AldebaranJewel
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Why I am leaving DA
8 min read
As much as it pains me to say, I will be leaving DA when Eclipse comes. I cannot safely use it as it causes migraines. When I have said this before, it has been misunderstood, so I am taking a little time to explain what happens. A while back, I took some screenshots as examples to point to while talking to another person abou what goes one when I look at Eclipse. I have checked back with Eclipse since then, and it still suffers at least some of the same kinds of visual issues I outline in the screenshots, even though these are not up to date. The following is an edited down version of a post I made elsewhere previously.
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When using Eclipse, my eyes do not know where to rest on the page, and end up darting around, no matter how much I try to keep them still and focus on one thing at a time. There isn't a good visual flow to the pages, and its like facing an isle full of brightly colored laundry detergent packaging, where every item jammed together on the shelves is designed to grab your attention in the worst way possible. My brain doesn't know which image, menu, or page element, should take priority in the high intensity visual wall. It is like everything is a 3D image all popping out at me at once, and I must look at all of it at simultaneously, but I can't. When my eyes dart around, I end up with a bunch of mental snapshots of the page all scattered around, which is probably why it gives me an effect similar to a strobe light.
Looking at the old site, here is an example of what I mean by visual flow: sta.sh/02f9kaapot0
Looking at the old site, here is an example of what I mean by visual flow: sta.sh/02f9kaapot0
At a glance, near the top, you see two relatively large pictures, and then six smaller ones near the bottom. Depending on what images 1 and 2 are, your eye will be drawn to one of them first, and then the other, then to the six little ones at the bottom. The image size difference and large spaces between them give your eyes a very clear prioritization for which area to focus on first. Even the six little pictures near the bottom have large gaps between then, which gives you time to look through each, and take them in, without the images fighting with each other.
Now let's look at Eclipse: sta.sh/025hp98xv7ij
The following is a very dumbed down example of what my eyes do on my own page. The red numbers show where I look on each pass (I look at all the 1's first, then the 2's, etc). This all happens within the span of a couple of seconds. I don't know where to focus. Everything is rammed very close together, and is all basically the same size. I want to look at the colored images first, but the Inktober pieces are at the top, and should logically be viewed first, but then the color draws me back down again and then I see that I haven't looked at all of the Inktober ones. But wait! There's a block of text which is basically a section of negative space which is oddly placed and proportioned, but I should read that, but I can't because there's a couple more pictures which I know I missed! Then the crazy visual circuit begins again as my eyes do the spastic dance of an overly caffeinated five year old, essentially rapidly flashing images at me in a way that I cannot take in, and gives the same visual stimuli as a strobe light. Trying to force myself into focus on one at a time takes real work to do, and is migraine inducing, almost as much as trying to take in the whole page at once.
The buttons in the area I've outlined in blue are difficult to see, past the pictures, but even covering those up with another window, I find the bold blocky font difficult to read. The black circle is around the bottom of the longest slanted line at the top of my page. Those lines, and the pinkish purple haze at the part of the page that I've skipped past in this example also mess with my head badly, then coupled with the parallax scrolling, it is made far worse.
The following is a very dumbed down example of what my eyes do on my own page. The red numbers show where I look on each pass (I look at all the 1's first, then the 2's, etc). This all happens within the span of a couple of seconds. I don't know where to focus. Everything is rammed very close together, and is all basically the same size. I want to look at the colored images first, but the Inktober pieces are at the top, and should logically be viewed first, but then the color draws me back down again and then I see that I haven't looked at all of the Inktober ones. But wait! There's a block of text which is basically a section of negative space which is oddly placed and proportioned, but I should read that, but I can't because there's a couple more pictures which I know I missed! Then the crazy visual circuit begins again as my eyes do the spastic dance of an overly caffeinated five year old, essentially rapidly flashing images at me in a way that I cannot take in, and gives the same visual stimuli as a strobe light. Trying to force myself into focus on one at a time takes real work to do, and is migraine inducing, almost as much as trying to take in the whole page at once.
The buttons in the area I've outlined in blue are difficult to see, past the pictures, but even covering those up with another window, I find the bold blocky font difficult to read. The black circle is around the bottom of the longest slanted line at the top of my page. Those lines, and the pinkish purple haze at the part of the page that I've skipped past in this example also mess with my head badly, then coupled with the parallax scrolling, it is made far worse.
For me, going to the green theme helps slightly, as it lowers the contrast of some of the page elements, but the overall problem is still there. It gets worse if I open any menus, because they are a bright near-white, as opposed to the gentle dark green of the old site. I find the buttons very hard to read, as I can't focus clearly on them, and the lettering is relatively small, compared to all the other things that are vying for my attention.
Trying to actually use the site, rather than just look at one page, the feedback section is _MUCH_ harder to take in. Badges and faves are all mixed together, making them harder to sort, and _EVERYTHING_ takes up more space than necessary. Feedback is always a losing battle for me, and I have to try and to take care of it in sections. Eclipse's version makes it even more overwhelming, and I find the fonts used for everything but the messages themselves hard to read, and I start having that scattered visual focusing problem again while I try and make out what anything but a comment or a reply says. I have an even worse time trying to read status messages. It's like I'm sticking my face into a block letter billboard. The font is hard to read, and the text is far too large. It seriously hurts to attempt.
This is not to say that I dislike everything about Eclipse. There are some features that I've read about, and managed a glance at that I would be extremely happy to use! But if I can't use the site at all, the point is moot.
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When I have complained before, people have said that they get headaches using it too, and have encouraged me to try some UI tweaks that people have found, or have encouraged me to push through the headaches. Sadly, this is not helpful. When I try to use this site, I get full blown migraines. Migraines are not simple headaches.
When I get a migraine, it isn't just a pain in my head. I have to lay down in a dark room. Looking at any light is unbearably painful and feels like my head is being stabbed. I am also highly sensitive to sound. Even a moderately loud car passing by in the street makes my head throb and adds to the extreme nausea I experience during this. I am trapped in the dark. I cannot read. I cannot listen to music. I cannot listen to a podcast. I cannot move. I cannot eat. I cannot drink. And it lasts for hours. I am trapped this way, for hours, hoping that I can fall asleep so that I do not have to experience all of it. When it is over, I still have to be careful not to be around bright lights or loud noises, because I can accidentally induce another smaller one.
If I try to use Eclipse for any meaningful length of time, I put myself through the experience listed above. It ruins most, if not all, of the rest of my day. I cannot do this to myself on a regular basis. Even if I just tried to use the site to post, I would not be able to look at other people's works, or moderate my own pages. Worst of all, I would not be able to see any comments. Comments mean a great deal to me, far more than faves.
I have been on DA for around ten years. I've not always been active, but when I have been, it has been intense activity. I used to spend hours browsing the site, commenting on other people's works, especially for artists who didn't have much of a following. I loved to explore and see what other people were making, and if they asked for art advice, helping if I had any meaningful insight. Leaving all of this behind is not an easy thing. It feels like I am leaving a home that I loved. I really cannot express in words how upset and sad I am.
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The main body of my work will be now be moved to Waterfall at:
I will also post most of my newer works on Twitter at:
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I hate, hate HATE ECLIPSE!!!!
1 min read
Please, does anyone know of a reliant website that I can move to? This UI hurts my head a _TON_ and I am getting nauseous using it. I used to spend a lot of time on DA. I desperately hoped that they would fix some of these issues before pulling the switch, but now I can't get back to the original site, so I think I'm stuck here now. It hurts... It hurts so much. Please, where else can I go?
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I'm baaaaaaaack!!!!1!1!(kitchensink)!!!!
1 min read
Hi everyone! Sorry for ghosting on you all, life got WAY hectic for... well, a few years really.
But, I am now back in a situation where I can draw again, and I have a new scanner! Woo!
I'm going to be trying to upload at least _something_ every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, starting tomorrow. I'll be aiming for finished pictures, but sometimes they might have to be rough sketches.
I am still very much a beginner to linework, so don't expect a sudden leap in quality. As always, critiques and advice are greatly welcomed, and I am still interested in coloring other people's things!
Now to get back to work, and to sift through approximately 3K notifications (oh boy). @.@;
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Let's colour everything!
3 min read
Hi again everyone! ^_^
If you haven't noticed already from my latest picture ( aldebaranjewel.deviantart.com/… ), I've taken an interest in becoming a colourist. If anyone has advice or ideas on how to pursue this goal, please let me know! For now, I am just practicing, and having a whole lot of fun while I'm at it. ^.^
I am working on another coloured page that is almost done, I just need to figure out how to do rocks! O.o; This design is even more intricate than the last and I think might be better from a technical stand point but I still have a lot to learn.
For those who are interested in my sketch work, or wondering why I am not making art like I used to, there is a reason for that, and I feel that I owe you an explanation. A couple of years ago, I suffered a heatstroke and took some brain damage from that. Since then, I have not been able to do some types of art without real physical pain, that is why I have neglected my DA page for so long. Sorry about that!
During my absence, I've been focusing more on my work in Second Life, which now days is comprised mostly of painting textures by hand and turning them into skins. I've also made a few eyes which I should remember to upload here later, because some of them are very cool. 
But, that's going off on a tangent, let's get back on track. ^.^; My interest in SL is drying up a bit because I've done most of what I wanted to do there already, and it looks like the makers are deprecating the program, which means that SL may eventually die out. If it does, it will be slow and a death of attrition, so for now it is still worth my time, but just in case something bad happens, I want to expand my horizons and have a back up plan. Even if something bad doesn't happen, colouring is fun, and I want to chase after it. ^.^
If you have a page that you would like me to colour, please let me know so that I can take a look at it! I'm actively seeking things to practice on right now, but I may not paint everything that comes my way (there's only so many hours in the day), but it would be really fun to do a collaborative work, I've never done one of those before! ^.^
So anyway, back to throwing pixels at rocks for me!
Have a wonderful day.
If you haven't noticed already from my latest picture ( aldebaranjewel.deviantart.com/… ), I've taken an interest in becoming a colourist. If anyone has advice or ideas on how to pursue this goal, please let me know! For now, I am just practicing, and having a whole lot of fun while I'm at it. ^.^
I am working on another coloured page that is almost done, I just need to figure out how to do rocks! O.o; This design is even more intricate than the last and I think might be better from a technical stand point but I still have a lot to learn.
For those who are interested in my sketch work, or wondering why I am not making art like I used to, there is a reason for that, and I feel that I owe you an explanation. A couple of years ago, I suffered a heatstroke and took some brain damage from that. Since then, I have not been able to do some types of art without real physical pain, that is why I have neglected my DA page for so long. Sorry about that!
During my absence, I've been focusing more on my work in Second Life, which now days is comprised mostly of painting textures by hand and turning them into skins. I've also made a few eyes which I should remember to upload here later, because some of them are very cool. But, that's going off on a tangent, let's get back on track. ^.^; My interest in SL is drying up a bit because I've done most of what I wanted to do there already, and it looks like the makers are deprecating the program, which means that SL may eventually die out. If it does, it will be slow and a death of attrition, so for now it is still worth my time, but just in case something bad happens, I want to expand my horizons and have a back up plan. Even if something bad doesn't happen, colouring is fun, and I want to chase after it. ^.^If you have a page that you would like me to colour, please let me know so that I can take a look at it! I'm actively seeking things to practice on right now, but I may not paint everything that comes my way (there's only so many hours in the day), but it would be really fun to do a collaborative work, I've never done one of those before! ^.^
So anyway, back to throwing pixels at rocks for me!
Have a wonderful day.
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My designs might turn into fabric!
2 min read
It's past time I wrote something in this, so here goes!
A long time ago, it was suggested that I take a look at Spoonflower, but I forgot about it until recently. For those who have not heard of it, Spoonflower is a place where you can upload images and turn them into fabric or wallpaper. Last night, I set up an account there and have begun learning the ropes.
One of my first fabrics will be a copy of this: aldebaranjewel.deviantart.com/…
I'd like to know if anyone would be interested in something like this, and if so, would you rather have it in black and white as it is now, or with a color wash? Art quilters might like to paint over it by hand, so leaving it black and white might be useful, but people might prefer color.
I can't afford to start out with very many of these, since to sell them, I have to purchase a small sample swatch first. I've got some ideas for a couple more patterns sort of like this: aldebaranjewel.deviantart.com/…
As always, I would love some suggestions, and if anyone here has used Spoonflower before, any tips would be greatly appreciated!
A long time ago, it was suggested that I take a look at Spoonflower, but I forgot about it until recently. For those who have not heard of it, Spoonflower is a place where you can upload images and turn them into fabric or wallpaper. Last night, I set up an account there and have begun learning the ropes.
One of my first fabrics will be a copy of this: aldebaranjewel.deviantart.com/…
I'd like to know if anyone would be interested in something like this, and if so, would you rather have it in black and white as it is now, or with a color wash? Art quilters might like to paint over it by hand, so leaving it black and white might be useful, but people might prefer color.
I can't afford to start out with very many of these, since to sell them, I have to purchase a small sample swatch first. I've got some ideas for a couple more patterns sort of like this: aldebaranjewel.deviantart.com/…
As always, I would love some suggestions, and if anyone here has used Spoonflower before, any tips would be greatly appreciated!
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