flatbeek art thread

WEEK 18 OF A PIECE A WEEK
cotton candy skies
cottoncandyskies (squash).webp


i was really busy this whole week that i didn't really have the time to do a piece until literally just now.

thankfully, i knew exactly what to do and how to do it, as i just got back from a daytrip and took some good pictures.

i've been spending a lot of time with a really close friend of mine, and i've been thinking about them a lot lately. i'm so thankful that we're as close as we are and that i can trust them with truly anything. they're always there for me and i feel so genuinely loved when i speak to them. i'm sure this isn't the last piece i'll make in thinking about them, technically it's not even the first, but i wanted to put out something that felt like it is with them: calm, open, colorful, and beautiful.

the name comes from this old song by this artist I See Colors, no clue if he or his music is still around but it was a song i loved back in 2020 and i just Had to make it the title.

wish there was more to add but finals week is kicking me down and laughing at me while i'm sobbing and throwing up on the floor so that's all for this week !
 
WEEK 19 OF A PIECE A WEEK
SPLINTER
SPLINTER (squashed).webp


i love my best friend

they watched me work on this piece the whole time (for like two days while i worked on it it's insane) and the title is based on a love song i really liked since high school (MYRNE - splinter (feat. salem ilese)) and given that i really really love my best friend i asked if they wanted to contribute to this piece with writings similar to how i did in the top left.

thats all im writing about i think this one largely says enough on its own with that info.

till next week <3
 
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Nice artwork. How did you make it? Do you do it by hand or use some sort of software to compose it? Obviously some of them are layered onto photos, but the other ones like STOLEN and SPLINTER are super creative.
 
Nice artwork. How did you make it? Do you do it by hand or use some sort of software to compose it? Obviously some of them are layered onto photos, but the other ones like STOLEN and SPLINTER are super creative.

typically i'll use things like blender to get the big abstract forms themselves, everything else is put together bit by bit in affinity (or if u go back far enough in the thread, photopea). there's a couple pieces--like SPLINTER or Forcing Inward--that i'll manually shade the form by hand after rendering it. i can never fully get the handdrawn look i'm going for with shaders in blender, so i'll often use clever editing on top of Actual Handdrawing with brush tool and a tablet to get the look i'm going for. i realistically could get that entirely with just editing it well, but i enjoy taking the extra time and putting the extra bit of effort into these pieces (even if, in a way, it's entirely pointless when there's a MUCH easier way).
 
WEEK 20 OF A PIECE A WEEK
aimlessly
aimlessly (squash).webp

i've been struggling with aggressive strings of throughts shattering my ability to sleep or have a clear view on the way my time as an artist and furthermore as a human on this earth has been going.

i started a new medication to help treat my anxiety.

it works, but is making it very agressively obvious how often this effects me.

my brain is moving in such a way that writing this is even a little difficult. it's partially hard to focus and when i am focusing i'm finding it hard to articulate.

till next week
 
I really like this one, it's gorgeous. I'm wishing you the best- I hope with time and the help of your new medicine, things keep getting better for you.
 
WEEK 21 OF A PIECE A WEEK
moodswing
moodswing (squash).webp


in the past week of being on a medication that's meant to help my anxiety, it's been increasingly highlighted how much that anxiety has affected me in my daily life.

the prime example being that i went to a show down in bay st. louis because i knew the bassist through another friend (though we'd never met before). so i went to support their band, have some fun, and meet this friend. the entire night i was getting increasingly nervous for literally no reason other than "i have to talk to this person." after the show, i went up to them, said hi, they got pulled away by some other friends, and i left the venue just before having an attack.

it weighs on me a lot that social interaction is something i both love and fear. i've been really nervous interacting with other deskgen artists just off of this anxiety alone. i love making friends and getting to know artists and how they work and WHY they work the ways they do, i love learning and understanding people and supporting them, but my biggest hurdle seems to be just talking to someone.

i've had a lot of conversations with my best friend about this, and the thing they always stress is "a LOT of people also feel this way." and while i'm sure it affects some people more than me (BLESS your hearts whoever you are), it's a comfort knowing that i'm not alone in it. i figured i'd share that lil story and where i'm at as a little push to say hey, if you're feeling the same shit, you're also not alone.

'till next week. <3
 
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