If you loved MSN and DON'T want to switch to Skype, click here for an alternative!

mangneto:

tonyhawkstrider:

I’ve been giving this new IM a test run for the past month in anticipation of the day when MSN would be shut down, and I have to say it seems heavily inspired by MSN while including its own fun (and dare I say, often better) features and style as well. Though it takes some tweaking to find what preferences fit your fancy, like with any IM, it still has that familiar aura that MSN always had. And for all those art roleplayers and doodlers out there, you can even draw on it, just like with MSN! The emoticons are super cute, too, and there’s chat rooms you can join if you’re into that as well. It would be fantastic if more people hopped on this and found ways to tweak and hack it the same way we did with MSN, but as of now, it’s a great alternative considering its bloated competition, in my opinion!

Happy chatting, everyone. (｀・ω・´)”

 If you and your friends used Windows Live Messenger a lot and don’t really dig Skype, I’d say give this a shot. It’s almost the exact same thing as WLM, if not better. You get a lot of customization options, good photo-sharing (you can just copy paste stuff right into the chat window without even needing to save it), allows for custom emoticons, has some VOIP options (not sure how well it works, though),and the little drawing option is exactly the kind of thing I’ve been looking for. 

It’s got a little weirdness about it (adding friends can be tricky) but it’s pretty well built for the most part and the UI is free from any of that streamlined, sterile Web 2.0 bullshit.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Source: tonyhawkstrider

owesomejj:

becdecorbin:

owesomejj reblogged your post: I JUST REALIZED Haruki is my new Mr. R …

;A; It does, oh gosh, um… *pulls hair* //sta.sh/09inmz7gqoq >:I I’m not good with this picture stuff….

you could host it on imgur, dropbox or imageshack or such?

*facedesk* I have absolutely no idea what those are…

I think i may just have to stop doing these spur of the moment things…

yay it works now! :> such a lovely Mr. R, thank you~

http://imgur.com/ 

http://imageshack.us/

these two are image hosting sites, you can upload images on them and link directly from them! Imgur is great for temporary uploads since it periodically deletes images that haven’t been viewed for a while, I haven’t used my imageshack in a while since I seemed to hit the max upload limit??

there’s also photobucket but it’s been SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS lately so I can’t really recommend it :C

https://www.dropbox.com/

dropbox is also super handy, all you need to do is to install it and you can copy and paste files directly to your dropbox folder on your computer and copy the file’s url from the right click menu shortcut, all without having to upload your images separately on a site. (though I think having a public image folder to link from stopped being automatic and you have to activate it manually or something as far as I recall hearing which is a pain and I have no idea why they’d do that!!)

*ramble*

Source: becdecorbin

artdirections: 5 Ways to be a Happier CreativeWe all know the tortured artist schtick. To be honest, I can be a downer sometimes myself, but I think it would be terrible for us to all perpetuate the idea that being creative and miserable are mutually exclusive.So here’s to being creative and actually enjoying it:1. Refuse to See Your Entire Life Either as a Success or a FailureThe idea here is to never buy into the lie that your life is either successful or failing in terms of your creative output. Think of the most successful creative person you can, if you look closely you can see a series of successes and failures. The best way for me to look at the creative life is as a series of projects which can be successful in some ways and fail in other ways. For instance, some projects are really successful in the development of your skill but not financially advantageous. Also, don’t believe that there is some level of success where you have now “arrived” or attained a level of success which can never been denied to you, like being hailed a “creative genius” with endless financial gain, forever. I could tell you many examples of artists and musicians who seem like they have “arrived”  with one project and then completely fail the next. 2. Make Something EverydayWill Bryant says something like, “I make stuff because if I don’t I get sad”. A silly and profound statement. Last year I did a daily drawing project where I created a new character every weekday. I found this statement to ring very true.This practice gave me a sense of creative productivity every single day, which is a serious morale booster. Even if you don’t show anyone, it can help you feel prolific and unlimited in your creative abilities, which in turn increases your confidence.3. Be AuthenticThis is huge. Many people have done amazing things in creativity and have received many rewards, successes and prizes for them. So there is a lot of incentive for YOU to be THEM. But the trick is knowing the truth: you CAN’T be them. Trying to be something you are not will make you feel like an old sock. You already know this, but I thought I’d remind you.4. Know Your PurposeShooting aimlessly into the dark can feel like…shooting aimlessly into the dark. Your purpose doesn’t have to be mind meltingly important. I like the humble yet ambitious purpose the great Debbie Millman has taken upon herself to “try to make the supermarket more beautiful”. Try to clarify what you want to achieve overall so that everything you do has a sense of purpose. Purpose equals meaning, and to most creatives I know, a sense of meaning is why they want to make art and why they DO NOT want to work in a factory.5. Address and Defeat Your FearsThat dreadful fear is a bully that is killing your soul and it should be stood up to. Listen to it, don’t ignore it. Hear what it’s actually saying and then dismantle it. Talk to someone about it openly, if the fear is tied to reality, then face it and take it down with integrity. If it’s all lies, all smoke and mirrors then let it disappear in the cloud of smoke that it is. If you are doing super boring unadventurous work, you won’t have any fears at all…but who wants to do that?Hope this makes you a bit happier today. - Andy J. MillerP.S. To tackle the piling up questions here on this tumblr I have started taking on 1 hour video creative coaching, for more info click here.
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artdirections:

5 Ways to be a Happier Creative

We all know the tortured artist schtick. To be honest, I can be a downer sometimes myself, but I think it would be terrible for us to all perpetuate the idea that being creative and miserable are mutually exclusive.

So here’s to being creative and actually enjoying it:

1. Refuse to See Your Entire Life Either as a Success or a Failure
The idea here is to never buy into the lie that your life is either successful or failing in terms of your creative output. Think of the most successful creative person you can, if you look closely you can see a series of successes and failures.

The best way for me to look at the creative life is as a series of projects which can be successful in some ways and fail in other ways. For instance, some projects are really successful in the development of your skill but not financially advantageous.

Also, don’t believe that there is some level of success where you have now “arrived” or attained a level of success which can never been denied to you, like being hailed a “creative genius” with endless financial gain, forever. I could tell you many examples of artists and musicians who seem like they have “arrived”  with one project and then completely fail the next.

2. Make Something Everyday
Will Bryant says something like, “I make stuff because if I don’t I get sad”. A silly and profound statement. Last year I did a daily drawing project where I created a new character every weekday. I found this statement to ring very true.

This practice gave me a sense of creative productivity every single day, which is a serious morale booster. Even if you don’t show anyone, it can help you feel prolific and unlimited in your creative abilities, which in turn increases your confidence.

3. Be Authentic
This is huge. Many people have done amazing things in creativity and have received many rewards, successes and prizes for them. So there is a lot of incentive for YOU to be THEM. But the trick is knowing the truth: you CAN’T be them. Trying to be something you are not will make you feel like an old sock. You already know this, but I thought I’d remind you.

4. Know Your Purpose
Shooting aimlessly into the dark can feel like…shooting aimlessly into the dark. Your purpose doesn’t have to be mind meltingly important. I like the humble yet ambitious purpose the great Debbie Millman has taken upon herself to “try to make the supermarket more beautiful”.

Try to clarify what you want to achieve overall so that everything you do has a sense of purpose. Purpose equals meaning, and to most creatives I know, a sense of meaning is why they want to make art and why they DO NOT want to work in a factory.

5. Address and Defeat Your Fears
That dreadful fear is a bully that is killing your soul and it should be stood up to. Listen to it, don’t ignore it. Hear what it’s actually saying and then dismantle it. Talk to someone about it openly, if the fear is tied to reality, then face it and take it down with integrity. If it’s all lies, all smoke and mirrors then let it disappear in the cloud of smoke that it is. If you are doing super boring unadventurous work, you won’t have any fears at all…but who wants to do that?

Hope this makes you a bit happier today.

- Andy J. Miller

P.S. To tackle the piling up questions here on this tumblr I have started taking on 1 hour video creative coaching, for more info click here.

How to use Paypal for digital art

ka-atis:

Check out this blog post: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4384610/

Image files are goods, not services.

———-

Checking out the Paypal User Agreements, this is what I found:

They talk about “digital goods” as well as “physical goods”, and “digital goods” is defined as “goods” (see point 16).

I couldn’t find any passage saying that goods *must* be physical and that shipment data *must* be provided. The goods being physical and shipped make you as seller eligible for protection (you have proof that the goods are delivered; 11), but that was the only relevance I was able to find. In contrast, if the item is intangable you as seller are not protected, but the buyer is not protected either. The buyer cannot use the buyer protection to claim money back for such items, including digital goods as well as services (13).

Link: https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=ua/UserAgreement_full&locale.x=en_US

———-

Some weeks back there was a viral tumblr post saying that digital art should be labeled as ‘service’ and not as ‘goods’, because goods would require shipment data, and that not providing such data could cause the artist a lot of trouble. But so far I haven’t seen anything supporting that statement. In contrast, I have now seen several things speaking against it.

Hmm! Stuff to consider.

also from August 2010. I originally made this as a reference for myself. admittedly, way too different speech bubbles and fonts can come across as gimmicky, and on the converse side, one of the fascinating aspects of comics is especially with mystery stuff, it can be genuinely surprising to find out the source of a mysterious voice and such, etc. but I guess if there are a lot of off panel dialogue (which is also gimmicky and annoying?? maybe it could be used as a way to avoid talking heads) or if a character is special, etc., the speech bubble differentiation sort of thing may have its benefits?? hmm.
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also from August 2010. I originally made this as a reference for myself.

admittedly, way too different speech bubbles and fonts can come across as gimmicky, and on the converse side, one of the fascinating aspects of comics is especially with mystery stuff, it can be genuinely surprising to find out the source of a mysterious voice and such, etc. but I guess if there are a lot of off panel dialogue (which is also gimmicky and annoying?? maybe it could be used as a way to avoid talking heads) or if a character is special, etc., the speech bubble differentiation sort of thing may have its benefits?? hmm.