Random Fact #3,062

An interesting fact I just learned about amethyst! It is a light-sensitive crystal, so if you keep it in direct light, the color can fade. So if you want to preserve the pigment of your amethyst, make sure to keep it out of direct lighting ☀️💜

HiPOD 20 Apr 2022: Recent Gullies in Equatorial Valles Marineris

Although actively-forming gullies are common in the middle latitudes of Mars, there are also pristine-looking gullies in equatorial regions.

In this scene, the gullies have very sharp channels and different colors where the gullies have eroded and deposited material. Over time, the topography becomes smoothed over and the color variations disappear, unless there is recent activity.

Changes have not been visible here from before-and-after images, and maybe such differences are apparent compared to older images, but nobody has done a careful comparison. What may be needed to see subtle changes is a new image that matches the lighting conditions of an older one. Equatorial gully activity is probably much less common—perhaps there is major downslope avalanching every few centuries—so we need to be lucky to see changes.

MRO has now been imaging Mars for over 16 years, and the chance of seeing rare activity increases as the time interval widens between repeat images.

Enhanced color image is less than 1 km across.

ID: ESP_072612_1685 date: 22 January 2022 altitude: 263 km

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

IC 342: Hidden Galaxy

"IC 342 is a challenging cosmic target. Although it is bright, the galaxy sits near the equator of the Milky Way’s galactic disk, where the sky is thick with glowing cosmic gas, bright stars, and dark, obscuring dust. In order for astronomers to see the intricate spiral structure of IC 342, they must gaze through a large amount of material contained within our own galaxy — no easy feat! As a result IC 342 is relatively difficult to spot and image, giving rise to its intriguing nickname: the “Hidden Galaxy.” Located very close (in astronomical terms) to the Milky Way, this sweeping spiral galaxy would be among the brightest in the sky were it not for its dust-obscured location. The galaxy is very active, as indicated by the range of colors visible in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image, depicting the very central region of the galaxy. A beautiful mixture of hot, blue star-forming regions, redder, cooler regions of gas, and dark lanes of opaque dust can be seen, all swirling together around a bright core. In 2003, astronomers confirmed this core to be a specific type of central region known as an HII nucleus — a name that indicates the presence of ionized hydrogen — that is likely to be creating many hot new stars."

Image and information from NASA.

A friend of mine shared this fantastic resource over Discord, so did a few studies in-between working on homework!

Supernova Remnants © Chandra

Just some quick clothing folds, weight, and shape visuals.

Part 2 of cino art tips is some basic tips on shape and silhouette design which are also principles I think about a lot :)

(also i'm so sorry i chose comic sans to write this in idk what i was thinking but i already flattened the layers)

i don't have any other obvious tips off the top of my head rn but feel free to ask anything you are curious about! i love getting asks uwu

[ Download Link ]

As promised, it’s finally here! Thank you to all of my patrons for not only the support that made this possible, but for giving me the confidence to work on a big project like this.

Rather than providing any drawing instruction, what this writeup aims to do is help you learn to unpack the decisions being made in a given composition, and articulate what elements in a piece are responsible for its impact. Being able to isolate these qualities in your own art and art that inspires you opens up avenues for improvement regardless of medium, style, or technical skill. This is the first of hopefully many PWYW art ‘tutorials’ from me. 

I hope you all enjoy! 

Can u do a tutorial about how to fold wings In various angles?

I am no expert but this is kinda how I do it, let the wiggly line guide the overall bend to a wing. The more sudden the bump in the wiggly line the more bent your wing will be

i learned that the Sun is 99.86% of all mass in our solar system. Every other planet, asteroid, and comet only adds up to 7/50th of a single percent (x)