For the Doom of Gunmar, I'm Goin' Ghost

Check, Please! is now updating (again) on Webtoon! BITTY & I was just posted online.

you have to be kinder to people who are slow processors.

you have to be kinder to people who don't understand your jokes.

you have to be kinder to people who forget important dates.

you have to be kinder to people with cognitive decline.

you have to be kinder to people who were always this way, too.

Recently I've been experimenting with my style a little and I've done some monochrome portraiture, so I decided to give it another try today, since I was quite happy with the result last time.

I picked this reference from pinterest. The original was in color but I prefer to turn the picture in b&w to get a better grasp at the values

I do my sketch

And I was pretty happy with it here. Sure, it doesn't look exactly like the reference but none of my portraits do despite my best attempts🫠 So I outline with a blue pen, fill in the darkest areas with a blue marker (like her eyes, her hair, her nostrils, the cast shadow on her neck and at the jawline), shade with a blue pencil and...

And I'm not so sure about it anymore🫠

In my opinion it doesn't look like the reference at all. That's a whole other person to me. Plus I'm not sure about the contrast here, if it needs stronger shadows and highlights. I initially laid down a light base layer and attempted to work my way from dark to light, but for some reason it was turning muddy/blurry, so I laid down a darker base layer, worked on the shadows and used a kneaded eraser and a pencil eraser for the highlights. I do think I did a good job differentiating the planes of the face but that's about it. In my opinion it looks good only if you don't know what the reference looks like (which can be said about pretty much all my portraits). What do you think? Do the shadows ans highlights need more work? Shall I work on the contrast? Did I completely butcher the resemblance with the shading or was the problem starting to arise way earlier? Do you have any tips on how to make the technique work with darker skintones? And if anyone else has some advice too I'm glad to receive it.

Thank you in advance for the help and I wish you, Mr.CBC and Jojo a wonderful sunday.

I am begging the UK trans community and its allies to attend the Mass Lobby at Parliament on June 25th, 11am-4pm, organised by Trans Solidarity Alliance.

The new EHRC Code of Practice pushes trans people out of toilets, hospital wards, and community spaces. It normalises gender policing based on appearance and stereotypes. It becomes statutory guidance in the UK by the end of June.

Trans people are now legally their assigned gender at birth and must join gendered spaces accordingly, but if they are perceived as their lived gender, they can also be ejected from those spaces. The guidance says: either break the law, or don’t pass too well.

A mass lobby is where you invite your MP to discuss your concerns with you in-person. Ask your MP to:

Demand full parliamentary scrutiny, debate, and use their free vote on the EHRC Code of Practice.

Support any motions rejecting the EHRC guidance. As of June 4th, Labour MP Nadia Whittome has submitted a prayer motion - Early Day Motion 240.

Write to Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities about our concerns

Your MP does not have to be an ally, they do not have to respond to your email for you to show up and greencard them (details below the cut.) What matters is that as many people as possible show up.

I cannot stress this enough: Showing up in person matters. It is much more effective than petitions, emails, and letters.

It is a horrible, stressful time, and I am so sorry if you're trans and live in the UK. But I was at last year's mass lobby and the line for greencarding alone stretched around the back gates. It was a record breaking mass lobby and made us impossible to ignore. Let's do even better this time. Details under the cut:

No more dissec they just said so