/ot/ - off-topic

Starting off
>What are you learning?
Right now I'm teaching myself how to draw and how to skateboard. Reading some feminist lit on the side. The skateboarding is not going so well, I busted my knee trying to ollie and now I've been hobbling around for the past week and a half lmao.
>Why self-study?
Unfortunately I find myself 10x more invested in the things I teach myself over the things I'm being taught at college. If only I could bring this energy to my classes, I'd be doing much better
>art resources
Worked my way through Fun With A Pencil and Perspective Made Easy a few months ago, working on Figure Drawing for All It's Worth now. All can be found on Z-lib, super helpful.
>sk8ing resources
Vidrel helped me get the hang of things pretty fast

Awesome thread!
>What are you learning? How come?
Drawing, because I want to make cringe oc and fan art for me and my friends.
>Why self-study?
It's easier to study fundamentals by myself and go at a slower pace since I can't keep up with a regular class for dumb physical reasons.
>Share organizational methods and ways to keep yourself accountable
Not sure how well this works since I've just started, but I've been writing down any fundamentals I need to learn, breaking them down into smaller concepts, and ordering those into a lesson plan. I've even got a first midterm assignment ready for when I get there!
>Share resources like books and videos
Loved reading Michael Hampton's "Figure Drawing Design and Invention", but I'm working up to it since most of the exercises are still too advanced for me.
https://www.posemaniacs.com/ is fun for brainstorming future sketches, and I've found it useful to reference for gesture drawing.

>What are you learning? How come?
A lot of stuff but i'm trying to focus on drawing/animation, guitar, programming, crochet and math/physics.
with the drawing i want to make a comic and accompanying music animations, with the guitar i want to make music for my poems, with the programming i want to try and make a game and with the crochet i want to make gifts for loved ones. The math is there to support the programming and crochet and physics is there because i used to love it but my hs teacher ruined it for me so i'll try to fall in love with it again

>Why self study
bragging rights

>Share organizational methods and ways to keep yourself accountable
I have started DoArtDaily to motivate myself, try to do guitar at least half an hour every day and record progress videos every two weeks, with the rest i am pretty spotty

>Share resources
my favorite drawing resources are:
>figure drawing refs
line-of-action.com, pinterest, CroquisCafe on yt, Pose-Emporium on DdeviantArt
>books
Color and Light: a guide for the realist painter, Figure Drawing For All It's Worth, Figure Drawing and Invention, Drawing the head and hands
>youtube channels:
Proko, SinixDesign, Marco Bucci, moderndayjames, Ahmed Aldori

>guitar resources:
How To Play The Guitar For Dummies (a lot of the book can be skipped if you know what kind of guitar you want to buy kek but i've had so much trouble with strumming and changing chords and that book saved me), MartyMusic on yt, Justin Guitar on yt he has structured playlists, GuitarTuna is a great app it has a tuner, a metronome, a bunch of chord exercises which helped me a lot and in the new update it has a lot of popular songs

>programming
there are a lot of in depth courses on youtube that last between 1 and 24 hours for various languages so have a field day searching for what you like though it can be overwhelming choosing what to commit to for that amount of time

>crochet
pindiy.com this is the holy grail if you want to find a pattern holy shit there are so many book pdfs uploaded i have granny squares for days. the currency system kind of defeats the point but you can just make throwaway accounts. and ofc if you end up liking the pattern consider supporting the og creator
also if you want to get into russian/japanese patterns (most of them are next level stuff truly cream of the crop) learn to read crochet diagrams they're really easy once you get the logic down.

>math/physics
i always loved stem related subjects but my hs teachers managed to suck all of the joy out of it so now i decided to start on Khan Academy and soon i'll start checking out more advanced books.
"Paul's online math notes" is the holy grail once again as well as LibreTexts

Honestly I kind of wish I could "start fresh" with learning art, I feel like a lot of my study is clouded up with style and trying to make it look good instead of just learning. I think I'll take some time off of illustrating or the things i usually draw and focus on fundies exclusively and trying new subjects and mediums.
>why self study
After touring some art programs at unis I discovered that the only thing they teach you is how to write the most self centered, pretentious artist statement for the most mediocre works. The alumni art was stiff with no hint of a single life drawing class ever being taken much less an actual anatomy or perspective course. When I say I could have done better, I'm not bragging, it was that bad. Same with actual art schools- as expensive as a top level university, and for what? The alumni art on their websites is just as shoddy. The only benefit is connections to the animation industry. I decided I can do this shit better myself and save a couple thousand dollars. Still taking a few classes at my community college next semester, though. I wanna see if I can sneak into one of the life drawing sessions even if I'm not enrolled.
>accountability
I find going down to the library and studying there really helps, can't browse lolcow when I'm in public. Also the staff are nice, after I had been studying art there for a couple weeks a drawing mannikin appeared on one of the shelves near where i usually sit.
>things I want to learn in the future
I wanna relearn spanish, I really enjoy language learning but my third year teacher was awful and then I forgot everything on graduating high school. Also guitar and maybe some basic python. I've wanted to learn to play the drums since I was little, but it's a big investment and my neighborhood will probably put a hit out on me kek
>>1297152
I haven't heard of DoArtDaily, looks cool!

>>1297031
>What are you learning? How come?
various different art mediums - drawing, painting, digital art/animation, embroidery
>Why self-study?
there's no point wasting money on art school when I can use free resources and learn my own way at my own pace
>Share organizational methods and ways to keep yourself accountable
I've been bad about keeping myself accountable but really when I have free time and/or feel inspired I'll create something
>Share resources like books and videos
I just watch lots of speedpaints and drawing streams plus those how to improve art videos along with studying other artists styles
also I don't have the free time and mental stamina but eventually I want to learn:
>sewing/pattern drafting
>guitar, piano, and music composition
>coding
>japanese (I'm forever stuck at around N3)
>knitting and crochet
there's so much stuff I want to learn I wish I was a rich neet so I could learn it all kek

>What are you learning? How come?
currently learning drawing, live2D, and Photoshop(graphic design). Want to learn programming, video editing, Blender, animation and basic music in the future.
Doing okay with the first three I get anxious pretty quickly so I tend to drop things midway but I am doing fine sticking to these.
>Why self-study?
College seems like a waste of time nowadays unless you want to study some STEM career. Times have changed and most jobs nowadays require you to have a nice portfolio rather than a degree.
>Share organizational methods and ways to keep yourself accountable
when I get overwhelmed I make a list, prioritizing the most important skill(money) to the least important(hobby).
>Share resources like books and videos
currently going through this, Photoshop is such a pain compared to CSP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyR_uYsRdPs&t=5089s

>>1297097
anon what kind of stuff are you doing for your midterm? that sounds cool

>>1297462
My midterm so far is sketching 3-4 thumbnail concept sketches that to expand into finished line art in the future. That way I can test to see whether I've learned certain fundamentals (mostly form, perspective, and proportion for now, I'm really new!), and use the concepts I want to do as guides for what to learn and practice next

I'd like to learn basic plumbing and car repair so that I don't have to rely on some moid in the event of an emergency, but I don't know where to start, all the classes around me are for trade certifications. I wish there was a "basic survival skills" class I could take.
Speaking of hard skills: I found this spreadsheet on Tumblr that lists out a bunch of hard and soft skills. It's very granola ('storytelling' and 'giving emotional support' are listed) but could be interesting if anyone's looking for ideas. OP suggested downloading it and checking each skill off as you learn them.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WcEGIxBS4EvngH6L82lQ7zXfyF8PXMwn3XpHbD1birw/edit?usp=sharing

nonnas who draw can you give me advice for getting out of a rut? i can copy other artist's work/studies very well i construct it and everything and can do some things from imagination but when i use real life reference (so not stylized) i can't draw it or adapt it for shit i feel like i'm just stealing other's work (btw i do not upload it anywhere it started as one of those "study artists you like to develop your own style" but now i feel i can't draw anything else)

I want to learn 3D modeling and music. For the former I need a more powerful computer, and for the latter, do you think playing with basic music software is a good way to learn or get used to the program and music concepts?

>>1372538
Nonna, you don't need a powerful computer to start off with 3D, especially if you stick to polygonal modeling mostly and not go too deep into sculpting (but even that could be doable until certain point, depending how bad your computer is). You'll just wait longer for the render to be there (but make sure you understand render settings because it can be sped up a lot when you set it up in a way that fits your computer specs best). Just download Blender and go for it!

>>1298633
Learning stylization before reality isn't the best idea, it seems easier but actually sets you back - it can be harder to unlearn a bad habit than to learn a good one. If you really must stylize, keep up a reference photo of the style you want to adapt the real life photo to. At least that way you can compare how the style is interpreting reality. Also, when studying it's good to adopt the mindset of valuing progress and not the finished result. Your initial studies of photos and real things are going to look bad. But if you keep at it you will improve and you should compare your current drawings to your old ones, not to other peoples. Another thing to consider is that you might just be bored of studying. It's good to throw in a personal project here and there, you can pretend it's like a test of the new knowledge you've accrued thus far. Good luck! It's a long road that never really ends, but you'll inevitably get somewhere if you just keep taking steps forward.

What do nonnies use to make mind maps?

>>1298633
I personally tend to use both real-life and stylized references side by side if an artist I admire has a really nice way of depicting a certain thing that I want to make a part of my own work. it's kind of silly but sometimes I imagine myself getting into the mindset of the specific artist whose style I'm studying and think about how they would make certain decisions about line and form and color because at some point they had to try to work out those same things themselves. stuff like a specific way of drawing the curve of an arm or leg or which highlights to emphasize or how they color shadows. I try not to worry if it looks shitty at first because to me the process is like forming a habit until it feels natural to do so

an accou thread, update your progress!
>What are you learning? How come?
>Why self-study?
>Share organizational methods and ways to keep yourself accountable
>Share resources like books and videos

>>1392200
>What are you learning? How come?
Blender, need to get to coding in the week
>Why self-study?
college is a scam
>Share organizational methods and ways to keep yourself accountable
check lists
>Share resources like books and videos
currently doing the fabled donut

>>1389696
usually just the different parts of an idea i'm thinking about

Damn, I feel like we're all the same person.
>What are you learning? How come?
Mainly Blender and coding because I want to learning more about AI machine learning, procedural generation and not be a boomer that's out of touch in 10-20 years about tech, and I want to make a video game someday but I'm procrasting so hard and I'm realising it's because of internalised pressure coming from trying to "succeed" rather than enjoying the process since I find I'm way less harsh and therefore a lot more routine in learning Philosophy and Japanese since they're both side hobbies to me and so there's no goal or passion, funnily enough emotional motivation makes me freeze to not want to do anything.
>Why self-study?
Because I learnt Japanese which is hard but with some elbow grease it's totally doable, university would make me procrastinate even more than I would normally because my 'tism would hyperfocus on grades than actual process
>Share organizational methods and ways to keep yourself accountable
Make a list of all the mistakes you make in a month and put them somewhere in your journal and keep studying routinely, you'll see expontential growth in a month and you brain with just pick up on things you normally would fuck up on, also have a purpose outside of your learning achievements. mistakes =/= failure, knowledge =/= self worth and achieving a goal =/= fluency in a topic, but that's it's part of the natural curve, if your making mistakes you're learning, and failing is only when you give up.

Also list all the stresses in your life even down to the temperature in your room, you'll be able to deal with stress better when it's palpable as small weights than a looming boulder on your back

>Share resources like books and videos
Philosophy books, any philosophy book, I don't want to say my personal taste because I don't want to get slammed for my taste but just having a new set of eyes to see yourself is revealing and life-changing, I know that sounds like something a toxic productivity youtuber would say but I'm being serious.

>>1393173
Also anyone seeing Blender as a occupational position should check out Hardops and Boxcutter as addons, bloody powerful to add to your workflow, I think it's 30USD as a bundle, even for hobbyists it's such a timesaver, also they update both addons for every Blender release

any nonas who posted in the thread want to do a progress update? I'm interested in seeing how everyones studying is coming along (sadly I've not progressed much)
samefag as >>1297405 I have not been keeping up with my art studies but I have been working on the odin project a bit to learn to code, it's hard to find motivation for anything because when I get stuck on something or do it incorrectly I get frustrated and take a very long break

someone on lc shared some great resources on how to properly homeschool your children, it would be appreciated if anyone could share those assets

>>2302453
Rip to whatever child receives a lolcow.farm education