It was bad enough to realise that your life is a work of fiction. But it was truly awful to realise that the author is 12.
That’s your first thought anyway. You watch the world bloom around you in short bursts and think that you’re fucked. You think that there’s no way that you’re going to be able to live the sort of life you always imagined for yourself. You think that this is all that there will ever be in your world; a decent setting, unsettling exclamations, and so many plot holes that you’ve been to a psychiatrist twice to get checked for memory problems. You think your life is going to be inconsistent, sloppy and incomprehensible.
You’re wrong.
After a year, you notice that there are more people in your life. Your job isn’t solely populated by your boss, the secretary and the janitor who killed your best friend five years ago (which you can’t remember). Now there’s a woman named Mary-lee in the cubicle next to yours and a man named Gonzalez who works in a whole other department. Your company only had one department last year. Now it’s got two.
You stop shouting quite so much and you stop feeling the need to smirk every time you see someone making a fool of themselves. Your words are more reasoned now, more natural, and you find your conversations lasting longer with your new coworkers and neighbors. Your city grows, suburbs springing up overnight. The trees start losing their leaves in the fall and it’s not always night time when bad news arrives.
Your eyes aren’t orbs anymore, they’re just eyes.
When you run into your estranged brother in the hall of your apartment building, you wait for the ridiculous explanation for why he’d move in with you. Maybe every other house in the city is full? Maybe he didn’t know you lived there? Maybe it just “be like that sometimes?”
Turns out he’s not moving in. The woman he’s dating lives two doors down and he’s just as surprised as you. Small world.
Yes, it’s a bit contrived. Yes, it’s a little out of the blue. But, you realize, that’s how stories go. Sometimes they’re out of the blue. Making the out of the blue seem normal? That’s the mark of a true storyteller.
They’re getting better, you realize, watching your brother walk away. A lot better.
They’ve been writing your life everyday. You don’t know why you didn’t think about that. Of course they’re getting better. Through plot struggles and unpleasant writer’s block, they’ve stuck with you and your story.
Through everything, every shred of doubt, every shiny new idea, every criticism, they’ve stuck with you. They’ve worked hard to build your life around you. They’ve put in the time to get better, to give you better dialogue and a brilliant place to live and an exciting life.
They’ve grown for you.
Thank the author that you were lucky enough to grow with them.
Are you a “my tarot deck learned to speak just to tell me I’m a bitch but it’s ok” witch or a “if my tarot deck was a person I’d kill them with my bare hands” witch
Anonymous asked: I'm not sure if anyone has asked this before, but what is your process you take to make such amazing scenery in your art? As an aspiring artist I kinda struggle with it. Your art is so beautiful and blows me away. I love how you manage to make my heartache in the best way with every knew environment you create. I hope one day I can even be a fraction as good an artist as you. 💜👌
Hey, thank you so much! ❤️ I’m absolutely sure that if you work hard you can do anything I can do.
For most of my work I’ll start with a prompt (either from a client or any idea I have, maybe something I’ve had rolling around in the back of my mind or in an old sketchbook), and then do some research to build on that vague idea (looking at photos for lighting or color ideas, movie stills, my reference/inspiration folders, googling specific items or locations, maybe listening to music or audiobooks that will set the mood haha.)* With all those thoughts in mind I start sketching out ideas and compositions, until I figure out the best way to fit everything I want into one sketch. At that point all that’s left is finishing up the final image however you want. :)
The process that works best for me might be different for you though - most this came from a combination of practice and experimentation, noticing the tiny specifics of what you find interesting and fun in the world around you and in other people’s art, a love for movies and comics and stories that have a strong sense of place (for me that’s Daisuke Igaraishi & Irie Aki’s manga, Ghibli & Cartoon Saloon & Laika’s movies, Over the Garden Wall, etc), and maybe a little anxious inclination for escapism haha.
For more specific technical advice, you could also scroll through my ask tag or wip/process tags!
(*Here’s 2 examples of how I use references - these stick a little more closely to the photo ref than I usually do, since I took the photos myself! I’d also highly recommend Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist book/blog posts, which have tons of great thoughts on the artistic process, & really informed my work when I was starting out)
