untilted dot lol blog (dotart.blog's version) https://dotart.blog/untilted/ This is the dotart.blog (and actually RSS-friendly!) version of the untilted.lol official blog (https://untilted.lol/untilted-dot-lol-blog) Mon, 12 Oct 2026 09:11:13 +0000 Imposed Expectations and Roles https://dotart.blog/untilted/imposed-expectations-and-roles <![CDATA[I admittedly don't have anything new to share this month in terms of words and major updates, other than this: I create artwork that speaks to a wide range of people without caring too much about demographics. As long as many people can engage with it and find something meaningful, that's all that matters. However, I'm not at all that interested in making artwork that is just simply "relatable" in the most palatable way. Especially in a way that renders the artwork to a simple mirror that reflects back what people already believe. I do keep things open to interpretation sometimes, but not so much that people are more likely to just take what I make and use it to just confirm their beliefs without offering or adding on anything new or relevant to what I may have actually intended. My problem with a lot of comics and similar art that's "relatable" is not just that a lot of the jokes or double meanings they try to pull off tend to be tired and old. It's also that they're broad-appealing and straightforward enough that anyone could take them, lightly edit them, and add on new words or visuals to communicate potentially harmful ideas or beliefs. This doesn't mean that I have a problem with meme formats or anything like that, but it does mean that I'm wary of how they're used these days. Years ago somebody once stopped hanging out with me because I have this thing where I mirror what other people say with my own variation. They gave me no explanation as to why, but another person remarked that they felt I was one-upping other people in the sense that suggests their version is inferior and that my version is better and more relevant. Not taking into account that I have always struggled with language processing issues to a mild degree (the school's speech therapy classes weren't very helpful). They thought I was mocking them. There's none of that implication, however, when it's someone taking a random but popular comic and turning it into a meme template for everyone to iterate on them. There's more of an explicit permission built into the format to do whatever you want with it, make your own variant, even one of that mocking the person who originally made the artwork-turned-format in the best or the worst way. But somehow original thought and politeness is to be expected in real-time conversation. I notice that all that flies out of the window when it comes to political memes and even borrowing quotes from various famous people (especially artists) just to make a political point. Taking words out of context (which doesn't necessarily indicate a lack of reading comprehension, but it could look that way, which is why many opponents tend to pull out that defense), turning famous artworks or photographs into political cartoon variants, and the like. When it's done right and done in a very innovative way that helps instead of harms people, it can be good. But for most people who take that approach, it tends to be a rhetorical shortcut for them, at best. By invoking a celebrated writer or artist, a conveyor can tap into popular culture and make their ideas more accessible than if they let their ideas stand on their own merits alone. The reference works as a shorthand that instantly validates the speaker's position as historical authority is transferred to the present-day argument. Whether political or relational, at the end of the day it merely reinforces the pre-existing beliefs we all have, instead of critically reflecting on them and the original sources we wish to reference. A musician can speak up on global warming or war and all of a sudden people either expect him to be an expert, or just remain quiet and "stick to music". An artist can make a nonrepresentational piece that just so happens to resemble a shared cultural statement, and people will focus more on that resemblance and what hidden messages the artist is hiding, rather than care about the artwork's actual story or intent. Even someone who just happens to do activism as a side-job can often be reinterpreted exclusively through the lens of a job they just happen to do, even when they might be more multifaceted than that. Media coverage, fan commentary, and political discourse will often frame such people I just mentioned primarily based on the most immediately notable or relatable thing they happen to do, whether the people intend it to be a primary thing in their life or not. And thus, this eclipses the broader range of their identity. Making them into a symbolic vessel for the cause, a recognizable face they reference, whether for giggles or to communicate a belief they would like everyone and themselves to confirm. All of these phenomena rely on the power of symbolic association. All of these rely on borrowing credibility or visibility. They all lock individuals into this role they're expected to conform to. I think that's why I stopped making art for a while after graduating from high school until I came up with Untilted, people for the most part don't care where I come from, they don't care about my actual limitations or values, they just want me to be the ideal "tortured but talented artist" for others to live up to. They ultimately begin to prefer to see what I can ideally make for them, not me as a person or my values or even my limits. I make something good once and now all of a sudden I owe people something good everyday or when someone demands it. I say something relatable once and all of a sudden that becomes the reason people follow me or want to be friends with me. I state what I believe in publicly and all of a sudden many people with wildly different versions of the same belief I have want to get acquainted with me, then act surprised when I don't share the same version of my beliefs as them. That's not why I state things publicly, or why I put out art or other images. Yes, I want people to relate to me and what I do and what I've experienced. But I don't want or intend that to result in people slotting me into predetermined roles or liking me because I said or did something "good" once. I could have multiple things I want to do besides art. I could be widely mistreated or mishandled by others on a daily basis. I could be struggling on the inside instead of it being visible. I could have things happen to me against my will, disappear for days, maybe even for good. And people would still slot me into a role I'm expected to perform. But that's not what I make art or share things for. Not for anyone else to slot me into a role or expect things from me that I can't reasonably do. Not for anyone else to take what I do out of context. pFor any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at a href="mailto:support@untilted.lol"this email right here/a. i(If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)/i/p]]> I admittedly don't have anything new to share this month in terms of words and major updates, other than this: I create artwork that speaks to a wide range of people without caring too much about demographics. As long as many people can engage with it and find something meaningful, that's all that matters. However, I'm not at all that interested in making artwork that is just simply “relatable” in the most palatable way. Especially in a way that renders the artwork to a simple mirror that reflects back what people already believe. I do keep things open to interpretation sometimes, but not so much that people are more likely to just take what I make and use it to just confirm their beliefs without offering or adding on anything new or relevant to what I may have actually intended. My problem with a lot of comics and similar art that's “relatable” is not just that a lot of the jokes or double meanings they try to pull off tend to be tired and old. It's also that they're broad-appealing and straightforward enough that anyone could take them, lightly edit them, and add on new words or visuals to communicate potentially harmful ideas or beliefs. This doesn't mean that I have a problem with meme formats or anything like that, but it does mean that I'm wary of how they're used these days.

Years ago somebody once stopped hanging out with me because I have this thing where I mirror what other people say with my own variation. They gave me no explanation as to why, but another person remarked that they felt I was one-upping other people in the sense that suggests their version is inferior and that my version is better and more relevant. Not taking into account that I have always struggled with language processing issues to a mild degree (the school's speech therapy classes weren't very helpful). They thought I was mocking them. There's none of that implication, however, when it's someone taking a random but popular comic and turning it into a meme template for everyone to iterate on them. There's more of an explicit permission built into the format to do whatever you want with it, make your own variant, even one of that mocking the person who originally made the artwork-turned-format in the best or the worst way. But somehow original thought and politeness is to be expected in real-time conversation.

I notice that all that flies out of the window when it comes to political memes and even borrowing quotes from various famous people (especially artists) just to make a political point. Taking words out of context (which doesn't necessarily indicate a lack of reading comprehension, but it could look that way, which is why many opponents tend to pull out that defense), turning famous artworks or photographs into political cartoon variants, and the like. When it's done right and done in a very innovative way that helps instead of harms people, it can be good. But for most people who take that approach, it tends to be a rhetorical shortcut for them, at best. By invoking a celebrated writer or artist, a conveyor can tap into popular culture and make their ideas more accessible than if they let their ideas stand on their own merits alone. The reference works as a shorthand that instantly validates the speaker's position as historical authority is transferred to the present-day argument. Whether political or relational, at the end of the day it merely reinforces the pre-existing beliefs we all have, instead of critically reflecting on them and the original sources we wish to reference.

A musician can speak up on global warming or war and all of a sudden people either expect him to be an expert, or just remain quiet and “stick to music”. An artist can make a nonrepresentational piece that just so happens to resemble a shared cultural statement, and people will focus more on that resemblance and what hidden messages the artist is hiding, rather than care about the artwork's actual story or intent. Even someone who just happens to do activism as a side-job can often be reinterpreted exclusively through the lens of a job they just happen to do, even when they might be more multifaceted than that. Media coverage, fan commentary, and political discourse will often frame such people I just mentioned primarily based on the most immediately notable or relatable thing they happen to do, whether the people intend it to be a primary thing in their life or not. And thus, this eclipses the broader range of their identity. Making them into a symbolic vessel for the cause, a recognizable face they reference, whether for giggles or to communicate a belief they would like everyone and themselves to confirm.

All of these phenomena rely on the power of symbolic association. All of these rely on borrowing credibility or visibility. They all lock individuals into this role they're expected to conform to.

I think that's why I stopped making art for a while after graduating from high school until I came up with Untilted, people for the most part don't care where I come from, they don't care about my actual limitations or values, they just want me to be the ideal “tortured but talented artist” for others to live up to. They ultimately begin to prefer to see what I can ideally make for them, not me as a person or my values or even my limits. I make something good once and now all of a sudden I owe people something good everyday or when someone demands it. I say something relatable once and all of a sudden that becomes the reason people follow me or want to be friends with me. I state what I believe in publicly and all of a sudden many people with wildly different versions of the same belief I have want to get acquainted with me, then act surprised when I don't share the same version of my beliefs as them. That's not why I state things publicly, or why I put out art or other images. Yes, I want people to relate to me and what I do and what I've experienced. But I don't want or intend that to result in people slotting me into predetermined roles or liking me because I said or did something “good” once.

I could have multiple things I want to do besides art. I could be widely mistreated or mishandled by others on a daily basis. I could be struggling on the inside instead of it being visible. I could have things happen to me against my will, disappear for days, maybe even for good. And people would still slot me into a role I'm expected to perform.

But that's not what I make art or share things for. Not for anyone else to slot me into a role or expect things from me that I can't reasonably do.

Not for anyone else to take what I do out of context.

For any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at this email right here. (If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)

]]> https://dotart.blog/untilted/imposed-expectations-and-roles Sat, 30 May 2026 04:00:00 +0000 I Do Not Care For Categories https://dotart.blog/untilted/i-do-not-care-for-categories <![CDATA[Like everyone else, I like things based on certain styles that appeal to me. For instance, if you've taken a look at my latest portfolio pieces, my latest entries for the iUntilted/i comic strip, and my new personal art thing I'm doing, you would understand that I'm generally drawn towards more abstract narratives and colorful styles. However, I have never appreciated a work of fiction or art simply because of its stylistic classification or the conventions of its genre. What this means is I don't like a work of art just because it's abstract, or a work of fiction just because it belongs to a specific genre. So, the truth is that I don't really discriminate in terms of genres or art, but then again I don't really like just any kind of work either, even within what I'm usually drawn towards. I don't really care whether something is abstract or realist or fantasy or science fiction. I'm not the kind of artist who feels the need to specialize in any one style or genre. I do not regard a painting as worthy of praise solely because it embraces abstraction, nor do I elevate a novel merely on the basis of its placement within some sub/microgenre's canon. Rather, my judgment is predicated upon a work's ineffable qualities that, in a given moment, stir a genuine response within me. In a way, it's mostly about the vibe it personally gives me. And I'm more interested in giving that kind of vibe I like rather than based on an existing category. Our modern world is category-based. It doesn't care that I just like something based on the way it looks or the way it makes me feel. All it cares about is sorting things through labels that furnish convenience for marketers, reviewers, and the reading public alike. It gets to a point where it can be reductive. Contemporary literary fiction, for instance, is often distilled into a series of marketable signifiers. Everything has to have a description that best fits a specific category. Like, oh, this book contains a dragon-fighting knight warrior as a main character, when he only does that in one minor scene. Or something generic like "enemies-to-lovers", when the actual couple's dynamic is just playful fighting at first, not actual enemy-like fighting. Such brief descriptions, however convenient, risk eclipsing the real depth and merit of the work itself. My own comic strip is not an exercise in demographic engineering. I've got no desire in tailoring my creations to satisfy a narrowly defined audience. My aspiration is more modest, albeit no less earnest: to make something that engages the widest possible readership while remaining true to the aesthetic and emotional standards that satisfy my own sensibilities. While I seldom ever eschew a work of art for failing to adhere to a prescribed category, I also do not get excited over every piece that happens to occupy the abstract niche, or whatever broader category it belongs to that I'm fascinated with at the moment. The vast majority of artistic works I encounter evoke a state of indifference - neither ecstatic nor dismissive, simply neutral. Periodically, however, something will pierce that veil of neutrality, resonating with a depth that feels both intimate and unexpected. Such moments are rare, cherished, and emblematic of the selective emotional connectivity that guides my appreciation. For the most part, I would like to take a stance that distinguishes my genuine engagement from the performative "support artists" posturing rampant on social media platforms. Although I do want to raise up underappreciated and marginalized artists, I do not aspire to curate a feed of trending artworks or to amass a repertoire of superficially boosted art posts on Mastodon. My preferences, as oddly specific as they may appear to the average onlooker, are rooted in a sincere reverence for the particularities that render art truly affecting, be it digital, traditional, or hybrid. For many years, digital art has been viewed with both fascination and skepticism, with the former seeing its potential in making art accessible, and the latter being mostly concerns such as "it's the computer doing the work for humans, not the humans themselves" and many others like it. Now, with the rise of things like artificial intelligence, it's threatened to delegitimize the digital art world in every way, as even the most powerful large language model can put out something at least passable (though still full of errors), and there have been a lot of digital artists, game developers, and other kinds of creatives that have been caught using AI to make their work, while others have only been accused of it. It's a very hard time for those digital artists who refuse to use AI but have been accused of it anyway. I personally haven't been accused as I'm anti-AI myself and don't get much feedback on my art due to weak popularity, but I've seen it happen to mostly popular digital artists that work with fandom stuff and anime art. I'm also seeing a lot of generative artists that don't use any AI and/or LLMs at all often get misunderstood for what they do. If some people get rightfully found out and caught, then I have no complaints about that and only hope they will genuinely improve. But the new future, the way it's been going and hurting all artists, it just worries me. All that aside, I would like to talk about my artistic process when it comes to iUntilted/i nowadays and my newer art in general. I have an archive of old photographs taken by my family on their external drives, as well as photographs I've taken during school, and so what I've been doing is that I use Krita to modify the photo a bit, maybe zoom in a specific part, and then just put a bunch of similar photos with similar modifications on top of each other with various different effects like Addition and NOR and Saturation (you'd understand if you use Krita yourself). Then I either give it some kind of paint filter or use the brushes themselves to give it a painterly effect. Sometimes I blur the rough pixelated spots a bit, but other times I don't and leave it as is. Lastly, I add whatever text I feel like adding. All this done with my own images and no AI. So, what exactly is iUntilted/i's genre? Well, in practical terms, it would be a kind of experimental, almost psychological (without the thriller or horror), gag-a-day comic strip. It shares the same plotless and randomly comedic structure but instead of the comic being mainly comedic, it encompasses many kinds of moods and experiments with many kinds of mediums, drawing styles, and more. Something that many comic strips I've read don't really do that much. pFor any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at a href="mailto:support@untilted.lol"this email right here/a. i(If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)/i/p]]> Like everyone else, I like things based on certain styles that appeal to me. For instance, if you've taken a look at my latest portfolio pieces, my latest entries for the Untilted comic strip, and my new personal art thing I'm doing, you would understand that I'm generally drawn towards more abstract narratives and colorful styles.

However, I have never appreciated a work of fiction or art simply because of its stylistic classification or the conventions of its genre. What this means is I don't like a work of art just because it's abstract, or a work of fiction just because it belongs to a specific genre. So, the truth is that I don't really discriminate in terms of genres or art, but then again I don't really like just any kind of work either, even within what I'm usually drawn towards.

I don't really care whether something is abstract or realist or fantasy or science fiction. I'm not the kind of artist who feels the need to specialize in any one style or genre. I do not regard a painting as worthy of praise solely because it embraces abstraction, nor do I elevate a novel merely on the basis of its placement within some sub/microgenre's canon.

Rather, my judgment is predicated upon a work's ineffable qualities that, in a given moment, stir a genuine response within me. In a way, it's mostly about the vibe it personally gives me. And I'm more interested in giving that kind of vibe I like rather than based on an existing category.

Our modern world is category-based. It doesn't care that I just like something based on the way it looks or the way it makes me feel. All it cares about is sorting things through labels that furnish convenience for marketers, reviewers, and the reading public alike. It gets to a point where it can be reductive.

Contemporary literary fiction, for instance, is often distilled into a series of marketable signifiers. Everything has to have a description that best fits a specific category. Like, oh, this book contains a dragon-fighting knight warrior as a main character, when he only does that in one minor scene. Or something generic like “enemies-to-lovers”, when the actual couple's dynamic is just playful fighting at first, not actual enemy-like fighting. Such brief descriptions, however convenient, risk eclipsing the real depth and merit of the work itself.

My own comic strip is not an exercise in demographic engineering. I've got no desire in tailoring my creations to satisfy a narrowly defined audience. My aspiration is more modest, albeit no less earnest: to make something that engages the widest possible readership while remaining true to the aesthetic and emotional standards that satisfy my own sensibilities.

While I seldom ever eschew a work of art for failing to adhere to a prescribed category, I also do not get excited over every piece that happens to occupy the abstract niche, or whatever broader category it belongs to that I'm fascinated with at the moment. The vast majority of artistic works I encounter evoke a state of indifference – neither ecstatic nor dismissive, simply neutral. Periodically, however, something will pierce that veil of neutrality, resonating with a depth that feels both intimate and unexpected. Such moments are rare, cherished, and emblematic of the selective emotional connectivity that guides my appreciation.

For the most part, I would like to take a stance that distinguishes my genuine engagement from the performative “support artists” posturing rampant on social media platforms. Although I do want to raise up underappreciated and marginalized artists, I do not aspire to curate a feed of trending artworks or to amass a repertoire of superficially boosted art posts on Mastodon. My preferences, as oddly specific as they may appear to the average onlooker, are rooted in a sincere reverence for the particularities that render art truly affecting, be it digital, traditional, or hybrid.

For many years, digital art has been viewed with both fascination and skepticism, with the former seeing its potential in making art accessible, and the latter being mostly concerns such as “it's the computer doing the work for humans, not the humans themselves” and many others like it. Now, with the rise of things like artificial intelligence, it's threatened to delegitimize the digital art world in every way, as even the most powerful large language model can put out something at least passable (though still full of errors), and there have been a lot of digital artists, game developers, and other kinds of creatives that have been caught using AI to make their work, while others have only been accused of it.

It's a very hard time for those digital artists who refuse to use AI but have been accused of it anyway. I personally haven't been accused as I'm anti-AI myself and don't get much feedback on my art due to weak popularity, but I've seen it happen to mostly popular digital artists that work with fandom stuff and anime art. I'm also seeing a lot of generative artists that don't use any AI and/or LLMs at all often get misunderstood for what they do. If some people get rightfully found out and caught, then I have no complaints about that and only hope they will genuinely improve. But the new future, the way it's been going and hurting all artists, it just worries me.

All that aside, I would like to talk about my artistic process when it comes to Untilted nowadays and my newer art in general. I have an archive of old photographs taken by my family on their external drives, as well as photographs I've taken during school, and so what I've been doing is that I use Krita to modify the photo a bit, maybe zoom in a specific part, and then just put a bunch of similar photos with similar modifications on top of each other with various different effects like Addition and NOR and Saturation (you'd understand if you use Krita yourself). Then I either give it some kind of paint filter or use the brushes themselves to give it a painterly effect. Sometimes I blur the rough pixelated spots a bit, but other times I don't and leave it as is. Lastly, I add whatever text I feel like adding. All this done with my own images and no AI.

So, what exactly is Untilted's genre? Well, in practical terms, it would be a kind of experimental, almost psychological (without the thriller or horror), gag-a-day comic strip. It shares the same plotless and randomly comedic structure but instead of the comic being mainly comedic, it encompasses many kinds of moods and experiments with many kinds of mediums, drawing styles, and more. Something that many comic strips I've read don't really do that much.

For any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at this email right here. (If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)

]]> https://dotart.blog/untilted/i-do-not-care-for-categories Thu, 30 Apr 2026 04:00:00 +0000 It’s Not Always That Easy To Express Myself In The Form Of Words (or Art) https://dotart.blog/untilted/its-not-always-that-easy-to-express-myself-in-the-form-of-words-or-art <![CDATA[pIn the past, I have stated that my purpose in starting the comic strip iUntilted/i was to capture the experience of being - not just feeling - mostly alone. Like, always meeting an endless stream of new potential acquaintances, yet never maintaining a lasting association with any among them. Always finding constant opportunities for intimacy, though somehow never truly forming a definitive union with a single soul. Always finding someone you think gets you, only to find out that they really just "get you" in a way that is incompatible with your values or personality or whatever./p pBut, I also wanted my webcomic to focus less on the plot-heavy "relatable" drama that is so prominent in every well-known story on the subject, and just focus more on the whole random meaninglessness of it all. Now, obviously the decision to make it a no-plot genreless thing in a world of people that expect consistent and anchored stories with the usual tropes in them will garner mixed and often negative results, especially when it comes to building an audience these days. The common criticisms are: who is this story for, who will like this, what is the purpose of this story if it doesn't seem to have a clear purpose?/p pOn the other hand, I have found that I tend to be more motivated and do better when there is no complicated arc to think about because there is more room for creative freedom and I don't feel constrained by a bunch of plot devices and other details to think too deeply about. So I don't feel that iUntilted/i's narrative structure is the big issue that I'm struggling with here./p pSince the start of the 2026 year, I've been finding it increasingly harder to translate my experiences into a narrative form, even a purely visual and abstract one. You see, I have discovered some personal revelations about myself that I feel are a bit too sensitive to talk about here, but for honesty purposes I will try to explain in a way that doesn't make me feel too exposed. In order to do this I will talk in mostly obscurities, but not so much that it seems like I'm vaguely referencing people, because I'm not having any issues with anyone right now and I haven't been having them for a while./p pGenerally, I clean up (i.e. delete) some old and half-baked stuff in order to reflect new content, but I've noticed that I may also delete stuff even outside of iUntilted/i for different reasons. For example, I have had to delete a personal blog post I made about my challenges with emotional regulation, because, when I tried to expand on some of the points I was trying to make about how nothing really helped me even when it seemed that way, I realized that no matter how differently I tried to approach it, I kept hitting a nerve within myself. Like I haven't processed things sufficiently yet for me to talk about it more openly./p pThis does bnot/b mean that I'm hiding things on purpose or deleting them just because I'm worried about what other people think, but rather; it began to feel less like I was telling a more honest and coherent story and more like I was building a case against something in order to defend myself against a common stereotype. It felt like I was just proving myself against a perceived opposition that:/p ol li pI'm not just a "landmine" type (apparently that's the new trendy term they're using now?),/p /li li pI don't have or at least neatly fit in certain mental health diagnoses that others who may or may not be professionals may ascribe to me without my consent, and that/p /li li pI've been more stable lately, honest to God./p /li /ol pThis isn't about what other people think in the pure sense, but rather, it was more about bme myself and I specifically/b becoming increasingly burnt out about feeling like I have to build a case that shows I'm "one of the better ones" who stay out of trouble. So I ended up deleting that post because I felt that this was a personal thing of mine that really didn't need to be shared, and therefore my own responsibility to deal with it myself./p pNot because of any stigma. Not because of any feared pushback. But because I became tired of building cases./p pIn addition, the reason I haven't been consistently or efficiently updating things for the past few months is because I've been experiencing a resurgence of old interests, old thoughts, old desires that I thought I had gotten over by now. I'm not just casually remembering old stuff with basic nostalgia. There's something significant about these old things coming back that's been distracting me from my usual work, that's been keeping me awake, etc./p pThe fact that I'm not entirely sure whether I've been suppressing it all this time, or whether I just haven't been paying attention to the obvious signs, means that I haven't really been fully in touch with what I know about myself and what I really want./p pIt doesn't help matters that some of my feelings are being made amplified by some of the things that have been going on in the world today, the things I've been looking up related to them, the connections I've been making between what's happening and what I'm feeling personally - well, it's just all been so… weird./p pBut I think what disorients me about it the most is that I've noticed a strong emotional component that wasn't there before. Most times, when I like something I'm usually just mildly interested in it or just casually like it. But in this particular case, it's been getting more sentimental, as I've been discovering some old things that I thought I just casually liked but realized that I deeply loved all along, and I've been discovering some new things I never knew or acknowledged before. To the point where I sometimes find myself lying in bed crying about it./p pIt's not like I'm considering giving up the whole iUntilted/i thing. I'm still sticking to it; it does speak to me still. However, there's just been a kind of moment where the most overlooked parts of myself have been demanding my attention, and I have reached a point where I can't just ignore them anymore./p pA lot about iUntilted/i is based off of my experiences, and I usually have no problem with communicating them in the form of the most typical fun gags or some sort of deep, semi-cryptic message for the audience to gauge (I don't really embed any subliminal or hidden messaging in my comics, I'm not very good at it). But I've been having a hard time doing that precisely because of how personal some of my experiences are - sometimes way too personal to the extent that I'm not able to put things in coherent words or even images, relatable or not. That or I haven't processed things sufficiently./p pAm I running out of ideas? Not really. It's more like I've been having trouble executing them./p pFor any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at a href="mailto:support@untilted.lol"this email right here/a. i(If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)/i/p]]> In the past, I have stated that my purpose in starting the comic strip Untilted was to capture the experience of being - not just feeling - mostly alone. Like, always meeting an endless stream of new potential acquaintances, yet never maintaining a lasting association with any among them. Always finding constant opportunities for intimacy, though somehow never truly forming a definitive union with a single soul. Always finding someone you think gets you, only to find out that they really just "get you" in a way that is incompatible with your values or personality or whatever.

But, I also wanted my webcomic to focus less on the plot-heavy "relatable" drama that is so prominent in every well-known story on the subject, and just focus more on the whole random meaninglessness of it all. Now, obviously the decision to make it a no-plot genreless thing in a world of people that expect consistent and anchored stories with the usual tropes in them will garner mixed and often negative results, especially when it comes to building an audience these days. The common criticisms are: who is this story for, who will like this, what is the purpose of this story if it doesn't seem to have a clear purpose?

On the other hand, I have found that I tend to be more motivated and do better when there is no complicated arc to think about because there is more room for creative freedom and I don't feel constrained by a bunch of plot devices and other details to think too deeply about. So I don't feel that Untilted's narrative structure is the big issue that I'm struggling with here.

Since the start of the 2026 year, I've been finding it increasingly harder to translate my experiences into a narrative form, even a purely visual and abstract one. You see, I have discovered some personal revelations about myself that I feel are a bit too sensitive to talk about here, but for honesty purposes I will try to explain in a way that doesn't make me feel too exposed. In order to do this I will talk in mostly obscurities, but not so much that it seems like I'm vaguely referencing people, because I'm not having any issues with anyone right now and I haven't been having them for a while.

Generally, I clean up (i.e. delete) some old and half-baked stuff in order to reflect new content, but I've noticed that I may also delete stuff even outside of Untilted for different reasons. For example, I have had to delete a personal blog post I made about my challenges with emotional regulation, because, when I tried to expand on some of the points I was trying to make about how nothing really helped me even when it seemed that way, I realized that no matter how differently I tried to approach it, I kept hitting a nerve within myself. Like I haven't processed things sufficiently yet for me to talk about it more openly.

This does not mean that I'm hiding things on purpose or deleting them just because I'm worried about what other people think, but rather; it began to feel less like I was telling a more honest and coherent story and more like I was building a case against something in order to defend myself against a common stereotype. It felt like I was just proving myself against a perceived opposition that:

  1. I'm not just a "landmine" type (apparently that's the new trendy term they're using now?),

  2. I don't have or at least neatly fit in certain mental health diagnoses that others who may or may not be professionals may ascribe to me without my consent, and that

  3. I've been more stable lately, honest to God.

This isn't about what other people think in the pure sense, but rather, it was more about me myself and I specifically becoming increasingly burnt out about feeling like I have to build a case that shows I'm "one of the better ones" who stay out of trouble. So I ended up deleting that post because I felt that this was a personal thing of mine that really didn't need to be shared, and therefore my own responsibility to deal with it myself.

Not because of any stigma. Not because of any feared pushback. But because I became tired of building cases.

In addition, the reason I haven't been consistently or efficiently updating things for the past few months is because I've been experiencing a resurgence of old interests, old thoughts, old desires that I thought I had gotten over by now. I'm not just casually remembering old stuff with basic nostalgia. There's something significant about these old things coming back that's been distracting me from my usual work, that's been keeping me awake, etc.

The fact that I'm not entirely sure whether I've been suppressing it all this time, or whether I just haven't been paying attention to the obvious signs, means that I haven't really been fully in touch with what I know about myself and what I really want.

It doesn't help matters that some of my feelings are being made amplified by some of the things that have been going on in the world today, the things I've been looking up related to them, the connections I've been making between what's happening and what I'm feeling personally - well, it's just all been so… weird.

But I think what disorients me about it the most is that I've noticed a strong emotional component that wasn't there before. Most times, when I like something I'm usually just mildly interested in it or just casually like it. But in this particular case, it's been getting more sentimental, as I've been discovering some old things that I thought I just casually liked but realized that I deeply loved all along, and I've been discovering some new things I never knew or acknowledged before. To the point where I sometimes find myself lying in bed crying about it.

It's not like I'm considering giving up the whole Untilted thing. I'm still sticking to it; it does speak to me still. However, there's just been a kind of moment where the most overlooked parts of myself have been demanding my attention, and I have reached a point where I can't just ignore them anymore.

A lot about Untilted is based off of my experiences, and I usually have no problem with communicating them in the form of the most typical fun gags or some sort of deep, semi-cryptic message for the audience to gauge (I don't really embed any subliminal or hidden messaging in my comics, I'm not very good at it). But I've been having a hard time doing that precisely because of how personal some of my experiences are - sometimes way too personal to the extent that I'm not able to put things in coherent words or even images, relatable or not. That or I haven't processed things sufficiently.

Am I running out of ideas? Not really. It's more like I've been having trouble executing them.

For any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at this email right here. (If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)

]]> https://dotart.blog/untilted/its-not-always-that-easy-to-express-myself-in-the-form-of-words-or-art Tue, 31 Mar 2026 04:00:00 +0000 Untilted Struggles To, But Will Continue in 2026 https://dotart.blog/untilted/untilted-struggles-to-but-will-continue-in-2026 <![CDATA[Let me start off by saying this: I create work and express ideas that I believe should stand on their own merits without relying on networking, trends, or the whims of a fickle audience or a handpicked group of elite critics or judges. And yet, I am acutely aware of the paradox that confronts just about anyone wanting acknowledgment that translates into visibility and validation that is genuinely of substance despite not always being able to immediately please everyone: the tension between merit and what people determine is worthy of that acknowledgment. Now, let's be honest: I am not and never have been a social media person. I don't have as much of a childlike susceptibility to finding literally every kind of well-produced art or comedy or similar entertainment to be easily amusing and so good, as I'm much more discerning about what I like and what I choose to engage with. I don't reply as much to literally every single trending post I see, partly because responses are often misread and partly because of me feeling pressured to reply to these posts for every repeated time I see them. I do not widen my social circle by default, and I reserve warmth and attention for whom and what truly interests me; this does not mean that I find the people I choose not to engage with literally unworthy of that interest, but rather, I haven't found that kind of spark in most people and things yet. (Basically, what I'm saying is, it's not you, it's me.) Because I'm very selective in my warmth, don't believe in joining niche groups on the premise that "common interests bring people together" (in my experience, they don't, and reality is much messier than this childlike premise), or otherwise play the social game of being more entertaining or interesting in a way that attracts others, my work doesn't generate those signals and so it stays mostly invisible to those not susceptible to what's immediately engaging. As a result, everything I do becomes discoverable only when someone actively seeks it out, when an aggregator surfaces it, or when one or more people (I refuse to use the word "algorithm" or blame it on an abstract "system") choose to amplify it, hence my reliance on word-of-mouth marketing. Because I don't engage or connect or immediately impress people the way others want me to, I become socially deprioritized, no matter how good I am at my craft or how interesting or useful or talented I could be. When I say I want my art to be recognized by its own merits, I don't really mean that I want a handful of professionals or a large community to decide whether I am worthy of awards or accolades or grant money. I mean that I want anyone to come take a look at what I do and decide for themselves whether they want to engage further with what I do or what I stand for or not. Experience, expertise, or even an interest in art should not be prerequisites for that judgment. My ultimate aspiration is not recognition from elite circles or mass validation (or even external validation itself!), but something more fundamental: genuine connection with other artists, especially with those in my situation. The ones who aren't immediately recognized and stay hopelessly deprioritized by the masses. That is part of the reason for my selectivity, not because I think I'm too good for everyone else or that no one could ever understand me. And I hate that people default to that kind of bias against me. However, I don't like how one of the apparent consequences of taking this stance has resulted in what seems to be a consignment of my work to silence, whether intentionally imposed on me or not. Currently, I have had to stop making Untilted constricted to a paid membership because of how I was not getting any subscribers whatsoever (though I did receive a thoughtful $1 donation), and it's getting harder to work with a lack of actual feedback on my work. I feel like everyone has become either too scared or too quick to overlook things to meaningfully criticize others. Constructive feedback and meaningful dialogue become substituted for dismissive one-liners and absolute black-and-white thinking because people have a general tendency to jump to absolutes. And when I do discourage those negative things, all of a sudden no one wants to respond. I also dislike that the populace that privileges visibility often forces this kind of compromise, and I resent that this is read as disengagement. Let me tell you a personal anecdote about me. When I was still in high school, I would get mostly honor rolls and certificates of excellence and stuff like that. Sometimes, some of my art would be exhibited in the classroom hallways and in-school art festivals. I even had a self-portrait of mine get accepted to be published in the Spring 2017 Celebrating Art Anthology, though it never was selected as a Top Ten or a High Merit Winner. I don't really remember receiving any harsh criticism of my work or anything like that, but I did mostly get vaguely praised - think compliments like "Wow, she's so good!" or "How is she so talented?" But I don't feel like I ever received any real genuine praise or criticism that was actually willing to delve deeper into more than just the techniques I choose to enhance my artwork or the subjects I choose. This is especially noticeable when I make realistic paintings and drawings of things like flowers, plants, nature, animals, and other similar subjects. Part of the reason I don't depict as much realism as I used to back in school is because it seems that the majority of today's viewers only superficially see that I'm good at portraying it and nothing more. It's why I'm increasingly preferring to do nonrepresentational art nowadays, even if the majority mostly ignore it, don't quite understand it, or prefer a stereotypical depiction of it to my unique interpretation of it. I may have to figure out a way to develop more nuanced strategies of visibility that align with my constraints and philosophy. But what would that mean for me? I don't know. All I ever wanted was to cultivate a small and discerning yet close-knit and thoughtful audience of people. I have no interest in controlling what and how people interact with me, or what they say and think of me. I just want to put my art out there without requiring me to have to actively impress others or justify myself existing. That's all. And frankly I already do some form of that, but I admit I have to try other things as well. Well, take care. pFor any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at a href="mailto:support@untilted.lol"this email right here/a. i(If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)/i/p]]> Let me start off by saying this: I create work and express ideas that I believe should stand on their own merits without relying on networking, trends, or the whims of a fickle audience or a handpicked group of elite critics or judges. And yet, I am acutely aware of the paradox that confronts just about anyone wanting acknowledgment that translates into visibility and validation that is genuinely of substance despite not always being able to immediately please everyone: the tension between merit and what people determine is worthy of that acknowledgment.

Now, let's be honest: I am not and never have been a social media person. I don't have as much of a childlike susceptibility to finding literally every kind of well-produced art or comedy or similar entertainment to be easily amusing and so good, as I'm much more discerning about what I like and what I choose to engage with. I don't reply as much to literally every single trending post I see, partly because responses are often misread and partly because of me feeling pressured to reply to these posts for every repeated time I see them. I do not widen my social circle by default, and I reserve warmth and attention for whom and what truly interests me; this does not mean that I find the people I choose not to engage with literally unworthy of that interest, but rather, I haven't found that kind of spark in most people and things yet. (Basically, what I'm saying is, it's not you, it's me.) Because I'm very selective in my warmth, don't believe in joining niche groups on the premise that “common interests bring people together” (in my experience, they don't, and reality is much messier than this childlike premise), or otherwise play the social game of being more entertaining or interesting in a way that attracts others, my work doesn't generate those signals and so it stays mostly invisible to those not susceptible to what's immediately engaging.

As a result, everything I do becomes discoverable only when someone actively seeks it out, when an aggregator surfaces it, or when one or more people (I refuse to use the word “algorithm” or blame it on an abstract “system”) choose to amplify it, hence my reliance on word-of-mouth marketing. Because I don't engage or connect or immediately impress people the way others want me to, I become socially deprioritized, no matter how good I am at my craft or how interesting or useful or talented I could be.

When I say I want my art to be recognized by its own merits, I don't really mean that I want a handful of professionals or a large community to decide whether I am worthy of awards or accolades or grant money. I mean that I want anyone to come take a look at what I do and decide for themselves whether they want to engage further with what I do or what I stand for or not. Experience, expertise, or even an interest in art should not be prerequisites for that judgment. My ultimate aspiration is not recognition from elite circles or mass validation (or even external validation itself!), but something more fundamental: genuine connection with other artists, especially with those in my situation. The ones who aren't immediately recognized and stay hopelessly deprioritized by the masses. That is part of the reason for my selectivity, not because I think I'm too good for everyone else or that no one could ever understand me. And I hate that people default to that kind of bias against me.

However, I don't like how one of the apparent consequences of taking this stance has resulted in what seems to be a consignment of my work to silence, whether intentionally imposed on me or not. Currently, I have had to stop making Untilted constricted to a paid membership because of how I was not getting any subscribers whatsoever (though I did receive a thoughtful $1 donation), and it's getting harder to work with a lack of actual feedback on my work. I feel like everyone has become either too scared or too quick to overlook things to meaningfully criticize others. Constructive feedback and meaningful dialogue become substituted for dismissive one-liners and absolute black-and-white thinking because people have a general tendency to jump to absolutes. And when I do discourage those negative things, all of a sudden no one wants to respond. I also dislike that the populace that privileges visibility often forces this kind of compromise, and I resent that this is read as disengagement.

Let me tell you a personal anecdote about me. When I was still in high school, I would get mostly honor rolls and certificates of excellence and stuff like that. Sometimes, some of my art would be exhibited in the classroom hallways and in-school art festivals. I even had a self-portrait of mine get accepted to be published in the Spring 2017 Celebrating Art Anthology, though it never was selected as a Top Ten or a High Merit Winner. I don't really remember receiving any harsh criticism of my work or anything like that, but I did mostly get vaguely praised – think compliments like “Wow, she's so good!” or “How is she so talented?” But I don't feel like I ever received any real genuine praise or criticism that was actually willing to delve deeper into more than just the techniques I choose to enhance my artwork or the subjects I choose. This is especially noticeable when I make realistic paintings and drawings of things like flowers, plants, nature, animals, and other similar subjects. Part of the reason I don't depict as much realism as I used to back in school is because it seems that the majority of today's viewers only superficially see that I'm good at portraying it and nothing more. It's why I'm increasingly preferring to do nonrepresentational art nowadays, even if the majority mostly ignore it, don't quite understand it, or prefer a stereotypical depiction of it to my unique interpretation of it.

I may have to figure out a way to develop more nuanced strategies of visibility that align with my constraints and philosophy. But what would that mean for me? I don't know. All I ever wanted was to cultivate a small and discerning yet close-knit and thoughtful audience of people. I have no interest in controlling what and how people interact with me, or what they say and think of me. I just want to put my art out there without requiring me to have to actively impress others or justify myself existing. That's all. And frankly I already do some form of that, but I admit I have to try other things as well.

Well, take care.

For any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at this email right here. (If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)

]]> https://dotart.blog/untilted/untilted-struggles-to-but-will-continue-in-2026 Mon, 02 Feb 2026 05:00:00 +0000 Where Was I? https://dotart.blog/untilted/where-was-i <![CDATA[I have not had a sale for the first few months since I set up shop, but this time I can take some responsibility for that, because I was initially not very clear about what I could provide to the audience besides my art and my update posts. It's also been a while since I spoke on this matter as well. You also may have also noticed that I don't post much art outside of the Untilted comic strip. All that is explained on my personal blog. Regarding art business, I've done a lot of introspection and research on what specifically I want to do these past few months, because of the lack of subscriptions and interactions and mostly due to my thinking that I would be mostly passive while customers come to me. It seems that no matter where I set up shop, whether it's Mercari, Fiverr or some other marketplace even if run independently by me, I don't get much traction anywhere. There was a whole moment where, despite consistently putting up stuff on Mercari for weeks, I went a whole year without a single sale, which led to my frustration and led to me eventually deactivating my Mercari account. All this despite putting up stuff most people want to see. And I'm being regularly blamed for not being proactive enough when I just want to not have to think about how to woo people in my business, which apparently I must actively do or else I'll be treated with suspicion. But guess what? It was like this under actual employment as well. When I signed up for a temporary summer painting job at my community college, I was also being seen by my manager as "not doing my job and constantly disappearing" despite the fact that I actually was consistently painting on the areas I was assigned to the entire time, and despite me showing him. Which led to me quitting a day before the official employment term ended. It turns out that I'm not very traditionally well-suited for any type of business or profession due to my nature and attitude towards it. And I think the main reason for this is because, going by how people promote their own products and all, from Mastodon to Pinterest, everyone HAS to be proactive and initiative at ALL times and everything HAS to be attractive and acceptable to the general public (or at least a well-defined popular demographic/audience) or else I'll be viewed with suspicion/contempt and eventually ignored in favor of more popular and marketable influencers. And I don't really like that notion. At all. It also turns out that there are some things in the art business that I am not exactly comfortable with doing, that I've seen everywhere I go in a lot of art circles: Art prints. I feel like only photography is best suited to be printable, but I don't exactly have the budget for a high-end camera (although I do have Photoshop and Lightroom, but I rarely use it) so I will probably never be able to successfully pull it off. Art merchandise (like stickers, bookmarks, shirts, etc.). I do actually do my own stickers and bookmarks using my own materials and whatever else I got but I just do not like the idea of turning my art into marketable merchandise that dilutes almost all meaning my art has. It feels like I am using my art in a way that indicates that it does not deserve respect beyond being marketable and trendy. Stock photos and stock illustrations. At one point I did attempt to sell stock photos with Adobe Stock, and they rejected my photograph for being low-quality and, most irritating at all, "not representing the broader human experience" as if a stock photo has to mean something beyond being used by businesses to showcase their products without actually showing the actual product. So I stopped. I'm not even sure if someone can sell stock photos beyond a marketplace, because most people are bound by marketplaces that either prohibit content with resale rights or have heavy restrictions on them anyway, and stock images are technically such content. So I will not be doing stock images. Sending physical and handmade art/jewelry. I currently do not have the means or support to do so due to preservation concerns as I live in an apartment building that's not very suitable enough to preserve high-quality artwork beyond the ones that take low maintenance to preserve. Anything that can be sold on Fine Art America, Etsy, Pixels, etc. due to my experience with marketplaces I just explained at the beginning. Anything photography related due to the high expectations associated with it. Any type of art commission that feels informal (like character base templates). Now, I have no hostility or hatred towards people who do art commissions. But a lot of the scene and their ideas feel, how do I put this in a nice way, too simplistic and informal. I do not mean to say that they are unprofessional at all, or anything overly negative like that. I am not one of those people who judge other people's career choices based on perceived professionalism and I am actually very accommodating about this stuff. However, I have a preference towards commissions that convey a higher level of seriousness and that give me something simple yet also challenging to do, while not burning me out, but also helping me learn something new at the same time. And I don't feel that certain types of art commissions meet that standard for me. Any type of art commission that feels too easy to do to the extent that it can be exploited by someone who wants to rip it off and pretend they did the work themselves when they stole it from me (like profile picture commissions done in the same kind of style, "adoptables", etc). See 7. Any type of art commission that has loopholes that may violate my boundaries and could get me in trouble (e.g. non-explicit fetish art that isn't obvious to the average viewer that it's meant to be fetish art). I've had this boundary way before the whole UK Online Safety Act thing (which I technically may be bound to due to me being on a UK-based marketplace website, although my website contains no objectionable content) but I would just like to reiterate that I do not do any kind of content that may be considered harmful to vulnerable audiences, legally or not, no matter how implicit or hidden it is. Although all my art is created for a general audience and is not primarily directed at either children or adults, I do not do any kind of adult content whatsoever. This is not to judge those that do, just to set things straight. 10. Anything that requires software I may not be familiar with. 11. Texture/brush packs (because I am not familiar with them) 12. Online teaching (for obvious reasons) 13. Anything involving cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens, and artificial intelligence due to ethical risks 14. Anything beyond my current skill level and budget. 15. Anything outside my personal taste unless I'm sure I'm comfortable with it. I do not discriminate against anyone for having an art style different from my own either. I do like the idea of putting up membership content for people to subscribe to me and see all my content there, even if it's just for a month, which is why Untilted was initially a subscription-based thing before I realized that no one knows me well enough to want to subscribe to me. But I haven't even figured that out well yet, as I see some people put some behind the scenes art in public, and other art behind a membership paywall. As a result I am stumped as to what I want to put on my membership tiers, and I am open to ideas. I was thinking maybe I could do alternative versions of certain Untilted comics, or maybe some GIF animations. I would really like everyone's help and input with this. pFor any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at a href="mailto:support@untilted.lol"this email right here/a. i(If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)/i/p]]> I have not had a sale for the first few months since I set up shop, but this time I can take some responsibility for that, because I was initially not very clear about what I could provide to the audience besides my art and my update posts. It's also been a while since I spoke on this matter as well. You also may have also noticed that I don't post much art outside of the Untilted comic strip. All that is explained on my personal blog.

Regarding art business, I've done a lot of introspection and research on what specifically I want to do these past few months, because of the lack of subscriptions and interactions and mostly due to my thinking that I would be mostly passive while customers come to me. It seems that no matter where I set up shop, whether it's Mercari, Fiverr or some other marketplace even if run independently by me, I don't get much traction anywhere. There was a whole moment where, despite consistently putting up stuff on Mercari for weeks, I went a whole year without a single sale, which led to my frustration and led to me eventually deactivating my Mercari account. All this despite putting up stuff most people want to see. And I'm being regularly blamed for not being proactive enough when I just want to not have to think about how to woo people in my business, which apparently I must actively do or else I'll be treated with suspicion. But guess what? It was like this under actual employment as well. When I signed up for a temporary summer painting job at my community college, I was also being seen by my manager as “not doing my job and constantly disappearing” despite the fact that I actually was consistently painting on the areas I was assigned to the entire time, and despite me showing him. Which led to me quitting a day before the official employment term ended.

It turns out that I'm not very traditionally well-suited for any type of business or profession due to my nature and attitude towards it. And I think the main reason for this is because, going by how people promote their own products and all, from Mastodon to Pinterest, everyone HAS to be proactive and initiative at ALL times and everything HAS to be attractive and acceptable to the general public (or at least a well-defined popular demographic/audience) or else I'll be viewed with suspicion/contempt and eventually ignored in favor of more popular and marketable influencers. And I don't really like that notion. At all.

It also turns out that there are some things in the art business that I am not exactly comfortable with doing, that I've seen everywhere I go in a lot of art circles:

  1. Art prints. I feel like only photography is best suited to be printable, but I don't exactly have the budget for a high-end camera (although I do have Photoshop and Lightroom, but I rarely use it) so I will probably never be able to successfully pull it off.
  2. Art merchandise (like stickers, bookmarks, shirts, etc.). I do actually do my own stickers and bookmarks using my own materials and whatever else I got but I just do not like the idea of turning my art into marketable merchandise that dilutes almost all meaning my art has. It feels like I am using my art in a way that indicates that it does not deserve respect beyond being marketable and trendy.
  3. Stock photos and stock illustrations. At one point I did attempt to sell stock photos with Adobe Stock, and they rejected my photograph for being low-quality and, most irritating at all, “not representing the broader human experience” as if a stock photo has to mean something beyond being used by businesses to showcase their products without actually showing the actual product. So I stopped. I'm not even sure if someone can sell stock photos beyond a marketplace, because most people are bound by marketplaces that either prohibit content with resale rights or have heavy restrictions on them anyway, and stock images are technically such content. So I will not be doing stock images.
  4. Sending physical and handmade art/jewelry. I currently do not have the means or support to do so due to preservation concerns as I live in an apartment building that's not very suitable enough to preserve high-quality artwork beyond the ones that take low maintenance to preserve.
  5. Anything that can be sold on Fine Art America, Etsy, Pixels, etc. due to my experience with marketplaces I just explained at the beginning.
  6. Anything photography related due to the high expectations associated with it.
  7. Any type of art commission that feels informal (like character base templates). Now, I have no hostility or hatred towards people who do art commissions. But a lot of the scene and their ideas feel, how do I put this in a nice way, too simplistic and informal. I do not mean to say that they are unprofessional at all, or anything overly negative like that. I am not one of those people who judge other people's career choices based on perceived professionalism and I am actually very accommodating about this stuff. However, I have a preference towards commissions that convey a higher level of seriousness and that give me something simple yet also challenging to do, while not burning me out, but also helping me learn something new at the same time. And I don't feel that certain types of art commissions meet that standard for me.
  8. Any type of art commission that feels too easy to do to the extent that it can be exploited by someone who wants to rip it off and pretend they did the work themselves when they stole it from me (like profile picture commissions done in the same kind of style, “adoptables”, etc). See 7.
  9. Any type of art commission that has loopholes that may violate my boundaries and could get me in trouble (e.g. non-explicit fetish art that isn't obvious to the average viewer that it's meant to be fetish art). I've had this boundary way before the whole UK Online Safety Act thing (which I technically may be bound to due to me being on a UK-based marketplace website, although my website contains no objectionable content) but I would just like to reiterate that I do not do any kind of content that may be considered harmful to vulnerable audiences, legally or not, no matter how implicit or hidden it is. Although all my art is created for a general audience and is not primarily directed at either children or adults, I do not do any kind of adult content whatsoever. This is not to judge those that do, just to set things straight.
  10. Anything that requires software I may not be familiar with.
  11. Texture/brush packs (because I am not familiar with them)
  12. Online teaching (for obvious reasons)
  13. Anything involving cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens, and artificial intelligence due to ethical risks
  14. Anything beyond my current skill level and budget.
  15. Anything outside my personal taste unless I'm sure I'm comfortable with it. I do not discriminate against anyone for having an art style different from my own either.

I do like the idea of putting up membership content for people to subscribe to me and see all my content there, even if it's just for a month, which is why Untilted was initially a subscription-based thing before I realized that no one knows me well enough to want to subscribe to me. But I haven't even figured that out well yet, as I see some people put some behind the scenes art in public, and other art behind a membership paywall. As a result I am stumped as to what I want to put on my membership tiers, and I am open to ideas. I was thinking maybe I could do alternative versions of certain Untilted comics, or maybe some GIF animations.

I would really like everyone's help and input with this.

For any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at this email right here. (If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)

]]> https://dotart.blog/untilted/where-was-i Wed, 06 Aug 2025 16:23:31 +0000 Changing Up Some Things https://dotart.blog/untilted/changing-up-some-things <![CDATA[I know I went a full month without posting anything new or worthwhile on the untilted dot lol blog. But, on the bright side, some new changes are coming: There is now a dotart.blog mirror of the untilted dot lol blog. This means an actual RSS feed (besides my mostly nonfunctional JSON one), federation with the fediverse, and I actually get to verify it on my Mastodon profile. untilted.lol income is reliant on subscription memberships and donations, but apparently the project isn't popular enough to warrant anyone actually supporting it. The good news is, I actually may have some ideas for an art commission that don't make me feel like I'm just wasting my time and that is bearable to do. You'll be hearing more details in the not too distant future, maybe this week. I am constantly thinking of better ways to make the subscription membership option more attractive. Again, you'll hear about some new features at some point, but not too late. I am constantly improving my website. I am constantly looking for better marketing ideas that don't cost too much. The reason I used to briefly rely on Pinterest advertising is because it felt to be a more preferable option than the horrors of networking, which I still hate because I'm an insular person by nature. That's all. pFor any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at a href="mailto:support@untilted.lol"this email right here/a. i(If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)/i/p]]> I know I went a full month without posting anything new or worthwhile on the untilted dot lol blog. But, on the bright side, some new changes are coming:

  • There is now a dotart.blog mirror of the untilted dot lol blog. This means an actual RSS feed (besides my mostly nonfunctional JSON one), federation with the fediverse, and I actually get to verify it on my Mastodon profile.

  • untilted.lol income is reliant on subscription memberships and donations, but apparently the project isn't popular enough to warrant anyone actually supporting it. The good news is, I actually may have some ideas for an art commission that don't make me feel like I'm just wasting my time and that is bearable to do. You'll be hearing more details in the not too distant future, maybe this week.

  • I am constantly thinking of better ways to make the subscription membership option more attractive. Again, you'll hear about some new features at some point, but not too late.

  • I am constantly improving my website.

  • I am constantly looking for better marketing ideas that don't cost too much. The reason I used to briefly rely on Pinterest advertising is because it felt to be a more preferable option than the horrors of networking, which I still hate because I'm an insular person by nature.

That's all.

For any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at this email right here. (If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)

]]> https://dotart.blog/untilted/changing-up-some-things Mon, 26 May 2025 15:16:58 +0000 Growing Out or Evolving? https://dotart.blog/untilted/growing-out-or-evolving <![CDATA[I still remember holding a pencil in my hand during class, not just to work on assignments or group projects, but also to secretly scribble pictures of characters with huge eyes and exaggerated proportions. Back then, it didn't matter if the arms were too long or if the perspective was all off. The rules of art didn’t really apply too much. Doodling cartoons felt like freedom. Cartoons were, and still are, about exaggeration without apologies, creating worlds where a character could suddenly turn into a rocket mid-sentence without anyone questioning the physics. However, as much as I still prefer drawing cartoons to drawing anything realistic, I can't help but notice that my interest in cartoons is slowly waning. It's not because I've completely outgrown them or because I buy into the old idea that serious art has to be hyperrealistic. Simply put, I just do not have the same enthusiasm or interest in cartoons I used to have as a child. Like, all the exaggerations in cartoons that I used to tolerate as a child now just grates me. But it can also annoy me just as much as the over-the-top dramatic antics in melodramas, so it's not a "I'm putting away childish things" sort of thing. Even Japanese anime irks me now (although I still like Studio Ghibli movies). I'm genuinely annoyed at what passes for popular in the cartoon sphere these days, both animated and printed. Every piece has to squeeze in something that shocks a couple of people because shock value is cool nowadays. It's as if subtle storytelling is out of style, and every drawing has to give a wink to the audience: "Look how grown-up we are! Check out my character saying and doing naughty no-no stuff!" If that's what you want to intend your art for, fine. I'm not against anyone's creative choices. But it's so insane that everything popular has to be adultified just to discourage kids from looking at it. These days, even preschool shows manage to sneak in celebrity cameos that seem more fitting for late-night comedy spots, with inside jokes that go over kids' heads but get a thumbs-up from adults who want to feel "in the know". It's not clever; it just feels like pandering. Like nothing can't be for just all ages anymore because adults are obsessed with wanting to remind everyone that the world is dark and mean and cruel. However, I'm more concerned about the more moderately explicit ones than the mild ones seen in anything lower than at least TV-PG. The ones that raise important social issues are not really my problem, and I am not one of those people to obsess over tone than the actual point being made. But the more gratuitous ones that just exist for shock value are, at least to some extent. It actually makes me not want to look at any cartoon art anymore, including anime. Like, sometimes I can't. Then there's the other extreme, the shows that try so hard to be "wholesome" that they end up feeling cold and sterile. Like happiness has to be pure and simple, stripped of any real complexity. I mean, come on, I believe that cartoons can and should be more than wholesome, but I dont want everything to be inappropriately adultified literally everywhere either. A story can explore grief without getting lost in it, or show hope without making it too gritty or real. Frankly, having to keep up with trends in cartoons just to meet the public eye halfway does not appeal to me if no trend does. That's why I end up following no trends at all, especially with my art. That's probably just my ingrained and possibly outdated and irrational cultural beliefs talking, though, so I probably won't be as taken seriously. pFor any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at a href="mailto:support@untilted.lol"this email right here/a. i(If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)/i/p]]> I still remember holding a pencil in my hand during class, not just to work on assignments or group projects, but also to secretly scribble pictures of characters with huge eyes and exaggerated proportions. Back then, it didn't matter if the arms were too long or if the perspective was all off. The rules of art didn’t really apply too much. Doodling cartoons felt like freedom. Cartoons were, and still are, about exaggeration without apologies, creating worlds where a character could suddenly turn into a rocket mid-sentence without anyone questioning the physics.

However, as much as I still prefer drawing cartoons to drawing anything realistic, I can't help but notice that my interest in cartoons is slowly waning. It's not because I've completely outgrown them or because I buy into the old idea that serious art has to be hyperrealistic. Simply put, I just do not have the same enthusiasm or interest in cartoons I used to have as a child. Like, all the exaggerations in cartoons that I used to tolerate as a child now just grates me. But it can also annoy me just as much as the over-the-top dramatic antics in melodramas, so it's not a “I'm putting away childish things” sort of thing. Even Japanese anime irks me now (although I still like Studio Ghibli movies).

I'm genuinely annoyed at what passes for popular in the cartoon sphere these days, both animated and printed. Every piece has to squeeze in something that shocks a couple of people because shock value is cool nowadays. It's as if subtle storytelling is out of style, and every drawing has to give a wink to the audience: “Look how grown-up we are! Check out my character saying and doing naughty no-no stuff!” If that's what you want to intend your art for, fine. I'm not against anyone's creative choices. But it's so insane that everything popular has to be adultified just to discourage kids from looking at it. These days, even preschool shows manage to sneak in celebrity cameos that seem more fitting for late-night comedy spots, with inside jokes that go over kids' heads but get a thumbs-up from adults who want to feel “in the know”. It's not clever; it just feels like pandering. Like nothing can't be for just all ages anymore because adults are obsessed with wanting to remind everyone that the world is dark and mean and cruel. However, I'm more concerned about the more moderately explicit ones than the mild ones seen in anything lower than at least TV-PG. The ones that raise important social issues are not really my problem, and I am not one of those people to obsess over tone than the actual point being made. But the more gratuitous ones that just exist for shock value are, at least to some extent.

It actually makes me not want to look at any cartoon art anymore, including anime. Like, sometimes I can't. Then there's the other extreme, the shows that try so hard to be “wholesome” that they end up feeling cold and sterile. Like happiness has to be pure and simple, stripped of any real complexity. I mean, come on, I believe that cartoons can and should be more than wholesome, but I dont want everything to be inappropriately adultified literally everywhere either. A story can explore grief without getting lost in it, or show hope without making it too gritty or real.

Frankly, having to keep up with trends in cartoons just to meet the public eye halfway does not appeal to me if no trend does. That's why I end up following no trends at all, especially with my art.

That's probably just my ingrained and possibly outdated and irrational cultural beliefs talking, though, so I probably won't be as taken seriously.

For any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at this email right here. (If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)

]]> https://dotart.blog/untilted/growing-out-or-evolving Tue, 29 Apr 2025 04:00:00 +0000 My Limitations in Art https://dotart.blog/untilted/my-limitations-in-art <![CDATA[Over an extended period of introspection, I have come to recognize that my aptitude for producing large-scale artworks is, in reality, far more limited than I had long presumed. While I am able to navigate the demands of a canvas comparable in scale to my sketchbook, works exceeding those dimensions present an overwhelming challenge and consume a disproportionate amount of time and cognitive resources. This difficulty is compounded by the limitations of my current living situation in a densely packed apartment building with inadequate insulation, requiring additional protective measures for my physical artwork that go well beyond the initially straightforward act of encasing them in plastic. Therefore, my artwork MUST not exceed 8.5 by 11 inches. Furthermore, I'm diverse but also quite limited to what I can work with, ranging from high-quality acrylic paints to more elementary mediums such as Crayola crayons, all of which necessitate the application of Mod Podge spray for preservation. Given these factors, I have opted to concentrate my traditional artistic practice on miniature works. This not only aligns better with my environmental and material constraints but also because I find it easier to do than having 5 larger pieces and leaving them unfinished, often due to uncertainty about their direction or the need for specific materials that I can't afford or are hard to find. My prior explorations in various techniques and genres, including printmaking, T-shirt design, and thematic series centered on cakes, failed to yield artistic or personal satisfaction. The processes inherent to these undertakings proved either excessively complex or revealed my own limitations with conceptual and serialized art-making. In contrast, the execution of miniature pieces provides a directness and manageability absent from more elaborate forms. It's also why I like cartooning and abstract art (to some degree) more. Everything in art is too unnecessarily complex for me, a realization that at one point catalyzed a hiatus spanning two years from any serious engagement with art. The pursuit of a professional trajectory in art, with its attendant pressures and systemic frustrations, has not abated even as I attempt to chart an independent path outside conventional academic frameworks - eschewing both formal fine arts degrees and so-called "online self-directed learning" curricula that requires payment. In retrospect, I derive greater fulfillment from exploration that is entirely self-directed by me, than from passive reception of knowledge in classroom settings. Frankly, I don't feel good being taught by someone else anymore. I just don't. I understand its importance, but I don't feel good about education anymore. I would rather educate myself whenever I feel it's necessary to. Honestly, it's more about people than it is about education. Teachers and professors don't know how to handle anyone with empathy and understanding anymore. My encounters with teachers and professors have revealed a pervasive deficit in empathy and understanding, with many resorting to condescension toward those they deem obstinate, and at times, characterizing their own students as deliberately obtuse or illiterate. Such attitudes have eroded my inclination to reengage with formal education, undermining not only my motivation to improve, but also my trust in the capacity of educators to support diverse learners. With rare exception, my teachers have failed to demonstrate the patience and flexibility necessary to nurture students facing unique challenges, reinforcing my conclusion that the problem is institutional and systemic. Consequently, I have resolved to assume full autonomy over my artistic development, determining for myself the parameters of my progress and the criteria by which it is measured. While I remain receptive to criticism in principle, I am acutely sensitive to prescriptive feedback, regardless of its rationale - a trait present since childhood, and not indicative of rebellion but rather heightened emotional receptivity to anything that could be interpreted as controlling. My objective, henceforth, is to dedicate my creative efforts to smaller-scale works, prioritizing professionalism over spectacle, and ensuring that my art remains a source of personal accomplishment rather than external validation. pFor any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at a href="mailto:support@untilted.lol"this email right here/a. i(If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)/i/p]]> Over an extended period of introspection, I have come to recognize that my aptitude for producing large-scale artworks is, in reality, far more limited than I had long presumed. While I am able to navigate the demands of a canvas comparable in scale to my sketchbook, works exceeding those dimensions present an overwhelming challenge and consume a disproportionate amount of time and cognitive resources. This difficulty is compounded by the limitations of my current living situation in a densely packed apartment building with inadequate insulation, requiring additional protective measures for my physical artwork that go well beyond the initially straightforward act of encasing them in plastic. Therefore, my artwork MUST not exceed 8.5 by 11 inches. Furthermore, I'm diverse but also quite limited to what I can work with, ranging from high-quality acrylic paints to more elementary mediums such as Crayola crayons, all of which necessitate the application of Mod Podge spray for preservation.

Given these factors, I have opted to concentrate my traditional artistic practice on miniature works. This not only aligns better with my environmental and material constraints but also because I find it easier to do than having 5 larger pieces and leaving them unfinished, often due to uncertainty about their direction or the need for specific materials that I can't afford or are hard to find. My prior explorations in various techniques and genres, including printmaking, T-shirt design, and thematic series centered on cakes, failed to yield artistic or personal satisfaction. The processes inherent to these undertakings proved either excessively complex or revealed my own limitations with conceptual and serialized art-making. In contrast, the execution of miniature pieces provides a directness and manageability absent from more elaborate forms. It's also why I like cartooning and abstract art (to some degree) more.

Everything in art is too unnecessarily complex for me, a realization that at one point catalyzed a hiatus spanning two years from any serious engagement with art. The pursuit of a professional trajectory in art, with its attendant pressures and systemic frustrations, has not abated even as I attempt to chart an independent path outside conventional academic frameworks – eschewing both formal fine arts degrees and so-called “online self-directed learning” curricula that requires payment. In retrospect, I derive greater fulfillment from exploration that is entirely self-directed by me, than from passive reception of knowledge in classroom settings. Frankly, I don't feel good being taught by someone else anymore. I just don't. I understand its importance, but I don't feel good about education anymore. I would rather educate myself whenever I feel it's necessary to.

Honestly, it's more about people than it is about education. Teachers and professors don't know how to handle anyone with empathy and understanding anymore. My encounters with teachers and professors have revealed a pervasive deficit in empathy and understanding, with many resorting to condescension toward those they deem obstinate, and at times, characterizing their own students as deliberately obtuse or illiterate. Such attitudes have eroded my inclination to reengage with formal education, undermining not only my motivation to improve, but also my trust in the capacity of educators to support diverse learners. With rare exception, my teachers have failed to demonstrate the patience and flexibility necessary to nurture students facing unique challenges, reinforcing my conclusion that the problem is institutional and systemic.

Consequently, I have resolved to assume full autonomy over my artistic development, determining for myself the parameters of my progress and the criteria by which it is measured. While I remain receptive to criticism in principle, I am acutely sensitive to prescriptive feedback, regardless of its rationale – a trait present since childhood, and not indicative of rebellion but rather heightened emotional receptivity to anything that could be interpreted as controlling. My objective, henceforth, is to dedicate my creative efforts to smaller-scale works, prioritizing professionalism over spectacle, and ensuring that my art remains a source of personal accomplishment rather than external validation.

For any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at this email right here. (If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)

]]> https://dotart.blog/untilted/my-limitations-in-art Tue, 15 Apr 2025 04:00:00 +0000 How I Coded This Blog* https://dotart.blog/untilted/how-i-coded-this-blog <![CDATA[(note: Blog* = the untilted dot lol blog at this website) I have implemented a kind of experimental code for my new blog. This code defines a multifunctional sidebar interface combined with blog post navigation and a popup message system that people can optionally click. Below, I explain every line and component to highlight how the code works and its technical structure. mySidebar The sidebar is represented by the nav element. It is positioned to remain fixed on the left side of the page, occupying the full height. Here I will explain its inline CSS styles (I use inline CSS for everything because it's easier to keep track of which CSS styles are linked to a specific HTML div): z-index:3: Since nav is positioned to be fixed, the z-index property is used to ensure that the sidebar appears above most page elements but below higher-priority components like the popup (For context, the popup's z-index is 5). width:320px, height:100%: These physical dimensions are appropriate for sidebars and for both mobile and desktop users. position:fixed, top:0, left:0: Fixes the sidebar at the top-left corner of the viewport. background-color:white: Sets the sidebar's background color for better readability. overflow:auto: Enables scrolling if the content inside the sidebar exceeds the sidebar height. border-right:1px solid #ddd, box-shadow: Adds a subtle shadow and lining for visual separation. The reason for the id="mySidebar" identifier is to allow JavaScript functions to interact with this element dynamically. What's Inside The nav? You will note that most everything is in block format which means that block elements stack on top of each other. div id="makespaceforbutton": Acts as an empty container for any potential dynamic content placed via JavaScript and also to, as the id obviously puts it, "make space for button". There is a border-bottom:1px solid #ddd line, the space between the content and the border is about 35px (padding), and all text is aligned center for consistency. a id="aboutLink" and its styles: Serves as a navigational link titled "About This Blog." Attributes: href="javascript:void(0) prevents default link navigation, instead relying on onclick="showAboutPopup()" to show the "About This Blog" popup. Styling (background-color: #616161, color:white, etc.) gives a greyish background with white text and ensures a user-friendly, visually distinct appearance. Posts Section Toggle (a id="postsBtn"): Exists to enable the visibility of the list of available posts as a clickable button. This is managed via the onclick="togglePosts()" handler. All other styles it contains is for aesthetic purposes. Posts Section div id="Demo1" shows a list of collapsible posts, initially hidden as display:none. It contains individual post links structured as (example): a ... onclick="showPost('Post1')" div spanPOST1/span pinsertdatehere/p /div /a These links include: Dynamic IDs and Styling: Each link is styled for clean layout with borders (border-bottom:1px solid #ddd) and 16px padding. Functions for Content Display: The onclick event attribute calls showPost(), a function that takes an argument (in this case, the ID of the post to be shown) and performs the necessary operations to reveal the specified post and hide the others. Sidebar Toggle Button So where the "makespaceforbutton" section is located, there is a button element outside the sidebar that toggles its visibility. Key features include: Positioning (position:fixed, top:16px, left:16px): Like the sidebar, the button is positioned albeit slightly at 16px at the top left to ensure consistent placement. Functionality (onclick="toggleSidebar()"): When you click the button, a JavaScript function toggles the sidebar and adjusts the main content's margin (style.marginLeft). Informational Popup div id="id01" is a modal overlay designed to display a popup. It uses the following: display:none: This initially hides the popup until triggered by JavaScript. Styling: Covers the entire page (width:100%; height:100%) and dims the background to a transparent black color (background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.5)). Popup Content: Contains auxiliary div elements styled (background-color: coral, padding:16px) for clarity. The close button (technically a multiplication sign, but we can use it as a normal X as well) invokes JavaScript to hide the popup. CSS Inside style Block The external CSS block includes: #popup-content: Defines the dimensions and animations of the popup. Responsive Design: Adjusts width under smaller screens for mobile users (width:80% for max-width:768px). Main Content and Blog Posts The div id="content" represents the main content outside the sidebar: div id="defaultMessage": Displays introductory text for first-time visitors, including FAQs and descriptions of blog functionality. Once you click on any of the blog posts, it disappears and switches to any selected post. Post Content (div id="Post1"): Encapsulates individual posts, styled for readability, with sections for headers, metadata, and footer content. JavaScript Functionality The script block governs dynamic behaviors: Event Handlers: togglePosts(): Toggles the visibility of the Demo1 container (posts section). showPost(postId): Hides the default message and displays a specified post by its ID. showAboutPopup() and toggleSidebar(): Control popup and sidebar toggling. How Well Did I Do? This code took me about 3 weeks to get right. At some point I may add more extra things, so this is just how the code is for now. pFor any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at a href="mailto:support@untilted.lol"this email right here/a. i(If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)/i/p]]> (note: Blog* = the untilted dot lol blog at this website)

I have implemented a kind of experimental code for my new blog. This code defines a multifunctional sidebar interface combined with blog post navigation and a popup message system that people can optionally click. Below, I explain every line and component to highlight how the code works and its technical structure.

mySidebar

The sidebar is represented by the <nav> element. It is positioned to remain fixed on the left side of the page, occupying the full height. Here I will explain its inline CSS styles (I use inline CSS for everything because it's easier to keep track of which CSS styles are linked to a specific HTML div):

  • z-index:3: Since nav is positioned to be fixed, the z-index property is used to ensure that the sidebar appears above most page elements but below higher-priority components like the popup (For context, the popup's z-index is 5).
  • width:320px, height:100%: These physical dimensions are appropriate for sidebars and for both mobile and desktop users.
  • position:fixed, top:0, left:0: Fixes the sidebar at the top-left corner of the viewport.
  • background-color:white: Sets the sidebar's background color for better readability.
  • overflow:auto: Enables scrolling if the content inside the sidebar exceeds the sidebar height.
  • border-right:1px solid #ddd, box-shadow: Adds a subtle shadow and lining for visual separation.

The reason for the id="mySidebar" identifier is to allow JavaScript functions to interact with this element dynamically.

What's Inside The <nav>?

You will note that most everything is in block format which means that block elements stack on top of each other.

  1. <div id="makespaceforbutton">:

    • Acts as an empty container for any potential dynamic content placed via JavaScript and also to, as the id obviously puts it, “make space for button”. There is a border-bottom:1px solid #ddd line, the space between the content and the border is about 35px (padding), and all text is aligned center for consistency.

  2. <a id="aboutLink"> and its styles:

    • Serves as a navigational link titled “About This Blog.”
    • Attributes: href="javascript:void(0) prevents default link navigation, instead relying on onclick="showAboutPopup()" to show the “About This Blog” popup.
    • Styling (background-color: #616161, color:white, etc.) gives a greyish background with white text and ensures a user-friendly, visually distinct appearance.

  3. Posts Section Toggle (<a id="postsBtn">):

    • Exists to enable the visibility of the list of available posts as a clickable button. This is managed via the onclick="togglePosts()" handler. All other styles it contains is for aesthetic purposes.

Posts Section

<div id="Demo1"> shows a list of collapsible posts, initially hidden as display:none. It contains individual post links structured as (example):

<a ... onclick="showPost('Post1')">
  <div>
    <span>POST1</span>
    <p>insertdatehere</p>
  </div>
</a>

These links include:

  • Dynamic IDs and Styling: Each link is styled for clean layout with borders (border-bottom:1px solid #ddd) and 16px padding.
  • Functions for Content Display: The onclick event attribute calls showPost(), a function that takes an argument (in this case, the ID of the post to be shown) and performs the necessary operations to reveal the specified post and hide the others.

So where the “makespaceforbutton” section is located, there is a <button> element outside the sidebar that toggles its visibility. Key features include:

  • Positioning (position:fixed, top:16px, left:16px): Like the sidebar, the button is positioned albeit slightly at 16px at the top left to ensure consistent placement.
  • Functionality (onclick="toggleSidebar()"): When you click the button, a JavaScript function toggles the sidebar and adjusts the main content's margin (style.marginLeft).

Informational Popup

<div id="id01"> is a modal overlay designed to display a popup. It uses the following:

  • display:none: This initially hides the popup until triggered by JavaScript.
  • Styling: Covers the entire page (width:100%; height:100%) and dims the background to a transparent black color (background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.5)).
  • Popup Content: Contains auxiliary <div> elements styled (background-color: coral, padding:16px) for clarity. The close button (technically a multiplication sign, but we can use it as a normal X as well) invokes JavaScript to hide the popup.

CSS Inside <style> Block

The external CSS block includes:

  1. #popup-content:
    • Defines the dimensions and animations of the popup.
    • Responsive Design: Adjusts width under smaller screens for mobile users (width:80% for max-width:768px).

Main Content and Blog Posts

The <div id="content"> represents the main content outside the sidebar:

  1. <div id="defaultMessage">:

    • Displays introductory text for first-time visitors, including FAQs and descriptions of blog functionality. Once you click on any of the blog posts, it disappears and switches to any selected post.

  2. Post Content (<div id="Post1">):

    • Encapsulates individual posts, styled for readability, with sections for headers, metadata, and footer content.

JavaScript Functionality

The <script> block governs dynamic behaviors:

  1. Event Handlers:

    • togglePosts(): Toggles the visibility of the Demo1 container (posts section).
    • showPost(postId): Hides the default message and displays a specified post by its ID.
    • showAboutPopup() and toggleSidebar(): Control popup and sidebar toggling.

How Well Did I Do?

This code took me about 3 weeks to get right. At some point I may add more extra things, so this is just how the code is for now.

For any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at this email right here. (If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)

]]> https://dotart.blog/untilted/how-i-coded-this-blog Tue, 08 Apr 2025 04:00:00 +0000 Does Anybody Really Care If A Story Is Generic/Bad Or Not? https://dotart.blog/untilted/does-anybody-really-care-if-a-story-is-generic-bad-or-not <![CDATA[Most works of fiction follow predictable patterns, tropes, and clichés in the name of convention, audience comfort, nostalgia, or the like. Conventions in storytelling have long been established as a means of creating a sense of familiarity and recognition for the audience. Certain narrative structures, character archetypes, and plot devices have become so ingrained that they serve as a foundation for many storylines of shows, movies, and more. This familiarity provides a sense of comfort and security, allowing the audience to engage with the story more readily. At the same time, that same audience may also demand less, not more, predictable stories, in favor of more unique ones. Does it really matter? NOT REALLY. Contrary to what some folks might say, most people don't actually care if a story is generic. In fact, many readers actively seek out stories with familiar elements. This preference for the comfortable is often underestimated in discussions about storytelling. But, it's also true that fiction thrives on a delicate balance between familiarity and innovation. When stories break away from conventional patterns, they can surprise and captivate audiences, and potentially lead to a more memorable experience. Fortunately, I was mature and intelligent enough to realize narratives are far more complex than simple accusations of unoriginality. My own experiences navigating the stories promoted by popular culture and wrestling with my own attempts at teaching myself how to write a story revealed a nuanced landscape of narrative expectations. And I'm open to all the endless possibilities. However, I was tired. Tired of seeing the same kinds of stories and characters over and over again. The realistic, down-to-earth romantic dramas, the superheroes rescuing damsels in distress, the funny animal adventures - don't get me wrong, those can be great, but STILL. I'm not exactly fond of episodic things - those can actually be kind of forgettable. But I didn't want to go the other extreme and dive into some big, convoluted plot that everyone has to follow religiously. Those kinds of stories can be overwhelming, for everyone. I didn't want to feel like I was getting bogged down in intricate world-building or trying to keep track of a million different characters and plot threads. Originally I wanted this to be a straight up comic series with origin stories and stuff, but that's daunting too. So, I decided to scale things back a bit and go with a more manageable comic strip format instead. That way, I could focus on crafting individual, self-contained strips without having to worry about weaving together a larger narrative arc. But I was still having trouble coming up with something. Then, I came up with this idea. What if everything took place in a world where: Nothing is consistent, organized, and overly polished. Not everything needs to be perfect or meticulously arranged to be valuable or meaningful. When things are inconsistent or less polished, they can feel more genuine and relatable. In this way, people are more likely to appreciate things like perspective issues or line quality variation, rather than criticize them. All characters are neither human nor non-human, and have their own unique and oddly specific biological traits. All this is open to interpretation, and it also allows for a diverse range of beings that defy conventional biological norms. However, this is not better explained by any fictional construct such as that in science fiction or fantasy - in other words, they won't be stereotypical aliens or unicorns or dragons or whatever. Everyone lives in fairly basic societies focused on survival needs, but the social constructs of the real world do not apply to this world. Concepts like class, race, or gender roles may not hold the same significance or influence as they do in the real world. While this is also open to interpretation, it is important to remember that the aforementioned concepts would not be relevant. This doesn't mean that there aren't any differences or inequalities, but they would likely be based on more practical and immediate factors. To make things even more simpler, I decided that there will be only one main character. Now, if you saw what my character looked like, you may notice how plain-looking, at first glance, the character design is. However, that is a deliberate choice on my part, not a shortcoming. The simplicity of the humanoid look is done to create a sense of universality and an appearance that is more relatable and accessible. It's a deceptively simple design that hides the true nature of the protagonist. (and no, it's not as evil or cliche as it sounds) The decision to focus on a single main character allows for depth rather than breadth. Instead of juggling multiple story lines and personalities, we can dive deep into one being's experiences, thoughts, and growth. Now, this approach to storytelling isn't about rejecting all conventions. Rather, it's about questioning why those conventions exist and whether they serve the story we want to tell. It's about finding a balance between the familiar and the novel, or rather, the generic and the unique, and creating a world that feels both different and strangely relatable. In the end, this isn't just about creating a more unique comic strip. It's about challenging our perceptions, expanding our understanding of what storytelling can be, and inviting readers to see the world - both the fictional one I'm creating and the real one we inhabit - from a new perspective. It's an experiment in narrative, in art, and in the very nature of existence itself. And it shouldn't be about how generic or how bad a story is. The focus should be on evaluating the artistic merit and craftsmanship of the story, rather than simply making broad, subjective judgments about its perceived flaws or lack of uniqueness. A good critique examines the specific techniques, choices, and execution of the story, considering both its strengths and areas for improvement. The goal should be to provide constructive feedback that helps the storyteller develop their skills and create more compelling, impactful stories in the future. pFor any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at a href="mailto:support@untilted.lol"this email right here/a. i(If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)/i/p]]> Most works of fiction follow predictable patterns, tropes, and clichés in the name of convention, audience comfort, nostalgia, or the like. Conventions in storytelling have long been established as a means of creating a sense of familiarity and recognition for the audience. Certain narrative structures, character archetypes, and plot devices have become so ingrained that they serve as a foundation for many storylines of shows, movies, and more. This familiarity provides a sense of comfort and security, allowing the audience to engage with the story more readily.

At the same time, that same audience may also demand less, not more, predictable stories, in favor of more unique ones.

Does it really matter?

NOT REALLY.

Contrary to what some folks might say, most people don't actually care if a story is generic.

In fact, many readers actively seek out stories with familiar elements. This preference for the comfortable is often underestimated in discussions about storytelling.

But, it's also true that fiction thrives on a delicate balance between familiarity and innovation.

When stories break away from conventional patterns, they can surprise and captivate audiences, and potentially lead to a more memorable experience.

Fortunately, I was mature and intelligent enough to realize narratives are far more complex than simple accusations of unoriginality. My own experiences navigating the stories promoted by popular culture and wrestling with my own attempts at teaching myself how to write a story revealed a nuanced landscape of narrative expectations. And I'm open to all the endless possibilities.

However, I was tired. Tired of seeing the same kinds of stories and characters over and over again. The realistic, down-to-earth romantic dramas, the superheroes rescuing damsels in distress, the funny animal adventures – don't get me wrong, those can be great, but STILL.

I'm not exactly fond of episodic things – those can actually be kind of forgettable. But I didn't want to go the other extreme and dive into some big, convoluted plot that everyone has to follow religiously. Those kinds of stories can be overwhelming, for everyone. I didn't want to feel like I was getting bogged down in intricate world-building or trying to keep track of a million different characters and plot threads.

Originally I wanted this to be a straight up comic series with origin stories and stuff, but that's daunting too. So, I decided to scale things back a bit and go with a more manageable comic strip format instead. That way, I could focus on crafting individual, self-contained strips without having to worry about weaving together a larger narrative arc.

But I was still having trouble coming up with something.

Then, I came up with this idea.

What if everything took place in a world where:

  1. Nothing is consistent, organized, and overly polished. Not everything needs to be perfect or meticulously arranged to be valuable or meaningful. When things are inconsistent or less polished, they can feel more genuine and relatable. In this way, people are more likely to appreciate things like perspective issues or line quality variation, rather than criticize them.
  2. All characters are neither human nor non-human, and have their own unique and oddly specific biological traits. All this is open to interpretation, and it also allows for a diverse range of beings that defy conventional biological norms. However, this is not better explained by any fictional construct such as that in science fiction or fantasy – in other words, they won't be stereotypical aliens or unicorns or dragons or whatever.
  3. Everyone lives in fairly basic societies focused on survival needs, but the social constructs of the real world do not apply to this world. Concepts like class, race, or gender roles may not hold the same significance or influence as they do in the real world. While this is also open to interpretation, it is important to remember that the aforementioned concepts would not be relevant. This doesn't mean that there aren't any differences or inequalities, but they would likely be based on more practical and immediate factors.

To make things even more simpler, I decided that there will be only one main character.

Now, if you saw what my character looked like, you may notice how plain-looking, at first glance, the character design is.

However, that is a deliberate choice on my part, not a shortcoming. The simplicity of the humanoid look is done to create a sense of universality and an appearance that is more relatable and accessible. It's a deceptively simple design that hides the true nature of the protagonist. (and no, it's not as evil or cliche as it sounds)

The decision to focus on a single main character allows for depth rather than breadth. Instead of juggling multiple story lines and personalities, we can dive deep into one being's experiences, thoughts, and growth.

Now, this approach to storytelling isn't about rejecting all conventions. Rather, it's about questioning why those conventions exist and whether they serve the story we want to tell. It's about finding a balance between the familiar and the novel, or rather, the generic and the unique, and creating a world that feels both different and strangely relatable.

In the end, this isn't just about creating a more unique comic strip. It's about challenging our perceptions, expanding our understanding of what storytelling can be, and inviting readers to see the world – both the fictional one I'm creating and the real one we inhabit – from a new perspective. It's an experiment in narrative, in art, and in the very nature of existence itself.

And it shouldn't be about how generic or how bad a story is. The focus should be on evaluating the artistic merit and craftsmanship of the story, rather than simply making broad, subjective judgments about its perceived flaws or lack of uniqueness. A good critique examines the specific techniques, choices, and execution of the story, considering both its strengths and areas for improvement. The goal should be to provide constructive feedback that helps the storyteller develop their skills and create more compelling, impactful stories in the future.

For any inquiries or feedback, please contact me at this email right here. (If you would like to comment regarding a specific blog post, kindly include “Re: [insert blog post name here]” in the subject line.)

]]> https://dotart.blog/untilted/does-anybody-really-care-if-a-story-is-generic-bad-or-not Wed, 22 Jan 2025 05:00:00 +0000