Based Off Of This

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

Writing Prompt #2721

"You aren't going to do anything stupid, are you?"

"Oh, incredibly. You probably want to join me just in case."

Ok wait let her speak

How to Make Home Made Puzzle Feeders

Are y’all bored as I am while stuck inside? Are your cats driving you crazy? A good way to keep you and your cats sane during quarantine is to create some home-made puzzle feeders!

All of the puzzle feeders I will be making today are created using scrap recycling and cat toys found around my house. If you don’t have all the materials, get creative and see if there’s anything else you can repurpose!

Egg Carton Enrichment

Materials Needed:

Egg carton

Cat toys

Treats

Step 1: Place treats or dry kibble in the bottom of each compartment of the carton.

Step 2: Cover each compartment with cat toys.

Step 3: Enjoy!

Modifications: To make this easier for some cats, remove the toys so the treats are visible. To make this puzzle harder, keep the lid on the carton so your cat has to tear through it first.

Treat Tube

Materials Needed:

Toilet paper roll

Newspaper

Cat treats

Step 1: Put treats into the toilet paper roll

Step 2: Stuff newspaper in both ends

Modifications: To make this easier for some cats, loosen the newspaper or use smaller pieces that can fall out on their own. For a more difficult toy, crumple the ends of the tube so it is more difficult to get the paper and treats out.

Treat Roller

Materials:

Toilet paper roll

Scissors

Tape

Small treats

Step 1: Cut some holes in the tube (large enough for treats to come out with movement).

Step 2: Tape one end of the tube.

Step 3: Add treats.

Step 4: Tape the other end of the tube.

Modifications: For an easier toy, add more/larger holes. Add fewer holes to increase difficulty.

Treat Digger

Materials:

Cardboard

Paper towel/toilet paper tubes

Scissors

Glue

Tape

Treats

Step 1: Cut your toilet paper tubes into varying heights. Make sure to cut them to a length shorter than your cat’s legs.

Step 2: Glue the tubes onto your large cardboard piece.

Step 3: Tape your cardboard piece onto a flat surface to prevent it from moving.

Step 4: Fill the tubes with treats!

Modifications: Cut the tubes shorter to make this puzzle easier. For added difficulty, stuff newspaper or toys into the tubes.

As a note: always watch your cats while they are using puzzle feeders to ensure they do not eat anything they are not supposed to!

Writing advice from my uni teachers:

If your dialog feels flat, rewrite the scene pretending the characters cannot at any cost say exactly what they mean. No one says “I’m mad” but they can say it in 100 other ways.

Wrote a chapter but you dislike it? Rewrite it again from memory. That way you’re only remembering the main parts and can fill in extra details. My teacher who was a playwright literally writes every single script twice because of this.

Don’t overuse metaphors, or they lose their potency. Limit yourself.

Before you write your novel, write a page of anything from your characters POV so you can get their voice right. Do this for every main character introduced.

Take this with you

I think there’s an argument to be made that protecting the children from relatively tame shadows of adults concepts actually makes things worse for them.

Like nothing is worse for me as an adult than the entirely unwarranted and unwanted sense of fear or scandalization from perfectly common stuff. And I don’t blame some wonderful TV show for using the word “fuck” or showing a nipple. My responses to those things are entirely constructed and cultural, and those shows are often doing me a kindness by giving me a context in which to safely re-examine them and my relationship to them.

And I just think actually there were a lot more opportunities to have a well adjusted outlook on life for the kids whose parents just told them what fuck meant.

Literally the first thought I had was käänteiskentauri