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IIFYM, Art, Life, etc...
9 years ago
HI I'm in a good mood because I'm wrapped up in the coziest blanket ever with a delish coffee ahh~ life is good. None of this is really important so don't feel obligated to read!
Just wanted to have a little conversation with you lovely people! How are you??
DIET STUFF
I've been feeling pretty excited about life lately. I've been following a "IIFYM" (if it fits your macros/flexible dieting) plan for the past week, which means I count my calories and track the macronutrients of the foods I eat. For those curious, I'm eating around 1300 at 30f/40c/30p. I've been seriously enjoying the flexibility and I haven't found it even slightly difficult. Definitely a sustainable plan, and I'd recommend it to anyone trying to change their body composition. I've been tracking everything on My Fitness Pal (add me! http://www.myfitnesspal.com/profile/motivatekait) and to figure out how many cals/macros you should be eating, try http://www.iifym.com/iifym-calculator/
It really helps change my mindset about 'clean eating', and I realize now that the whole aspect of clean eating was what made my relationship with food a poor one. Labeling some food as 'clean' means the rest is considered 'dirty', and I had that mentality where if I had any amount of 'dirty' food I had completely ruined my day. But with IIFYM, if I'm craving chocolate or pizza, I can find a way to fit it into my macros. It's really helped give me balance and stopped me from demonizing certain foods. That being said, it's still important to try to hit your micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) so I avoid filling up my macros with Poptarts. ;) With healthy food you get a much bigger bang for your buck anyway. SO YEAH TRY THAT. Also just picked up a bunch of equipment yesterday so I'm gonna try lifting today yeaaaa!
ART STUFF
I got a $25 gift certificate to a local art shop for Christmas and I just bought a nice tan papered sketchbook, a really vibrant white pencil crayon and a set of coloured ones. I realized how much I MISSED using coloured pencils omg. I absolutely love them. I feel like I have so much control and forgot how much more immersive it feels compared to digital art. I really love the way the white looks on tan paper, too... I've done some figure studies and added a lil hint of white for highlights and it looks great.
I'm trying to get back into doing more studies and experiments, too. I have been REALLY wanting to try 'sketch lifting', which if where you paint your pic in greyscale and then you can make it transparent, add colour underneath so it's like already shaded, and then you can lock opacity and colour the shadows/lines easily. (google KNKL sketch lifting for the vid tutorial). I think it can only be done with Photoshop though, which means I need to get a VGI cord to try and hook up my laptop a as a monitor and then see if my comp even still works and THEN buy a monitor ~__~ But once I've got that figured out I'll be able to livestream, make youtube vids, make cool things with Photoshop... ahh <3
/rambles
Have you guys tried/do you follow IIFYM stuff? Have you made any awesome art discoveries recently that you'd like to share? I really want to experiment with my style and maybe go a more painterly route... HMMM~
Just wanted to have a little conversation with you lovely people! How are you??
DIET STUFF
I've been feeling pretty excited about life lately. I've been following a "IIFYM" (if it fits your macros/flexible dieting) plan for the past week, which means I count my calories and track the macronutrients of the foods I eat. For those curious, I'm eating around 1300 at 30f/40c/30p. I've been seriously enjoying the flexibility and I haven't found it even slightly difficult. Definitely a sustainable plan, and I'd recommend it to anyone trying to change their body composition. I've been tracking everything on My Fitness Pal (add me! http://www.myfitnesspal.com/profile/motivatekait) and to figure out how many cals/macros you should be eating, try http://www.iifym.com/iifym-calculator/
It really helps change my mindset about 'clean eating', and I realize now that the whole aspect of clean eating was what made my relationship with food a poor one. Labeling some food as 'clean' means the rest is considered 'dirty', and I had that mentality where if I had any amount of 'dirty' food I had completely ruined my day. But with IIFYM, if I'm craving chocolate or pizza, I can find a way to fit it into my macros. It's really helped give me balance and stopped me from demonizing certain foods. That being said, it's still important to try to hit your micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) so I avoid filling up my macros with Poptarts. ;) With healthy food you get a much bigger bang for your buck anyway. SO YEAH TRY THAT. Also just picked up a bunch of equipment yesterday so I'm gonna try lifting today yeaaaa!
ART STUFF
I got a $25 gift certificate to a local art shop for Christmas and I just bought a nice tan papered sketchbook, a really vibrant white pencil crayon and a set of coloured ones. I realized how much I MISSED using coloured pencils omg. I absolutely love them. I feel like I have so much control and forgot how much more immersive it feels compared to digital art. I really love the way the white looks on tan paper, too... I've done some figure studies and added a lil hint of white for highlights and it looks great.
I'm trying to get back into doing more studies and experiments, too. I have been REALLY wanting to try 'sketch lifting', which if where you paint your pic in greyscale and then you can make it transparent, add colour underneath so it's like already shaded, and then you can lock opacity and colour the shadows/lines easily. (google KNKL sketch lifting for the vid tutorial). I think it can only be done with Photoshop though, which means I need to get a VGI cord to try and hook up my laptop a as a monitor and then see if my comp even still works and THEN buy a monitor ~__~ But once I've got that figured out I'll be able to livestream, make youtube vids, make cool things with Photoshop... ahh <3
/rambles
Have you guys tried/do you follow IIFYM stuff? Have you made any awesome art discoveries recently that you'd like to share? I really want to experiment with my style and maybe go a more painterly route... HMMM~
(Though, its not like i need to lose weight anyhow. I just want to be able to get toned more and working out tends to gain muscle too much and i dont like it. lol)
Gift cards for art supplies are always wonderful! Its what i tell people to get me, if they get me a gift. xD
I do all of my work in traditional tools so I know exactly how that feels to work with them. I adore it. <3 Theres nothing like it. Ive tried digital and I just still prefer to do traditional. Feels right. =P
What you described is similarish to what I do when i do color work. Ill sketch, do my ink lines and then take grey shade markers to it for shading and then just color over. It looks wonderful.
I have NO clue what IIFYM is. xD
This year, i want to get back into doing more watercolor paintings like the last one i did. Theyre beautiful and i love how watercolor looks.
Its cool you offer classes. I cant teach. Only do. xD
I used to really hate it to but I've found some things I really enjoy for fortunately it's not much of a struggle anymore. Having fun definitely makes it a lot more appealing :P Bodyweight exercises like pilates might be a good balance if you find you bulk really easily!
Also that sounds awesome! I've tried watercolour a few times but it's so unforgiving haha. I really enjoyed using mixed media with it though, like using watercolour and then defining stuff with pencil crayon. I should try that again and try your technique as well!
Im lucky I have a good metabolism still, even though im almost 29. haha
Im not very flexible. Do you have to be for pilates? I thought about learning to belly dance. I figured itd tone me up pretty decent around the waist and I think a shoot themed around it would look nifty. lol
I started watercolor with the pencils and worked my way to the paints. I adore it so much. Yeah, it can be harsh sometimes. Especially trying to not use too much water and ruin the paper. xD
I tend to use ink with the watercolor. Especially galaxy type works. I adore doing those.
(My most recent: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/17993875/ )
Sadly, photos dont do that type of work justice because you cant see the shine from the silver inks and such. xD
But its a huge goal of mine to sell a decent bit of watercolor work this year. Ill be trying to work on some furry type examples in my spare time so I have more than human type works to show. Even posted up some YCH pieces for watercolor but sadly, my following isnt keen on spending much more than 15-20$ on things and watercolor work isnt very cheap, since it takes a lot of effort.
Either way, if i dont sell many watercolor pieces or get many watercolor commissions, i still intend to do more personal watercolor pieces this year.
Yeah I've definitely ruined my fair share of paper when
Ive ruined a few pieces myself when i first started. Better paper is nice though, but pricey. Bleh
And really? Ive noticed them liking digital far more. Ive had some people come to me to order my work and then when i tell them its traditional they cancel. (Apparently some of my stuff looks digitally done lol)
I dont understand why someone would want to order then cancel simply because of how its done. Dx If you like it you like it right? Or at least thats how i see it. I like how both digital and traditional are done, as long as the outcome looks nice. Like your work. I may love doing traditional work and be keen on it but your digital work is beautiful so i enjoy it just as much. What its made of doesnt devalue it at all for me. Sadly some people apparently dont feel the same way. haha
I've been trying to stick around 1100 to 1400 a day. I haven't been keeping tabs on macros, but I've been avoiding sugar and processed meats. It's only been two weeks and I've lost about 3kg so that's kinda cool! I'm also able to stay awake throughout the day on 6 hours of sleep, which I wasn't able to do before. Yay progress!
It's been kind of difficult now that school has started up. Gotta balance that and work and gym now. Sometimes it's hard to stay motivated. D:
I stay motivated via tumblr and the fitness vloggers on youtube. Helps me a lot :) Good luck!
I have also starting lifting heavy three days a week, with three days a week of cardio and one rest day. I'm not tracking calories or weight, just using pictures and measurements to track my progress. I am also weighing my food, which I've found EXTREMELY useful. If you need a buddy, let me know! I'm happy to share my lifting / bodyweight schedule and routine with you.
Once you start lifting you will be addicted to it, just watch. :) It's the best. Depending on how hard you're going, you may need to be prepared to adjust your calories up or your body will freak out and not lose fat or build muscle. I know I have had to!
On the art front, I got a veritable pile of acrylics and supplies for my birthday, so I've been playing with those... I am used to working in watercolor when I do traditional stuff, and acrylic is so different. The way I'm doing it is pretty traditional; actually it sounds a little bit like the technique you described. Good stuff.
Keep up the good work!!
That's awesome! I just started lifting a couple days ago and so far I really enjoy it. I've been doing pilates and then incorporating my lifting routine afterwards and it's been killer. I should probably do what you do and incorporate more cardio but i hatez it. Pics/measurements are definitely the way to go and something I should be paying more attention to. I weigh myself once a week or so and I've got about 10lbs to lose so the scale is especially up and down for me, so really I should opt to stop weighing myself all together and rely on what you do. Especially now where I'll be lifting weights and building muscle.
A friend of mine is a trainer and he made a routine for me, so I'm gonna try that for a while and see how I like it. Thank you though! :)
Thank you!!