I’m Not Going To Explain Myself

sweet little aesthetics: dark academia ♡

~ keeping a black notebook filled with observations, doodles, poetry fragments, and quotes to remember

~ the otherworldly smell of old books and fresh coffee

~ loafer shoes, single lapel pins, and cozy sweaters

~ drinking a cup of hot tea whilst listening to Chopin or Simon & Garfunkel

~ taking in the rain droplets as they fall upon the windows

~ watching historical documentaries or period pieces on a beautifully cloudy day

~ a brown messenger bag filled with notebooks, black-ink pens, train or bus tickets, and stamps

~ decorating your walls with old maps, ticket stubs, polaroids, and vintage postcards

~ reading mary shelley, richard siken, oscar wilde, donna tartt, or edgar allan poe in the park

~ book collecting, to-do list writing, black candle lighting, café sitting, and people watching

Takes a guy who's obsessed with saving people even if it risks his life and a guy who is literally allergic to asking for help in any situation and puts them in My stew puts them in my fucking stew and stirs it

my dark academia playlist directory

depressive episode - sad/angsty tunes to listen to while painting the night away

three am dark academia vibes - less angsty and a bit more chill

twenty something - "wow I've done nothing with my life huh" music

traveler's light - relaxing violin/piano music with some of the destiny & breath of the wild soundtrack thrown in

soulbound - music to listen to while laying in bed and uselessly pining

we'll be ok - similar to soulbound

soft calamity - some softer music with dark meanings

fairytales - songs from fairytales or that should be in fairytales

[ redacted ] - marble hornets vibes

oh to wear a knife strapped against my thigh beneath a silk dress

hii i love your art! especially the style and colors! do you have any advice for someone who's just now starting to consistently draw but gets discouraged (bc i don't have the skillset for the pieces i want to create)?

thank you so much!!

personally, when improving, i try to set minor goals for myself (i. e. making an accurate study of a master, being able to draw an accurate body from memory)

if you’re starting anatomy, some resources i would recommend are constructive anatomy and quickposes! 

for colors, i would recommend getting a color wheel! when i choose my colors, i usually try to go for colors that are either very similar on the wheel, or somewhat complementary! 

when coloring line art, i fill in the space im going to color with a base color. then i color like normal in another layer over it and lower to opacity so all the colors used appear closer in hue. (ex. below) i also try not to use pure white for anything (besides backgrounds of sketches), because i feel like off-white makes the canvas look warmer!

i’m really not the best at advice and this is always said, practice! remember that your progress will not be linear, and all you can do to improve is to continue! also remember that there isn’t a required skill set to make a piece of art <3

Romantic Encounter (illustration), 1864

by Mihály Zichy.

Before the computing era, ILM was the master of oil matte painting, making audiences believe that some of the sets in the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogy were real when they weren’t. They were the work of geniuses like Chris Evans, Michael Pangrazio, Frank Ordaz, Harrison Ellenshaw and Ralph McQuarrie ! Forever thank you, to their handmade art and the work of their colleagues, that made us dream of impossible worlds and fantastic places across Earth and the Universe.

There are more background paintings on this article, featuring comments by the masters/artists themselves ! 

Some of the following pieces were made by other artists 2:

We shall meet in the place

Where there is no darkness

George Orwell, 1984

Chrome extensions I actually use as a mentally ill university student

Making websites easier to digest:

Dark Reader - Changes any webpage to dark mode.

Mercury Reader - Simplifies the layout of any webpage to eliminate distractions and irritating formatting.

Podcastle AI - Turns any article into a podcast. This is a lifesaver for being able to process what I’m reading, to be honest.

Spelling/grammar:

LanguageTool - Spelling and grammar check for those of us who regularly type in more than one language.

Grammarly - Spelling and grammar check for those of us who only type in English. Can be used with LanguageTool installed, which is what I do.

Google Dictionary - Define any word on the webpage with a double-click.

Google Translate - Translate an entire webpage or even just a short segment.

Misc:

AdGuard Adblocker - After trying quite a few adblocker options, this is the one I find the best.

The Great Suspender - Automatically suspend inactive tabs to help with performance. 

Honey - Try coupon codes automatically to save money on online purchases.

Built-in Chrome tab grouping - Group your tabs to keep organized and minimize distracting clutter.