Kotie (my fantasy feline species) portrait in a style spectrum - from a realistic 3D model to a stylized illustration. I've wanted to draw something like this for a really long time, because I like to try and discover different stylizations in my art.

Style is a language, and I like to use different accents to explore the subject I depict. The subject does not change, only the visual language which I use to describe it. It is a tool for studying, for expression, a way to show objects and characters in different ways.

I have always loved both realistic and stylized art, they speak about the same things but in such different languages, and are both dear and valuable to me, in their own way. So, in my art I use a mix of both. A whole spectrum of both. This illustration doesn't even show them all because there are too many options, including stylized ones with realistic render and vice versa.

Inconstancy in drawing is not necessarily an identity crisis and a problem to struggle with; it can be a conscious choice towards flexibility, the ability to speak different languages.

The idea of ​​an unchanging, unique individual art style has become so ingrained in many people's minds that it has distorted the very essence of what a unique individual art style is.

My individual art style is not just the way I draw lines, it's not in realism or stylization, and not in the brushes and tools I use, but in my very own language of expression, composition, my symbolism and perception, even in the way I perceive and talk about my art and treat my characters. This is what is innate to me, no matter what style I use and what subjects I depict.

You will not lose your artistic identity if you try different styles, themes and subjects as languages ​​of expression. Art thrives on experiments and perishes within limiting constructs. You are more likely to lose your identity if you try to fit your art into someone else's system, language and perception.

This post is about racism. This post is about racism and antiblackness. This post is not about how cool YOU are for doing crimes or about how much you hate 'antis' or how bad tesla sucks. This post is about how ostensibly progressive white people will clutch pearls and moralize about not listening to rap or engaging with black art or culture because it seemingly condones drugs, or violence, or is overly sexual, while having no issue with those topics in other, non-black contexts. There are conversations to be had about the topics surrounding this but in the meantime the original post is One Sentence and I'm not convinced most of the commenters in the past few days even read it.

(I hope you don't mind me adding my two cents)

as a black Tumblr user and black person in leftist and queer spaces, talking about black art and antiblackness as a whole is EXTREMELY fucking exhausting on so many levels.

either you have people completely speaking over you and your experiences as if they know better, people guilt tripping you for being white and feeling guilty for being white (cry me a river) or people refusing to engage in what you say or make because not only do they NOT understand, but also actively stay away from it because they truthfully don't care.

and another thing when it comes to black art and its themes is seeing many non black people try to squeeze all the meaning and symbolizism out if they can make a meme out of it. and if they do see black themes especially themes of systemic oppression they'll just lump this in with "POC issues" despite the fact other POC are not exempt from being anti black themselves and honestly, a majority of oppression and racism inherently loops back to antiblackness.

w/e! sorry I cannot talk about my experiences in a wholesome chungus white boy meme way so you crackers can digest it easier or respect me easier. liberals and even some most progressives need to learn to engage with black folks and our issues in a respectful manner no matter what.

The relief of being prepared to yell on a post and seeing another Black trans person has already said what you wanted to 😮‍💨 ty @wolfertinger666

Also… art forgers like van Meegeren sometimes become a kind of folk hero. A swindler, sure, but a gentleman’s swindler.

I liked this guy’s story, Mark Landis, who conned several dozen museums into displaying his forgeries, but when the FBI came after him they couldn’t do anything because he had always given them away as donations. They said if they could have found that he’d ever taken anything in exchange they would have prosecuted him, but all he wanted was get to out of the house and meet people.

“The first painting Landis “donated” was a copy of a work by Maynard Dixon, an artist well-known for his paintings of cowboys and Indians. It started as impulse, Landis says, but then “everybody was just so nice and treated me with respect and deference and friendship, things I was very unused to — I mean, actually not used to at all. And I got addicted to it.”” And it looks like all his forgeries are done with cheap materials, like markers and Hobby Lobby frames.

Ok, but Wolfgang Beltracchi is probably one of the best Fraud Artists in the world.

His career brought him millions upon millions of dollars and lasted almost 40 years. He finally admitted to painting fraudulent art after the white paint he used came under scrutiny. 

“ Bob Simon: What do you think this Max Ernst would be worth?
Wolfgang Beltracchi: This one?
Simon: Yeah.
Beltracchi: $5 million, I think.
Simon: $5 million.  And you can do it in three days?
Beltracchi: Yeah, oh yes, yes, sure, or quicker”

-From a 60 minutes interview with Bob Simon

In The interview with Beltracchi, he said that none of his forgeries are copies, they’re all original works that the famous artists could have painted.

“Beltracchi estimates he has done 25 Max Ernsts. He is not copying an existing work. He’s painting something he thinks Ernst might have done if he’d had the time or felt like it.”
 -  The Con Artist: A multi-million dollar art scam

His wife was also in on the scam, she would dress up in old clothing and take pictures holding the paintings with old cameras to fake proof of the paintings’ ages.

At the end of the interview with Wolfgang Beltracchi he was asked if he felt he had done anything wrong, his answer was “ Yeah, I used the wrong kind of paint”

Just … the levels of con there, the fake photos and … wow. That’s incredible. 

Heroes

Also fun fact we learned in class today: Michelangelo carved a sculpture of a Roman god, broke off the arm, and then buried it. The sculpture was dug up and was considered to be an authentic Roman artefact, until Michelangelo came along with the missing arm and called shenanigans on himself, just to prove he was as skilled a sculptor as the ancient Romans.

honestly mike? chill.

This story's a few years old, but multiple people in the notes are saying this is still Greyhound policy. So, I went looking to fact check that before sharing it and found this page:

Under the parts on company discrimination policy, there's a section on US Customs and Border Protection checks (in both English and Spanish).

Greyhound Lines, Inc. does not consent to warrantless immigration enforcement checks on its buses or in non-public areas of its terminals.

That's a very clearly written policy, so yay the post is true! But what really got me, is that it's followed by a list of rights people have if they are questioned, searched, or detained, so people can protect themselves as well.

That is then followed by a brief explanation of discrimination law around race and ethnicity being used as a reason to stop and search, and how to submit a civil rights complaint if you are being stopped for discriminatory reasons.

They then provide links to places people can get help if they need it, like the ACLU and the National Immigrant Justice Centre.

Greyhound seem to be really committing to the rights of their passengers, and it's really nice to see!

KINDA

THERE'S ALWAYS JUST LIKE TIGERS AND WOLVES WITH BIG MUSCLES AND STUFF??

Demily. Demily I need you to look at me closely. There is so much furry Yuri. There is so much.

WHERE CAN I FIND THE FURRY YURI

Literally just type it into a search engine. "Furry Yuri"

HOLY SMOKES

THEY ARE KISSIGN