head.
I made a tutorial about painting street scenes! As a character artist, I found these kind of things so hard to paint at first - I just didn’t know where to start and felt overwhelmed by all of the details. But I found an easy and efficient workflow that consists of 4 main steps! My latest tutorial runs you through each step and gives tips and advice for creating urban speedpaintings. You can get it for just $5 - head on over to my patreon to get access ✨
visitation to a restless shadow
after eight years, I finally updated my huge Historical Fashion Reference & Resources Doc! Now in the form of a MUCH more easily updated Google Doc with better organization, refreshed links, and five more pages of books and online resources.
I know tumblr hates links, but it’s worth it for a doc that I can now update with far more regularity going forward! RIP to the original, you did your duty for far longer than you should have. 😔🙏🏼
how do you consistently draw the same character without it looking weird or off every different time?? also how do i coordinate faces, i always make the eyes too far apart or too big or too small or make the mouth too close to the nose or chin edge. If you have any advice I'd really appreciate it since it looks like you have your art shit figured out 🙏
Oh man SO so much of it is just practice, and you're not alone! I honestly think everyone struggles with a sort of "generification" of their characters' features the more they draw them, even seasoned professionals. There's a tendency to just sort of average everything out into an unrecognizable mush over time, and it takes a lot of conscious effort to push back against that.
Here are a couple tips and tricks that I've found to be helpful over the years:
Make turnarounds and model sheets. There's a reason animation/game studios do this, and it is because we are all still bad at drawing a consistent face. Despite being gainfully employed. What are we, graphic novelists?? We wish. Anyway it's a great way to familiarize yourself with your character's face from multiple angles, and it gives you a single source of truth to return to anytime you need a refresher:
Gather real-life reference. Anytime I'm designing a character I'm pulling together a ton of reference of actual people who look, to some degree, like the character in my head. It's always a collection of analogues, never just a single person, but it can be a great cheat sheet for understanding how your character might move, emote, etc:
Make a 3D model. I know it seems daunting, but with the advent of programs like Blender and Nomad Sculpt it's becoming remarkably more accessible. Heck, even James Gurney was sculpting maquettes out of clay for Dinotopia back in the day! It doesn't have to be particularly detailed—just a sort of proportionate lump will do—but it's another great way to have dynamic reference that you can rotate and light accordingly:
Practice, practice, practice. Make expression sheets for your character! Either right there on the spot, just start drawin' expressions, or you can slowly collect drawings of your character that you like, as you draw them, and compile them all in one place for your own reference. Need to draw your character's head from a weird angle? Maybe you've already drawn it before and you can copy your own homework! Doesn't count as stealing when the call's coming from inside the house 😎
I'd love to pretend there's a magical point where you can just immediately rotate your character's head in your brain like some sort of photorealistic apple in a twitter meme, but a lot of the time it's reference, hard work, and whole lotta repetition. 😐👍🏼
Child safe version of the actual comic I wanna post
Simple Comic Panel Tutorial
please kindly visit my PATREON page ^^
I think if i put into words how happy this type of image makes me I would get diagnosed with something
Day 10 of barefoot shoes now! Here are some observations:
The ground is so utterly interesting!!! Especially the netherlands where everything is cobble and the footpaths are bumpy (bec the ground keeps sinking perpetually). I was missing this outlet of sensory info with normal shoes. I also like to wrap my feet along the edge of a stair.
Touching my toes to the edges of the shoe no longer feels like a stretch. In time my foot should expand enough that it naturally brushes the sides. I suspect if I wear my old shoe again it will feel very cramped already.
I also now walk more like a cat or a pawed animal for that matter. I see other people put their heel first, while I now put my foot down paw first. Apparently this is good not only for my feet, but also my leg, which should get thiccer, with the joints lasting longer. We shall see.
My socks don't get smelly at all and last for a week or more, though that maybe bec the shoe is new.
Obligatory cat walking gif with fun (unrelated) fact:
I need people to stop blaming the death of movies on “quips”. A quip is just a funny line of dialogue. That’s all. Like I just saw a post talking about quips and the death of movies and brought up Pirates of the Caribbean as an example of a better movie and yes it is but also that movie is FULL OF QUIPS. I just rewatched The Princess Bride. It’s all quips. Every single line. And it’s a masterpiece.
Movies suck when people don’t care about the art they’re making. That includes them not caring about their quips. Which is why a lot of comic relief dialogue ALSO sucks now. But the problem isn’t that funny dialogue exists.
most of us have heard of the red car game. you’re on a road trip, you’re bored, you start looking for red cars to do something.
and then they’re everywhere. you notice them nearly every few minutes.
there aren’t suddenly more red cars now, of course. you were seeing them already, but you weren’t noticing. you weren’t looking.
I am noticing things.
there is a plant I notice everywhere now, a small bushy plant in suburbs, along streets, by shops on the highways. dwarf umbrella bush is what the internet tells me when I look for it’s name. I did this because I wanted to know why,
every time I ever saw it, every place,
it was always dying. always the leaves turning yellow, the branches small and scraggly. inside out - nitrogen definitely. their soil drained.
I am noticing how many of these landscaping plants are yellowing, how small and sickly they look in just a few years. I am noticing how often the grass outside the house is replaced when it once again turns brown and dry, how the type never changes and the cycle starts again. I am noticing how the unmowed, unkempt spaces on lakesides and roadsides look more alive than this. how the preserve I grew up next to was miles of “messy” unmanicured nature and the ground was covered in leaves instead of grass and there was life.
I am noticing the birds that come by the lake. there was a flash of blue wings and red chest - eastern bluebird, male, relatively common. I had never seen one before. there is a family of ducks that appear every spring; i cannot say if it’s successive generations or different ducks, but I can always look forward to ducklings. there are little brown birds with white heads whose names I do not know - are they some kind of piper? why don’t I already know?
why is it so hard to learn about my native plants (accurately, that is)? why are so many gardening sites littered with people who think a plants value is based on how pretty or useful it is to them, who think a tree shedding leaves is “messy”?
why is knowing about the world we live in so… odd? why is it a hobby and not vital knowledge? I learned about polar equations. I taught myself about mycorrhizal networks and species of insects.
(did you know there are shiny green bees? a special species of wasp pollinating figs? that white flowers bloom at night for moths? do you know? have you looked?)
I cannot look at a lawn and see life anymore. it is a wasteland, devoid of life, dying slowly itself. everywhere is grass, grass, doused in water that runs over into storm drains, soaked in fertilizer and pesticides and a hundred other poisons and sending one clear message:
this is a place of death. life is not welcome here.
I do not think I could live in a city. too loud, yes, too busy, yes, too many people, yes, but the plants would bother me. a tree allotted only a convenient square, surrounded by dead stone and metal.
a forest cleared for this, for burning asphalt streets and racing cars and shops whose bathrooms are “for paying customers only”.
this is a place of death. life is not welcome here.
and now I am noticing.
50 Questions to Ask About Your OC
had some help from some friends to make up fifty pretty in-depth questions to get to know your OCs better! feel free to reblog this as an ask game or use it to develop your own crew
1. Are they happy with their body? 2. Do they have any secret piercings or tattoos? 3. Do they collect anything? 4. What is their favorite music genre? 5. What music genre, if any, do they hate the most? 6. What is their phone background/lock screen? 7. What is their shoe size? 8. Do they have a favorite fabric or texture? 9. Do they have a favorite professional sport? 10. How do they decorate their living space? 11. Are they messy, or do they clean up? 12. What’s their preferred sleeping position? 13. Did they have a favorite comfort item as a child? 14. Do they have a favorite period in history? 15. Can they cook? What’s their favorite thing to make? 16. What food do they hate eating? 17. Do they have any allergies? 18. What was their worst injury? 19. What movie is most likely to make them cry? 20. What movie or book could they watch/read a hundred times and never get tired of? 21. Can they dance? Do they like to? 22. What was their favorite birthday gift? 23. Which birthday do they look back on the most fondly? 24. What kind of cake or birthday treat would they prefer? 25. What is their favorite animal? 26. Do they wear perfume/cologne? What is their favorite scent? 27. What smell do they hate the most? 28. What sound do they hate the most? 29. What video game would appeal to them the best? 30. How would they relax on a day off/rainy day? 31. Are they combative? What is their fighting style? 32. Would they be the one to start an argument? 33. What is their personal style? Favorite outfit? 34. Do they have a dream job? 35. What do they do if they can’t fall asleep? 36. Do they wear makeup regularly? If they don’t, would they consider wearing any? 37. Do they prefer to be really cold or really warm? 38. What recurring dream do they keep having? 39. Can they drive? What vehicles are they licensed to operate? 40. Do they believe in true love? Have they experienced it? 41. Are they married? Do they want to be? 42. If they have siblings, do they like any of them? Would they rather be an only child? 43. What do they think is their worst quality? What is their actual worst quality? 44. Do they lie often? Are they good at it? 45. Are they good at keeping secrets? 46. How do others see them? How accurate is it to how they really are? 47. What kind of first impression do they usually make? 48. What are they most afraid of? 49. Would they ever kill anybody? 50. Do they have original characters of their own?
Hiring managers acknowledge as much. In a survey of more than 1,000 hiring managers last summer, 27% reported having job postings up for more than four months. Among those who said they advertised job postings that they weren’t actively trying to fill, close to half said they kept the ads up to give the impression the company was growing, according to Clarify Capital, a small-business-loan provider behind the study. One-third of the managers who said they advertised jobs they weren’t trying to fill said they kept the listings up to placate overworked employees.
You've probably been in the position of sending out your resume far and wide, filling out zillions of applications, and going weeks or even months before even getting an answer. Well, turns out a lot of it's because they're not actually hiring anyone. It's not just you.
PSA TO ANYONE BUYING A CAR!!!
I work as a BDC agent at a very large dealership and have a ton of experience in helping people buy a vehicle. This can be a huge purchase so I want to give advice to anyone in the market or thinking about it.
First time buyers and bad credit. Maybe you have bad credit or none at all and you really need a vehicle. To many dealerships, anything under 600 is considered challenged credit. If you don’t have a qualified co-signer, you are going to need 20-40% as a down payment, depending on the value/age/mileage of the vehicle. A lot of issues I see with buyers with challenged credit is repeated reported hits on their credit because they have applied to several different dealerships in desperation. Every time a dealership pulls and submits your credit, it’s a hard hit and you will lose 2-4 points off your credit score. Most dealerships will submit you to 3-4 banks before stopping, some may go higher. So if you have challenged credit, having two or more dealerships do this to you is damaging. Being fully prepared is important!
In my experience, different dealerships use different credit bureaus to pull credit, so be familiar with all three bureaus if possible.
MYTH! A cheaper car is easier to finance. This is INCORRECT! Usually cheap vehicles are older and have high mileage. Banks do not want to finance those kinds of vehicles, so you have to look at something considered “financeable.”
These requirements fall along the lines of:
1. The vehicle must be 7-10 years old or newer
2. It must have 80-100k miles or less
3. It cannot have a salvaged/branded title, odometer rollback, and sometimes structural/frame damage. Almost all reputable dealerships will have Carfax reports publicly accessible on their website or upon request.
4. The car needs to book well. This means that the NADA value (basically the REAL value of the vehicle) is not too far off from the selling price. If a vehicle is worth $15,000 and they are selling it for $20,000, the banks will decline because the values are too far off.
However, just because a vehicle books bad does not mean it’s “over priced”. Technically. Most dealerships now have market based pricing, so the prices fluctuate with the economy. Similar to how housing, gas, and grocery prices rise and fall, vehicles are the same way. It is nearly impossible to buy a new vehicle anymore. Due to a wide array of issues, most 2022+ models are order only. This makes used vehicles in high demand. If dealerships are paying more to get vehicles via trade and auctions, they will have to charge more to sell them.
There are many dealerships out there who don’t care about you and only want your money. It is important to not let them pressure you and do your research to shop when you’re ready.
On a final side note, if you inquire by calling or going online and schedule a test drive, you will help workers like me. We are here to help answer questions, provide any and all information, without the pressure of salesman. (Yes we may call and bug you, but just say you’re no longer interested and we will stop!)
If you ever have any questions please ask me!!!
Please reblog/share to help educate people in an exploitative market!
rb if you vote, i wanna see what tumblr thinks on this.
New York City, 1977. Detective Frank Barnes (Paul Newman) is fighting more than just the heatwave: A robbery spree becomes increasingly difficult to investigate as the head of the operation, Sonny Moreno (Robert Redford), uses it as a platform to flirt with none other but the head detective himself. What ensues is a cat and mouse game full of adrenaline, drama and sexual tension that leaves the cop torn between two worlds.