Latest Posts by kiminitodokestuff - Page 2
Body Language: Eyes
So I stumbled across this really useful thing which I use for writing and wanted to share it with you all.
(source: changingminds.org)
The eyes are often called, with some justification, ‘the windows of the soul’ as they can send many different non-verbal signals. For reading body language this is quite useful as looking at people’s eyes are a normal part of communication (whilst gazing at other parts of the body can be seen as rather rude). When a person wears dark glasses, especially indoors, this prevents others from reading their eye signals. It is consequently rather disconcerting, which is why ‘gangsters’ and those seeking to appear powerful sometimes wear them.
Looking Up
When a person looks upwards they are often thinking. In particular they are probably making pictures in their head and thus may well be an indicator of a visual thinker.
When they are delivering a speech or presentation, looking up may be their recalling their prepared words.
Looking upwards and to the left can indicate recalling a memory. Looking upwards and the right can indicate imaginative construction of a picture (which can hence betray a liar). Be careful with this: sometimes the directions are reversed — if in doubt, test the person by asking them to recall known facts or imagine something.
Looking up may also be a signal of boredom as the person examines the surroundings in search of something more interesting.
Head lowered and eyes looking back up at the other person is a coy and suggestive action as it combines the head down of submission with eye contact of attraction. It can also be judgemental, especially when combined with a frown.
Looking Down
Looking at a person can be an act of power and domination. Looking down involves not looking at the other person, which hence may be a sign of submission (‘I am not a threat, really; please do not hurt me. You are so glorious I would be dazzled if I looked at you.’)
Looking down can thus be a signal of submission. It can also indicate that the person is feeling guilty.
A notable way that a lower person looks down at a higher person is by tilting their head back. Even taller people may do this.
Looking down and to the left can indicate that they are talking to themselves (look for slight movement of the lips). Looking down and to the right can indicate that they are attending to internal emotions.
In many cultures where eye contact is a rude or dominant signal, people will look down when talking with others in order to show respect.
Looking Sideways
Much of our field of vision is in the horizontal plane, so when a person looks sideways, they are either looking away from what is in front of them or looking towards something that has taken their interest.
A quick glance sideways can just be checking the source of a distraction to assess for threat or interest. It can also be done to show irritation (‘I didn’t appreciate that comment!’).
Looking to the left can indicate a person recalling a sound. Looking to the right can indicate that they are imagining the sound. As with visual and other movements, this can be reversed and may need checking against known truth and fabrication.
Lateral movement
Eyes moving from side-to-side can indicate shiftiness and lying, as if the person is looking for an escape route in case they are found out.
Lateral movement can also happen when the person is being conspiratorial, as if they are checking that nobody else is listening.
Eyes may also move back and forth sideways (and sometimes up and down) when the person is visualizing a big picture and is literally looking it over.
Gazing
Looking at something shows an interest in it, whether it is a painting, a table or a person. When you look at something, then others who look at your eyes will feel compelled to follow your gaze to see what you are looking at. This is a remarkable skill as we are able to follow a gaze very accurately.
When looking at a person normally, the gaze is usually at eye level or above (see eye contact, below). The gaze can also be a defocused looking at the general person.
Looking at a person’s mouth can indicate that you would like to kiss them. Looking at sexual regions indicates a desire to have sexual relations with them.
Looking up and down at a whole person is usually sizing them up, either as a potential threat or as a sexual partner (notice where the gaze lingers). This can be quite insulting and hence indicate a position of presumed dominance, as the person effectively says ‘I am more powerful than you, your feelings are unimportant to me and you will submit to my gaze’.
Looking at their forehead or not at them indicates disinterest. This may also be shown by defocused eyes where the person is ‘inside their head’ thinking about other things.
The power gaze is a short but intense gaze that is used to impose one’s will on another, showing power without aggression.
It is difficult to conceal a gaze as we are particularly adept at identifying exactly where other people are looking. This is one reason why we have larger eye whites than animals, as it aids complex communication.
People who are lying may look away more often as they feel guilty when looking at others. However, when they know this, they may over-compensate by looking at you for longer than usual. This also helps them watch your body language for signs of detection.
The acceptable duration of a gaze varies with culture and sometimes even a slight glance is unacceptable, such as between genders or by a lower status person.
Non-visual gaze patterns (NVGPs) involve rapid movements (saccades) and fixations while we are ‘inside our heads’, thinking. Rapid movements happen more when we are accessing long-term memory and fixations more when we are accessing working memory. This is useful to detect whether people are thinking about older events or recent events (or old events that are already brought to working memory).
Glancing
Glancing at something can betray a desire for that thing, for example glancing at the door can indicate a desire to leave.
Glancing at a person can indicate a desire to talk with them. It can also indicate a concern for that person’s feeling when something is said that might upset them.
Glancing may indicate a desire to gaze at something or someone where it is forbidden to look for a prolonged period.
Glancing sideways at a person with raised eyebrows can be a sign of attraction. Without the raised eyebrow it is more likely to be disapproval.
Eye Contact
Eye contact between two people is a powerful act of communication and may show interest, affection or dominance.
Doe Eyes
A softening of the eyes, with relaxing of muscles around the eye and a slight defocusing as the person tries to take in the whole person is sometimes called doe eyes, as it often indicates sexual desire, particularly if the gaze is prolonged and the pupils are dilated (see below). The eyes may also appear shiny.
Making Eye Contact
Looking at a person acknowledges them and shows that you are interested in them, particularly if you look in their eyes.
Looking at a person’s eyes also lets you know where they are looking. We are amazingly good at detecting what they are looking at and can detect even a brief glance at parts of our body, for example.
If a person says something when you are looking away and then you make eye contact, then this indicates they have grabbed your attention.
Breaking eye contact
Prolonged eye contact can be threatening, so in conversation we frequently look away and back again.
Breaking eye contact can indicate that something that has just been said that makes the person not want to sustain eye contact, for example that they are insulted, they have been found out, they feel threatened, etc. This can also happen when the person thinks something that causes the same internal discomfort. Of course, a break in eye contact can also be caused by something as simple as dried out contacts or any new stimulus in one’s immediate area, so it’s important to watch for other signals.
Looking at a person, breaking eye contact and then looking immediately back at them is a classic flirting action, particularly with the head held coyly low in suggested submission.
Long eye contact
Eye contact longer than normal can have several different meanings.
Eye contact often increases significantly when we are listening, and especially when we are paying close attention to what the other person is saying. Less eye contact is used when talking, particularly by people who are visual thinkers as they stare into the distance or upwards as they ‘see’ what they are talking about.
We also look more at people we like and like people who look at us more. When done with doe eyes and smiles, it is a sign of attraction. Lovers will stare into each others eyes for a long period. Attraction is also indicated by looking back and forth between the two eyes, as if we are desperately trying to determine if they are interested in us too.
An attraction signal that is more commonly used by women is to hold the other person’s gaze for about three seconds, Then look down for a second or two and then look back up again (to see if they have taken the bait). If the other person is still looking at them, they are rewarded with a coy smile or a slight widening of the eyes (‘Yes, this message is for you!’).
When done without blinking, contracted pupils and an immobile face, this can indicate domination, aggression and use of power. In such circumstances a staring competition can ensue, with the first person to look away admitting defeat.
Prolonged eye contact can be disconcerting. A trick to reduce stress from this is to look at the bridge of their nose. They will think you are still looking in their eyes.
Sometimes liars, knowing that low eye contact is a sign of lying, will over-compensate and look at you for a longer than usual period. Often this is done without blinking as they force themselves into this act. They may smile with the mouth, but not with the eyes as this is more difficult.
Limited eye contact
When a person makes very little eye contact, they may be feeling insecure. They may also be lying and not want to be detected.
In persuasion
Eye contact is very important for persuasion. If you look at the other person and they do not look back at you, then their attention is likely elsewhere. Even if they hear you, the lack of eye contact reduces the personal connection.
If you want to persuade or change minds, then the first step is to gain eye contact and then sustain it with regular reconnection.
Staring
Staring is generally done with eyes wider than usual, prolonged attention to something and with reduced blinking. It generally indicates particular interest in something or someone.
Staring at a person can indicate shock and disbelief, particularly after hearing unexpected news.
When the eyes are defocused, the person’s attention may be inside their head and what they are staring at may be of no significance. (Without care, this can become quite embarrassing for them).
Prolonged eye contact can be aggressive, affectionate or deceptive and is discussed further above. Staring at another’s eyes is usually more associated with aggressive action.
A short stare, with eyes wide open and then back to normal indicates surprise. The correction back to normal implies that the person would like to stare more, but knows it is impolite (this may be accompanied with some apologetic text).
When a person stares at another, then the second person may be embarrassed and look away. If they decide to stare back, then the people ‘lock eyes’ and this may become a competition with the loser being the person who looks away first.
The length of an acceptable stare varies across cultures, as does who is allowed to stare, and at what. Babies and young children stare more, until they have learned the cultural rules.
Following
The eyes will naturally follow movement of any kind. If the person is looking at something of interest then they will naturally keep looking at this. They also follow neutral or feared things in case the movement turns into a threat.
This is used when sales people move something like a pen or finger up and down, guiding where the customer looks, including to eye contact and to parts of the product being sold.
Squinting
Narrowing of a person’s eyes can indicate evaluation, perhaps considering that something told to them is not true (or at least not fully so).
Squinting can also indicate uncertainty (‘I cannot quite see what is meant here.’)
Narrowing eyes has a similar effect to constricted pupils in creating a greater depth of field so you can see more detail. This is used by animals when determining distance to their prey and can have a similar aggressive purpose.
Squinting can be used by liars who do not want the other person to detect their deception.
When a person thinks about something and does not want to look at the internal image, they may involuntarily squint.
Squinting can also happen when lights or the sun are bright.
Lowering of eyelids is not really a squint but can have a similar meaning. It can also indicate tiredness.
Lowering eyelids whilst still looking at the other person can be a part of a romantic and suggestive cluster, and may be accompanied with tossing back the head and slightly puckering the lips in a kiss.
Blinking
Blinking is a neat natural process whereby the eyelids wipe the eyes clean, much as a windscreen wiper on a car.
Blink rate tends to increase when people are thinking more or are feeling stressed. This can be an indication of lying as the liar has to keep thinking about what they are saying. Realizing this, they may also force their eyes open and appear to stare.
Blinking can also indicate rapport, and people who are connected may blink at the same rate. Someone who is listening carefully to you is more likely to blink when you pause (keeping eyes open to watch everything you say).
Beyond natural random blinking, a single blink can signal surprise that the person does not quite believe what they see (‘I’ll wipe my eyes clean to better see’).
Rapid blinking blocks vision and can be an arrogant signal, saying ‘I am so important, I do not need to see you’.
Rapid blinking also flutters the eyelashes and can be a coy romantic invitation.
Reduced blinking increases the power of a stare, whether it is romantic or dominant in purpose.
Winking
Closing one eye in a wink is a deliberate gesture that often suggests conspiratorial (‘You and I both understand, though others do not’).
Winking can also be a slightly suggestive greeting and is reminiscent of a small wave of the hand (‘Hello there, gorgeous!’).
Closing
Closing the eyes shuts out the world. This can mean ‘I do not want to see what is in front of me, it is so terrible’.
Sometimes when people are talking they close their eyes. This is an equivalent to turning away so eye contact can be avoided and any implied request for the other person to speak is effectively ignored.
Visual thinkers may also close their eyes, sometimes when talking, so they can better see the internal images without external distraction.
Damp
The tear ducts provide moisture to the eyes, both for washing them and for tears.
Damp eyes can be suppressed weeping, indicating anxiety, fear or sadness. It can also indicate that the person has been crying recently.
Dampness can also occur when the person is tired (this may be accompanied by redness of the eyes.
Tears
Actual tears that roll down the cheeks are often a symptom of extreme fear or sadness, although paradoxically you can also weep tears of joy.
Weeping can be silent, with little expression other than the tears (indicating a certain amount of control). It also typically involves screwing up of the face and, when emotions are extreme, can be accompanied by uncontrollable, convulsive sobs.
Men in many culture are not expected to cry and learn to suppress this response, not even being able to cry when alone. Even if their eyes feel damp they may turn away.
Tears and sadness may be transformed into anger, which may be direct at whoever is available.
Pupil Size
A subtle signal that is sometimes detected only subconsciously and is seldom realized by the sender is where the pupil gets larger (dilates) or contracts.
Sexual desire is a common cause of pupil dilation, and is sometimes called ‘doe eyes’ or ‘bedroom eyes’ (magazine pictures sometimes have deliberately doctored eyes to make a model look more attractive). When another person’s eyes dilate we may be attracted further to them and our eyes dilate in return. Likewise, when their pupils are small, ours may well contract also.
A fundamental cause of eye dilation is cognitive effort. When we are thinking more, our eyes dilate. This helps explain ‘doe eyes’ as when we like others people, looking at them leads to significant thinking about how we may gain and sustain their attention.
Pupils dilate also when it is darker to let in more light. Perhaps this is why clubs, bars, restaurants and other romantic venues are so dingy.
People with dark irises (the colored circle around the pupil) can look attractive because it is difficult to distinguish the iris from the pupil, with the effect is that their dark pupils look larger than they are. People with light irises make the pupils easier to see, so when their pupils actually do dilate then the signal is clearer to detect, making them more attractive ‘at the right time’.
The reverse of this is that pupils contract when we do not like the other person, perhaps in an echo of squint-like narrowing of the eyes. People with small pupils can hence appear threatening or just unpleasant.
Rubbing
When a person is feeling uncomfortable, the eyes may water a little. To cover this and try to restore an appropriate dryness, they person may rub their eye and maybe even feign tiredness or having something in the eye. This also gives the opportunity to turn the head away.
The rubbing may be with one finger, with a finger and thumb (for two eyes) or with both hands. The more the coverage, the more the person is trying to hide behind the hands.
A no-bullshit “how to improve at drawing” post.
I did a class on this recently through Laneway Learning and I promised I’d post the hand-out I gave at the end of it, so here it is. Thank you to Karithina for being my editor! This is for new artists and experienced artists alike, because drawing a lot does not mean you’re necessarily good at it. You are never above going back to the basics, ever. Complacency is your enemy.
I want to point out, first and foremost, that the “artists are born artists” or “only right brained people can be artists” beliefs are absolute bullshit. The brain is intricately linked to both sides, and the idea that all people are more dominant on one side than the other has been scientifically proven to be incorrect.
This is good news for you! Because it means literally anyone can be a master artist, all it takes is a lot of practice and research, like literally every other skill in life. I hope you find this helpful!
—-
The methodological order of learning the basics:
Forms and shapes
They make up literally everything. You can be good at anatomy and perspective but still draw things very flat looking because you lack understanding of how forms and shapes work.
Perspective
Drawing forms and shapes in different perspectives helps you understand perspective in a more simple way. Start with them, then move onto more complicated shapes.
Composition
Draw the forms and shapes in different arrangements, orders, etc. Research different compositional arrangements and their effects.
Colour theory
Learn it and learn it well; then apply on all the above basics. Colour theory also includes lighting.
Anatomy
Anatomy of all forms are comprised of a series of forms and shapes, so it’s imperative you understand them first before moving on to anatomy.
Anatomy doesn’t need to be done last; it can be done between forms and shapes and perspective, but it can be daunting for new artists so I usually leave it until last since it is a rather complex subject.
Life drawing
Life drawing is imperative to the improvement of every artist. It is best to start by using lines and no shading for objects that are simple shapes such as mugs, jars, candles, etc. Once you’re comfortable with this, start drawing the same objects but shade them. Despite being simple shapes, these objects contain complex reflections and they will help you understand how light and reflections work with different surfaces.
Play with composition. Draw the same objects in a different arrangement, or in different perspectives - otherwise you’ll rely too heavily on muscle memory, which will restrict the diversity of your technique. You need to understand how objects work in 3D space, not just how it looks from specific angles. Once you’re comfortable with this, add colour. Rinse and repeat with this method for more complex scenes and objects.
Remember: when drawing from life, try to visualize the negative space around the objects and draw the “lines” using that; drawing from silhouettes, once you learn how to do it, is a very effective way to ensure proportions and shapes stay correct.
Reference, reference, reference
Draw from your imagination but always use references. It is not cheating. Every professional artist uses references. You cannot rely on remembering exactly how things look; your mind erroneously fills in the blanks for you.
Make sure you research the copyright restrictions on the images you use for reference if submitted anywhere. Give credit where credit is required, and when in doubt always ask the artist first. Master studies should always have credit given, even if the artist died hundreds of years ago. For quick reference checks like seeing what way a belt buckle goes, google image does the trick and no need to give credit there for something so small.
Influences and originality
Be influenced by a large number of things and artists. Being original isn’t the most important thing, as long as you’re happy with what you create. But to ensure you’re not merely copying what other people do, mix it up. Experiment. Try a large variety of styles. You’ll find that all of them will eventually find a place in yours. Style is one of the things that comes naturally. If you wish to do commercial art - for games, movies, etc. - it’s important to be able to be stylistically diverse, too.
One of my favourite stylistic exercises is drawing something a few times from life, then condensing what makes up that object’s primary feature’s and exaggerating them, like a caricature. E.g:
Your style is very unique to you, and I would suggest that if you are unhappy with it, perhaps instead look where your art is lacking on a technical level. That is usually where the problem lies.
Tutorials
Be wary of the “how to draw [insert object here]” tutorials, only use them for inspiration once you understand how lighting and perspective works. They only teach you how to draw like somebody else. Instead, I suggest you find photos of said object, or the object itself, and draw it from different angles, and in different lighting. It takes a thousand attempts at drawing something to master it, and that’s the same with any skill in life.
Warm up before diving in
Before diving into drawing, do warm-up exercises: draw 30 circles on a page really quickly, sketch some quick figures (such as http://www.posemaniacs.com/thirtysecond), or draw some squiggles, shapes, flashes from your imagination, so on so forth. You use muscles when you draw and they need warming up like any other muscle in your body, otherwise lines will come out more stiff than what they could be. Also, always remember to take breaks!
Lastly, remember: everyone learns differently. I learn very well from following things in exactly one order, but that doesn’t work for everyone, and that’s okay. Don’t feel guilty about switching the order up a bit. Experiment and find what works for you, whether that is video, live models, books, livestreams or physical mentors.
Personal improvements after following this advice
I’ve been drawing my whole life; I’m 26. But I stubbornly insisted I was good just because I drew a lot. in 2014, I decided to actually learn the basics- some 22 years into my drawing experience- because I was unhappy with where my art was at. Here are the results.
10 months apart
1 year apart
(higher res image here)
(higher res image here)
Best thing? The new versions took less time by at least 2x, because I knew what I was doing. Not only that, but I planned my artworks- did texture studies and compositional thumbnails. This is very important to do for large artworks. It will save you HOURS.
Personal preference is not technically technical improvement. Learn to differentiate between the two. I deliberately chose to differ some aspects from their originals because the originals did not get across the feeling that I, personally, was aiming for.
Some resources
http://krita.org A free digital painting tool for Linux and Windows. It’s my go-to for all my digital art.
http://mypaint.intilinux.com/ A free digital sketching tool for Linux and Windows. I use it for all my line-art. It has no transform tools and some beautiful pencil brushes, imitating real media.
https://www.youtube.com/user/Sycra For really in-depth tutorials on all the art basics.
https://www.youtube.com/user/FZDSCHOOL/playlists Incredibly useful videos by Feng Zhu, a hugely successful concept artist who’s been working in the field for decades, and who also runs his own concept art school.
Resources for finding free images you can use for references: http://search.creativecommons.org/ http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/ http://www.1millionfreepictures.com/ http://pickupimage.com/ http://animalphotos.info Book: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. Despite the title being scientifically inaccurate, the exercises are helpful.
http://conceptcookie.deviantart.com/gallery/ Some useful exercises, step-by-step breakdowns, and resources lie here.
Good luck!
—— | Patreon: http://goo.gl/z9Fb5s | | Commission info: http://goo.gl/1Wniar | | My worldbuilding projects: http://goo.gl/KLaUB6 |
Fight Sequences - Wonder Woman
This isn’t a post going in depth into the new Wonder Woman film. I’ll leave my overall opinions elsewhere, but I cannot stop thinking about the action/fight sequences. People. I love action and fight sequences. My eyes dilate, I squeal and bounce in my seat when watching a good one. Like, I honestly couldn’t tell you the plot of Season 2 Daredevil (zombies?), but I can damn well remember that fight in the stairwell.
They are such a great study of film basics on a micro scale: Pacing, Editing, Blocking, Camera Direction, Character, you name it. It’s fucking thrilling when it’s done well, and beyond frustrating when poorly-executed. Full rant below:
Keep reading
How to Give Your Story “Heart”
Here’s where things get fluffy. This is the moment you unleash your feelings, tap into your inner light, and weep onto the page, using your sparkling tears as ink. Ready?
Edna would never allow us to do that. And that’s good, because contrary to conventional wisdom, that’s not how you give your story heart. We’re going to do it the real way.
So if it isn’t raw emotion, what is “heart”?
1) It’s what your character NEEDS (not wants).
2) It’s the HIDDEN STORYLINE.
3) It’s what you want to TEACH.
Those sound intimidating, I know. But if you don’t treat it like a mystical magic, it’s very doable.
So, what do those mean?
1) NEED =
Your character has flaws that are ruining their life and future, right? Flaws in their heads that only hurt themselves, flaws in their characters that hurt other people. Something is missing within them, something they don’t understand, something they need to learn. Once they realize their flaws, and learn the thing that will overcome those flaws, their lives will be saved.
Take Mr Fredrickson from Up. He’s so grumpy and stubbornly stuck in the past, he’s willing to leave a small child clinging to the porch of his flying house, rather than let him into his life.
He needs to learn that in order to live a fulfilling life again, he must let go of the past, and go have another adventure. Which Ellie helps him learn.
Great. Now I’m crying.
2) HIDDEN STORYLINE =
It’s what the story is really about. The journey going on below the action-y surface. It’s your character’s inner change from one kind of person to a (hopefully) better kind. The reader believes the story is about the tangible goal, and the actions taken to reach it — the surface. Yet inwardly, they’re processing the hero’s inner journey too. It’s sneakily hidden from them.
On the surface, Hamilton is about a revolution and the founding of a nation.
Underneath all that, it’s about a guy learning what a worthwhile legacy really is, and how to build one.
3) TEACHING =
Storytelling is the most powerful teaching method ever devised. Scientifically speaking, teaching is the purpose of stories, whether we like it or not. This fact usually makes people react like Gollum when approached by nasty hobbitses.
“Moralizing, precious? We hates it!”
Which is a reflex aversion that I understand, and have shared in the past. Books and movies that teach something positive are scorned and mocked in the world of “high literature” too. But when I thought about what stories have done for me, and why they were capable of it, my opinion changed.
Tangled saved my life. If I had never seen that movie, I would still be in a horrible cult-like situation which I’d been trapped in for twelve years.
Narnia helped me escape depression.
The Harry Potter books were my home and my friends when I didn’t have either.
And those are all stories with strong hearts.
Why wouldn’t I want to create stories that could possibly help someone, like I was helped? Why would I let “avoid teaching at all costs” become my ultimate goal? (When really, that’s another way of saying “be pretentious and egotistical”?)
Nope. I’m choosing to write things that people will call schmaltzy and childish – but maybe life saving for another kid.
(I said I wasn’t going to get emotional. Sorry Edna.)
So, how do you figure out the heart of your story?
Answer these questions: — What does your character need to learn, to stop ruining their own life? — What do YOU want to say?
Keep reading
How to like yourself
1. Cultivate self-acceptance. That means you accept yourself for who you are right now. It means you don’t say things like “I would accept myself if … or … I’ll accept myself when.”
2. Stop going over all things you’ve done wrong, the mistakes you’ve made, and your (perceived) inadequacies.
3. Where there’s something in your past that you feel bad about say: “This is what I learned from that situation … And that was THEN and this is NOW.”
4. Don’t compare yourself to others . Instead notice the areas where you’ve grown and changed. Deliberately praise and focus on those positive changes.
5. Don’t fall into the trap of judging others – as that will often lead to being self-critical.
im going to have a stroke
Besides knowing your anatomy from head to toe, what’s often overlooked is the energetic flow, or movement it conforms to.
Throughout the structure of our body we find rhythm, and it’s what determines whether or not you’re able to bring your characters to life on the page.
Here’s an example that describes what I’m talking about in a visual sense. This especially applies to the dynamic poses you’ll draw for your Comic Book characters, and will help them to maintain their fluidity.
http://anatoref.tumblr.com/post/119355955476/legs-design-reference
Have a productive day Comic Artisans – and keep on creating ;)
-Clayton
#ITooAmHarvard is a project by Black students at Harvard to speak out about the racism that they experience in their daily lives as students. It will also be a play.
Pretty heartbreaking. These beautiful and bright students deserve so much better. Above I included some of the photographs (there’s many more) of Black women who are students there because I think it’s important to point out how racism is not only impacting Whites’ perception of their intelligence but also how White people approach their appearance as well, in gender-specific ways. This is heartbreaking to me albeit not surprising. The myth that working hard = happy payoff is a fairy tale. Racism is ubiquitous.
I really wish them the best with their education and the ability to navigate these microaggressions and overt acts of racism. This stuff increases stereotype threat and impacts mental health and health which impacts performance. I want the best for them. Much love. ❤
sure thing! ill throw something together quick (I should really be doing my homework but screw it)
Whenever I have low self esteem about my art I think back to this LinkedIn tutorial on on UX mockups to boost my confidence.
At age 23, Tina Fey was working at a YMCA. At age 23, Oprah was fired from her first reporting job. At age 24, Stephen King was working as a janitor and living in a trailer.
At age 27, Vincent Van Gogh failed as a missionary and decided to go to art school. At age 28, J.K. Rowling was a suicidal single parent living on welfare.
At age 28, Wayne Coyne ( from The Flaming Lips) was a fry cook. At age 30, Harrison Ford was a carpenter. At age 30, Martha Stewart was a stockbroker. At age 37, Ang Lee was a stay-at-home-dad working odd jobs. Julia Child released her first cookbook at age 39, and got her own cooking show at age 51. Vera Wang failed to make the Olympic figure skating team, didn’t get the Editor-in-Chief position at Vogue, and designed her first dress at age 40. Stan Lee didn’t release his first big comic book until he was 40. Alan Rickman gave up his graphic design career to pursue acting at age 42. Samuel L. Jackson didn’t get his first movie role until he was 46.
Morgan Freeman landed his first movie role at age 52. Kathryn Bigelow only reached international success when she made The Hurt Locker at age 57. Grandma Moses didn’t begin her painting career until age 76. Louise Bourgeois didn’t become a famous artist until she was 78. Whatever your dream is, it is not too late to achieve it. You aren’t a failure because you haven’t found fame and fortune by the age of 21. Hell, it’s okay if you don’t even know what your dream is yet. Even if you’re flipping burgers, waiting tables or answering phones today, you never know where you’ll end up tomorrow. Never tell yourself you’re too old to make it.
Never tell yourself you missed your chance.
Never tell yourself that you aren’t good enough.
You can do it. Whatever it is.
Relax, you will be okay.
Inspired by @lightheartedsuggestion
Go for the thing you actually want to do. Many students, teachers and family told me studying 2D animation in school from 2009- 2013 was foolish because there were already no more 2D animation jobs, and that I should study 3D animation. But I hate rigorous, technical work, I honestly hate computers all together. I’m not built for that kind of thinking, and I’m not interested in it. I was and am far more interested in drawing and film making than mastering technology. I’m almost four years out of school now, and have now had far better career opportunities than many of my 3D classmates because I am passionate about what I do.
My senior year of college, I narrowed the parts of the animation process that I am most interested in to writing and storyboarding. But, I was afraid to pursue those jobs because I knew from interning in studios that they were highly coveted positions. So, I went for cleanup and animation jobs, hoping to work my way up. I even got lucky and landed character design work down the line, though I’m not particularly interested in design. It was only when i started taking storyboarding classes, making storyboards in my spare time, pursuing storyboarding jobs, calling myself a storyboard artist, that those opportunities started to become available to me. And it turns out, I’m far better at storyboarding than I was at those other positions, because it’s the thing I enjoy the most. This is not to say “don’t take that cleanup job that pays the bills.” Take that job, and do online storyboarding classes at night, and read storyboarding blogs on your lunch break, make storyboard samples and comics in your free time on nights and weekends… Then, ask for storyboard tests, and test and test and test. It might take a while, no worries. Go ahead and put ‘storyboard artist’ on your website in the meantime instead of ‘illustrator’ or 'cleanup’ or whatever your more accurate fallback job is. Don’t work in a studio in your fallback job and wait for someone to give you the opportunity. You might think because you are hard working at your compromise job, the management will reward loyalty with the job you politely asked for, or maybe were even too polite to actually ask for. They won’t give you that job. They probably won’t even help you get that job. So test within that studio if they’ll let you, and apply other places in the meantime while you keep paying the bills with that job.
There’s no excuse to me. Even people who want to direct can direct their own animated shorts in their spare time and build up a commercial directing portfolio from those shorts. You can do the same thing making crappy live action films with borrowed equipment in your spare time. It’s costly and time consuming, but you can throw your musician friend a couple bucks for the score, get a compositor buddy to throw effects on your short in exchange for some animation she needs, and buy a bunch of friends pizza to help you clean up scenes or hold lights or whatever. I’ve done it before.
I used storyboards as an example above, (read blogs during lunch, etc.) but apply that same tenacity towards whatever you want to do: vis dev, character design, comic penciler, stop motion fabricator, 3D modeler, whatever. I want to be a writer now, that’s the next hurdle for me. I’ve written two pilots and I’m taking it seriously, going to writing events, talking to people, refining my work and writing new material, and generally conducting myself as a writer. I have no idea how long, or even if this will take, but I’m pursuing it like it’s real because I enjoy writing, so I think I’d be good at it. Please don’t be one of these people that talks about all the stuff you’re “working on”, when you are really just thinking about working on that stuff. Too many of those in the world, please just go and get things done. “There are those who write, and those who talk about writing.” An adage I like. Apply it to whatever you like “There are those who design characters, and those who talk about designing characters…”
So please, everyone, go for what you want, don’t stop short now. You’ll be a lot better at your job when you’re doing the thing you like.
So I want to get into animation but I can't even draw I can't choose between 2d and 3d and I'm confusedly dumbfounded because of the two above. Please, help me.
Gerda Lerner (1920-2013) , former Robinson Edwards Professor Emerita of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Gerda Lerner (1920-2013) Women and History (excerpt) -- A Thinking Allowed DVD w/ Jeffrey Mishlove
BUT, as regards women lawyers, I say: this focus on women lawyers’ attire is driven (once again, as in so many arenas) by the need for men to control women (and yes, women will police other women for them, as in the stilletto example above). Our culture still judges women, even the most powerful women, by a completely different standard (one inferior) to men: Diane Sawyer asking Hillary Clinton if she can be both a grandmother and president (did anyone ask Dwight Eisenhower that question when he was running?), the New York Times firing Jill Abrahamson because of her “abrasive” management style (did anyone fire Abe Rosenthal for being too abrasive?).
The fact of the matter is, professional women who have spent three years and tens of thousands of dollars are smart enough to pick out their own wardrobes without help. Women usually are aware of how they look, and what effect their clothes are intended to have. To those who complain about women’s courtroom attire, I say: you may not agree with her choices, you may not like them… but unless you really think a woman did not intend to present the appearance she does (there’s a run in the back of her tights, she has chalk on the seat of her pants, she is missing a button, or her skirt is hiked up in back) then keep your thoughts to yourself. Why not focus your energy on, oh… something that matters?
I’m curious what fellow lawblrs have heard as ‘advice’ regarding their attire. I’ve heard on several occasions not to wear skirts to interviews, as it makes us appear too ‘feminine.’
For subjects like history, geography, business and even the sciences like biology and chemistry, a lot of content needs to be memorised! These are just a few of my tips on how to memorise all of the information you need before your exam.
Repeating over time- In the best scenario, studying for a test three weeks ahead is the most optimal way to study. Usually, the process is memorising chunks two weeks before and doing past papers the week of. However, more often than not, this doesn’t end up happening because the weeks get hectic/busy so the max time before a test is probably 1.5-2 weeks. The next few points are more catered to that time period!
Palm cards- This I feel is the most common way of memorising things, by putting information on palm cards and taking them around with you to study on the train, bus, or wherever you go. The cons of this is to make sure that you don’t copy the information onto them in a passive way. You learn it over again when you write it out so make that opportunity count!
Teach content to others- I have learnt over the past few years that this is one of my favourite ways to memorise- give a family member, friend or anyone (even your pets) the notes and teach them the topic, point by point. If you can’t explain a topic in a simple way where the other person can understand, it indicates that you haven’t learnt the information properly or enough to explain it in a test situation.
Film yourself- Another of my personal favourites, read over your information one palm card/paragraph/page at a time, turn on your phone camera or photobooth (on Mac) and film yourself talking like you’re in a Youtube video. If you do this a lot, it really helps because it’s almost as if you’re talking to someone else, and speaking it out loud helps you memorise.
Writing out notes- It’s best to actually type out/write out notes as you go in class, but before tests I usually handwrite them out again. This emphasises this in your mind and you can also ensure that you have learnt everything that is on the syllabus. Making them pretty is a plus!
Watch videos and Podcasts- Youtube has so many great videos on any topic. My favourites are Khan Academy (most subjects) , Crashcourse (science and history), Lisa Study Guides (English), Stated Clearly (Biology) and Eddie Woo (Maths). If you’re a visual/auditory learner, these really help because it feels like you are learning the lesson again.
Active textbook reading- Read over the text books and annotate/highlight. However, you need to ensure that you are actually reading the text, not just highlighting the words.
I hope this helped anyone who has trouble memorising, good luck with all of your exams!
Jade
xx
Credit
One of the deepest feminine pleasures is when a man stands full, present, and unreactive in the midst of his woman’s emotional storms. When he stays present with her, and loves her through the layers of wildness and closure, then she feels his trustability, and she can relax.
Osho (via spirituallyminded)
THIS IS SO ME 😱
The flood.
Saturday, August 13th 2016 Denham Springs, Louisiana Me and my friends were frantically texting each other, trying to get a hold of one another. We had no idea if they had gone under or if they were okay. One of my friends texted me saying “There is no water here, I am safe.” The same friend twenty minutes later texted me saying “My house is under water.” I have never been so scared in my entire life, I had no idea if my house was going to go under or not, or if some of my friends were even still alive. Many of my friends houses were full of water, them stranded on their roofs. I watched on the news as I saw the only town I have ever lived in be destroyed by water. My high school started filling up with water. Everyone was terrified. The most sickening feeling was getting text messages saying “Kayla, I am scared. I don’t know if I am going to be okay.”
Sunday, August 14th 2016 Denham Springs, Louisiana I woke up and looked out my window. I screamed when I saw the water had risen three feet. I ran outside to see the water was four inches from coming into my house. I checked on my friends, everyone I knew had lost everything or was stranded in their houses. There was no way to get out of my house, the water was chest deep and the currents were strong. Even if we wanted to leave, we couldn’t. We were stranded. The water started to rise, and then the rain came. The water started leaking into my house. I was scared. I was so scared. Soon after the water started coming up through the floors, the water stood at a stand-still. It stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity. I had no idea if it would rise suddenly, taking all of my belongings and memories with it, just like it did to my friend’s. The water then fell a foot. The water was no longer in my house, but stayed very high throughout the day. The threat was still there. We then began to realize that we had little food and water. We scavenged whatever we could from my house to make a small dinner for my family. I looked on the news, only to see that my school had been flooded over the roof. The school that only a few days prior I was laughing and learning at. I saw everything. I saw the neighborhoods and shops flooded up to the rooftops. I saw the children and babies being rescued by helicopters from a deadly situation. I saw the amazing Coast Guard and National Guard rescuing people by boat and helicopter. I saw residents going out, risking their own lives to save the lives of others. I saw thousands of people homeless with nothing to their name except the clothes on their backs and the children in their arms. I saw heartbreak, all across my city. All across my state.
Monday, August 15th 2016 Denham Springs, Louisiana Today I wake up and the water has dropped two feet. I am one of the lucky ones, and I am eternally grateful. Many of my friends remain in shelters, unable to leave. There is no way to get out of the city. The roads are flooded and broken. I am so thankful that my friends are now safe, and out of harms way. I am stranded in my home, still unable to leave. Still unable to get food. I am so saddened by this destruction and this terrible situation we are all in. The places we made these memories at may be gone, but the memories will never be washed away. My heart is broken, but my spirits are not. I know we will come out of this strong. It will take a long time to rebuild my city, but the community is stronger than ever. We must rejoice that our family and friends have come out of this alive, not be mournful of the items we have lost. Items and buildings are replaceable but our lives are not.
I started animation at the age of 11. And I finished my first film when I was 14.
Brad Bird (Director/Writer of The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille) from his interview with Johannes Wolters. (via animationdesk)
Sounds nice but it's not really encouraging for me. I'm 17, I want to be an animation director one day and I only started drawing this year.
Change copyright law!!
Change The Toon
There is a stigma that limits 2D/hand-drawn animation to just kids’ programs and comedy. The stereotype is so commonly upheld that animation is often considered a genre or category, rather than a medium of filmmaking that is capable of producing works in any genre. There doesn’t seem to be a spot at the table for sophisticated and mature animated works within our industry at large.
Whether you agree with it or not, the fact remains animation is the bastard child of film. The industry treats animation as that weird kid in school that no one wants to play with because they don’t know which camp they belong to. Is animation the class clown, the stoner kid in the back of the room or some weird otaku? How about none of the above. It’s the super genius lone wolf who’s worldly and intelligent. Deep and poetic.
I believe that animation can be sophisticated, elegant, intelligent, and mature – that its dramatic value and philosophical impact can rival the best live action pieces. In a sense, I want to help hand-drawn animation grow up – to show that it can have a spot at the table. It can be more than just slapstick.
If you’re tired of that same old song and dance the industry makes animation play to… Change the toon.
If you agree, share this message.
If you want do help us make that change, check out what we’re doing here: bit.ly/beambitious
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