EDIT! Cool important stuff!
Most of you probably know $techgnotic's series of articles that dA has been highlighting recently.
In the newest article "The future of storytelling has arrived"  $techgnotic touches very important matters about the future of storytelling and wonders where and if the position of the author is going to change. A lot of good reading about titles like Mass Effect or Teenage ALIEN Ninja Turtles from the perspective of authors, publishers and finally the readers. But that's not all!  We want you to take part in the discussion and there's a special question for you as OFF-WHITE readers! Yes, you guys have your own special question there! If you're interested and have the time, please, go check it out and make your input by answering the question at the end of the article: [link]

I was rather flabbergasted by the very positive reception of my video tutorial. I'm really glad that so many people found it useful and tried to make their own speedpaints.
With that I have a few questions for you. First of all, would you like to see another tutorial like that? I already figured out how to make such videos so recording something new and adding some captions wouldn't be a problem. The more important question though is what would you like me to show you?  Is there anything that you find really complicated and don't know where to start?

Here are some of the speedpaints dA users made after seeing the tutorial. All of them receive a shiny delicious cookie for being awesome!
Sorry for the thumbnail size, but I wanted to show as many paintings as possible

In other news... the kiriban has been caught!
The first one to send me a screenshot of the round half million pageviews on my profile was *Fullmoonstar.. who I swear, has some kind of radar turned to watch my profile
Right after him was =coupleofkooks and =Shaleene1 who'll also get a little something from me for being so close!

I know you'd really want to know the winners of the fan art contest, but we need a bit more time for judging. A lot of things keeps popping up , but I'll inform you as soon as we pick the winners!

What do you think about social networks?
Do you have a facbook profile? Twitter, myspace, google+, nasza-klasa, vkontakte? There's so many of them I sometimes feel lost!
How do you use them? Announcing, blogging, creative work?

Even though I've been hanging around the internet for quite a while now, I still don't feel equally good in different parts of it. Tumblr is still mystery to me, Twitter makes my brain explode from confusion and facebook... Ha! Facebook deserves a story.

For a very long time I avoided having a facebook profile. At first the idea of not having a profile there was greeted with surprise by my friends. The raised brows of doubt, the slightly exaggerated frown of "well, that's unusual", and the almost always present sound of hemming and hawing before either awkwardly changing to a different topic or trying to convince the other party that facebook is the best thing since sliced bread. I think a lot of you know that routine. It was (and still is) fashionable and all the cool kids were into it. I've never paid much attention to what's "in" at a given moment so fortunately I somehow managed to avoid facebook's popularity.

When I went to college I was "forced" to get a fb profile simply because all materials from certain classes were posted only there.  I did register but I've never really "used" the page. No updates, no sharing of photos, no nothing. Some even joked that I was a silent stalker that enjoyed peeking into others' lives without saying anything. The true is that I do not enjoy seeing photos of other people at a parties/following their relationship statuses/reading their deep thoughts after drinking one too many beer, and simply followed the wise words of Thales - "Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing."

Well... That was the case till earlier today.

        Recently I've been to quite a few job interviews and I started working as a freelance subcontractor for a few companies. I was shocked by how many times I've been asked about a fb profile. I know that people like to know more about their employees and that one glance at a fb profile can tell quite a lot about a person, but it still was really surprising. A lot of professionals in the field of freelance graphics and illustrations advised me to get a fb page and update it almost as often as my portfolio. And so I lost the little pointless war I've been having. I've turned my facebook profile into a page (as if there an effin' difference) and... what now?

I like posting on deviantART because it motivates me to work harder. People show their work, I can compare it to mine, there's the faving system that in a way shows trends in what people like or care about. I've tried to find a way to use facebook in a similar manner and figured out that the best way would be to... post there every day!


From today on, I'm going to post a speed-painting to my facebook profile every single day. I want to see how good and fast I can become with an exercise like that. One month and I'm 30 paintings closer to getting to the level I want! If you'd like to follow me and my struggle with art click right [here] and drop me the much appreciated like. At least to prove me how badly I've lost the battle.

What about YOU?
Are there any other networks you recommend or would want to warn people about? Do you really use them for content sharing or just silently browse?

When ~akreon all of a sudden asked me if I'd go through her old drawings to pick the crappiest and show them to the world, I squealed like the little lame bitch that I am and thought that a copy-cat journal could be fun... because my crap is worse!
I pulled out my old binders and found some treasures too. Here comes the 15-17 year old me and her artz.


SO EDGY. And just look at them drawn on abs!


How do I wolf?


Herpa Derpa, my economics teacher. Thank gods, she never saw it.


I don't even... Everything is just so wrong and flat. That broken pelvis! And that thigh!
But now it's time for the most epic fail I've ever committed. The peak of my artistic abilities.
Here comes...
...rubber animu babe from Disney's Fantasia 2000 with no collarbones and boobs up her neck.

Not even fucking close.


Yeeep. The highschool me sucked so much. But the worst thing was that I was quite proud of all of it back then.

In other news, my half million pageview milestone is getting closer! You know what to do - be the first to send me a screenshot of you seeing the round "500000" pageview number on my profile and I'll paint you something!

And in other other news... Commissions!

*SkytheNova is taking commissions!

To read her price-list go here: [link]

You are awesome!
Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes guys! Lately I've been quite busy with work so it was great to take a break, peek on dA, and see all the love, cakes and fluffy things that flooded my message inbox. And just look at the lovely art I've received!


But as some of you might already know, I have the weird habit of making contests and giveaways on my birthdays. This time I had no time for it, but I still want to thank you all for sticking with me another year! That's why, today I'd like to ask you, my dear watchers, what would you like to receive?
I was thinking about a few things but I honestly couldn't decide. A free journal skin? A walkthrough for a painting? A sort of a tutorial with photoshop tips and tricks? A pre-made lineart/painted base for free use? Maybe something else? HALP! Write what would YOU like to get from me



_{and now it's time to go back to work...}

Edit: I previously wrote that *SkytheNova and *NikeNikita are looking for someone to help them in working on their comic... but apparently I've been late and they already have someone to work with! Thank you guys for your help and if you're interested in checking the comic, take a look here: [link]

Photoshop brushes

Some of you might remember my previous journal with a list of brush-sets I've tried out and found very useful. Today I bring you more!
And honestly I must say that those few new sets contain absolutely everything one needs (I won't join the discussion that a real artist needs only one brush, because it's absolutely true but makes things much less fun and fancy ;))
After downloading and installing a brush set always test every single brush - play with it on a clear canvas, test it in different colours and using different strokes. Pick only those which you like and know how to use, delete the others or at least move them to the bottom of the list, leaving the most often used at the top.