How i draw...wingggzzzaaahhhhhhhh

people NEED to stop gatekeeping making music like ohhhh i don’t have an instrument ohhhhh i don’t know music theory ohhhhh i’m not gonna pay for some program. SHUT UP. take my hand.

you need NONE of that shit!!!!! there’s a website called beepbox.co. literally all you have to do is press things until it sounds a modicum of nice. it’s easy it’s free and it works on anything which has a browser because it’s a website.

if even ONE person starts making music bc of this post it will be worth it.

making bad music is just as important and okay as it is to write badly or draw badly or sing badly. you AREN’T BEHOLDEN TO MAKE GOOD MUSIC. making music is not utilitarian HAVE FUN. HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!

love how people will encourage people to just start making shit and see what happens when it comes to drawing and writing but when it comes to beginner musicians (music makers if you wish to be less formal) it’s just COMPLETE RADIO SILENCE. it feels like no one even knows you MAKE music it just sprouts up from the ground one day and some guy picks it up. am i alone in this dark cave

Fuck it

I'm gonna try and make music

Call me betovan bc I'm deaf as fuck /j

HELL YEAH!!!

Alternatively if you wanna get into music producing in a more “proper” way, you still don’t need any money.

Ableton has excellent free websites to learn the basics:

Learning Music

Learning Synths

You can learn basically everything you need on YouTube. I recommend:

Mercurial Tones Academy

Dan Worrall

Bthelick

A lot of your favorite artists, mainly in electronic music, likely have done track breakdowns, you can watch those to learn how they do things.

DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) ultimately all do the same things, and Cakewalk is a great FREE fully fledged one. Sure it has some issues, and doesn’t have many plugins included, but it works just fine. All the music I released so far was made there, before I made the jump to Ableton.

As for VST plugins:

Vital is an excellent free synth

Native Instruments Komplete Start is a good free collection of plugins

TDR Nova is a great free EQ

There’s a lot of others and I don’t wanna name everything I’m aware of here, but feel free to DM me for more (Or if you have any other questions and stuff too).

And as for samples, you can get a bunch of free ones at:

Cymatics

Ghosthack

Having good headphones is nice and what I’d recommend you invest in first once it comes to it, but even your current ones will probably be fine, mainly if you slap AutoEQ onto them to flatten the frequency response. And ultimately, music isn’t all about the mixing, the most important part is conveying an emotion.

I know this goes against the spirit of the original post a little, but I want people to know that getting into music production also no longer costs thousands, you can just do it at home on your computer without no money.

Yeah, there is still quite the learning curve, I get that, though it’s also why it’s managed to hold me as a hobby for so long.

I do however have something of the exact opposite variety too, the most simple way to make music I know of, and a wonderful little semi-social experience, along the lines of the game Journey:

hi op i think you should know that i did indeed make a song for the first time because of this

New expressions pack is up now on ye olde Patreon! 90+ photos!!!

A special thanks to the artist who commissioned this reference pack! It means the world to me when I get to work with fellow creators.

🏺If you use any of these as reference just use the hashtag #DrawRedInYourStyle and tag me!

Reds References | Muscles & Whimsy | Patreon

something you don't learn until you get really far into the making and tinkering life is that there's no such thing as "glue" really. there are so many kinds of substances that stick other substances together and they are all very different and if you just go look at the adhesives aisle in the hardware store the packaging never actually tells you anything useful. it's like "this is SUPER T-REX POWER GLUE" and the fine print says "good for use on wood metal and plastic". okay. but WHICH PLASTICS MY GOOD BITCH,

because SURPRISE, there's no such thing as "plastic" either. every kind of wood is basically the same on a chemical level, but the only thing every plastic has in common is "some of its molecules are long" and that is NOT a quality that determines how things stick together.

I just ordered some stuff I hope will permanently stick a circuit board to a steel sheet and withstand temperatures up to 150 degrees. by the way circuit boards are made of epoxy-bound woven glass cloth which is cool as hell but what the fuck do you glue that with? can any of the 12 kinds of adhesives I currently own do that? no of course not. if I want to stick two pieces of acrylic together so hard they become watertight to a depth of 3000 metres I have some shit that does that, but it does literally nothing else.

anyway. once you start learning how many kinds of sticking things together there are, the people at 3M start to seem like witches and I don't know if they're the kind we can trust with that level of arcane knowledge

Can I introduce you to one of the most useful sites from the early web? It’s thistothat.com and it tells you what kind of adhesives work to stick different types of substances together. It looks like it was designed in 1999 with some ads slapped over the top, because it was designed in 1999…. But like most things from the early web, it does what’s on the label: tells you how to stick this to that.

Arcane knowledge my ass, the internet used to be useful about shit.

i watched one (1) video on how to draw hands that changed my life forever. like. i can suddenly draw hands again

these were all drawn without reference btw. i can just. Understand Hands now (for the most part, im sure theres definitely inaccuracies). im a little baffled

for those of u asking for the vid!

make the chuuni fantasy game of your dreams with these free action CGs! ✨

I just released my 2nd free action battle CGs pack on itchio! this pack contains over 50+ action & fantasy cut scene artworks to use in games, projects, whatever, even if it's commercial. there's also some CSP & PSD files included so you can edit or recolor the artworks.

you'll find...

download it on itch.io

example of how to use them in game:

I need UK journalists to not show 43 degrees is not beach weather like people are gonna die

Americans do not interact

Im Australian, and 43C is NOT beach weather. That is VERY hot, even for us, but for the UK its apocalyptic. At 43C you should not even be going outside if you can help it, treating it like beach weather is a one way ticket to heatstroke.

I agree with not going outside for long periods of time but you will have to plan something to reduce the heat within your households. Especially if your house is designed to retain heat

Fans pointed at open windows will pull out hot air and allow it to circulate - don't put them IN the window, leave some room by the side for extra air to get drawn in.

If you can't afford cold packs (and if you can, stock up on some NOW), get some ziplock bags and freeze them, with wet washcloths or ripped up towel inside. You want them to be ready in the freezer when you need them. Wrap them in a tea towel and put them on your wrists and ankles.

A big bowl of ice water in front of a fan will blow cold air into the room and make a massive difference. Again, if you don't have ice cube trays get some and freeze them *now*, don't wait until you're already in trouble (although I am melting at quarter past nine but my thermoregulation is bollocks so I don't know if that's the heat or just the me). If you can't afford to get any, clean out empty yoghurt pots or Tupperware or whatever you have that can hold water. Even if you end up with a giant ice cube from a lunchbox, it'll help.

Even just opening two windows at a crack will allow some air circulation - I sometimes prop open my bedroom door and leave the bathroom door open, both windows are locked at a crack because of the cats but it creates a nice little line of wind along the landing.

If you're someone who needs something on them to sleep, take your duvet out of the cover and just use the cover.

Remember that water acts as a lens - you do NOT want to wear a wet t shirt in the burning sun. I did this when I was 8 and if I tan on my back you can still see the scars.

Read the instructions for sunscreen carefully, and use the highest spf you can find. Reapply as per the instructions. If you get burned, Malibu do an amazing aloe-based spray on after sun, I got mine from Savers for 3 quid and it lasts ages. I keep it and any other after sun in the fridge, which means it's incredibly lovely to put on. Aloe is magic for burns so definitely gravitate towards that if you can. My son got badly burned (he's ginger, he went to an outdoor pool and they forgot to give him sunscreen) and he's had 2 helpings of it and you wouldn't believe how much better he is (he couldn't even really wear a shirt).

Make sure your pets have plenty of fresh cold water to drink, and if they usually have dry food consider giving them some wet food for one of their meals (cats are notoriously not always great drinkers but wet food will get them some liquid). Keep the curtains and/or blinds closed in south-facing rooms. I have blackout curtains in the front room and the front bedroom (my son's) and they make a MASSIVE difference to the heat. Make sure pets have access to these cooler spaces if you can create them.

Keep oven/hob use to a minimum if you can. I like making a massive pot of something that can be reheated in the microwave if necessary - the oven especially adds a lot of heat. Or get some wraps and ham and cheese and eat those.

Cordial or fruit juice can be better than water if you're sweating a lot. Cordial is cheap as chips. Salty snacks are also good.

Go to Iceland and buy a billion lolly ices. It's especially a good way to make sure kids stay hydrated.

I realize op asked for Americans not to interact, and whether or not they're being cheeky, I feel obligated to reblog this to save lives.

That temperature is absolutely murder, even moreso with humidity.

Please, be safe and stay hydrated!

Also, if you do not have blackout curtains, using cardboard or even a few layers of paper to cover the glass will work.

Shopping for laptops fucking sucks ‘cause I don’t know shit about computers. I’ve never had a computer with a functional webcam or microphone or the ability to play computer games made later than 2005 or a speaker that could play anything loud enough to hear from more than a foot away. How the hell should I know what I want?!

wow that would be such useful advice if only desktop PCs were small and portable and did not require desk tops on which to place them and I could take them with me when I traveled

I know this is a haha funny post, but for anyone who needs it, here's a quick-and-dirty of what you're most likely going to see while shopping for a computer/laptop (w/Examples)!

*HDD is cheaper and more storage while SSD is faster, more durable, and uses less energy.

Ex. A computer with 4GB of RAM will probably shit itself if you try to play a game with with the internet open.

Also the “avoid refurbished computers” tip is dead wrong.

‘Refurbished’ means it’s been in a technician’s hands recently and can’t be sold as new. That’s it. That’s all. In the US the FTC makes it illegal to sell something new if it’s been sold to an end user, so by definition a lot of perfect, ready-to-go hardware must be ‘refurbished’ in order to sell it again, no matter the circumstances.

Reasons a machine might be a refurb:

- Customer bought the item, decided they didn’t like the color, and returned it

- Customer bought the item, couldn’t figure out how to turn it on, and returned it

- Retailer opened the box for some reason and lost some of what gets shipped inside (manuals, cables, charger) and returned it

- Company bought 100 computers but went out of business before they could be installed or used

- Customer got a replacement for a damaged computer under warranty, and the manufacturer fixed what was wrong with the old machine and is now selling it as a refurb

I HAVE PERSONALLY WITNESSED ALL OF THESE SCENARIOS

Bottom line: ‘refurbished’ hardware has been repaired, tested, cleaned, and renewed back to original specifications by a trained technician. If anything, it’s probably MORE reliable now that it’s been doubly-tested. 

All responsibly refurbished equipment comes with a factory warranty... the only refurbs I would avoid are items sold ‘as-is’ without warranty. That’s dangerous unless you know what you’re doing, like buying stuff for parts.

A lot of my most reliable hardware -- servers, laptops, tablets -- were bought as refurbished goods at huge savings. When I go shopping for a new thing I always look at the refurbished options first. 

tl;dr: Refurbished is great!

My laptop is refurbished as my dad is an IT Master ™ and he redoes old computers to give to me for free. There’s nothing wrong with refurbished computers. On that same note, please recycle your old electronics!

Yo, people with acne

These are hydrocolloid bandages. They work wonders at pulling fluid through skin and absorbing all that gunk. 

You can cut them down to size, wear them on your face at night, and in the morning you’ll see a noticeable difference plus the bandage visibly absorbs the goo and it’s gross but weirdly satisfying.

They’re cheaper than most acne products, they work, and 1 pack lasts for ages. They’re sold in the band-aid section of most pharmacies; try them if you can.

it’s the same stuff they use to make those new acne spot patches, but

These are also absolutely game-changing for anybody with a skin-picking problem. This is a judgment-free zone, I’ve Been There, and there are plenty of times I still find myself unable to leave something alone, whether it be a bug bite or a pimple or whathaveyou, because it’s There and I can’t ignore it long enough for it to properly heal.

Hydrocolloids basically act as a scab over the thing you can’t stop bothering, and as Gaud mentions above, they absorb gunk, which makes them bubble up like a little artificial blister. It’s so satisfying, you have something to pokepokepoke at, without actually hecking up the thing healing under the bubble.

These are, hands down, the fastest way to get problem spots under control; you can leave them on for multiple days at a time (up to a week, actually), based on the size, location and severity of your picky spot, so you can slap a hydrocolloid on something minor before it becomes a problem, and four days later or so you peel it off and there is no more problem, just smooth new skin. (They minimize scarring too, in case that’s something anybody else has psychological issues with.)

Basically, these are magical and they’re worth every. single. cent.

hey cvs pay me

TO THOSE MAKING NATIVE OCS

I see this a lot, no one has actual names, or any reference for names, that are legit Native American, varying among the tribes, for their characters.

Babynames.com and shit like that will give you names made up by white people.

However, I’ve got your solution.

Native-Languages  is a good website to turn to for knowledge on a lot of native things, including native names. If you’re unsure about the names you’ve picked, they even have a list of made up names here!

Please don’t trust names like babynames.com for native names, they’re made up and often quite offensive to the cultures themselves.

30 minutes

fun fact! google image search allows you to search for images that you are legally allowed to use for example as textures for your art or as assets for your blogs and websites

I keep forgetting that not everyone knows about this.

Where will we go today?

I don’t like these as much as I thought I would but its done. Process thingy for the snowdin painting here!

Natural Black Hair Tutorial! Usually Black hair is excluded in the hair tutorials which I have seen so I have gone through it in depth because it’s really not enough to tell someone simply, “Black hair is really curly, draw it really curly.” 

The next part of Black Hair In Depth will feature styles and ideas for designing characters and I will release it around February. If you would like to see certain styles, please shoot me a message!

YES! BOOSTINGGGG FOR MY FOLKS WHO WANNA/NEED TO KNOW HOW

I don’t even draw but i found this interesting to read regardless

Word of the day triple play: PLANTIGRADE, DIGITIGRADE, UNGULIGRADE

Three forms of terrestrial mammal locomotion: PLANTIGRADE: “sole walking”—animals walk by “planting” the full soles of their feet on the ground DIGITIGRADE: “finger/toe walking”—animals walk with all or most of the length of their toes (“digits”), but not the full soles of their feet UNGULIGRADE: “hoof walking”—animals walk on only their nails, usually hooves (as in “ungulates”)