IC 342: Hidden Galaxy

Can u do a tutorial about how to fold wings In various angles?

I am no expert but this is kinda how I do it, let the wiggly line guide the overall bend to a wing. The more sudden the bump in the wiggly line the more bent your wing will be

some vaguely coherent notes on owl facial discs because they were the hardest part of the bird for me to figure out and if this helps at least one person then I consider that an epic win

Photos: Barn Owl, Long-eared Owl

I wasn’t happy with the painting explanation I threw together the other day and I keep thinking of steps/important notes I should have included, so I made this more detailed version today! This is more or less how I paint, and the main things I keep in mind when I paint. Originally I was just going to “add a few more details” to the original tutorial, but I kept thinking of stuff and went a little bit nuts trying to phrase everything in a way that makes sense.

there are many incredible tutorials about digital (and traditional) painting, color theory, light and shadow, etc out there– I want to urge anyone interested in learning more about this stuff to go seek out professional advice! Painting is really, really complicated, and I’m absolutely still learning how it works and how to do it good. This is just m’thoughts and some images to go with them.

Writing Tips

Descriptions in Between Dialogue

✧

⤠ how characters interact with the environment

⇝ moving something, picking something up, looking somewhere

⤠ how the environment interacts with the characters

⇝ weather, other character’s actions or movements

⤠ gestures

⇝ facial expressions, body language

⤠ shifts in position

⇝ standing, sitting, leaning, shifting weight, crossing arms/legs

⤠ physical reactions

⇝ body temperature, fidgeting, heart rate, character quirks

⤠ environmental descriptions

⇝ descriptions using the five senses, setting, character’s appearances

⤠ internal dialogue

⇝ emotional reaction to what was said, reflection of past experiences, connections to other characters/settings/actions

➵ I want to reiterate… descriptions using the five senses ; when in doubt, think of the five senses your character is experiencing and pick what best moves the story forward

Symmetry Magazine

How JWST will test models of cold dark matter

By Madeleine O’Keefe

Two projects in JWST’s first observation cycle will probe the nature of dark matter.

On Christmas morning of 2021, an Ariane 5 CEA rocket blasted off from Kourou, French Guinea. It carried with it the largest and most sophisticated space telescope ever built: the James Webb Space Telescope.

Since then, JWST has reached its orbit about 1 million miles from Earth, unfurled its tennis-court-sized sunshield, and aligned its 18 hexagonal mirror segments. The telescope’s first images are expected by summer.

Over the next decade, JWST will make cutting-edge observations to help scientists answer myriad outstanding questions in astronomy—including questions about the nature of dark matter.

Hot, warm or cold Dark matter is an enigmatic substance that scientists believe accounts for 85% of matter in the universe. But so far it has not been observed directly; scientists can infer dark matter’s presence only by observing its gravitational effects on normal matter.

Different theories posit different types of dark-matter particles. Dark-matter candidates considered “hot” or “warm” are particles that would have moved so quickly in the early universe that gravity would not have been able to confine them. On the other hand, dark-matter candidates considered “cold” are thought to have moved so slowly that gravity would have formed them into small dark-matter structures that eventually would have coalesced into larger, “clumpy” ones.

“Decades’ worth of computer simulations have tested how structure forms and grows under the hypothesis of cold dark matter,” says Matthew Walker, an associate professor of physics at Carnegie Mellon University.

Cold dark-matter simulations show dark matter clumping into small blobs, which encounter other blobs and merge together, continually snowballing until large structures like the Milky Way are formed. These gravitationally bound blobs of dark matter are known as halos.

JWST can see your halo Anna Nierenberg, assistant professor of physics at University of California, Merced, was awarded 39 hours of observing time during JWST’s Cycle 1 to look for small dark-matter halos.

Many models, including the baseline dark-matter model, predict the existence of small (107 solar mass) halos that do not actually contain galaxies. Such a halo would “just be a blob of dark matter” with no stars inside it, Nierenberg says.

If there are no stars within these blobs of invisible material, how can we even try to detect them? Nierenberg and her team of nearly 20 scientists in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium and Chile are using a phenomenon called gravitational lensing.

Born of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity, gravitational lensing says that matter bends spacetime and, subsequently, any light that encounters it. If light from a distant source travels through the universe toward Earth and passes by a massive object—such as a blob of dark matter—the light will be warped around it. If the in-between object is massive enough, the light is deflected in such a way that we’ll see up to four images of the light source appearing around the mass.

Nierenberg’s group will measure the number of small dark-matter halos by observing a sample of quasars (supermassive black holes at cosmological distances surrounded by dusty accretion disks) that have been gravitationally lensed. Detecting small halos would be a triumph for the cold dark-matter theory; conversely, not detecting small halos would imply that cold dark matter does not exist.

Because the light from these quasars must travel a great distance in an ever-expanding universe, it is stretched along the way, pulling its wavelengths into the infrared range. The mid-infrared wavelengths they are observing are almost impossible to see with ground-based telescopes. “We’re going to be observing with absolute reddest bands that JWST can accommodate,” Nierenberg says.

These wavelengths cannot be observed by the Hubble Space Telescope, which studies gravitational lensing at visible wavelengths. And older space-based telescopes that can see in the mid-infrared don’t have the resolution to separate the different lenses. Making these observations in mid-IR requires the high spatial resolution that only the JWST can provide, Nierenberg says.

Daniel Gilman, a postdoc at the University of Toronto and one of Nierenberg’s co-investigators, says, “The kind of data that we can get with JWST is unique and much more powerful or constraining than the kind of data that we could get with Hubble or from the ground.”

Nierenberg says, “I really believe that this is going to be a huge scientific step forward.”

Looking far and wide Walker is leading another dark-matter project in JWST’s Cycle 1, but his group didn’t apply for observing time. Instead, they are using data that JWST is collecting for other programs.

Walker’s group’s “archival research” is looking inside dwarf galaxies to find wide binary stars, systems of two stars orbiting each other at relatively large distances (on the order of one parsec, slightly less than the distance between the sun and our closest neighbor, Proxima Centauri).

“Because [wide binary stars] are so far apart, they’re very fragile systems,” says Walker. “If, say, a little dark-matter halo were to fly past a wide binary-star system, it could exchange energy with either or both of the stars in that system. And it just takes a small fraction of a fraction of a percent increase in the energy of either star to rip the pair apart.”

If Walker’s team finds wide binary stars, “we can be reasonably confident that those sub-galactic cold dark matter halos don’t exist,” he says. “And that, then, would be a real problem for the cold dark-matter model in general.”

That’s what Katharine Lee, a junior physics major at Carnegie Mellon in Walker’s group, likes about the project. “I particularly think this research is really interesting because the current framework for what we think of as the structure of dark matter is the cold dark-matter model, and the research that Professor Walker’s doing could potentially invalidate that.”

If the group did not find wide binary stars, it could be a sign that they were destroyed by dark matter. But it would not prove that they were destroyed—they may just have never formed in these dwarf galaxies in the first place.

Walker says that JWST is an ideal tool for this search because of its “exquisite sensitivity to faint objects,” as well as the telescope’s abilities to take high-quality images and distinguish pairs of sources at very small separations. And thanks to its 21-foot-diameter primary mirror, JWST will see farther than any other telescope ever built.

“I think JWST is going to give us a new and really powerful angle,” says Jorge Peñarrubia, a professor at the University of Edinburgh and one of Walker’s co-investigators. “But even if that fails, we’ll find other ways.”

Indeed, there are many other techniques that scientists use to search for dark matter, including direct searches by physics experiments. And both Nierenberg and Walker are using gravitational lensing and wide binary-star methods on data from the Hubble Space Telescope while they wait for JWST to open its eyes.

Future JWST science programs might further explore the mysteries of dark matter, whether through gravitational lensing or perhaps by observing statistics of galaxy evolution that scientists can then compare to dark-matter theories.

“We don’t lack theories of what dark matter could be. There are a lot of them,” Gilman says. “What we lack are observations that wield a lot of constraining power over these theories. And that’s something that JWST is going to give us.”

Illustration by Sandbox Studio, Chicago with Olena Shmahalo

a digital artist’s guide to digital art guides

hi my qualification for writing this guide to youtube art tutorials (though it may be applicable to other forms of media as well) is that i have watched over (roughly) 200 art tutorials of various length, artistry, content, style, and more

when we’re told “look up guides online” there’s not really much more to say on how to approach our research and taking them in, so if you’re a little lost in the vast sea of art help like i was as a wee bab, then this may help!

General Use:

don’t feel bad for skipping - if something isn’t striking you as informative or helpful, don’t feel bad for moving right along and treating it like a sponsor

^ also applies for lengthy talking or deriving from the point, if you’re not up for it. you don’t need to sit through the artists’ whole spiel to learn how to draw hands.

if something isn’t making sense, reach out to communities for help, and go beyond youtube/tumblr. reddit and discord servers are also full of places to go to talk to more ppl

trust your gut! if someone’s style makes you go “hmm this feels wrong and objectifying”, it’s because it is - feel free to move right along

^ also applies for if it feels like the artist is just showing off and not explaining enough, or just posting for ego boost or to get coin.

… related tip but if an artist likes to rant about discourse as the primary thing on their channel, i know drama can be fun and juicy but please just avoid these people, because generally they’re either nasty and toxic-minded, or they seem to have some bs going on for them in the background

check out comments and online discussion to see how well received a popular artist is, and pay attention to their discourse to avoid any mistakes they unintentionally or even proudly display

the art program is not important!!! every art program has some level of similar functionality, some with more bells and whistles than others, and very rarely does one program lack a key tool the others don’t have. the hardest part is translating what your artist means when they say one thing but your program has another - but more often than not, some similar wording or like words are used for the same tool or setting.

^ this means you can watch that tutorial on how to draw legs for clip studio if all you have is firealpaca

Information over Entertainment! the best artists to find help in are ones who focus primarily on relaying information and less on colorful quirky editing - those kinds CAN be helpful, but in general i tend to find more useful tips in videos that feel more academic as opposed to more entertaining.

don’t feel bad for flatout ignoring advice. if you found something that works better for you, please use it. feel free to try new techniques as well if you’re feeling stuck or want a change of pace!

Terms and Conditions:

What words should you use when finding the right video? Think like a content creator, here. General words are best when searching for the right video, and in order to think of those words, you need to know the parts of art. Lines, anatomy, colors, values, background, perspective, etc - figure out which part or parts you struggle with, and use one term at a time.

What types of videos are for me? If you are a Fresh Brand New Baby Beginner Artist that doesn’t even know much about art letalone art programs, then stick to tutorials that are labelled “for beginners”. If you know your way around an art program but you’re still pretty new, then your average art tutorial should be most helpful. More entertaining artists should be ok to start with! If you know your way around art but not programs, look for “art program reviews”, then once you’ve picked one or a few to mess around with (though I really recommend one at a time), look for “(program name) intro to / introductory”. And if you are well aware of everything I’ve listed, then you’ll be needing “intermediary / intermediate” tutorials. These ones are best given by master artists who focus on academic presentation. If you’re a master, you don’t even need this tumblr post wyd  😂

Art Tips for Vibrant Lighting

Some tips and tricks for getting glowy, beautiful, vibrant lighting effects…especially in traditional art, with no ctrl+z! The example piece is a watercolor work in progress of mine and, if you’re familiar with watercolor, you know it’s super unforgiving. What you put down stays!

Tip 1: Create a thumbnail

Do a very loose, messy sketch of your illustration. This helps define the composition, but it can also help you pick where your light is coming from and what colors you’ll use for it. This way, you can reference the light source and colors while you’re painting!

Even if you’re working digitally, this creates a great color key you can turn back to. You can make a thumbnail digitally or traditionally. 

This thumbnail only took about 20 minutes…and it’s saved so many headaches during the painting process. 

When you have a thumbnail, the rest of your painting is just a translation of those colors with a better technique. 

Tips:

Feel free to make many thumbnails! This is the easiest step to revise and repeat.

Use a photo for inspiration for your color scheme. I used clouds in the evening as color references. 

Play around with layers and effects (like overlay, multiply). This can help you figure out new colors that you can then try to capture traditionally!

Tip 2: Don’t forget about your lines!

Line art is important for gradients! I did mine first, so I had to consider the glow effect too. It’s a bit blurry (as its a screenshot from a reel, lol), but you can see yellows to dark browns and blacks. This established the glow from the start!

Tips:

Consider using a media you can get gradients in. I used acryla gouache here, but ink, watercolor, and even markers can work well! 

If it’s hard to visualize highlights in line art, do the lines after with pen or paint! Adding shadows and highlights that way can be easier. 

Tip 3: Start with big gradients first

Once you have your sketch on paper finished, start with large gradients! This helps define your light source and keep your whole composition making sense. 

Here, I started with the background sky, then added in the shadow coming off the wing before doing anything else. Take note of how helpful the thumbnail was in helping me lay this all out, too!

Tip 4: Think warm to cool

See how both the hair and wings move from warm (yellow/browns) to cool colors (blues, payne’s grey)? This is a surefire way to keep the strong light source and make it look like the light is glowing!

Tips:

This is all about keeping the colors close to your light source, so if your light source is cool (like the moon), your highlights are cool and your shadows are warm tones. The key is just to keep it consistent! 

Lighting isn’t just light to dark gradients. It’s also warm to cool/cool to warm!

Think about all the spots the light catches (like that one front feather on the left top). It takes a lot of thinking through, but it’ll make a huge impact! (Remember, you can always revisit your thumbnail or add more details in there)

Don’t forget about reflected light, bouncing off another surface. It’ll be more subtle than the main light source, but still there!

Final Tips:

Love those gradients! Watercolor is meant for beautiful gradients, so use multiple colors for a glow. The feathers in the light go from yellow ochre to prussian blue to payne’s grey.

Start with the highlights first, then work into the shadows! Above, the skin isn’t even painted with shadows yet, because I wanted to get the lighting first.

This is just a WIP right now, but I hope these tips help! If you want to follow, I’ll be posting more progress pics (and the finished illustration soon too). :D

My: Instagram | Twitter

i made my first infographic on a topic ive been very interested in lately: wings! ive seen a lot of anatomical sins relating to wings lately (i am not exempt from this) particuarly involving pterosaurs so i put this together to help artists who may be struggling with drawing wings. enjoy. i am also open to criticism on anatomy or errors

The Clearest Images of Jupiter ever taken

These beautifully real images are some of the closest images of Jupiter. Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth the mass of the Sun. The original image was captured by JunoCam, the camera on NASA's Juno mission in orbit around Jupiter. This image was taken on Juno's 22nd close pass by Jupiter on Sept. 12, 2019 with image processing done by Prateek.

📸: NASA's Juno Space Probe / JunoCam

Some people asked how I paint hair, so I made this very simplified explanation, but I hope it helps someone.

The @ is my twitter btw ^~