Except that we didn't actually physically paint the pictures. We just selected an area that was all the same color (in photoshop) and then used the eyedropper tool to copy the color and then used the fill tool in the selected area

This was mine

I had it on my wall for years and then harley ripped it off the wall

And I still have the original photo

So I was just gonna remake it in krita and print off a new one

But then I thought it might be fun to actually paint it

So I've sketched it out to the best of my ability

It took like 6 hours

I also wanted a good written tutorial for how to do the stitch i ultimately chose (the coptic stitch) because I do not like video tutorials. Unfortunately none of the written tutorials had exactly what I needed. Specifically none of them told you what to do if you ran out of thread before finishing the binding. Their advice was "make sure to cut enough thread from the beginning" which was not going to work for me. While there is a way to measure out how much thread you need, I would likely still need to know how to add more thread. My plant book is quite a bit thicker than the books being made in the tutorials. And I dont know if you've ever tried to hand sew something by hand and thought "ehhh ill just cut off a bunch and hope its enough to do this in one go," but it NEVER works out that way.

DO NOT LISTEN TO THAT VOICE. THAT IS THE DEVIL SPEAKING.

All that will happen is you end up with a giant tangled mess of thread that you can never untangle. And im pretty good at untangling threads but its a pain in the ass and just not something I would like to waste my time on. Not to mention the wasted thread. So I ended up having to watch part of a video tutorial to figure out what I was supposed to do when the thread inevitably ran out. And I told myself that the next time I did this, I would make my own written tutorial with pictures showing what to do and also showing how I reinforce the spine because I go a bit further than any of the tutorials I found.

(Tutorial under the cut)

Next you wanna thread the needle between the first signature and the cardboard and behind the thread that connects them and then push the needle back through the hole you pulled it out of on the second signature. Repeat that for the rest of the signature and connect the next signature the same way you attached the previous one, but thread the needle between the first and second signature.

Keep going til it seems like you're about to run out of thread. You want enough left to tie it off so make sure you have at least double the length of your needle. But its best to stop at the end of a signature than part way through, though you definitely could. I just think it looks better if you tie it off at the end of the signature you're on.

Tying it off is pretty easy. Once you get to the end of the signature, instead of attaching the next one, you just push the needle back through the last hole

And then make a loop around the thread on the inside of the signature to tie a knot.

To add the next signature, you start the same way you did with the first signature. But instead of looping it around the cardboard, you thread it between the previous 2 signatures and behind the thread holding them together like before. And just continue on the same as before.

I didnt take very good pictures while attaching the second cover and also I did it in a way in a way I don't think I was supposed to for this one so im gonna do my best to explain it with what I've got. So after you've attached the final signature, you're gonna take your second cover

And you're gonna thread the needle through the first hole and loop the thread around it twice like you did with the first cover. Then you're gonna stick it back through the corresponding hole on the last signature and repeat for all the holes. Once you get to the last hole you're gonna tie it off the same way you did when you ran out of thread.

And then ta-dah you have a book!

So one thing that can make your book look more professional is to add headbands. Theyre not necessary. The first 2 books I made did not have them. And honestly I'm not great at making them so mine look a little mess in places.

But they do make the book look a little more finished

Headbands no headbands

So to reinforce the spine a bit all I do is add some craftbond (mod podge also works but has a much stronger smell and is runnier so I prefer craftbond) and a strip of fabric

Very straightforward. Just slather the spine in glue with a sponge or a paintbrush or whatever you've got. Martia from nerdforge just spreads it on with her finger so that is also an option. Just make sure you got an even coat. And then just smush your strip of fabric on there and let it dry.

For the fabric cover youre also gonna need a flimsy piece of cardboard. I used marker paper for my plant book spine and it ended up being too stiff so the book doesn't open completely flat like it's supposed to so flimsy cardboard is definitely the way to go. For the last 2 books I made I just used the front covers from the original sketchbooks I made them out of. The width is almost perfect and honestly thats good enough for my purposes. I dont really do any measuring. I just make sure the fabric can completely wrap around the book

So you're gonna place your book an inch or 2 from the edge of the fabric and youre gonna take your strip of cardboard and glue it to the fabric along the spine of the book. Then you're gonna cut into the fabric towards the glued down piece of cardboard and fold it over the cardboard and glue it down

I didnt do it with this one but if your piece of cardboard is the exact width of the book I would leave a little space at the top and bottom where you glue the fabric to itself to lengthen it a little. You want it to also cover the headbands.

Next youre gonna slather the cover with craftbond.

And press the fabric into the glue and smooth it out. If you dont have a tool for this you're 100% going to get glue all over your hands so just be warned. And you're gonna repeat this for the other side. Probably wait for the first side to dry most of the way first if you dont wanna get glue on your work surface. I domt personally cuz im impatient but the glue WILL bleed through the fabric.

Then you youre gonna trim down the fabric a little. Cut the corners off at an angle. Fold and glue the edges to the cover.

Then slather that in more glue

Me who has only bound one book before and used a completely different method: "ehh it can't be that hard"

2 hours later

Almost done

Definitely glad I went with the coptic stitch

FINALLY

AFTER TEN MONTHS

Right now, you have to be a team player. You cannot complain about AI being used to fuck over your industry and then turn around and use it on somebody else’s industry.

No AI book covers. No making funny little videos using deepfakes to make an actor say stuff they never did. No AI translation of your book. No AI audiobooks. No AI generated moodboards or fancasts or any of that shit. No feeding someone else’s unfinished work into Chat GPT “because you just want to know how it ends*” (what the fuck is wrong with you?). No playing around with AI generated 3D assets you can’t ascertain the origin of. None of it. And stop using AI filters on your selfies or ESPECIALLY using AI on somebody else’s photo or artwork.

We are at a crossroad and at a time of historically shitty conditions for working artists across ALL creative fields, and we gotta stick together. And you know what? Not only is standing up for other artists against exploitation and theft the morally correct thing to do, it’s also the professionally smartest thing to do, too. Because the corporations will fuck you over too, and then they do it’s your peers that will hold you up. And we have a long memory.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking “your peers” are only the people in your own industry. Writers can’t succeed without artists, editors, translators, etc making their books a reality. Illustrators depend on writers and editors for work. Video creators co-exist with voice actors and animators and people who do 3D rendering etc. If you piss off everyone else but the ones who do the exact same job you do, congratulations! You’ve just sunk your career.

Always remember: the artists who succeed in this career path, the ones who get hired or are sought after for commissions or collaboration, they aren’t the super talented “fuck you I got mine” types. They’re the one who show up to do the work and are easy to get along with.

And they especially are not scabs.

1- I don't wanna doxx us so I'm not telling you where we live, but suffice to say, neither of us are American, and gay marriage has been legal here for less than five years. For both of us, this is the first relationship we've had where marriage was even an OPTION, and I think that's where we've been getting some of that whole 'this has to be a REAL proposal with EVERYTHING' idea.

2- I gotta figure out how to explain this properly. So, I'm pretty used to being the GUY guy in relationships? I was always the one who did the nice gestures, not the one they got done for. Before I met my dream guy, I didn't really notice or care that it was such a thing, I just assumed that's how shit worked. Also, I promised I wouldn't talk a lot about his stuff here, but his last boyfriend before me SUCKED. Anyway point here is, it turns out we both REALLY like feeling swept off our feet sometimes, and a big part of finding each other has been getting to feel special for once? That's a stupid sappy way of putting it the point here is I think all that's what morphed into "I need to be the one getting proposed to, also it has to be completely perfect", and then our Petty & Extra genes got involved.

So I'm sitting in bed thinking about all that up there, and watching all the comments coming in basically being like "Dude, you are BLOWING this" on repeat, and telling me to compromise, and I look up and see him flossing in the bathroom and making all these doofy faces at the mirror, and it's like a switch just flips in my brain, and I'm like "Oh, I'd rather he gets to have his perfect proposal than we both have an okay one". I'm gonna do it.

Morning rolls around, and while I'm 'out for my jog like normal' I hit up a pawn shop for a temp ring (the ring pop thing is cute but NOT HIM). I found one I was at least confident wouldn't get ruined the first time he got his hands greasy (he fixes old machines as a hobby it's hot as hell), got back home, and hid the box in the toe of my nasty ass workout shoes in the bedroom closet, since I figured he'd check there last.

He was still asleep, because he stays up late no matter what and then is SHOCKED he's tired the next day, so I called and booked a table at our usual anniversary spot. (Side note about the 'he picks bad restaurants' thing. This isn't an 'I like Greek, you like Chinese' situation, dude's just BAD at finding places. He either assumes pricey is tasty and I get to eat some overrated gourmet bullshit, or he'll try and find something hip and underground and risk giving us food poisoning again, and he REFUSES to give up and pick somewhere we've been before when it's his turn to plan date night. I'm obsessed with him <3.) Date was set, I'd propose on the 21st.

Some of you might have noticed this, but fun fact! It's currently the 16th.

Last night I'm doing dishes and he's been sent to our room for mug collection duty, and he's taking FOREVER, so I go check just in case he found the ring, because the man's a gift tracking BLOODHOUND. Turns out he hasn't, he's found my Angry Box.

I assume other people have an Angry Box? Basically, we had this huge messy fight right when we first moved in together, and I never wanna let it get that bad again, so I have this shoebox where I keep a bunch of our stuff I can look at if we're fighting and hopefully cool off. There's one of those photo booth roll things, letters we wrote when he moved back with his parents for COVID, the wine cork from our first date, shit like that. Anyway, he's just sitting on the floor staring at it, and I explain about the Angry Box, and then he! Proposes!!! Kind of.

He definitely didn't have anything prepared, because by 'propose' I mean 'ugly cried & rambled at me for several minutes before I figured out it WAS a proposal', but once I got on the same page it was amazing. I said yes, and he had to admit he didn't have a ring for me because he was CONVINCED he'd win and I'd do it, so I grabbed mine because, yeah, he was right. He was like "this is the ugliest ring I've ever seen" and I was like yeah well the plan is to replace it later and he went "No. You can pry this off my cold dead fingers. After I'm buried with it." So I guess it's not a temporary ring anymore.

I'm just gonna go ahead and skip to this morning. I pointed out we still have the reservation, and he said I should propose there anyway because "We can get a free dessert. They have those creme brulee shot glasses you like. And for love, or something" and I said ok deal, but that means you gotta get me a ring to keep it fair, and his eyes LIT UP. When I swung by his work for lunch he was still on the phone with a jeweler and he had a whole page of notes on three other ones. Pray for me.

OH PS: I was RIGHT that he'd been the one behind the cat biting me, but it wasn't about the proposal stuff, it's because I paid my baby sister three dollars to shout 'fuck you' every single time he enters a room she's in for (if you ask me, he should be madder at my sister for charging so little), and he did it by giving her a bunch of treats for biting his hands too, so now neither of us can pet our baby girl without oven mitts on. HOLY SHIT I love this man.

Oh my goddddddd I love everything about this <333 I awwww'd out loud on a voice call, like, six times while reading. You two are friggin perfect for each other and so obviously smitten with each other and I wish y'all all the happiness in the world

PS Are y'all planning to have a big wedding? If so oh boy I can't WAIT to get that one in the inbox

This poll is about how far you regularly walk as a means of travel (getting from point A to point B; getting to work or school, going to your friend's house, etc), NOT walking for leisure or exercise purposes.

This assumes terrain that is mostly flat and paved, the weather is more or less ideal, you are having an average-to-good day, using any of your aids that help, and you are walking as a means of transportation.

Feel free to list your response, the type of walking aid(s) you use, or anything else in the tags!

[Click here for wheelchair users]

[Click here for wheelchair users]

Despite grunerite having a strong showing in the early game, stibnite won, probably because it is pointy. Stibnite is a source of antimony and is typically found as these long radiating crystals reminiscent of the iron throne. Stibium was an older name for antimony, so antimony was given the symbol Sb. The name stibium stuck for geology but not chemistry!

Once I get all the drawings and calligraphy done im gonna go through on the pages opposite them and add a little information about each plant

Then probably water color the drawings (very light on the water cuz this watercolor paper kinda sucks lol)

Just for reference tho, this is how much I've done vs how much I have left

Almost halfway through the sketches

.....still not tiny enough to fit in one reblog tho lol

This step is going SO MUCH faster

Why did I never used to draw plants

Ok so im trying to get more into digital art cuz I wanna open up a society6 shop

I still prefer physical and would still like a scanner so I can more easily convert my stuff into a digital format

But I think im getting the hang of drawing on a screen

I had to trace my sketch from a picture of one of my drawings cuz I did not have the patience redraw it from scratch on my computer screen

⬇️ (its this one from my table project)

I wanna turn it into a sticker

And possibly design a pattern based off it