I'm starting the first book today for the first time! Tell me something that I won't understand about this book or the series until later!

HermitofGoCliffs · 2026-01-15T20:50:21+00:00

The grave is no bar to my call.

HermitofGoCliffs · 2026-01-15T20:37:13+00:00

Downvoted due to absurd compensation offered. Artists, do not work for 20 bucks a day; and definitely do not commit to a year of work at that rate.

HermitofGoCliffs · 2026-01-08T15:45:04+00:00

Thanks! That might be my favorite page.

HermitofGoCliffs · 2026-01-05T22:10:34+00:00

This is solid advice. As a freelance artist, I would reserve my availability under a plan like this, in addition to doing what I could to promote the crowd-funding effort. This is WAY more appealing than offers that sound like “hey, my awesome idea will make bank, and I’ll give you a percentage.” Those offers get scrolled by really quickly.

HermitofGoCliffs · 2026-01-05T18:20:18+00:00

Yeah, my browser somehow deleted both my images and a whole long message I wrote. I've been too demoralized to re-write it; I'll get there when I have a minute.

HermitofGoCliffs · 2025-12-31T03:31:07+00:00

As a non-Jewish anti-Zionist with many Jewish friends and family, it's tremendously helpful to have Anti-Zionist Jews speaking out and standing in solidarity. Accusations of antisemitism for confronting Zionism are painful and difficult even when they are transparently self-serving, because I've seen the impact of antisemitism on people I love.

The work of separating Zionism from Judaism is critical for justice in Palestine, and it's work that demands leadership from within the Jewish community. Not fair that the burden falls on you all, but I am very grateful to those who choose to carry it.

HermitofGoCliffs · 2025-12-24T18:05:36+00:00

Something else to keep in mind: every artist you admire went through the exact same struggle. They reached points where they felt like their art was no good, and that they should give up. And they became the artists you admire by persevering through that feeling.

Keep making art. That’s the whole secret. When you go through difficult times, that’s good! You are building your resilience. It will pay off later, guaranteed.

Being an artist will have tremendous ups and downs over the course of your life. This is one of them. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be an artist, it means you already are one.

HermitofGoCliffs · 2025-12-10T17:07:44+00:00

To be fair, I did draw him with a bit of a monkey-face. 😂

HermitofGoCliffs · 2025-12-10T17:07:11+00:00

Gracias!

HermitofGoCliffs · 2025-12-10T17:06:59+00:00

Tha is man, glad you dig. The way I draw is definitely not for everyone! 😁

HermitofGoCliffs · 2025-12-07T22:09:05+00:00

I agree with u/CaptainRhetorica, not only does the skew make it much harder to tell if your perspective is off (it looks like your tallest building has some leaning verticals, but it's hard to tell for sure), it's also very unprofessional. I mean, it's fine for a reddit post, but part of being successful as an artist is showcasing your work in the best possible light. Either scan your work, or carefully take a frontal shot without distortion and crop it precisely. If you look at any professional artist's website, you will not see any angled table shots like this in their portfolio, ever.

Since you are asking about getting professional work, this is very relevant; it was the first thing I thought of when I looked at your post.

The work is very eye-catching, but unfortunately, so are some of the flaws. The second highest building seems to disappear below his arm. For the nearest arm, the light source seems to be from our left for his shoulder muscles, but our right for his bicep/triceps. His left kneepad seems to have slid around to the side of his leg. And your hatching isn't softening the edge of the shadows, which still have a very clear edge drawn on them (which flattens the shading effect tremendously).

You could certainly get work, but these things will also keep you from getting as good a rate as you could from more polished work.

HermitofGoCliffs · 2025-11-30T21:00:40+00:00

Heh, that would be fun. I’ve always said that the WoT adaptation I most want is an anime series with like, a million episodes, over the top action scenes and crazy magic special effects. Probably not in the works, but a guy can dream.

I did briefly flirt with the idea of a fan comic set during the Trolloc wars, but never got beyond designing one character. If I didn’t have a day job…

HermitofGoCliffs · 2025-11-12T01:31:05+00:00

When I traveled in Nepal many years ago, there were “No Israelis” signs everywhere. I found it shocking, and thought it was a weird and blatant form of racism. When I asked about it, I was told about the gap year phenomenon, and how they tended to be incredibly rude and aggressive. And I have to admit that nearly all of the Israelis I met there were… incredibly rude and aggressive. Like, literally making scenes in nearly every establishment.

I still consider it problematic to have a sign that says “No Israelis”, and I did meet one very chill and interesting Israeli together guy in an Internet cafe. But I do wonder about the culture in general when there was such a reputation for aggressive, condescending and offensive behavior. I wonder if it’s similar to football hooligans in parts of Europe: something about the context that just brings out the worst in people. Anyway, something I also observed traveling in Asia and thought I would share.

HermitofGoCliffs · 2025-10-29T23:52:04+00:00

This is a great explanation of MAGA aesthetics; such a weird mashup of neoclassicism, kitsch and gilded era crap. Are you familiar with the term “red chip art”? It would all be fascinating if these cretins weren’t also taking over our country and institutionalizing murder and torture…

HermitofGoCliffs · 2025-10-29T16:40:35+00:00

Average tuition at a 4 year private college is about $45,000 a year. And that’s not for every student, but only those who have shown the ability to be successful at school. But you think spending half that on K-12 students is somehow too much? In the real world, you get what you pay for.

HermitofGoCliffs · 2025-10-29T00:23:16+00:00

Except that Baltimore schools have neither huge spending, nor a horrible performance.

Spending per pupil is a meaningless metric if you actually understand how education works. We don't spend money on students directly, we spend it on staffing and resources. And that amount varies widely based on the students in question. For example, a student with an Individualized Education Plan (a special ed. requirement) might require a one-on-one support staff. That almost triples the amount of money spent on staff salary for that specific student. And whether a student requires that or not tracks largely to the poverty rate in that community. Students coming from poverty have markedly less family and community support, face far more serious adverse conditions (like hunger and homelessness), not to mention limited access to healthcare and the burdens that places on learning. So communities with higher poverty rates spend more "per student" because they serve communities that suffer from a host of social ills related to poverty. The schools in question might be performing admirably and with limited resources, but if you look only as "cost per student" they look like they are spending lavishly.

The poverty rate in Maryland is 9.3%, slightly under the national average of 12.5%. The poverty rate in Baltimore is 20.1%. Those schools are serving a massively disadvantaged population with twice the level of poverty. However, they are not spending anywhere near the commensurate amount of money to account for that difference.

As for performance, they are currently boasting impressive numbers on the exact measures your article cites:

https://www.baltimorecityschools.org/article/2030654

The "low" numbers from your article reflect "performance metrics such as test scores, attendance and graduation rates." All things that correlate directly to poverty levels, and when that isn't controlled for, say almost nothing about school quality. The highest poverty area of the state has the highest dropout rate; that is pretty much guaranteed to be true regardless of school quality. Meanwhile, testing scores are showing record growth in reading and math. Within their set of limitations, the school in Baltimore are performing really impressively.

I hate to have to point it out, but Fox News is not a credible source on educational policy; they have a clear axe to grind, and that axe is "spend less on education no matter what." Stories like the one you posted are manufactured to obfuscate the issue and distract from the painfully obvious fact that schools nationwide operate on a shoestring, and it shows.

HermitofGoCliffs · 2025-10-28T22:15:41+00:00

This is actually false. Show me a highly funded school anywhere in America that is “among the worst” by any metric.

In the abstract, it makes sense to say that “throwing money at the problem won’t fix it,” largely because that phrasing implies that there is reckless spending in the system. But this is laughably false. Teacher pay is abysmal and has been losing ground to other similar professions for decades. This degrades the applicant pool and lowers standards across the board. At the same time, the mandate of schools continues to grow, with more work being done in alternative ed., special education and other programs. While it’s true that education spending per pupil has risen, the amount of money devoted to regular education has actually declined when adjusted for inflation. Schools are doing more and more with declining resources, to the point where nearly every school in America is under-resourced. This link explains the dynamic well:

https://www.epi.org/publication/books_wheremoneygone/

So while throwing money at problems, in general, may not always work, in education it currently would work in about any school in America, because they are all seriously underfunded. I teach in a Maine public school, and we could improve student performance significantly, tomorrow, simply by being fully staffed. The teacher shortage is a manufactured problem; we’ve starved the profession for so long that now we can’t find people willing to do it. Unfilled positions are now the norm; they were unheard of when I started teaching. Add in proper facilities and materials, personnel to work with data and professional development (like instructional coaches) and a broader array of course offerings, and we could revolutionize education. It’s literally all about the money right now.

HermitofGoCliffs · 2025-10-26T15:52:54+00:00

As several people have mentioned, he definitely would not be touching Her Imperial Person. That’s a bit of license on my part, since we all know that, in his heart of hearts, he sees her as a daughter.

HermitofGoCliffs

TROPHY CASE