welcome to arts, ink.

Joe Leave a comment

Welcome to arts, ink., where our student artists and writers are given a forum to illuminate the Michigan student experience through art. If you want to get a taste of of what arts, ink. has to offer, click on our Summer 2024 Reading List!

If you’re a U-M student from any of U-M’s three campuses, and you’re interested in becoming a weekly contributor, there may be a position available to get paid for your work. We review applications and hire new bloggers twice a year, in September and January. Read more about Blogging Opportunities here!
Email us at arts@umich.edu with questions.

Designing a Character for a Friend

Micey Leave a comment
Read more: Designing a Character for a Friend

I designed a DnD character for a friend for their next next birthday (considering I already got them a gift when they suggested the art could be a birthday gift). The character’s a homebrewed warlock-flavored subclass with a frosty demon transformation, working for a chained and bloody god despite secretly being an atheist. Fancy!

I started by doing various fashion concept sketches:

Friend picked a mix of 2, 3, 5, 8, and 10 for the outfits (they really like the split sleeves), so I did a combo design. Here’s the final outfit and face sketch:

I made two versions of the sheet. One with lots of rubies, and one with less rubies. Friend liked the rubyless one because their character’s not that rich.

And here’s the transformed versions. I used a lot of the glitter brush to get that icy look. I also had the concept of the chains unraveling when they transform, as well as the hair colors switching.

aSoSS 51 | Stained

a-spider-on-state-street Leave a comment

Over Christmas I started making it for him, my dad has a workshop, so I made him a wooden cooking spoon!

RoosRoast, 10:00AM, 3/29/2025

a sleight of your hand and the coffee has splashed across the white: the countertop a constellation of heartbeats, the marble annotated with stars. a sleight of your hand, this falling. your soul is stitched into tragedy and still i pulled the thread, hanging on for dear life, unraveling us both. the fourth law of physics: inertia is the toil and ecstasy is the reward. my autobiography will spill your name all over the margins, each footnote an explosion of springtime. do you remember the flowers? i wish you would.

I am learning how to make a crème brulee!

Do you have a torch?

I have a very big torch.

West Medical Center, 4:00PM, 2/25/2025

the fire burns bright blue, a blue that cannot be caged or stoked or photographed. the kind of blue that can be only described by a look–sapphire and cerulean and the teal from a thick stack of glass–the kind of look you never forget. i wear your lenses and they distort my vision: they turn you into stars, a bright pulse of glowing light. no one has ever looked at me this way. did you ever ask me what i wanted to tell you? a scar in my retina, long after the sun sets, long after i get my answer. there is blood and there is sky and there is nothing in between. a face so white, you would have thought i saw a ghost–

It reminds me of your mom, because back in high school she used to do it and then she would flip her hair back and I thought it was the coolest thing ever!

Ann Arbor City Club, 10:00AM, 3/22/2025

we are always evolving, though not necessarily in the forward direction. i met a man who claimed he could change the past–isn’t that funny? we can all change the past, if we choose to remember it differently. our neurons are built on a foundation of quicksand, always moving, always drowning; quiet your mind and they lose their tension, sinking, never to resurface. flushed away, a bitter flavor seeping out of filter paper. diffusion, effluence, transition state. a recipe for a coffee stain on a countertop: a sprinkle of indifference and a dash of luck.

wander! the diary #3

dai Leave a comment

this week’s diary entry（˶′◡‵˶）:

hey everyone : ) anyone else feel like they’ve been in a weird rut this past week? or maybe just since coming back from spring break, it feels like i’ve been in an never-ending game of catching up on everything. at the same time, i’m approaching the last few weeks of my college career, and am prioritizing spending time with people that i may not be seeing for a long time. right now, im with a few friends on the shoreline of lake Michigan, ignoring the piling amount of work i’m supposed to have done by this week. but, at least i’m having a good time!

this week’s diary sketch (◡̈ ):

like a lot of college students, it feels like my life is constantly changing. this year in particular, i’ve felt like i’m starting over in so many ways—forming new relationships, challenging old habits, and trying to push myself. but as i’m approaching the end of my last semester, i’m also being confronted with the reality that everything is about to change. most of my friends have an attitude of “why commit to something new when we’re only a few weeks away from leaving?” another friend’s “situationship” recently ended on the grounds of not wanting to commit to a serious relationship that would end by August.

and it makes sense. there’s a certain helplessness in knowing that a big change, one that’s out of control, is coming. all we can do is watch it approach and brace for impact. at the same time, i find myself somewhat resisting that way of thinking. why view life as a series of disconnected chapters, each one sealed off from the next? knowing that this period in my life is ending soon means i want to experience as much as possible here before i leave. things will change, but things have already been changing, constantly, quietly, our entire lives. maybe the milestones and drama are the most memorable, but i’ve found that real change happens in the aftermath of the storm. sometimes it happens so slowly that you don’t even notice, but that doesn’t make it any less grand. every week, i find myself doing something new, learning something new, thinking something new. i still find myself fighting old habits and thought patterns.

so why not embrace the change? the knowledge that this phase of my life is ending soon doesn’t make me want to slow down—it makes me want to take in as much as I can before I go. there will always be an ending ahead, but there will also always be something after it. once I graduate, I don’t think that will change.

sorry for the short post, like i said, things are a bit busy this week. but i hope everyone is doing well!

⊹ ₊ ⁺‧₊˚ ♡ ପ(๑•ᴗ•๑)ଓ ♡˚₊‧⁺ ₊ ⊹

weekly recommendations!!

  • book: Sula by Toni Morrison
  • album: 只因當時太緊張 (Zhi Yin Dang Shi Tai Jin Zhang) by my little airport
  • show/movie: Saving Face
  • food: Chili Paneer

Crooked Fool: Meditating on restorative justice and the arts

Cydney Marie Leave a comment

Last weekend, I was able to take a restorative justice training with the Dispute Resolution Center. This particular training was focused on circle processes, which basically set a container for allowing everyone with a stake in a given situation the chance to speak. In addition to being a tool for addressing harm, it turns out that circles can also be an excellent tool for building community. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t stop drawing parallels to theatre (shoutout to the others in the training for not making fun of me!)

A circle begins with laying a centerpiece down on the floor – maybe a blanket with a few objects of significance resting on top. There’s a brief reading or ritual at the beginning and the end, and an object is passed from hand to hand as each person takes their turn offering their thoughts on whatever the topic of the circle might be. Everyone else focuses either on the person speaking or on the centerpiece.

Restorative Justice practices are drawn from Indigenous cultures around the world. Restorative approaches to harm have been slowly gaining traction in the US over the past few decades, inevitably sometimes being whitewashed, appropriated, and co-opted by systems that are built around punishment and isolation rather than repair and connection. There’s a whole rabbit hole we could go down about restorative practices, but in this moment I’m most concerned about the community building aspect.

There’s a quote that I hear a lot. To paraphrase: “We can get hurt in relationships and we heal in relationships.” Whether we’re talking about personal disagreements or generational trauma, connection offers an opportunity to heal.

I’ve written before about how the arts can promote connection. My limited experience with expressive-arts based approaches through Telling It has also taught me how creating in community is not just effective at healing, but crucial for human wellbeing. Creating and sharing together fosters a kind of connection that makes tough conversations possible.

How different is it to speak in a group versus singing, rhyming, or dancing in a group? If live performance has its roots in religious ritual, how can it help create a space sacred enough and safe enough to dive into high-stakes conversations?

The performing arts are filled with examples of systemic harms and unchecked privilege. I can definitely see an opportunity for restorative practices to help address some of the more harmful industry norms. But I also think that focusing on deep connection in the arts has at least as much potential for creating change. How do we create spaces where people can speak openly about their thoughts, whether it’s about creative ideas or the power dynamics in the room?

So often, I feel as though we treat both creativity and restorative approaches to harm like extras: something nice to have but not crucial, and often overridden by the needs powerful systems. What if human expression and connection became crucial? What if deep honesty were centered? Who could be heard and what would be possible?