Whatever It Is You Try, Wherever It Is You Go, Keep At It. 

Ska! How do you ink your traditional drawings? And. Would you mind sharing some tips for traditional?

Yes of course, thank you for asking! ; 7 ; / To start, don’t think you need expensive tools to draw traditionally, even just a $1-$2 ink pen or sharpie can look nice against paper! The tools I usually use for all my ink work is a red color pencil, $2 ball-point ink pen, and a sharpie (occasionally white out)! If you’re like me (someone who has trouble doing a large-scale picture and do better with smaller thumbnails), I would suggest to buy yourself a small canvas sketch journal! 

It’s a lil beat up, but this is what I use! It works well with sharpies/ink and feels great to draw on! As for sketching, I find red color pencil sketching looking better than a regular pencil! It feels like guidelines and makes the black ink pop out more! Here’s a comparison with an old doodle! 

A great way to make your lines look nicer is extra line weight! I usually give my outlines an extra stroke with the pen to make the lines thicker on the outside, and you might also want to go over your lines twice if your ink is not dark enough! ; 3 ; / I also occasionally use whiteout to fix mistakes or add lil stars/sparkle by dipping a toothpick in it. 

The next thing I suggest is using an app called CamScanner! It uses your camera to capture your pictures but defines the lines/colors better and works great if you want to use the lines as lineart when you scan it to color digitally (don’t think you need a tablet to color it! Half of this picture was colored with my tiny trackpad. You can totes do it with time and effort)! Here’s another comparison!

CamScanner on the left, and regular camera on the right! It also changes lighting, crops pictures (I had to crop the right one on sai), changes toning, and even fixes angled shots for you! It works wonderful and I recommend it! The last thing is that please have fun and take your time! 

I think that’s about it! Sorry if I went a lil long! Of course, I’m not a professional and obviously there’s probably more benefits with professional tools, but this is my process! Thanks so much for asking! <3

So You Need To Buy A Computer But You Don't Know What Specs Are Good These Days

Hi.

This is literally my job.

Lots of people are buying computers for school right now or are replacing computers as their five-year-old college laptop craps out so here's the standard specs you should be looking for in a (windows) computer purchase in August 2023.

PROCESSOR

Intel i5 (no older than 10th Gen)

Ryzen 7

You can get away with a Ryzen 5 but an intel i3 should be an absolute last resort. You want at least an intel i5 or a Ryzen 7 processor. The current generation of intel processors is 13, but anything 10 or newer is perfectly fine. DO NOT get a higher performance line with an older generation; a 13th gen i5 is better than an 8th gen i7. (Unfortunately I don't know enough about ryzens to tell you which generation is the earliest you should get, but staying within 3 generations is a good rule of thumb)

RAM

8GB absolute minimum

If you don't have at least 8GB RAM on a modern computer it's going to be very, very slow. Ideally you want a computer with at least 16GB, and it's a good idea to get a computer that will let you add or swap RAM down the line (nearly all desktops will let you do this, for laptops you need to check the specs for Memory and see how many slots there are and how many slots are available; laptops with soldered RAM cannot have the memory upgraded - this is common in very slim laptops)

STORAGE

256GB SSD

Computers mostly come with SSDs these days; SSDs are faster than HDDs but typically have lower storage for the same price. That being said: SSDs are coming down in price and if you're installing your own drive you can easily upgrade the size for a low cost. Unfortunately that doesn't do anything for you for the initial purchase.

A lot of cheaper laptops will have a 128GB SSD and, because a lot of stuff is stored in the cloud these days, that can be functional. I still recommend getting a bit more storage than that because it's nice if you can store your music and documents and photos on your device instead of on the cloud. You want to be able to access your files even if you don't have internet access.

But don't get a computer with a big HDD instead of getting a computer with a small SSD. The difference in speed is noticeable.

SCREEN (laptop specific)

Personally I find that touchscreens have a negative impact on battery life and are easier to fuck up than standard screens. They are also harder to replace if they get broken. I do not recommend getting a touch screen unless you absolutely have to.

A lot of college students especially tend to look for the biggest laptop screen possible; don't do that. It's a pain in the ass to carry a 17" laptop around campus and with the way that everything is so thin these days it's easier to damage a 17" screen than a 14" screen.

On the other end of that: laptops with 13" screens tend to be very slim devices that are glued shut and impossible to work on or upgrade.

Your best bet (for both functionality and price) is either a 14" or a 15.6" screen. If you absolutely positively need to have a 10-key keyboard on your laptop, get the 15.6". If you need something portable more than you need 10-key, get a 14"

FORM FACTOR (desktop specific)

If you purchase an all-in-one desktop computer I will begin manifesting in your house physically. All-in-ones take away every advantage desktops have in terms of upgradeability and maintenance; they are expensive and difficult to repair and usually not worth the cost of disassembling to upgrade.

There are about four standard sizes of desktop PC: All-in-One (the size of a monitor with no other footprint), Tower (Big! probably at least two feet long in two directions), Small Form Factor Tower (Very moderate - about the size of a large shoebox), and Mini/Micro/Tiny (Small! about the size of a small hardcover book).

If you are concerned about space you are much better off getting a MicroPC and a bracket to put it on your monitor than you are getting an all-in-one. This will be about a million percent easier to work on than an all-in-one and this way if your monitor dies your computer is still functional.

Small form factor towers and towers are the easiest to work on and upgrade; if you need a burly graphics card you need to get a full size tower, but for everything else a small form factor tower will be fine. Most of our business sales are SFF towers and MicroPCs, the only time we get something larger is if we have to put a $700 graphics card in it. SFF towers will accept small graphics cards and can handle upgrades to the power supply; MicroPCs can only have the RAM and SSD upgraded and don't have room for any other components or their own internal power supply.

WARRANTY

Most desktops come with either a 1 or 3 year warranty; either of these is fine and if you want to upgrade a 1 year to a 3 year that is also fine. I've generally found that if something is going to do a warranty failure on desktop it's going to do it the first year, so you don't get a hell of a lot of added mileage out of an extended warranty but it doesn't hurt and sometimes pays off to do a 3-year.

Laptops are a different story. Laptops mostly come with a 1-year warranty and what I recommend everyone does for every laptop that will allow it is to upgrade that to the longest warranty you can get with added drop/damage protection. The most common question our customers have about laptops is if we can replace a screen and the answer is usually "yes, but it's going to be expensive." If you're purchasing a low-end laptop, the parts and labor for replacing a screen can easily cost more than half the price of a new laptop. HOWEVER, the way that most screens get broken is by getting dropped. So if you have a warranty with drop protection, you just send that sucker back to the factory and they fix it for you.

So, if it is at all possible, check if the manufacturer of a laptop you're looking at has a warranty option with drop protection. Then, within 30 days (though ideally on the first day you get it) of owning your laptop, go to the manufacturer site, register your serial number, and upgrade the warranty. If you can't afford a 3-year upgrade at once set a reminder for yourself to annually renew. But get that drop protection, especially if you are a college student or if you've got kids.

And never, ever put pens or pencils on your laptop keyboard. I've seen people ruin thousand dollar, brand-new laptops that they can't afford to fix because they closed the screen on a ten cent pencil. Keep liquids away from them too.

LIFESPAN

There's a reasonable chance that any computer you buy today will still be able to turn on and run a program or two in ten years. That does not mean that it is "functional."

At my office we estimate that the functional lifespan of desktops is 5-7 years and the functional lifespan of laptops is 3-5 years. Laptops get more wear and tear than desktops and desktops are easier to upgrade to keep them running. At 5 years for desktops and 3 years for laptops you should look at upgrading the RAM in the device and possibly consider replacing the SSD with a new (possibly larger) model, because SSDs and HDDs don't last forever.

COST

This means that you should think of your computers as an annual investment rather than as a one-time purchase. It is more worthwhile to pay $700 for a laptop that will work well for five years than it is to pay $300 for a laptop that will be outdated and slow in one year (which is what will happen if you get an 8th gen i3 with 8GB RAM). If you are going to get a $300 laptop try to get specs as close as possible to the minimums I've laid out here.

If you have to compromise on these specs, the one that is least fixable is the processor. If you get a laptop with an i3 processor you aren't going to be able to upgrade it even if you can add more RAM or a bigger SSD. If you have to get lower specs in order to afford the device put your money into the processor and make sure that the computer has available slots for upgrade and that neither the RAM nor the SSD is soldered to the motherboard. (one easy way to check this is to search "[computer model] RAM upgrade" on youtube and see if anyone has made a video showing what the inside of the laptop looks like and how much effort it takes to replace parts)

Computers are expensive right now. This is frustrating, because historically consumer computer prices have been on a downward trend but since 2020 that trend has been all over the place. Desktop computers are quite expensive at the moment (August 2023) and decent laptops are extremely variably priced.

If you are looking for a decent, upgradeable laptop that will last you a few years, here are a couple of options that you can purchase in August 2023 that have good prices for their specs:

14" Lenovo - $670 - 11th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD

15.6" HP - $540 - 11th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD

14" Dell - $710 - 12th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD

If you are looking for a decent, affordable desktop that will last you a few years, here are a couple of options that you can purchase in August 2023 that have good prices for their specs:

SFF HP - $620 - 10th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD

SFF Lenovo - $560 - Ryzen 7 5000 series, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD

Dell Tower - $800 - 10th-gen i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD

If I were going to buy any of these I'd probably get the HP laptop or the Dell Tower. The HP Laptop is actually a really good price for what it is.

Anyway happy computering.

my favorite clip studio assets!

since i’ve been using csp a lot more now i thought i’d make a post of the assets i use the most for ppl looking for good stuff!

general brushes: Pen + Caspar Pen (かしペン＋カスレかしペン) (my fav pen for sure) Erase Along Edge (YOU NEEED THIS ERASER YOU NEED IT!!!) Freehand Style Brush Set (フリーハンド風ブラシセット) (cant recommend this one highly enough, i use it for all my backgrounds) Bong pen OBONGBONG’S PEN Halftones (スルスル塗れる5線刻みトーンブラシ) A non-shin pen (しんでないペン) SU-Cream Pencil Noisy Ink Brush v2 Simple Retro Halftone Brushes Smeared Paintbrush (べっとり絵筆) A breather pen (一息ペン) Aj’s Pencil Set Watercolor set (수채화 세트) T-marker Wind Brush Set (Tマーカー風ブラシセット) Watercolor marker ▲ ■ and texture set (水彩マーカー●▲■とテクスチャーセット)

special effect and decorative brushes: Tights Pen (タイツペン) Glitch Brushes 2 (彩塵ブラシ(Prism Dust) Hand-painted effect set No. 2 (手描き効果セットNo.2) Oriental Emblem 11-20 (동양 문양 11-20) (this creator has so many amazing assets ive downloaded them all) Ribon brushes (りぼんブラシ) Lace Set レース セット Ornate lace Bramble (rose-玫瑰叢) Loose hand-painted sprinkle brush (ゆるゆる手描きのふりかけブラシ) Bush pen (수풀 펜) Fantasy Papers Pearl Brush (真珠ブラシ)

gradient maps: Gradient map set for hologram (홀로그램용 그라데이션 맵 세트) Yunywave★ Gradient Set cb gradients 3 ONG SET

3D: The Only Perspective Grid You Need! 3d sketch head Movable horse 1.8 A (可動のお馬 1.8a) Sitting poses collection (便利かもしれない座りポーズ集)

misc: Raiku RGB Shift Hand-drawn Rags tool Set (手描きのボロ線ツールセット) VHS action set

LONGHENA, Baldassare San Giorgio Monastery: Staircase 1641-43 Photo Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice

This is a dog running around out neighborhood. Everytime I drive near him he gives me this look... Or at leat it feels like it.

Hey look, actual "unique" questions

1: Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?

2: Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotel?

3: Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out?

4: Have you ever stolen a street sign before?

5: Do you like to use post-it notes?

6: Do you cut out coupons but then never use them?

7: Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of a bees?

8: Do you have freckles?

9: Do you always smile for pictures?

10: What is your biggest pet peeve?

11: Do you ever count your steps when you walk?

12: Have you ever peed in the woods?

13: What about pooped in the woods?

14: Do you ever dance even if theres no music playing?

15: Do you chew your pens and pencils?

16: How many people have you slept with this week?

17: What size is your bed?

18: What is your Song of the week?

19: Is it okay for guys to wear pink?

20: Do you still watch cartoons?

21: Whats your least favorite movie?

22: Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had some?

23: If you're a girl, bra size? If you're a guy, pants size?

24: What do you dip a chicken nugget in?

25: What is your favorite food?

26: What movies could you watch over and over and still love?

27: Last person you kissed/kissed you?

28: Were you ever a boy/girl scout?

29: Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine?

30: When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper?

31: Can you change the oil on a car?

32: Ever gotten a speeding ticket?

33: Ever ran out of gas?

34: Favorite kind of sandwich?

35: Best thing to eat for breakfast?

36: What is your usual bedtime?

37: Are you lazy?

38: When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween?

39: What is your Chinese astrological sign?

40: Are you horny?

41: Do you have any magazine subscriptions?

42: Which are better legos or lincoln logs?

43: Are you stubborn?

44: Who is better...Leno or Letterman?

45: Ever watch soap operas?

46: Are you afraid of heights?

47: Do you sing in the car?

48: Do you sing in the shower?

49: Do you dance in the car?

50: Ever used a gun?

51: Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer?

52: Do you think musicals are cheesy?

53: Is Christmas stressful?

54: Ever eat a pierogi?

55: Favorite type of fruit pie?

56: Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid?

57: Do you believe in ghosts?

58: Ever have a Deja-vu feeling?

59: Take a vitamin daily?

60: Wear slippers?

61: Wear a bath robe?

62: What do you wear to bed?

63: First concert?

64: Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart?

65: Nike or Adidas?

66: Cheetos Or Fritos?

67: Peanuts or Sunflower seeds?

68: Ever hear of the group Tres Bien?

69: Ever take dance lessons?

70: Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing?

71: Can you curl your tongue?

72: Ever won a spelling bee?

73: Have you ever cried because you were so happy?

74: Own any record albums?

75: Own a record player?

76: Regularly burn incense?

77: Ever been in love?

78: Who would you like to see in concert?

79: What was the last concert you saw?

80: Hot tea or cold tea?

81: Tea or coffee?

82: Sugar or snickerdoodles?

83: Can you swim well?

84: Can you hold your breath without holding your nose?

85: Are you patient?

86: DJ or band, at a wedding?

87: Ever won a contest?

88: Ever have plastic surgery?

89: Which are better black or green olives?

90: Can you knit or crochet?

91: Best room for a fireplace?

92: Do you want to get married?

93: If married, how long have you been married?

94: Who was your HS crush?

95: Do you cry and throw a fit until you get your own way?

96: Do you have kids?

97: Do you want kids?

98: Whats your favorite color?

99: Do you miss anyone right now?

Happy International Asexuality Day!!

💚💜♠️ sending so much love to any tumblr folk who are on the asexual &/or aromantic spectrums like me. ♠️💜💚

♠️What is Asexuality?♠️

An Asexual is a person who rarely or never experiences sexual attraction. They are not drawn to people sexually and do not feel compelled to act on attraction to others in a sexual way. Asexuality does not preclude you from experiencing other types of attraction (including romantic attraction) to people of the same or different gender to yourself, or define whether you want to be in a committed relationship.

💜Why is awareness important? 💜

An absence of attraction is much harder to define than a presence; and lack of awareness means many people have no idea that there are words to describe their experiences or others who feel the same. While the term has been in common use since the 1960s, many people are well over the age of 25 when they first hear the word - especially if they experience romantic attraction to the opposite gender and haven’t had much exposure to the broader LGBTIQAP+ community. When you’re told all of your life that romantic feelings about someone are inextricably linked to sexual attraction it can be confusing when your experiences don’t seem to match. It can also be hard to tell what is hyperbole and what are thoughts that allosexual (the opposite of asexual) people have the intention of doing?

There is are strong social and cultural messages which use the development of sexual thoughts, sexual relationships and having children as markers of age and maturity. It can be difficult to express a lack of sexual desire without being invalidated or challenged by the people around you or your own built in expectation that sex is fundamental to being human. Are you medically or psychologically unwell? Are you repressed? Broken? Prudish? A late bloomer? Will this “all make sense” when I meet “the right person”?

While most identities on the LGBTIQAP+ spectrum are becoming better protected from medicalisation and psychiatric diagnosis - Asexuality has a long way to go.

It is still very common for people who are questioning or on the Asexuality spectrum to be offered medical testing and treatment aimed at curing their Asexuality. Most GPs still routinely recommend blood tests to check hormone levels, assessment for depression or other mental illnesses, recommend counselling or prescribe medication to boost libido.

.

♠️Celibacy Vs Asexuality♠️

Celibacy is like being on a diet. You still want to have sex and have sexual thoughts about others but are choosing not to act on them at that time. Whether it’s based on your beliefs or availability of a suitable partner varies but that desire is still present even if intentionally suppressed.

Asexuality is like not experiencing hunger because you’re already eaten enough. You don’t have sexual thoughts about others or feel compelled to act on them.

💜Attraction Vs Libido💜

Libido is typically the amount that you think about sex and how much you want to engage in sexual activities either partnered or solo. Libido is on a spectrum for people of all sexual orientations. They normally range from high to low. Libido can fluctuate and change over the lifespan and it can be influenced by hormone levels as well as some medications.

Attraction is usually whether your libido is directed at a particular person or type of person. Attraction can also be seen as the extent to which you want to act on sexual thoughts about a particular person.

Asexual people can and do experience a range of libidos from high to low. However they do not experience attraction, therefore are less likely to feel compelled to act on it and rarely associate it with a specific person.

♠️Attitudes towards Sex♠️

Asexuality is a wide spectrum, individual wants and needs vary but all are valid and normal.

In broad terms: Some asexuals are sex positive, they may not experience hunger but still get pleasure out of sharing a meal with someone. Some asexuals are ambivalent towards sex, it’s something they can take or leave. Some asexuals are completely or partially repelled by the idea of personally participating in sexual activity with a partner.

Resources:

Asexuality Visability & Education Network (AVEN) www.Asexuality.org

‘Finding Asexuality in the Archives’ by Michael Waters (Article on the history of Asexuality)

‘Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex’ by Angela Chen (Nonfiction book) http://www.angelachen.org/ace.html

The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality by Julie Sondra Decker (Nonfiction Book)

A-Ok Podcast (30-60 min interviews with people on the Asexual &/or Aromantic Spectrums) https://www.aokpod.com

There are a lot of fictional books for adults and teens with asexual characters & if anyone is interested I can provide links 😊

Enstars x heels

The series I’ve been posting on twitter!

How fucking annoying is it when you feel so restless with creative energy but you can’t decide what to do with it and when you finally try to create something it comes out shit so you just give up and sit there being all creatively annoyed and jittery.

stay alive not because your mother will never stop crying but because you can look up at the sky on a sunny day and see the clouds moving by and you’ll take a moment to wonder if it is because the earth is spinning or because the wind is blowing stay alive so you can answer that question stay alive so you can ask someone else that question, then wow them by knowing the answer or be wowed that they already knew it as well stay alive because you’re never too old to look up at the sky and see figures in the shapes of clouds a cumulonimbus that looks like a dog will never fail to make you smile stay alive not because your father will blame himself for the loss of his baby but because your favorite band might come out with a new song or your favorite show might get renewed for a new season or your favorite person might like your tweet on twitter stay alive because the future is unclear and that may seem terrifying, not knowing what’s to come, but it’s worth taking that chance gambling is never a safe bet but the house always wins and you, my dear, are the house stay alive not because your best friend will never forgive themselves for losing you but because of the feeling you get when you do see your best friend that calmness, that peace, that happiness – that feeling is genuine happiness and yes, you are capable of experiencing it you’re allowed to experience it you’re allowed to be happy stay alive because you’re allowed to be happy and there are countless reasons to feel that joy radiate like sunbeams like licking melted ice cream off of your hand as it drips from the cone or the way the world slowly changes from green to orange in autumn or seeing the first snowfall of winter or that first sip of a hot beverage when you’re absolutely freezing or wearing your favorite underwear or finally seeing the Big Dipper at night or the perfect amount of Parmesan cheese on top of your pasta or your pet crawling into your lap stay alive because at least one of those things make you happy and you should experience it one more time stay alive not because i’ll miss you but because one day life will feel the way a brand new notebook feels - intimidating, but exciting and more importantly, a fresh start stay alive because you deserve to be around for that fresh start

(cc, 2017)