Art References & Co.

BITMAP WATERCOLOR BRUSHES, Y’ALL!!! Want to make some SAI brushes in FireAlpaca? Check out THIS handy Guide!

Want to make this brush? Just make a perfect circle and save it (I call mine “round”) and use it as the bitmap, and copy the settings above. It works pretty nicely :D

UM, WHILE I’M HERE:

Here is where you can download FireAlpaca (it is completely free software)

*If English is not your native language, you can download it in other languages.

Please download from the official FireAlpaca websites, because a friend of mine simply googled FireAlpaca and downloaded from some random site, and she got malware! So PLEASE be careful.

FireAlpaca has a suggestion/bug reporting box on their site so you can request features, or let them know if you’re having any issues! Also FireAlpaca works fantastically on Mac computers! (though I will say the only time FA has crashed on me is when I used a Mac, so PLEASE save your work often)

Also, please visit these tumblrs if you do get into using FireAlpaca:

Google BetaBooks. Do it now. It’s the best damn thing EVER.

You just upload your manuscript, write out some questions for your beta readers to answer in each chapter, and invite readers to check out your book!

It’s SO easy!

You can even track your readers! It tells you when they last read, and what chapter they read!

Your beta readers can even highlight and react to the text!!!

There’s also this thing where you can search the website for available readers best suited for YOUR book!

Know your cephalopods! In glorious color!

so i was just talking with @witchyacegirl about cake and pie and it inspired me to make a post about one of the best things in the world.. but à la Germany! ♡

the english translations are 1:1 and not the “real ones” that you might know)

Apfelstrudel (Apple Swirl)

Baumkuchen (Tree Cake)

Bienenstich (Bee’s Sting)

Butterkuchen (Butter Cake)

Donauwelle (Donau Wave / Donau is a river in Germany)

Frankfurter Kranz (Frankfurt’s Corona)

Käsekuchen (Cheese Cake)

Lebkuchen (Loaf Cake)

Marmorkuchen (Marble Cake)

Pflaumenkuchen (Plum Cake)

Sahne Torte (Cream Cake)

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cherry Cake)

Stollen (Stollen)

Streuselkuchen (Crumbles Cake)

Zwiebelkuchen (Onion Pie)

Some small shoe tutorial.

DRYP - an app that keeps your plants alive and happy

Hi Tumblr!

I know I’ve been gone for a while.

In part it’s because I’ve been working on an app!

I keep a lot of plants. I think everyone should!

- They clean your air - They give you something to name - They give you something to take care of - They teach you about care, needs, and resources - They make you look like you’re good at decorating

Here are some of mine:

But some people, because they’re overwhelmed or simply can’t figure out how to start, think that plants are out of their reach.

DRYP is for newcomers and experts.

It reminds you when to water

And it helps you fix what’s broken

If you think the world would be better with this app in it, please consider contributing to the Kickstarter!

I’ve tried to make it worth your while:

Again here’s the link to contribute:

DRYP - an app that keeps your plants alive and happy

And if you like me / if you like my idea, please signal boost!

Until, of course, they showed it to a traditional leatherworker and she took one look at it and said “Oh yeah sure that’s a leather burnisher, you use it to close the pores of leather and work oil into the hide to make it waterproof. Mine looks just the same.” 

“Wait you’re still using the exact same fucking thing 50,000 years later???”

“Well, yeah. We’ve tried other things. Metal scratches up and damages the hide. Wood splinters and wears out. Bone lasts forever and gives the best polish. There are new, cheaper plastic ones, but they crack and break after a couple years. A bone polisher is nearly indestructible, and only gets better with age. The more you use a bone polisher the better it works.”

It’s just. 

Hey kids!  If you’re a filmmaker, animator, or storyboard artist and you don’t know what screen direction is, you might want to read this.

For the record, there are always exceptions to the rule in filmmaking, which is why I pointed out 3 examples here.

I’ve also found that comic books tend to NOT take screen direction as seriously as film does, but I’m still on the fence if this is wise or not.  My favorite comics pay close attention to screen direction so as to not confuse the reader.

So I’m watching a Sir David Attenborough (Natural Curiousities on Netflix), to cope withe the crushing lonliness of solo housesitting, and he’s on about Really Weird animals and talks about the origins of the pheonix- a bird that people travelling though Africa only rarely saw shrouded in the streamy mists of volcanic soda lakes (which are literally boiling hot and also extremely caustic).

And all they’d see is the occasional bit of bright red plumage and see these things bobbing in and out of the horrible death clouds coming off the lake, and naturally came up with the myth of a firebird what the fuck ELSE would be living IN A GODDAMN VOLCANO??

The Central Africans told this to the Egyptians who told the Greeks* about this mysterious animal, and they ran hog-wild with it to create the now-famous Pheonix, but-

The bird they were seeing in those volcanic lakes?

FLAMINGOES.

FLAMINGOES ARE THE ORIGIN OF THE PHEONIX MYTH.

MAJESTIC

(Image Source: Chris Kotze)

@asleepinawell “Natural Curiousities” is on netflix and I think the PBS streaming app.  BBC streaming keeps crashing on me but probably there too.  It’s very much like his usual work, but with 500% more “Look at these funky specimens and the frantic scribbles of early scientific illustrators confronted with a fucking kangaroo” and “I’m Sir David Fucking Attenborough And I’m Going To Snuggle This Cheetah”

@heedra  You are correct! According to Wikipedia: “The name “flamingo” comes from Portuguese or Spanish flamengo, “flame-colored”, in turn coming from Provençal flamenc from flama “flame” and Germanic-like suffix -ing, with a possible influence of words like “Fleming” THEY WERE TRYING TO TELL US ALL ALONG!

@melifair  You’re in good company- I used to call them “Pimentos” until I was three and finally got the hang of the Letter “F”

They’re hyperspecialized filter-feeders, not unlike krill-feeding whales, and thier heads are shaped Like That, so they can dangle thier heads in the water, suck up water full of algae and brine shrimp and other goodies, and filter them out with thier Spiny Tongues.

(Image Source Apparently, according to the Ancient Romans, Flamingo Tounge has a “Superb” flavor. You Wacky Roman Bastards)

But the lakes with the tastiest and most dense algae and arthropods are not Normal lakes.  African Lesser Flamingoes (lesser becuase they have a smaller range, but probably our phoenix given how people were travelling at the time) like to hang out in extremely Alkaline Lakes where thier favorite algae grow, and those lakes are mostly in the volcanic Great Rift Valley.  Where the lava and occasional venting of hot toxic gasses happen.

In addition to the wierd diet, and caustic water, Flamingoes can also cope with some pretty intense climate.  The Alkaline Lakes Lesser Flamigoes like are also VERY HIGH in the mountains, where they cope with low oxygen, Intense UV radiation, and rapid and extreme temperature fluctuations- below freezing at night and heatstroke hot in the day.

You can tell how well a Flamigo is Flamingoing by it’s color! The lovely red-pink color comes from the algae and arthopods they eat: the better-fed and healthier a flamingo is, the more intense thier colors will be! Zoo famingoes can thrive on a wide variety of diets, but thier colors will fade, and it will cause everyone to lose romantic interest, so they have to be fed a special color-intensive diet to keep breeding programs going.

So while Flamingoes probably weren’t the bird you were picturing when you thought of a Phoenix , they’re Pretty Badass and worthy of the mythic lore.

BTW, It’s not that Flamingoes are born with normal propprtions and get Like That later- they’re born as bizzare as the adults, but smol, so until they get large enough to actually stand above the 6-12 inches of water that’s usually around the nests, they run the risk of drowning or alkaline burns that become infected.  Fortunately, Flamingo parents are extremely attentive and do a good Job of making sure their babies stay safe and dry until they’re leggy enough to wander around with the flock.

All this really is a way to show pictures of baby flamingoes.

- hijabis get really excited over pretty scarves - they also like to collect pins and brooches - we get asked a lot of questions and it can be annoying or it can be amusing, just depends on our mood and personality and how the question is phrased - common questions include: - “not even water?” (referring to fasting) - hijabis hear a lot of “do you sleep in that?” (we don’t) and “where is your hair?” (in a bun or a braid, usually) - “is it mooze-slim or mozzlem?” (the answer is neither, it’s muslim, with a soft s and accent on the first syllable) - “ee-slam or iz-lamb?” (it’s iss-laam, accent on the first syllable) - “hee-job?” (heh-jahb, accent on the second syllable)

- “kor-an?” (no. quran. say it like koor-annn, accent on the second syllable) - people tend to mess up our names really badly and you just get a sigh and a resigned nod or an awkward smile, maybe a nickname instead - long hair is easy to hide, short hair is harder to wrap up - hijab isn’t just covering hair, it’s also showing as little skin as possible with the exception of face, hands, and feet, and not wearing tight/sheer clothing - that applies to men too, people just don’t like to mention it ( i wonder why) - henna/mehendi isn’t just for special occasions, you’ll see people wearing it for fun - henna/mehendi isn’t just for muslims, either, it’s not a religious thing - henna/mehendi is not just for women, men also wear it, especially on their weddings - there are big mehendi parties in the couple of nights before eid where people (usually just women and kids) gather and do each other’s mehendi, usually just hands and feet - five daily prayers - most muslim kids can stutter through a couple verses of quran in the original arabic text by the age of seven or eight, it does not matter where they live or where they’re from or what language they speak natively - muslim families tend to have multiple copies of the quran - there are no “versions” of the quran, there has only ever been one. all muslims follow the exact same book - muslims have no concept of taking God’s name in vain, we call on God at every little inconvenience - don’t use islamic phrases if you don’t know what they mean or how to use them. we use them often, inside and outside of religious settings. in islam, it is encouraged to mention God often and we say these things very casually, but we take them very seriously - Allahu Akbar means “God is Greatest” (often said when something shocks or surprises us, or if we’re scared or daunted, or when something amazing happens, whether it be good or bad; it’s like saying “oh my god”) - Subhan Allah means “Glory be to God” (i say subhan Allah at the sky, at babies, at trees, whatever strikes me as pleasant, especially if it’s in nature) - Bismillah means “in the name of God” and it’s just something you say before you start something like eating or doing your homework - In Shaa Allah means “if God wills” (example: you’ll be famous, in shaa Allah) (it’s a reminder that the future is in God’s hands, so be humble and be hopeful)

Some quick animation smear guides I put together for a friend! not sure if it works as a tutorial without my in person commentary, also more intended as a guide to show examples of basic/common smear types :O

Die Götterspeise = literally, the dish of the gods. Food of the gods in mythology.

In culinary context, it‘s a popular dessert that is like English jelly or American jello, usually in the flavors of either Waldmeister (woodruff, green), Himbeere (raspberry, red), Kirsche (cherry, red) or Zitrone (lemon, yellow). Another word for the dessert is der Wackelpudding = literally, jiggle or wiggle pudding. :) Popular with kids.