A Geek in Girl's Clothing

Pearlina post

Decorative Sunday

Here are some plates from Carl Heideloff's Ornamentik des Mittelalters published in Nuremberg in 25 parts by C. Geiger's Verlag from 1838-1855, comprised of nearly 1,000 copperplate etchings of medieval ornament, mostly of architectural elements from German Romanesque and Gothic churches and other buildings. Carl Heideloff (1789-1865) was a German architect, master builder of Nuremberg, and a restorer of buildings and monuments. The plates in this portfolio were intended to instruct and inspire architects and designers of his day. Unfortunately, nearly every plate has our library stamp across it.

View more Decorative Sunday posts.

osprey with a fishy meal

Man, I almost drank myself to death yesterday, I can't even remember my name, if only there was someone that could help me.

The the trustworthy and saint-like lieutenant:

sunrise, parabellum

Sorry but I can't allow this to remain just in the tags

It’s crazy and fucked up that being yourself is actually the solution.

It’s like. When I was told to “just be yourself” as a kid I thought it was a passive thing. Like oh easy I just have to sit here and be myself. but the reason so many people think that “being yourself” is bullshit advice is because you actually have to make active choices to do this and it WILL make your life way more fun. You have to wear t-shirts of bands that were popular ten years ago because you like them. You have to do your hair in a way that you find cute or comfortable even if it’s “so nineties”. If your friend says a food you enjoy is gross to them, you can’t be afraid to admit you casually disagree. You have to do hobbies that you’re interested in even if you’re bad at them and you cant feel like you have to get good at something before you tell people it’s an activity you do. You have to read manga and comic books in public and get piercings your relatives think are unattractive. You don’t have to tell people you dislike that you dislike them, but you don’t have to give them your time and attention either. You have to rewatch that kids show you’re nostalgic for even if you’re in your 30s. You have to change your name if you hate it, even if only a few close friends can know. You have to get fun girly drinks at the bar. You have to order hot chocolate when you don’t like coffee and black coffee when you don’t like sweet things. I am still bad at practicing this but it is the only way to make it all tolerable.

First you have to realize that "yourself" is a construct built by the decisions you make. Then it becomes clear that being yourself is a deliberate and intentional practice, not a passive state of existence.

TST Kingfisher

Thierry Mugler s/s 96

#172-#025-#026. The Pikachu line is known for their rubber cheeks, conductive tails and love for chewing wires, ruining plugs and stealing batteries. At least they're cute doing it.....................

I have completed another crochet monstrosity

It's terrible and I love it, especially how peaceful it looks taking a nap. @elodieunderglass horrible things with hands?

it's a great creation, well done @cardboardlife !

ethics of making AI images aside, I do find a bit amusing the kinds of sob stories and mental gymnastics people make up to pretend like drawing is this super technical skill with an impossibly high barrier of entry when its like one of the first hobbies toddlers pick up

suddenly a lot of people think they got the next Lord of the Rings in their head but they were never able to turn their stories into anything tangible because the evil elitist artists are hogging all the talent and skill and they need a bajilion years of training or something as if one of the most popular manga and anime of the past decade wasn't made by a guy that draws like this

Pulling this out of my tags but for real one of the best webcomics(and also best story in general) I have ever read started out looking like this:

You do not have to be Michaelangelo to make art, just make it. Also, obligatory quote from my good man Bob Ross:

Sorry to pull this out of the tags also but I absolutely agree and wanted to elaborate further, bcs like another reason I genuinely think anyone who is interested in art but feels like they suck too much to make it should really just stay away from AI and actually just give drawing a chance is because AI cannot create new art styles. It can only make copies of what you put into it, so much so that if you want something in a specific style you have to tell it the name of the artist you want it to mimic because it cannot make something that doesn't already exist. If all you ever fed it were drawings of stick figures that's all it would ever know how to do.

But humans can make new art styles, every person's art is unique. And when it comes to ONE(author/artist behind Mob Psycho 100 and One Punch Man) and Rich Berlew(author and artist of Order of the Stick), if these guys never just started making their comics we wouldn't have ever been able to see these expressive, funny, strange, and just all around captivating pieces of art!

The image I used of Order of the Stick isn't actually exactly what it looked like at this start, this is:

And THIS is what Order of the Stick looks like now:

And while it does still look similar, it's clear how much Burlew has improved and grown comfortable in his unique artstyle, how far he's come in the last 21 years. The lighting, the line art, the panel layout, all of it has improved while still essentially just being stick figures. And I cannot even begin to describe how much I fucking LOVE the way this comic looks.

Switching to ONE, his art started out super rough

And while One Punch Man did get a new artist...I genuinely think the "better" art has lost a lot of the charm the original had. I'm so glad that ONE did Mob Psycho 100 himself and that the anime mimicked his style rather than trying to make it look more standard like OPM did, because my god, this guy's stuff conveys humor in a way that is as brilliant as it is unique. It's rough, but the roughness doesn't take away from the impact or emotions, it honestly adds to them, and overall it's incredible to see how much ONE has improved, but also how much it still looks like his art:

I do not want to live in a world where ONE and Rich Burlew didn't make their comics because they were too scared of their art looking bad. I don't want to live in a world without these stories and these dynamic and original art styles. Burlew's art legit has given me confidence, I always felt bad that when I finished and colored my art all my lines were so thick and smooth and coloring-book-esque, it's why most of what I post is like, sketches, colored or not. But after reading Order of the Stick I legit cried a little because for the first time I didn't feel bad about just doing the kind of line art that feels right to me, which looks like this:

So fr, please if you want to make art just make art. Everyone's art is unique in one way or another and if you just rely on AI all the time we'll never get to see styles like ONE and Rich Burlew's and again, I don't want to live in a world where we don't get to see all of these amazing, imperfect works of art. I want to see YOUR art, because it's yours, and the world is a better place with your art in it.

you're entitled to make art! you're just not entitled to make art that's perfectly beautiful. fortunately, no one else is either.

This is a great post and I think it deserves one more layer of discussion. The attitude in here about improvement, accessibility of art, golden. Yes, just go make art! You can!

But that is not actually what many (but not all) people are talking about when they complain about art being too hard, and turning to AI.

They are talking about not being able to create art they believe confers status in some way.

They COULDN'T GET THIS ART, in their minds, without stealing or paying for it. Or investing their entire life into becoming able to produce it.

ART WITH 'CULTURAL MARKERS OF VALUE.'

This is definitely a totally arbitrary category. it's not real. It's silly. there is no 'one' culture that people follow. Nobody is appraising pictures on the internet. But let's think about what makes AI art so 'real art' to believers. Features as a technology it implements that people are willing to pay for.

Like yes. I do not want to say this post is barking up the wrong tree because it isn't. Many people who do not think this way, are demoralized by AI art. Many people who do think this way are just conditioned by our surroundings about it, it's not really a decision-based belief they hold.

but all of these features correlate not to the 'realness' of art, or the 'difficulty' of art, but the prestige and legitimacy of different kinds of art in the popular consciousness. What this thread preceding is about, is trying to sway the consciousness about what art can be and how even 'low prestige' styles of art can evolve over time as an artist gains experience, or time, or money, etc. This is important and I think it won't work as well as we'd like until we can unpack how 'would someone be willing to pay for this?' defines what 'real art is' in a capitalist world. Does this look like an animation frame from a movie you'd hit a paywall to watch? Is it copying a famous painting? Does it look like you need dozens of hours, expensive equipment, or one-of-a-kind talent to produce this art? All of those are features that have a price tag attached, in the wild.

Morning Glory Pendant-Brooch

Marcus & Co., American

1900’s

The petals and leaves applied with various colors of plique-à-jour enamel, the branches applied with translucent green enamel.

Art Nouveau

I have many questions for the 1.9%

Hummingbird Earrings

Mark Preston