Art Refs, Prompts, Tips & Tuts

Thank youuu lmao it's not as effortless as it looks like 👁👄👁 Keira is diffcult to draw...

Here’s a full one:

1) find the end of both pieces. I’m using an off-white and a variegated green so you can easily see what I’m doing, but this can be used to join any two pieces of yarn that are the same weight as each other whether they’re the same color or not.

2) wrap the ends around each other like this. You don’t actually have to lay them down, I did it for clarity in the photos.

3) you’ll need a needle like this. They’re sold under the names “tapestry needle” or “yarn needle.” If you ever manage to find them made out of bamboo or wood, PLEASE TELL ME.

4) thread the yarn through itself as shown in the video above. HOWEVER, where that video shows strand #1 being threaded into strand #2, with the Russian join you’ll thread strand #1 back into itself, using the wrap around strand #2 as an anchor point. I use my toes as a “third hand” when doing stuff like this, but I’ve also seen people use the heel of their hand or a convenient paperweight or even nothing at all. Whatever will let you create a tight join is what you want to use.

Make sure you get this loop as small as you can.

5) repeat on strand #2. Trim the remaining ends.

6) you’re done! This is one of the strongest joins in crochet and knitting. It’s virtually undetectable in a finished project, and because of the wraparound shown in step #2 it can’t pull apart like a knot will.

Actually, wait…

It also has a lot of different kinds of stitches you can do that make different densities of fabric.

I was surprised that I’d never heard of it though. It’s older than knitting and crocheting and even though it’s been done all over the world it’s super relevant to Nordic culture and my grandmother and I are both into keeping in touch with our roots a bit so I’m surprised I’ve never heard of it.

It’s also a lot easier to freehand and adjust as you go than crochet or knitting and you mostly go by inches instead of rows and number of stitches so a large number of accessories like stitch markers or whatever isn’t really necessary.

The downside as a beginner is that undoing mistakes is more time consuming than with knitting or crochet. You’ve gotta like sew your mistakes out backwards. Disadvantages of making a really sturdy fabric I guess.

I like the feel of this bone needle though and don’t think I’ll be trying the wooden or metal ones.

Also I think I’m gonna have to get good at doing Russian joining if I decide to get good at nalbinding because I don’t have wool yarn and the ends won’t felt together if it’s not at least 50% wool. A small price to pay for using big bone needle though.

the first rule of art is to have fun and be yourself

the second rule of art is that you cannot avoid the experience of feeling

instead ask:

is it SINCERE

was it CATHARTIC

was it FUN TO MAKE

is it MADE BY ME

Too many writers are using generative 'AI' to make their book covers, so I've written a guide on how to make your own cover for free or cheap without turning to a machine.

If you can't afford to pay an artist, you CAN make your own!

Drawing every picture on my phone #5: The sky near my aunt's house, 2nd January 2026.

read more to see process steps :D

Hello, thank you so much! It's mainly by drawing lots of figures and studying gesture. I'd advise studying gestures by grabbing a reference image and finding its line of action & building the pose off of that.

For a fun little challenge, first try to catch the movement of the reference image exactly as you see it, and then draw it for a second time, but this time heavily exaggerating it. (In this reference's case, the person leaning would have their back almost touching the floor, for example.)

Once you get the hang of that, drawing characters is basically the same!

I've also recorded a timelapse showing how I approach it which will be right below. (and right under it the still images for anybody unable to follow it clearly.)

lil doodle to get back into the groove of stuff

Looks more like a guide rather than a tutorial, but I hope it’s still helpful

I tried to make some sort of tutorial (?) cuz I don’t really use references for the paw pads but thought I could perhaps try to give some recommendations. I got carried away…