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Xhaska’s New Character Sheet

March 10, 2023February 27, 2023 Micey Leave a comment

Content warnings for blood underneath.

The Jukebox: Obsession (Parts 1&2)

March 9, 2023March 13, 2023 thimai Leave a comment

Completed piece with lyrics from “Obsession” by The Cairos. To me this song seems to be talking about how inherently meaningless obsession is. There’s no basis for what the protagonist is after, but then there’s seemingly no reason for anyone to be doing anything. An earlier lyrics goes, “I’m confused by the world / it turns and there’s no point”. I think a forest is a good setting to visualize this confusion and sense of being loss, the tree branches filling up the panels. The protagonist watches others try to travel through the woods, but finds that there’s nothing pushing them forward, and there’s no easy way for them out either. Despite not knowing why, the protagonist continues on, obsessed with something they can’t explain.

Sagas Among the Arcana: this is the hero . . .

March 9, 2023March 8, 2023 suparnah Leave a comment

The six of wands is pulled

Mind restless/ body defenseless/ journey endless/ this is our hero/

Crows kick up a wind/ outside/ the wind pushes the hero/ faster/ on his horse/ it gallops like thunder/ this is how the hero goes/

There is a fence/ stretching out/ long across/ a coast/ a meadow/ a canyon/ anything that the mind supplies/ the body survives/ long enough to complete/ the valiant/ endeavor/ this is where the hero goes

Empty heart/ lonely soul/ all this perseverance to fulfill/ them/ both/ need time to settle/ this is why the hero goes/

He will do anything/ to meet the challenge/ is great/ honor full/ ignoring the omen/ in the sky/ six crows/ on the ground/ arrogance/ for show/ this is for the hero’s selfish woes//

Letters by Lydia: Lettering Relaxation

March 8, 2023March 8, 2023 lydnas Leave a comment

Welcome back from break everyone (or, at least, Michigan students)!

I’ve been missing spring break already and feeling kind of gray getting back into school, and one of my favorite things to do when I’m feeling a bit down (surprise, surprise) is handlettering! I like to get cozy in a blanket, put on a mindless tv show, and do some experimental lettering of various words I hear while watching my show. It’s a really relaxing way to just kind of shut off my brain, and it also gives me the space to make art without worrying how it looks, because it’s just for me.

Because of that, I like to play around with new techniques and try things that might end up looking a bit wonky. Today I took pictures of my process with one of the words I did.

I started out with just writing a word, nothing fancy. This is typically how I start out, just a bare bones word to build off of.

Then I’ll add the first detail–in this case, a shadow or 3D effect.

From there I start to have fun with it. In this specific piece, I picked the original green color randomly, and then kind of took off with the green theme and thought it would be cool to try doing some sort of leaf effect, and I honestly (no pun intended) love how it ended up looking.

Once I’m done messing around, I’ll take a step back and see if there’s anything else I can think of that might tie the piece together. Here, I really liked the leaf effect, but I felt like the word itself got lost and needed something to help differentiate it from the background. So I added a classic black outline–you can never go wrong with one of those.

And that’s it! After that I did a few more words while finishing up my show, but I forgot to grab pictures of those. Ultimately, though, it doesn’t matter what it looks like as long as it’s fun and relaxing 🙂

I hope you enjoyed getting a glimpse of how I use art to relax and focus on the process! Are there forms of art that you find particularly relaxing or restorative after a hard day?

OTM #27: Reminiscing

March 7, 2023March 7, 2023 katelynski 1 Comment

There’s always something odd about revisiting media you liked in middle school. I picked up reading “Homestuck” for the first time in about eight years, and I almost felt the puberty-acne reforming across my face. My mind and body transported to my middle school’s halls, where I would scramble to my locker in-between classes to secretly read just one more page on my phone. As I read, I could even smell the notebook paper I’d draw the characters on as a kid. I have so closely tied this webcomic with every scent, sight, and feeling of uncomfortable adolescence, but despite this discomfort, I was glued to the screen as I reread it. I found myself recontextualizing, finding a way to integrate it into my adult life instead of sulking in the past. Homestuck is just as fun as when I was younger, it turns out. I felt my consciousness transporting into some plane transcending space and time, chatting with my younger self and saying, “Hey, you actually have good taste, and that’s really shocking because all I can remember about you is how sad and cringeworthy you were.” I learned to appreciate that younger Katelyn a bit more. Media has helped me through a lot, and I’m grateful that I’m able to look back and see how much I’ve grown via this silly webcomic. Have a good week everyone!