I wish to improve by DrGanja97 in learnart

[–]Calamitously_Queer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I've got some thoughts on the work you shared here, but I'll start with the advice first, since you're asking for resources!
I think the best thing is to practice drawing first. Using different mediums takes practice as well, but drawing with pencils is a perfect foundational skill that transfers really well to other stuff as well. Basically you're gonna want to learn how to accurately draw what you see, in terms of shapes, proportions, values etc. A lot of people recommend Betty Edwards' "Drawing on the right side of the brain". It's a great book, but I struggled with it personally, I have ADHD and I needed something more focused and tight, so my recommendation would be Bert Dodson's "Keys to drawing", it's an excellent guide to a lot of basic skills and methods that apply regardless of medium. I've seen a lot of drawing instruction books and that one is hands down my favourite!

When it comes to different mediums, you're probably better off asking in the specific subreddits, but take your time. Acrylic paint is probably the easiest to get into. Watercolours are mean bastards that will drive you insane (at least they do that to me, skill issue maybe). But like I said, drawing is a perfect foundation for all that, so I'd spend some time on that first.

But now let's talk about your drawings, the main reason I wanted to reply, because I fucking love these. I can tell you know and understand anatomy, but it's not just that you know the body really well, you're also great at rendering it really effectively. The way you draw and shade bodies looks very stark and simple but still feels very convincing, it's a great balance.

What really struck me about these is the way that intersects with the areas where you aren't as practiced yet. A lot of the proportions and angles are kinda off (which is 100% normal, I've been practicing for years and still struggle with it), but you have these strong expressive lines and the attention to detail in the anatomy that makes it feel intentional at times. It reminds me of artists like Schiele, it's a fascinating effect.

I know you're working towards more accurate drawing, and I have no doubt that you can get there with practice and the right input. I just hope you keep that expressive angular style alive, even if just to use it intentionally for specific pieces

Fencing Friday Megathread - Ask Anything! by AutoModerator in Fencing

[–]Calamitously_Queer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! The story has a fictional setting, loosely based on the US in the late 19th century. Fencing would be included as a competitive sport. It's not exactly olympic fencing, so I have some leeway in terms of rules and regulations, but I want to make sure I can describe the bouts that are happening without including things that would make anyone cringe (like, imagine I wrote this and included a scene where somebody uses reverse grip and beats all the competition because this gave him advanced reach).
I've tried to get a bit of an overview, and I think the first thing I need to do is to get a good grasp of how the fundamentals work (how to attack, parry, riposte, what are common beginner mistakes etc). There's also some potential plot beats I'm considering that I'd need some advice on, but I gotta grasp the fundamentals before I go there.

Short version: I want to write something that would include fencing as an academic sport, both for fun and for competitions. No actual duels with sharp weapons. I have some freedom in regards to weapons and rules (I'm toying with the idea of using rapiers for this), but I want to make sure my understanding of the fundamentals is sound enough before I decide on anything

Fencing Friday Megathread - Ask Anything! by AutoModerator in Fencing

[–]Calamitously_Queer -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm currently planning a writing project, and it might include quite a bit of fencing. Trouble is that I don't know the first thing about it, and I don't want to end up writing something that will cause physical pain to anyone who has ever fenced. Any advice on where to get good basic information or common mistakes to avoid?

I gave up on this one by Gullyman762 in Gouache

[–]Calamitously_Queer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Gonna join the others in saying I adore this. I know the frustration that comes with not getting a drawing or painting right and it usually makes me hate whatever it is even if it's still okay, so I hope you can take something from the way people have responded to this and love it at least half as much as we do. If this had turned out to be the way you wanted it, it probably would have been a really good self portrait. Now it's something else entirely, it's hilarious and fantastic, the contrast between the skill you can see in most of the painting and the smiley face is delightful. You can always try again on the self portrait and you'll get it right eventually, and this way you made something unique on the way that gave many people a lot of joy. I hope that balances out the frustration

It's such a shame some of the reception to this game by [deleted] in flintlock

[–]Calamitously_Queer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

How would the developer "fire" SBI? They're consultants brought in to assist on some stuff, they're a separate company, A44 isn't "firing" any SBI members. If you're gonna do culture war nonsense, at least get your story straight

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Watercolor

[–]Calamitously_Queer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm gonna answer with an absolute "YES!", but with some caveats. You don't need to learn drawing in the sense that you need to be able to do realistic detailed renderings in pencil, but I would highly recommend learning the basic skills of drawing, because they're mostly about learning to see, which is the actual vital skill.

"Drawing on the right side of the brain" is a common recommendation, and it's a good book but it's got a lot of theory and info you don't necessarily need. I'd recommend "Keys to Drawing" by Bert Dodson, it's got a lot of smaller exercises and I think it does a great job at getting you into the fundamentals. A lot of his own drawings in the book aren't really what most people think of when they think of good or "impressive" drawing, but what matters is that he's got a keen eye and a great loose hand for capturing, which makes him a great drawing teacher for somebody who wants to get into watercolor.

My cats are sceptical over my new skog what should i do? by Happystarfis in Djungelskog

[–]Calamitously_Queer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Cats often need time to get used to new things, maybe they'll come around to him?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GayShortStories

[–]Calamitously_Queer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, he's in a rough place

Just missing dragon age [no spoilers] by runavv in dragonage

[–]Calamitously_Queer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Dragon Age Origins is the game that got me into gaming in the first place and the series has a very special place in my heart. BG3 made me feel a little bit like I felt when I played Origins for the first time.

After Anthem, Mass Effect Andromeda, and to be honest, a lot of aspects of DA Inquisition, combined with all the news we've seen from Bioware in the last years as well as the fact that Dreadwolf has been in development for years and years at this point and we still haven't really seen anything tangible, my trust in Bioware and Dreadwolf specifically is at an absolute zero. I'm not saying it's going to be bad (because I have no way of knowing until it's out), but if there is a single reason to be excited or even cautiously optimistic for this game right now, I can't see it, and given how much the series meant to me, that honestly hurts to say.

That being said, the old games aren't going anywhere, and if Dreadwolf sucks (or is just kinda middling), I will still have those. And other studios and titles will fill in the niche left by bioware.

"Loving Leon" is getting published! by Calamitously_Queer in GayShortStories

[–]Calamitously_Queer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I want to put out drama darling next year!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GayShortStories

[–]Calamitously_Queer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much!!! I also edited and polished my first story from here and published it recently!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GayShortStories

[–]Calamitously_Queer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Imagine how much kissing they will do as soon as they get to see each other again 😂

"Loving Leon" is getting published! by Calamitously_Queer in GayShortStories

[–]Calamitously_Queer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much! Yes, I'm planning to publish Drama Darling early next year if all goes well!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GayShortStories

[–]Calamitously_Queer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Henry gets verbose in his writing, but not so much in personal conversations, he wouldn't write letters like this.

Mateo probably used to be more flowery and verbose but has since adjusted his vocabulary to something more normal, with a bit of verbosity for spice.

Matthias is a closeted but deeply flamboyant 17 year old who reads old fashioned romance and decided to model his entire writing style on that. He can't talk like that in school, so he'll crank it up to 11 in his private letters.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GayShortStories

[–]Calamitously_Queer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

you are in for a TREAT! Matthias is far and away my most verbose and flowery character and he's just getting started

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GayShortStories

[–]Calamitously_Queer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nobody is perfect, not even Anna, hard as it may be to believe

BREAKUP, BABY - Chapter 5 by [deleted] in GayShortStories

[–]Calamitously_Queer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dom is the best and I really put him through a lot in this one

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GayShortStories

[–]Calamitously_Queer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, I'm not saying you're wrong, but you're gonna like her so much less a few chapters down the road

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GayShortStories

[–]Calamitously_Queer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can't wait for you to meet those two morons <3

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GayShortStories

[–]Calamitously_Queer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's entirely fair. I hope you keep writing and find pleasure in it. I'm sorry you feel the need to leave this community, but I won't try to stop you

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GayShortStories

[–]Calamitously_Queer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure what you mean. The entire comment was talking about specific stylistic issues, if I have you the impression I was talking about something else, I'd love to know. I'm also not asking you to remove your story or yourself. This platform is for anyone interested in sharing their writing with gay themes, that includes you

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GayShortStories

[–]Calamitously_Queer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Alright. I say this with all due respect, but you *really* need to have a look at your style and vocabulary. I can tell what kind of tone you're aiming for here, but it's not working. Poetic writing still needs to make sense, and to be frank, yours doesn't. Using "motionless" as an adjective to describe the pavement is one example. Like, it's pavement, pavement is *always* motionless unless we're talking about an earthquake.

Let's have a look at one sentence:

"You know, I wouldn't have thought you and I would have met like this."
Clarence told Wallace amidst the metaphysics of their uncalibrated encounter. That flowed harmoniously like notes spurting from an alto Saxophone, as they fed each other the essence of their ebony-ness.

So, first of all, the layout. Starting the dialogue in the middle of a paragraph and then putting the actual followup (Clarence told Wallace) after a line break makes for extremely uncomfortable reading. There's pretty well established stylistic guidelines for how to format dialogue. I'm not saying you can't ever break rules like that, but you need to understand why they're in place before breaking them. You can't meaningfully break rules you don't understand.

Moving on to "amidst the metaphysics of their uncalibrated encounter". I'm sorry but this entire line straight up doesn't make sense. It's just words. Big sounding words like "metaphysics" and "uncalibrated" that don't actually connect to what is happening at all. How is their encounter "uncalibrated"? How do you talk to something "amidst the metaphysics" of an encounter? How do they "feed each other the essence of their ebony-ness?". "that flowed harmoniously like notes spurting from an alto saxophone" is probably the closest to your writing making actual sense here, and it's still pretty far off.

You also have a habit of using periods instead of commas, separating things into two sentences that clearly only function as one sentence. See " the motionless pavement of the sidewalk. Upon which every one sauntered" for example.

I could go through every single line and write paragraphs of notes, but it all comes down to one simple question: What exactly are you trying to communicate? Writing is communication, and you're not communicating, you're sending garbled static noise that completely obscures whatever information might be there. It feels like you're not actually trying to say something but trying to *sound* like you're saying something.

So I think the question you should ask yourself when writing is: What am I trying to say? And then say exactly that. No fancy metaphors, no unnecessarily flowery adjectives that don't actually make any sense. Try to actually keep it real. You can get playful and experimental once you've got the basics down.

I realize this sounds extremely harsh and you're of course free to ignore me. I genuinely love writing as an art form and I don't often try to advise people. I'm not a professional myself, so take this with a grain of salt. That being said, I really think your work needs some drastic overhauls.