New Crow Time 🐦‍⬛🦊🌟

Team Avatar II Twitter | Instagram

Idle posing

Idle posing seems to be a thing most people overlook. But in truth, your character’s idle stance probably holds volumes of information about their character, most likely even more than any other stance they assume. This is because our default stance tells everyone around us about the demeanour, aura and mood we resort to when we’re not appropriating ourselves.

What’s so tricky about these kinds of poses - is how sensitive it is. And how complex the human body communicates. One nudge of the arm, the tilt of the head or curve of the spine can alter our perception of a character’s attitude completely. And sometimes, combinations of such variables can mean that some contributors are neutralized or maybe even switches its meaning entirely.

- Watch theatre. The actors are taught in communicating moods and attitudes to a tee and can give you a very clear look at how the exaggerated mannerisms we see in animated shorts, manifest in human form.  

  -Sit yourself down and watch old cartoon shorts. Watch how other animators and artists have gone about tackling posing like this.

  -Look at yourself in the mirror, observe how subtle the changes are when you swap between poses and moods.

Some quick thumb rules that generally apply ( but can still be reversed or neutralized when used in combination with other mannerisms )

  Open posture

Vulnerable parts exposed. Torso open, shoulders back and legs spread apart.

An open posture communicates confidence and courage. A person with an open posture is not afraid to take on whatever challenges come their way.

Closed posture

Vulnerable parts are hidden. Shoulders in tugged in against the torso. Legs close together

A person carrying a closed posture is not as brave and brawny as those with an open posture. They have a tendency to be nervous and can be easily intimidated by some challenges.

Dominant demeanour

Character defaults to literally looking down on others. Either by towering, if they’re taller than the character they’re looking at. Or by glaring up from under their brow if they’re shorter.

These characters hold a strongly dominant aura around them and will seek the upper hand in most situations. Dominant demeanour isn’t necessarily meant to be intimidating but more as a tool for the character to look and feel powerful and in control if coupled with an open posture.

Submissive demeanour

 Character defaults to maintaining a direct line of communication between their own and their companion’s face when interacting.

These characters can be perceived as more mellow than those of dominant demeanour. They appear more open and friendly since they’re not trying to impress themselves on you with their physique. They can also come forward as naive and optimistic.

On top of these thumb rules, you got all the variables that can either add or subtract from the intensity of their respective traits.

Variables such as shyness, aggression or aloofness serve as additional hints on a character’s personality. But be careful when you browse for these additional values. Each combination of these gives a completely unique attitude.

Take a look:

Conveying character through their attire

So there are two things to conveying your character through their attire. Well, three if you account for the bit of personality that is by default embedded in their choice of fashion.

Surface values

Let me tackle the ladder first cause it is the simplest one to explain:

If you want to convey that your character likes scorpions or snakes, you slap a snake on them somewhere or otherwise drop aesthetical hints of this particular interest. These are choices made consciously by the character, and should therefore also be treated like so in-universe. This is your character going out of their way to express an interest in a certain topic.

These are the most blatant and ‘easy’ ways to implement personality to your character’s outfit.

Subcontextual values

 Where it gets a little more meta is when we start to consider their function, job and social layer, their opinion on norms such as gender and sexuality, etc. Values that contributes to the character’s subconscious. As well as choices made inspired by their lifestyle.

Let’s take a look at the two drawings above ^. The character is obviously the same. But their outfits are rather different.

Both hold an inch of vanity, as it is obvious that the character pays attention to how people perceive him ( note the styled hair, perfectly fitted and spotless clothes ). However one submits itself to a lifestyle heavily influenced by formalities, and proper conduct while the other comes forward as more free-spirited and radical in their attitude. Take a second look at the two outfits. Contemplate how the cuts, rate of coverage and choice of accessories separates the two outfits from one another. And what that, in turn, tells us about the character.

What does he do for a living?

What’re his thoughts of conformity?

Is he a by-the-book person, or more of a happy-go-lucky type?

What materials and pigments are used in the outfit?

Are these expensive pigments and materials?

What does the materialistic quality and style of the outfit tell you about the character’s economic standing?

What ‘s the overall impression you get from the characters physique in combination with the attire?

  There are a great many things you can derive from simply looking, and those are just a handful of analytic points you can study when looking at characters ( and humans too IRL )

Meta contextual values

We’ve taken the character’s conscious and subconscious choices into account. Now it’s time to bring our own agenda forward. What do -you- want to communicate with this character. Your OC might have their own tastes and preferences, sure, but did you know that -you- can control the way your audience perceives your character, outside the choices your character makes actively for themselves in-universe?

By fidgeting with the overall shapes present in the outfit ( and character anatomy too actually ), we can provoke psychological responses based on instinctual thought processes and presumptions hardwired into our subconscious. Here’s a quick rundown of those shapes and how they work. 

These tropes can, of course, be mixed, matched and used to any degree that you want. Not every production or project makes use of these particular figures by committing themselves 100% to their attributes. But you will frequently see traces of these tropes applied in competent pieces of visual storytelling, as it has proved effective in directing our perception of a character without even having to tell us outright; what their personality is going to be like.

You can also hint at character’s development, by subtly implementing some tropes from one category into the other.  Or hint at an underlying character trait that otherwise isn’t communicated by the character’s dialogue or immediate actions.  

If you manage to combine both posture, the formalia of outfit design and the meta-contextual design, you’re pretty well set to tell your story to your audience.

I Hope this has been somewhat helpful. It is one of my favourite parts of character design and storytelling - so it felt great to talk about at length again.

- Mod wackart ( ko-fi )  Tristan is property of Studio!Wackart

human!AU

..may this joke land with y’all the same way it did for my sister and I lol

Last Little Piece of Him

中文版

Free talk at the end.

On the night of July 4th I cried thousands of tears for Connor’s suicide ending after I beat the game for the 3rd time.

It was such a pain to watch him along from a cold machine saying “I’m not alive”, to a deviant feeling “like I was dying…I was scared”, still he chose to end this free life rather than be taken control of. Can’t imagine what would happen to Hank if he knows about Connor’s death.

Couldn’t sleep at all so I played with a quarter, then recalled a spy coin I bought from Fraunces Tavern in New York. So this story came from this coin. Much appreciated, Commander Washington.

“I’m from a town with one traffic light.  It’s mostly antique shops.  There aren’t really any bars and all the restaurants close by eight.  So there’s not much opportunity socially or professionally.  I thought I’d have a house by now.  And a wife.  And kids.  But I’m still living in my parent’s basement.  Mostly it’s to save money and pay off loans, but it’s also comfortable.  My family is Italian.  We eat dinner together every Sunday.  My sisters bring their families over, and I get to see my nieces and nephews.  Everyone I love is there.  It’s really important to me.  A couple years back I had an opportunity to work in Chicago, but I turned it down.  I told them my family needs me, which is the perfect excuse. Because who’s going to question it?  But I don’t think it was the real reason.  I think I’m leaning on my family to avoid taking risks.  Every night when I come home, my dinner is waiting for me.  I don’t have to struggle.  I don’t have to progress and grow and get past problems.  I’m beginning to feel stagnant.  So I already told my boss: once an opportunity comes to move to the west coast, I’m taking it.”

Happy Lunar New Year everyone! 🐖🌟 Live your best lives this year, and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and reach for the things you want!

Loading Penguin Hugs | Instagram | Patreon

Tweet 1 source | Tweet 2 source

Our pride is #unbreakable. Happy Pride Month!

As someone that has grown up surrounded by beaches and done surf life saving, I know how the sea works. Lots of people dont. Every summer multiple tourists die here because they don’t respect the sea, if you’re going to the coast, here’s a thing I saw on Facebook.

Listen to lifeguards, swim and surf between the correct flags, respect the sea

things i accomplished in 1 year of story development:

- got a major outline in place for a story

- scrapped that entire story

- scrapped years old character designs

- redesigned years old characters, then scrapped the redesigns

- learned how to draw mahdat’s face

Lobbyists for cereal and bacon companies helped popularize the idea that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Health research shows that skipping breakfast doesn’t cause health issues, underperformance, or weight gain.

Perspective. 

“Looting? I thought these were supposed to be nonviolent protests”

I know it’s incredible! People are literally coming out of the woodwork to comment on this photoset to focus on the looting headline with “well yes it is nice they were helping people hit with the tear gas, but stealing is still wrong uwu” as if they’re back to kindergarten morality.

Like everyone who’s gone to boot camp I’ve been tear gassed. They put about 50+ of you in a gas chamber and toss it in. You have to stay there until your rank is allowed to exit. Before that though, you have to say your name, rank, and social security number. You then exit and file into ranks (again) outside and are not allowed at any point to rinse your face or eyes for the entire day.

That right there? Easily the worst part of boot camp. My eyes were literally swollen shut. I was blinded for a good 30 minutes and my chest hurt for days.

I have zero problem and not and ounce of judgement for people raiding a mcdonalds that can easily afford to repair damage for ANYTHING to help ease the shittiness that is being tear gassed. Esp because every one of us in boot were medically sound to deal with tear gas. Children, asthmatics, people prone to panic and anxiety attacks, the elderly as sooo many more are NOT going to handle tear gas well at ALL.

Or that smoke the police use either.

It’s easy to sit there and judge someone from the safety of your home and say things like “it’s just tear gas” or “it can’t be that bad”.

Fuck you. As someone who HAS been gassed, you need to stfu.

I remember all the preparation they did to get us ready for the gas chamber in boot camp. We were taught how to handle ourselves, how to control our breathing, not to touch anything, how to avoid the worst of the gas. But it still didn’t matter. I remember taking in that first breath and feeling like I had just been kicked in the chest. I remember a few guys in my platoon falling down and vomiting. We knew the gas wasn’t as bad on the floor but we were the fifth platoon through and the vomit kept us from bending over more than absolutely necessary. I remember a few guys, guys in peak health training to be infantrymen, breaking ranks and running for the door only to be dragged back in kicking and screaming until they said name, rank and serial. They were expecting it, trained for it, bragging about how it wouldn’t bother them. I remember standing there with all of the mucus from my nasal cavity on the front of my ACUs and thinking to myself “This is the nonviolent option?” Covered head to toe and my skin still itching I looked down at the silver wedding band hanging next to my dog tags and realized that the gas had eaten little pits into its surface. I stood there and thought of all the news reports I had seen over the years. The uprisings and revolutionaries being gassed, the crowds running from men in masks. That’s the moment I got it, staring at my ruined wedding band, that’s the moment I realized terrorism isn’t about bombs or who is using them. It’s about controlling people through fear. It’s about removing their ability to act reasonably, to make them seem like the monsters. Terrorism is about triggering people to fight or flight then blaming them for not being rational. It’s about power. Remove someone’s power to act with reason, and you remove their humanity.

Oh fuck

My god this commentary is perfect. Also a reminder that it turned out this “looting” was not that at all, the police bust that window with a bullet and the staff were gracious enough to hand milk out it seems, the protestors did not break in but even if they did just look at what they were trying to do with that milk, look at what they went through. The immense endurance that’s been shown by the people of Ferguson in the face of all this is incredible.

Najwa Zebian (via onlinecounsellingcollege)

Leap.

–

Shop / INPRNT / Patreon

Unknown (via onlinecounsellingcollege)