lokisbur

Latest Posts by lokisbur

I have recently received another ask about my canvas pulling and since I've been thinking about making a serious tutorial for a while now, I took the opportunity to take some pics and vids while finishing the tree. Do please enjoy :3

1. Why pulling out canvas at all?

Primarily, this is a fantastic technique to apply cross stitch patterns directly to the item you want OR to make patches from old jeans, like this one:

With small patterns I usually don't bother to sew the canvas prior to embroidering, like with the pupper above. In case of the bigger patterns, I usually sew it lightly on the edges just to keep the canvas in one place. The more stretchy the material type is, the more important it's going to be to keep it in place.

2. Why not use a soluble canvas?

I'm sure you can and that they'll be as successful as the regular one 😁 However, as I mentioned in my previous posts here and here, I prefer to err on the side of cheaper, hence the tutorial.

3. Okay. I'm convinced - I even have a pattern embroidered on! What's next?

With small patterns (like the doggo earlier) it's going to be pretty easy. You just pull the threads one by one - preferably starting on the thinnest part of the pattern - and you may not even need the pliers. The fun (?) is with the large pieces, because the canvas has on average quite fragile threads and they like to break. Note - the canvas I'm using and I suppose most of the existing canvas types, will have four threads per one embroidery row. It's usually easier to pull one first and then the other three, bit that may vary when, for example, you managed to pierce the thread during stitching phase earlier 😉

If you were already careful during the stitching, you paid extra attention to embroider EXACTLY between the canvas threads and avoid piercing them at all. There are two benefits to that being extra careful: one, it's easier to pull it out later; two, the stitching gains an extra precision to it (and it looks great!). I recently discover that the round tip needle is making it much easier and if you're interested, there's a separate post about it as well!

On to the process! You can see from the pictures how I started with cutting out a piece of canvas that I can later reuse for something small (recycling is my hobby 🤷🏻‍♀️). I also pulled loose threads from around the tree:

Next part was to clean up the trunk and the grass on the right:

I then cut off the excess to avoid the threads tangling and slowly moved to the sides of the leaves on right and left:

You'll notice that the last photo has the thread pulled halfway through the pattern. That's because on this stage it's usually impossible to simply pull the thread out - even with the pliers it is just going to break off. I use a needle to pluck it from between the embroidery like this:

If you're more of the visual learner, I made this vid that I hope explains the process in more detail. You'll notice that I'm using my fingers and not the pliers here, because it's faster than to switch between tools.

And finally, when you're left with single direction threads like these, it's just a matter of pulling them out one by one.

And that's it! The final product looks clean and neat, AND you will notice that without the canvas beneath it's also getting a bit of volume that looks cool (and helps even out small mistakes you may have made along the way).

Thanks for reading this far! Let me know if there's something else I forgot to explain 😊

Hi there this is a psa by your local mixed kid

Mixed rep in the media as a whole is kinda a fucking disaster so I'm definitely encouraging people to write more diverse mixed race characters!!! That being said give this handy dandy little guide a read to make sure you have a basic idea of what you're doing. And also. Y'know. Maybe dont make your mixed characters nonhuman. Just a thought

EDIT: I put latina instead of Filipina for Vanessa Hudgens, that's my mistake and I'm truly sorry about it. PLEASE reblog this fixed version instead

reminder to worldbuilders: don't get caught up in things that aren't important to the story you're writing, like plot and characters! instead, try to focus on what readers actually care about: detailed plate tectonics

I think I wrote the first Norwegian fanwork on SquidgeWorld? The language wasn't listed...

My Krita brushes are out next week!

Releasing Officially on the 4th of April..... My first Krita brushpack will be available for free on my ko-fi! The pack includes 18 unique brushes for sketching, rendering, and lining.

Weekly art tip: Drawing folds! 

Hope you guys enjoy it  I’ve put a lot work to make this ^^

I tried to make it as simple as possible :)

Natural Black Hair Tutorial! Usually Black hair is excluded in the hair tutorials which I have seen so I have gone through it in depth because it’s really not enough to tell someone simply, “Black hair is really curly, draw it really curly.” 

The next part of Black Hair In Depth will feature styles and ideas for designing characters and I will release it around February. If you would like to see certain styles, please shoot me a message!

i made some custom brushes for PaintToolSAI ver.2 and put them up for grabs 👀 any sai2 mains?

if you like what you see and want to try these for yourself, feel free to chuck $5 at me on either my ko-fi shop or gumroad! enjoy!

(procreate or CSP user instead? i have other brushes for both on my gumroad as well)

Editing Checklist

Editing Software:

StyleWriter 4 is fantastic. It’s an add-on for Microsoft word and has a 14-day trial period. It goes through your text, picks out “glue words”, misspellings, long sentences, homonyms, passive tense, shows your reading grade level, and more.

Editminion *FREE* checks for adverbs, weak words, passive voice, cliches, and homonyms among other things.

Pro Writing Aid is another online editor. It is mostly free, but offers more features if you pay.

AutoCrit offers free analysis for under 500 words, otherwise you have to pay for more text and more editing features.

Paper Rater offers a free service for editing, but it is designed for essays.

Formatting Checklist: This follows the general guide of formatting a manuscript in Microsoft word. However, some literary agents and editors have their own requirements.

Under the paragraph option, change the special indentation to first line at .5”. Change to document to double spaced.

There should be no spaces between paragraphs.

When showing a scene break, center # on a blank line.

Font should be easy to read. Courier New and Times New Roman are preferred at size 12.

All margins should be 1”.

Start chapters on a new page and put the chapter title 1/3 down the page. Write the chapter like so: CHAPTER ONE - CHAPTER TITLE. Press return 4 - 6 times before starting the text of the chapter.

For the header, put YOUR NAME/BOOK TITLE/PAGE NUMBER in the upper right-hand corner. Start this header on the first page of the first chapter.

The cover page of your manuscript should have your name, word count, and contact information in the upper left-hand corner.

The title on the cover page should be in all caps. Your name should be underneath in all caps. If you use a pen name, write YOUR REAL NAME (WRITING AS PEN NAME).

At the end of the manuscript, start a new page and write END.

Self-Editing Checklist:

Spelling:

If you are using Microsoft word for your word processor, use the spell check. After that, go through the manuscript line by line to make sure everything is spelled right. You may have used “form” instead of “from” and skipped it because Microsoft word did not see it as misspelled.

Printing out your work or viewing it in another way (such as a pdf on an ereader) helps find these mistakes.

Beta readers can find what you missed as well.

Use editing software to check homonyms or look up a list of homonyms and find them in your document using ctrl + f. Check these words to make sure you used the right spelling.

Grammar and Style:

First use Microsoft word’s grammar checker, but be aware that it is not always right. Check grammar girl if you are unsure.

For dialogue, you can always pick up a professionally published book and look at how the dialogue tags are used, where commas are placed, and when other punctuation is used.

If you’re in school and your English teacher isn’t too busy, have them take a look at it.

Look out for prepositions. Most of the time, you can omit these words and the sentence will still make sense. Beginner writers use a lot of these in their writing and it slows the flow.

Check for adverbs. You’d be surprised at how many you use in your writing, sometimes up to five a page. Using a few in narration is okay, but only a few. Delete adverbs you find, especially those that end in “-ly”, and rewrite the sentences in necessary.

Delete gerunds and forms of “to be” if writing in past tense. Instead of “were running”, write “ran”.

Check subject-verb agreement.

Use correct dialogue tags. People don’t bark their words. They shout.

Two digit numbers should be written as words (twenty-seven) while numbers with more than two digits should be written with numbers (123).

Avoid passive verbs.

Vary sentence length.

Show with the five senses rather than telling.

Most of the time, you can delete the word “that”.

Avoid using “unique” or “significant” words too often.

Consistency:

Make sure all your font is the same size and type.

Make sure you have no plot holes. Use the comment feature in Microsoft Word to track these plots.

Make sure your time line is consistent.

The tone should fit the scene.

There should be one POV per scene. Unless you’re a brilliant writer and can pull off third person omniscient.

Verb tense should be consistent.

Keep track of the details you release of people, places, and things. The reader will remember if in one chapter you say your protagonist has blue eyes and in another you say green.

Pacing:

The whole book should flow in and out of fast paced scenes to keep your reader interested and slow scenes to give them a break.

The middle should not “sag”.

Sentences should flow smoothly.

Plot:

Keep track of all your plots and sub-plots. Readers will remember them.

There should be a beginning, middle, and end.

Is the initial problem at the beginning of the manuscript?

There should be at least one antagonist. This does no have to be a person.

Is there enough conflict?

There should be a resolution.

All scenes should have something to do with plot.

The climax should be the most exciting part.

Character:

The protagonist should change by the end of the book.

Make sure all characters who come in contact with one another have some kind of relationship, whether good or bad.

Characters must have motivation for everything.

The protagonist must want something right from the start of the conflict.

The protagonist needs to be captivating. The readers wants to root for the protagonist. This does not mean the protagonist needs to be likable all the time.

The readers likes to relate to characters. Make sure your characters are diverse enough that readers can identify with one.

Know who your protagonist is. The main character is not always the same. For example, Nick in The Great Gatsby is the main character, but Jay Gatsby is the protagonist. This is important to know while writing your query letter.

If you can delete a minor character from a scene and nothing changes, then delete that character.

Sometimes you can make two minor characters one without losing any essential parts of the story. If you can, do this.

All characters react and act.

Each character has his or her own life.

Dialogue:

Dialogue should be believable. Read it out loud.

Don’t go overboard with phonetic spelling if a character has an accent.

Dialogue should be informal and natural. It does not have to be grammatically correct.

Prose:

Avoid purple prose. I’ve never met anyone with “emerald eyes” or “hair of fire” (except for the Flame Princess).

Don’t use too many adjectives.

Avoid cliches.

Other:

Don’t info dump. Pace information through dialogue and narration.

The first sentence should spark interest, or at least the first three. If it does, the first paragraph should be the same. And the first 250 words. The goal is to get the reader past the first page.

Let your story rest. When you’re ready to edit, start at the end. Writers tend to get lazy at the end of their story whether they are writing it for the first time or revising it after revising the rest of the story.

Make sure your manuscript is within range for your genre’s word count.

ok here eat this onions fellow ibispaint heads <- incomprehensible sentence

Cute little shoulder bags as a gift for my sibling’s girlfriend and her sister! My sibling is visiting them for the summer and we wanted to send gifts. These turned out SO cute, I think I’m going to need to make one for myself :D

Pattern: Orange squares and strawberry squares are from Raffamusa design’s Tutti Frutti Granny Square series, while the flower squares are the ‘Dainty Daisy Granny Square’ by Just Be Crafty. The shape and the top half were taken from the ‘Super Easy DIY Crochet Bag’ by August Craft & Crochet!

Yarn: The only one I know is that the green base from the orange granny squares is Debbie Bliss eco in shade 32603. The others are a hodge-podge of DK I already had (potentially Stylecraft Special leftover from a temperature scarf, at least for the oranges), and unlabelled stuff bought from the donation section of my local craft store! I was able to find some cotton yarns with more structure, which was great for the bags!

Label: My lovely new buttons are from VikingLaser on Etsy, who was wonderfully communicative and prompt. The buttons are super cute and good quality - I’d recommend if you’re looking for handmade buttons like this!

masterpost of my favorite CSP brushes 🦖🦖 links below:

Jiwa pen

KaOs Brush

Obongbong’s Pen

Mameo Ink

Artemus Pencil

Wiggle Brush

A guide to designing wheelchair using characters!

I hope this helps anyone who's trying to design their oc using a wheelchair, it's not a complete guide but I tried my best! deffo do more research if you're writing them as a character

my two main brushes

For users of Clip Studio

When I create, I distribute some of the Clip Studio brushes I've made, so please check them out to see if there are any that you can use!

CLIP STUDIO ASSETS

ぽにょざらペン - CLIP STUDIO ASSETS

イラスト・マンガ制作に役立つトーン、ブラシ、3Dデータなどの素材をダウンロードしたり、自作の素材をアップロードしたりできます。CLIP STUDIO PAINTなどのグラフィックソフトに読み込んで使えます。

CLIP STUDIO ASSETS

しゃりふわペン - CLIP STUDIO ASSETS

イラスト・マンガ制作に役立つトーン、ブラシ、3Dデータなどの素材をダウンロードしたり、自作の素材をアップロードしたりできます。CLIP STUDIO PAINTなどのグラフィックソフトに読み込んで使えます。

CLIP STUDIO ASSETS

シャコペン - CLIP STUDIO ASSETS

イラスト・マンガ制作に役立つトーン、ブラシ、3Dデータなどの素材をダウンロードしたり、自作の素材をアップロードしたりできます。CLIP STUDIO PAINTなどのグラフィックソフトに読み込んで使えます。

A little [free!] brush pack I made, made up of four brushes currently. Think of v.0 as a rough draft of sorts for these brushes. :]

Download here: www.tombofnull.art/gallery/archive/2023/stipple-beast.html

Symmetry Move Brush for CLIP STUDIO PAINT

I've just released this free "Symmetry Move Brush" tool on Clip Studio Assets.

Check the link for more info on what it does and what it's for: https://assets.clip-studio.com/en-us/detail?id=1974271

hey guys. it’s me. the cravat brush person.

here’s a link to all of my ace attorney-themed brushes, and this is what they look like (minus soggy spin which is just the soggy brush but more unpredictable)

-they are procreate brushes so the files may not export to other programs (in which case you’ll have to look up how to make custom brushes and recreate these yourself, but at that point you could just make Any kind of custom brush lol)

-i’m not going to tell you what you can and can’t do with the brushes but I personally only use these for lines/doodles. the soggy brush was created with the intent to be used for blocking in colors but you can see that it makes a neat substitute for like. a chalk brush texture when it’s really small

-pollo and cravat are great for textured rendering (the phoenix brush probably is too bc it’s like a marker but I haven’t used it for that yet)

-feel free to edit the settings for the brushes :) have fun!

Made a twitter thread of the brushes and textures I use!! Wanted to share them here too

Links for everything can be found here

Ko-fi

Crunchy "No-Pressure" Brush [Clip Studio Paint] - Marighoul's Ko-fi Shop

Made for people who like crunchy textures and no pen pressure brushes. Great for sketching and illustrations! Becomes crunchier the smaller

Made a crunchy no-pressure brush that I've been using in my art for a while now and it's FREE on my Ko-fi

Not directly art itself, but related… Like my linework? Want to recreate it?

You can get the brushes I use on my ko-fi! (They’re PWYW, so you can get them for free!)

Ko-fi

Pixel Fun Brush (Procreate) - strawbyfields's Ko-fi Shop

“Pixel Fun” Procreate brush! This is the brush you will commonly see me using. It’s a square-based pixel brush that is super sensitive to p

Ko-fi

WIGGLEPEN + WIGGLEPEN Flat Brushes (Procreate) - strawbyfields's Ko-fi Shop

Brushes I’ve cooked up recently that I’ve found myself obsessed with… These brushes will give a “wiggly” look to your linework, with some na

VARIAN!!!!! DROP YOUR BRUSHES!!!AND MY LIFE!! IS YOURSSSS!!!!! /ref (take ur time lol no pressure/gen) I’m just frothing at the mouth over ur art 👍

Okay okays here they are

Ok first brush isnt mine its by Sainotuno00 great brush ive used their brush for most of my sketches now :]

All brushes below are made by me

These two are my most used ones currently

⬇️ i draw with my finger which means I cant draw with pen pressure so I left the pen pressures sliders untouched to all of these brushes. Ill leave the adjusting to you pen user guys :]

Here are other brushes i use for coloring & rendering

And these two lineart brushes below I dont use often anymore but i thought id still share

i've been asked what brushes i use so here they are (ibispaintx only)

bonus details:

Decided to throw every attempts at drawing people through the window and focus on drawing inanimate shit instead

*struggles while writing* i suck and writing is hard

*remembers some ppl use ai* i am a creative force. i am uncorrupted by theft and indolence. i am on a journey to excellence. it is my duty to keep taking joy in creating.

turns out, a complex porn text-based rpg is complicated to create, so I guess I'll just do a normal basic "choose your own adventure" kind of html game

Imagine receiving this kind of comments on a fic you wrote 4 years ago and in which you DID add a beta tag (which is "What is a beta?", and considering the lack of A/B/O dynamic, it pretty much is about betaing your work or not)...

Like y'all should learn that you can't fucking drop this kind of comment????

"your work was great!! You write badly though" like stfu?

It's also a fucking FANfic?? If you want to read professional stuff then go read a dang book.

Do I love it when someone's grammar is bad in a fic? No. But also they wrote that for fun and the story is great, so I don't really care that much.

Lmao fuck you????

Lmao fuck you????

New AO3 Tag Wrangling Policy and the Transformers Fandom

(This is a long one, folks, but I think it's important.)

A new tag-wrangling policy on AO3 has the potential to create some massive confusion and chaos in the Transformers fanfic community, with regards to fandom tags. There is a Reddit post about it here with a focus on anime fandoms, but I want to give some concrete examples for the Transformers fandom on why we DO NOT WANT this, and why I think it's a horrible idea.

The Problem

Basically, AO3 is looking to get rid of the "All Media Types" fandom tag across the board, either by dismantling them or just not maintaining them. The Transformers - All Media Types tag has been an all-purpose tag that you could select when your story doesn't fall into any one specific continuity. Additionally, all most (see below) TF continuities on AO3 are considered a subtag of the Transformers - All Media Types tag. For example, if you look at the link above for all works in the All Media Types tag, you will see fics that are also tagged ONLY with Transformers: Animated, because it falls under the All Media Types tag.

One exception: With the upcoming Transformers: One movie coming out imminently, there will likely be a big influx of stories tagged with Transformers: One. In fact, there are several already. However, it hasn't been linked to the larger Transformers - All Media Types tag yet. I wasn't worrying about it though, because I know these things can take time.

With information about this new tagging policy, however, I'm now wondering whether it'll EVER get linked to the All Media Types tag. If that happens, and when more continuities are developed in the coming years (since you know Hasbro loves creating new universes) this has the potential to cause massive confusion when looking for stories to read.

Searching for Stories with the New Tagging System

So let's say the All Media Types fandom tag isn't accurate anymore, because it no longer includes ALL of the continuities (such as TF:One). You will need to include ALL the Transformers continuities when browsing for TF fics.

How many tags is that? Well, here are all of the tags currently listed under the Transformers - All Media Types tag:

Note that this doesn't include Transformers: One since it hasn't been categorized yet.

You will potentially have to have 40 or more different fandom tags in your search, just in case the author tagged their story with something you weren't expecting.

This massively decreases the findability of a story.

Tagging with the New System

The email response from the Tag Wrangling group (see the linked Reddit post above) seems to be a bit flip in the response to the user's concern. "...encourages creators to tag with the media they intend."

While I appreciate what they are attempting to do, this policy change feels like a solution in search of a problem, especially in larger fandoms with multiple continuities, versions, and media types that are all cross-pollinated in both canon and fanon. While I'm focusing on Transformers fandom, imagine a creator in the DC comic universe writing a story that incorporates bits and pieces from a dozen different reboots.

For example, let's say that I am writing a fic about Ratchet. I am using the setting of the original G1 episodes, but I also am using the characterization of him as a bit of an old man grump. That characterization originated in the Animated continuity, but I want to incorporate bits of pieces of his other characterizations as well (old friend of Optimus from TFP, Ratchet ran a faction-free clinic like he did in the War for Cybertron series, he's got a Decepticon boyfriend like in IDW1 - or maybe even Cyberverse, etc.)

With this new tagging structure, I might potentially have to tag the story with ALL of those continuities. So instead of just slapping down the "All Media Types" tag (and maybe one other fandom tag that matches the characters as best I can), I'll have to analyze my story and try to figure out how best to tag for the characters I used.

And what if you're doing a completely AU version of the story? For example, a humanformers story, or merformers? Using the All Media Types tag along with a Alternate Universe - Human or Alternate Universe - Mermaid tag worked perfectly, since you weren't writing the story to fit into one specific continuity. But now, that might not be an option.

What To Do??

The first thing I would suggest is to contact AO3 (using the Feedback and Support page) and let them know (nicely) that you think this is a horrible idea. Give them some examples on how you use the All Media Types tag to find stories to read, or to help you tag a story. People outside of the Transformers fandom don't always appreciate how absolutely tangled the continuities can be with each other, and providing examples might help them see why this would be a really messy change.

Readers: Be aware that when you are looking in the All Media Types tag, it will no longer show newer continuities. And if AO3 starts dismantling that tag like they suggested they are doing, be aware that some stories won't show up in that tag like they used to. You can also create and then bookmark a custom search page that includes all 40+ continuities. REALLY annoying, but it's a workaround.

Writers: Until they start dismantling the All Media Types tag, ALWAYS ALWAYS tag your stories using Transformers - All Media Types... Especially for newer continuities. This will be especially important if you are writing a Transformers: One story. Right now, anyone who is only browsing the All Media Types tag will not see a story tagged only with Transformers: One. Make sure you're aware of how tags work and how they can affect the visibility and findability of your story.

Epilogue

Ugh. That's a lot of words for a long-weekend Saturday. And maybe I'm overreacting a tiny bit. But my work involves information architecture, and this change just absolutely baffles me. It's almost as though they want to make it harder to find stories. Considering that AO3 won a Hugo partially because of its fantastic tagging system, this change seems like AO3 is doing its best to shoot itself in the foot.

When you have a square hole, a round hole, and a rectangular hole… Yeah, you DO want each peg to go in the "right" hole. But if all of the pegs fit in the square hole, who cares? You got the job done.

I love you @ao3org, but please reconsider this change... Especially for IPs that are as old and are as varied as Transformers.