I’m an illustrator from Houston, Tx. I make vtubers for a living, but play games and stream games and think about making games for fun. This is my sketch blog where I don’t do much of anything.
I honestly don’t know why people keep following me. But if that’s you, welcome.
With Project Hail Mary coming out in movie form very soon I wanted to post new pics of the poseable Rocky doll I made a few months ago! This 7" tall figure was hand sculpted in @monsterclayusa and cast in urethane. It is held together with elastic tension. His removable sweater and tool belt are a mix of hand sewing and 1/6 scale premade accessory/greeblie kitbashing. I won’t be making these for sale since it’s not my IP but I may digitize the cast parts and make the files a free download …
Still standing by that the white and black water mixible inks are better. The pink ones (50/50 magenta and white mix) at the top printed so easily compared to the blue.
Also tried a black oil printing ink, which has a wonderful matte texture. It sat better on top of the block without filling in the small details, but felt a little bit more finicky to use. I bet they’ll look great when they dry though.
The mdf definitely feels much nicer than the usual shitty particle board that lino blocks come mounted on. It feels sturdier and doesn’t chip off or scratch me while I’m using it, which is a plus… buuuut I have learned that if mdf gets wet, it basically irreparably warps and there’s nothing you can do about it (not even leech the water out)… which sucks real bad. especially when using and cleaning up water based or water soluble inks… (this is apparently not an issue with the shitty particle board)
I think I’ll try to seal the mdf the next time I carve one of these blocks (since I have two more of them). But yeah, it kinda messed me up. The top of the block is warped in a really annoying way that… while it can be dealt with, it means i have to pay extra attention when inking that spot and I can never use this block in a press (if I ever get one). u_u
Status update:
It’s been a few days and the mdf has mostly returned to its original shape. I can still feel the bump where it warped, but maybe it won’t be as difficult to work with if I print with it again. Still too warped for a press, I think, but I’ll give hand pulling so more prints another go maybe in a couple days.
I think I’ll still definitely seal any other blocks I carve with this stuff though…
Catching up on the Shy Girl book news (the AI generated book that got cancelled from trad publication) and having so many mixed feelings about it. That comprehensive Frankie’s Shelf video covered most of it (including the addendum pinned in the comments), but it’s the very end of the video that I feel strongly for.
This post-AI-takeover notion that “if this art is bad, it must be made by AI!” or saying any kind of mediocre art “feels like AI” is so exhausting. There’s this thing that Lauren Faust said that stuck with me for so long, where she said something like “You’ve got to make 100 crappy drawings before you make an OK drawing”. All that means is that it takes a lot of trial and error before a creative gets a solid hold of their craft. Humans improve at their craft if they feel passionately for it. And this binary notion that humans will consistently make high quality art ignores all the creatives who are still making that journey through “100 crappy drawings”, or even a creative having an off day. It’s deeply human to make bad art.
Writing repetitive prose, nonsense similes, broken continuity, underwritten characterization, bad pacing, etc. are all things any human writer can make. I’ve seen all of these mistakes in juvenile writers before generative AI took over. But that kind of good faith alone just can’t exist anymore, because this author very likely did have generative AI at least assist her in tons of those passages. It’s frustrating that now we have to have this extra “but what if AI was involved in this” sense. Because it can, and has happened.
Still standing by that the white and black water mixible inks are better. The pink ones (50/50 magenta and white mix) at the top printed so easily compared to the blue.
Also tried a black oil printing ink, which has a wonderful matte texture. It sat better on top of the block without filling in the small details, but felt a little bit more finicky to use. I bet they’ll look great when they dry though.
The mdf definitely feels much nicer than the usual shitty particle board that lino blocks come mounted on. It feels sturdier and doesn’t chip off or scratch me while I’m using it, which is a plus… buuuut I have learned that if mdf gets wet, it basically irreparably warps and there’s nothing you can do about it (not even leech the water out)… which sucks real bad. especially when using and cleaning up water based or water soluble inks… (this is apparently not an issue with the shitty particle board)
I think I’ll try to seal the mdf the next time I carve one of these blocks (since I have two more of them). But yeah, it kinda messed me up. The top of the block is warped in a really annoying way that… while it can be dealt with, it means i have to pay extra attention when inking that spot and I can never use this block in a press (if I ever get one). u_u
Still standing by that the white and black water mixible inks are better. The pink ones (50/50 magenta and white mix) at the top printed so easily compared to the blue.
Also tried a black oil printing ink, which has a wonderful matte texture. It sat better on top of the block without filling in the small details, but felt a little bit more finicky to use. I bet they’ll look great when they dry though.
I finished my commissions and did my taxes and it made my brain feel good, so now I’m planning some more linocuts. :3c
I’m thinking that this will be a three color print where the blue, pink, and purple (colors not final) are different layers and the gold details are hand drawn on top. Also debating doing a water color wash to fill in the white clouds in the background. Maybe a pleasant yellow to pink gradient.
I really like making prints where I get to go in an draw extra details by hand. I even used to do that with my hanafuda set (that I never finished… >_>). I really enjoy mixing media, and I just feel like it’s a nice personal touch.
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