"Don't use Libby because it costs libraries too much, pirate instead" is such a weird, anti-patron, anti-author take that somehow manages to also be anti-library, in my professional librarian-ass opinion.

It's well documented that pirating books negatively affects authors directly* in a way that pirating movies or TV shows doesn't affect actors or writers, so I will likely always be anti-book piracy unless there's absolutely, positively no other option (i.e. the book simply doesn't exist outside of online archives at all, or in a particular language).

Also, yeah, Libby and Hoopla licenses are really expensive, but libraries buy them SO THAT PATRONS CAN USE THEM. If you're gonna be pissed at anybody about this shitty state of affairs, be pissed at publishing companies and continue to use Libby or Hoopla at your library so we can continue to justify having it to our funding bodies.

One of the best ways to support your library having services you like is to USE THOSE SERVICES. Yes, even if they are expensive.

*Yes, this is a blog post, but it's a blog post filled with links to news articles. If you can click one link, you can click another.

POV the wedding planner walks into the office ~

Last of the boyos girlies for fem OLBA

Tumblr Code.

young artist posting your work online, heed my warning. im holding your face so gently in my hands, you have to stop caring about numbers right now and start caring about making the weirdest and most self-indulgent art you possibly can

splash

You thought I forgot about fem OLBA?

NOPE!!

My husband and my wife frfr I will never be over Cove 🧎

OC designing sesh as an excuse to use new textured hair brushes and also to introduce Layla ✍️✨ I have a bunch of writing for her but this is my first drawing ~

I still gotta work on the color palette so I can keep the core colors without her features getting lost, definitely gonna up the contrast I think. But this is still only a flat color so maybe it'll work itself out if/when I do a full render ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ANYWAYS I love her and it was worth the 1.5 hours spent solely on the line work of the sweater (I'm fine hahahahaha)

Most sane response (scrolling through the notes of this post was a horrible decision for my mental health but occasionally there were responses like this that made me have faith in humanity jfc)

I love going to museums, and to be completely honest, I "don't get" more than half of the things I look at. A lot of it isn't to my taste and I don't always understand why a) the artist made it and b) why it was chosen to be in a museum. But I can't think of a single time my response was ever anything along the lines of "wow this is so dumb," like it just genuinely doesn't occur to me to think that. Instead it makes me curious, and it makes me want to understand. I'll read the plaque next to the artwork to get the context, and I'll challenge myself to think about the significance of it. Like the commenter said, sometimes I still walk away without changing my opinion, but it wasn't the art itself that was rewarding, it was the engagement.

I also have so many thoughts on the whole "anyone can do it" thing. For one, that is an oversimplification and, much of the time, no, not anyone can do it. "Oh I could do that 🙄" is a knee-jerk reaction. But yes, sometimes it is true.

So instead of throwing that back at people by saying "well if you can do it, do it then" as a retort, I would say it genuinely. If you can do it, you should. Make a basic square out of one color. Paint random lines and shapes. Actually go through that process, and see what you learn from it. At the very least, explain the process of how you would go about making it. You might find it enlightening and worthwhile. Or you might not, and you might still think it's stupid. That's fine too.

The point isn't to convince you to like an art piece or think it's good. The point is to engage with it regardless of what you think, and to try to challenge that initial charged response. Art is made with purpose and context; it is not made to be hung in a museum. Being in a museum is just something that sometimes happens after. If you engage with art with that in mind, you might find yourself feeling a lot less bitter.

ALSO I WOULD LIKE TO ADD that if you have an art museum near you, GO TO IT. Museums are actually a lot more accessible than people think. Pretty much all of them have student discounts, and one near me (which is very big and very well-known and the exact kind of place you'd think was inaccessible) has "pay what you wish" the first Sunday of every month, and you can choose to pay nothing and get access to the whole museum FOR FREE!! I'm serious, research museums near you and try to go at least once. You might hate it and that's perfectly ok, but I think it's such a worthwhile experience to see art in person with your own eyes (the same way that going to a live concert is a whole different experience to listening to music on your phone).

ART MUSEUMS ARE NOT SOLELY FOR THE RICH AND ELITE, AND NEITHER IS ENGAGING WITH ART.

abstract and modern art haters are sooo snobby like klein literally Created an entirely new pigment and then painted a canvas in a way where the brush strokes wouldn't be visible. the insinuation that people with no skill could reproduce that is so annoying because unless you are skilled at color mixing and painting you definitely couldn’t lmao

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

Commission for @differenteagletragedy

"I cant draw" then do it bad who gives a fuck.....

Btw I just checked my book Laws of the Universe and it says I'll never get tired of you 🫶🫶🫶

Commissions officially open!

All prices are in USD

Been working on this for a while and I'm excited to say that I am now accepting commissions! If you're interested, go to my artistree, and if you have any questions, feel free to message me!

I still have lots of slots open! If you want fanart, OCs or OC x characters, character design sheets, or anything else involving humans/humanoid people I gotchu!

Commissions officially open!

All prices are in USD

Been working on this for a while and I'm excited to say that I am now accepting commissions! If you're interested, go to my artistree, and if you have any questions, feel free to message me!

Commission for @differenteagletragedy

Baxter 🖤🤍🖤🤍

I'm so happy I could bring this to life!! This was so much fun to make, I love having excuses to draw Baxter and this au is EVERYTHING

I also realized I really wanna draw cats more often..

@inndelible is amazing and wonderful and so talented and illustrated a moment from OUR LIFE SWAP AU in which Baxter befriends a stray cat and I absolutely could not love it more, please observe how beautiful:

u ever see someone with extremely fucked up views (or actions) and think wowww if a couple of things in my life went the tiniest bit differently that would have been me