A Cold Ride Home.

Why do artists refuse to use references why why why.

It’s not a contest to see who can get by without them. It’s not cheating to look at a thing in order to know what the thing looks like.

You don’t get stronger or better by pretending. Nobody is impressed by the awkward whatever-it-is you just drew. Use references.

Ethereal Scarves By El Costurero Real

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Fangirl Challenge || 1/5 Male Characters: Ardeth Bay ↳The Mummy (1999) & The Mummy Returns (2001)

Malachite, Pseudomalachite

Cu2CO3(OH)2, Cu5(PO4)2(OH)4

Locality:

Mociços Mine, Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Alandroal, Évora District, Portugal

Field of View: 5.4 mm

Arborescent aggregates (like trees) of malachite crystals on pseudomalachite.

Pedro Alves’ Photo

Solar System by Jian Guo on inprnt

See more illustration

So Super Awesome is also on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram

Manhattan Project Glass from Hanford, Washington

This glass was used at the Hanford Washington Manhattan Project location, one of the biggest and most undercover operations the United States military has ever done. It started during WWII in the late 30’s and went on through the cold war era. There were three main facilities around the nation that took part in the making of the first atomic bombs. At Hanford, they created the first plutonium ever to exist, which went into the Trinity bomb in New Mexico, the first man-made nuclear blast, and the plutonium for the Fat Man Bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

This piece is 70% lead with a deep yellow color. It comes on basalt pillar base, cut flat, polished top, core drilled with a LED light set into the stone to illuminate the specimen. The base is 8" in diameter and 34" tall.  Approximate weight of display is 200lbs.

When a videogame character calls you their friend:

When a videogame character calls you their family:

DARK SOULS III >> Rings

Creating plots with the zigzag method

I’ve learned this method years ago and I’ve been using it ever since. The zigzag plot creator starts like this: 

An crescent zigzag. 

You can have as many up and downs as you want. I’ve drawn six to keep it simple. Alright, this zigzag is your storyline and every corner is an important event that will change everything:

Every down represents a bad thing happening to your main characters, taking them further away from their goal. Every up is a good event, taking them closer to their goal:

So, when the zigzag goes down, something bad must happen. When the zigzag goes up, something good must happen. The reason why we drew a crescent zigzag is because every down must be worse than the previous, and every up must be better than the previous. As the zigzag advances, events become more serious and relevant. 

Let’s apply the zigzag method. My storyline is a detective trying to catch a serial killer in a futuristic city. Minutes later, this is what I’ve got:

Start: Detective, our protagonist, is just promoted

Down #1: Mass suicide happens in town, detective gets the case, the whole town thinks it might have been a religious suicide act, but detective suspects that someone single-handed killed all those people

Up #1: Detective finds clue about a possible killer

Down #2: A bigger mass murder happens, a true massacre, it’s a definitely a murder

Up #2: Detective finds the killer’s trail

Down #3: Thinking he is ahead of time, close to catching the killer, detective ends up dead in another mass murder

Up #3: Because of his notes and discoveries, the police is able to find the killer before they leave town

From this point on you can play with zigzag as much as you want. For example, changing the orientation of the zigzag for a bad ending:

Lots of ups and downs:

Or just a few:

It’s up to you (see what I did there?).

You can plot any type of story with the zigzag method. It’s a visual and easy process for a very complex task.