ThePsych0naut

I need to draw. I need to create. I don't have a choice.

Maybe. I found some references online (shout out to Pikat)--I ttttthink (tentatively) that this might finally enable me to level up my face animations. Who knows? I don't, and I won't until I try them out.

I, of course, realize that illustration is only a feature of my prospective "brand"--my trade is screenwriting and story theory-- but lavishing as much hand-crafted detail into video production will give my channel the best chance of surviving; because, if the first dozen videos or so don't reach any significant audience, if they don't crack at least a hundred views in a month, I...well, I honestly don't know what I'll do. I've always been cursed with a surplus of interests (and some degree of skill in just as many subjects) but no intuition how to make any of those interests profitable; and, having endured years and years in the grungiest, most unsung positions in retail, Iiiii don't want to live another year doing work I know I absolutely hate for money. I can't find value in that life.

The greatest joy in my life, by far, is telling stories.

BLIND GUARDIAN - The Bard's Song (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

Now, whenever I want to permanently exorcise one of the countless thousands of AI accounts from my daily feed, I can't: not without releasing some other slop artist from the Shadow Realm; and I'd like to know why.

When is DA just going to....You know what, I was going to ask, 'When is DA going to put AI generation in their list of flaggable offenses?' And then I remembered DA has its own proprietary slop mill; so, no: it's never going to ban AI. This site is never going to wrestle back even a whisp of a shred of its former repute. If you're a sincere creative on this site, regardless of caliber or notoriety, you are just as fucked as the rest of us. You will see, in ever increasing volume and velocity, a vomit of AI-generated gooner bait; the knowledge and insights you spent years to earn, the thousands of hours you poured into creating something compelling with your own hands, triviliazed by some selfish cunt with a prompt.

Have I mentioned how much I utterly despise AI? Because I feel like I burried the lead. I can't even fight it anymore! I can't just block AI accounts indefinitely. I have no way of currating DA so it's even a shadow of what it was before Eclipse. I just have to tread water in the septic tank, or get out of the pool; because there is no middleground.

I just never fully understood how cheekbones define the facial planes up until now. I'm still learning. I will figure this out. And I will figure this out the sooner I relax, switch my brain off, decompress; humble myself, and just really look at what I'm trying to draw. I'm closer to figuring this out now than I was a decade ago. I will understand if I'm patient and pay attention.

Everyone swears by this method or that method, but ultimately, be it the Loomis, or the Asaro, or the Hampton, or whatever other methods there are out there, they're all just shorthand for the real deal, the human skull. As much as I hate the prospect of staring at a bone, so I can parse what's important and what crusty details I can simplify or ignore, it's what I'm going to have to do.

I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: you need real references if you're going to understand the body, and that includes the skull.

Don't get frustrated: you're closer to a breakthrough than you realize. Just be patient and, say it again