So, I’ve hit the big time, now. This is some official Hong Kong bootlegging of my art! I feel like a real professional! They’re selling iPhone cases with my painting for both the iPhone 4 and 5.
The original installation here
My Society 6 where you can buy similar merchandise
The SM one isn’t on my Society 6 anymore because they took it down, ;__;
Signal boost! This is not cool!
Hey all! This weekend I will be at APE (Alternative Press Expo) in San Francisco!! Please feel free to stop by and introduce yourself and <3 I’m listed under my cat’s name Waffles the Cat ( I thought I would have a better chance of getting in if I used his name :P). I’ll be bringing along a lot more stuff than what is shown in the pics above
Reblogging to spread the word. This amazing woman is my old college roommate and she has amazing art. If you’re in the area, please check out her table :) Someday we will be in the area and we will have an awesome reunion I swear *__*
Hey everyone! Our front and back cover are now available as prints!
You can find them on: http://www.rain-arc.com/store/
(the print is a clean version of the image, but this is the cover you get when you pick up the book when it comes out!)
KYAH COVER IS BEAUTIFUL *__*
Because I need to show my tumblr family. This is the cover to my next book <3
Me and Bee had been planning some characters for
YET ANOTHERside project, and while developing them I drew these two next to each other and randomly shipped it and then we realized how unconventional but REALLY FITTING they are together and this happened. Shit.Everyone say hi to Wen (inked up chick) and Adelaide (girl with the glasses).
Wen is a Horror book/movie nut with an inability to handle cute things and Laide (Wen calls her “Lady”) is a Romance book/movie nut that finds the fluffy happy side of any situation.
They’re both psychology majors and may or may not be magical girls, shhI really love this <3
SO CUTE
Pretty ladies doing pretty lady things :)
oh god i’d heard about the “i won’t commission artists who undercharge for their art” post and now it’s making its rounds on my dash.
please understand that this concept does not actually help anyone. the sensible thing to do if an artist is undercharging is to tip them for what you think their work it worth, and be sure to let them know that. even if this doesn’t cause them to actually change their base prices, at least YOU’RE paying for what it’s worth, and THEY’RE getting business instead of nothing.
by essentially boycotting artists who are already unsure of the value of their own work (and are thus underpricing) you’re not sending any positive message. no one is going to up their commission prices when nobody is buying them. the only thing the artist gets out of it is that people don’t want to buy their art for some reason, and people who’s products aren’t selling aren’t going to say “oh i guess it was because i wasn’t charging enough, i’ll pump up the prices!”
if you want to support a commission artist, please do it by actually SUPPORTING THEM WITH COMMISSIONS rather than by choosing to take your business elsewhere because their prices were too low.
THANK YOU
I agree wholeheartedly. I think artists don’t get the confidence to charge more until they make sales, once they make sales and hear people saying things like, “Really? Just $5? That’s it?” They start thinking, “Hey… maybe I can charge a little bit more.”
It’s hard to figure out what to charge for things. It’s hard to figure out what your time is worth. You get worried about saying a price and it being too high, so yes, sometimes we undercharge, because you at least want it to sell. It’s like the clocks and woodburning I do. My mind always calculates how much the wood or clock costs, so I think, “well charging this much is a profit because I paid this much for the wood.” But I forget to add in the time it took to actually DO the work. Because part of me feels like, “Wow I’m making good profit because of how much I paid for the wood,” so I don’t factor in time. And then when I do factor in time I feel like, “… no one is going to buy it at that price,” or even, “well time wise it didn’t take THAT long…” when if I break it down, it did. Yes I sit and watch 30 Rock while I woodburn and having crafting days with my wifey and have fun with it, but if it takes an entire season to finish one big piece… that’s a LOT of time.
And you know what? Sometimes, artists are right. I mean it’s great that there’s people who want to support us, but there are times where you even get the, “Wow it’s just $5? That’s great! I’ll think about it.” You don’t make the sale, even if you’re under charging for it, so you think, “Why would I ever increase the price I can’t even make a sale for $5.”
What does help, immensely, is people actually buying your work and telling you, “Wow this is great,” and even, “You should charge more,” or even, crazy thought, giving the artist more. I’ve had this happen before. I had a $5 Eva coaster at Detour one year and the guy gave me like $8 and told me to keep it, because it was worth more than $5. I made a friend a clock and some coasters for Christmas and it normally would’ve been about $25 and she gave me $40. Because she thought my time and my art was worth more, and even said, “I would give you more if I could.” Or I’ve put my big woodblocks in art shows and I had one go for almost $100, which was about $40 more than I would charge at my table. But after that, I got the confidence to charge more at my table. And it worked! Some guy bought two big pieces and commissioned one.
You have to build up the artist’s confidence first, and you won’t do that by not supporting them. Because like this post says, the artist isn’t going to be like, “Oh wow I’m not making sales because I’m not charging enough because all of these people see that my work is worth more.” No. It’ll have the opposite effect. I’ve seen this happen, I’ve seen artists not go back to cons because they think it’s not worth it, I’ve seen friends just quit trying because they feel like they aren’t going anywhere. So no, the idea of not buying something because “it’s too low” isn’t good. It’s got good intentions, but no.
Progress pictures and finished product for a clock I made for a local comic book convention coming to Minneapolis in October. We got a table for Fallcon 2013 at the State Fair Grounds which means that it’s time to make some comic book themed stuff. First up is an idea I had for a Dick Grayson clock.
Before I was going to just have their faces like this (Robin and Nightwing) with like a dark edge, then I thought, “Hmmmmm… let’s be a bit more tragic.” So I painted the clock edge colorful, like the circus. Then I added “Flying Graysons” to the glass. At first it was completely filled in, but I wanted to fix the yellow so it was more even, so I started to wipe it off to try again after doing the red outline.
And then… this happened because I didn’t scrub hard enough with the glass cleaner.
I was going to keep wiping until it came off then my wifey was like, “No. Keep it like that.”
So I did.
And ta da, you have yourself an angsty Dick Grayson clock ^^
More craft progress can be found on our store Facebook. You can request commissions or make purchases on our Etsy.
DC Comics has been having a bad week. Yesterday, two members of the Batwoman editorial team quit after their publishers refused to allow Batwoman (who is a lesbian character) to marry her partner. And now the comic company has provoked even more outrage by hosting a contest in which they readers to draw Harley Quinn, a popular villain, preparing to commit suicide. Naked.
All right. Time for a rant thing. The person I got the link from, someone commented on it with something like, “I don’t see why people are so up in arms about fictional characters when there’s more important things to worry about.”
Just because someone has an opinion about a fictional character doesn’t mean they’re suddenly forgetting about the struggles of the world. Just because I have an opinion about what DC, or Marvel, or Ubisoft, or FUNimation, or whatever other geeky (or non geeky) company does doesn’t mean that, suddenly, I’m ignoring what’s going on in the “real world.” The geek community is part of my life, so when something happens that I have an opinion about, I’m going to say something.
If people are upset (or not upset and defending) something in the community, that doesn’t mean they’re doing something wrong. You can’t want the geek community to matter then say, “Stop getting in a tizzy over fictional characters.” And, personally, I don’t always want to think about the problems of the “real world.” The geek community is my escape, my hobby, and honestly it’s becoming my career what with writing and all. Is it wrong to get defensive over things that happened here? No. Can you honestly say that you never watched something, or read something, or played something, and never reacted to it? It’s a thing that happens sometimes, and it’s fine.
Let’s be honest. Companies like DC have been in our lives for a very, very long time. So when they do something you don’t agree with, you feel kinda betrayed. “Batwoman isn’t getting married to her girlfriend,” well… why not? They’re together and in love, why not? Marvel did it. Marvel had a gay wedding. And we all know Batwoman is a lesbian with a girlfriend she loves, so why not? Why not take that step? It makes you question things, and wonder about the company. Do I, as a lesbian, feel upset that the company I’ve been into for years won’t let two girls get married? Well… yes! It’s a way they can show support, and apparently, two of their longtime writers saw that and left over it.
Same with this Harley Quinn thing. Is Harley bonkers? Sure, absolutely. And her staying with the Joker is insane. Is suicide the answer? Honestly, if she did it, I don’t think we’d be too surprised. She’s been through hell. It would suck if she did it, yes, but the Joker is so terrible and abusive (I still remember watching the animated series and how he shoved her out a window!), so if you told me that you wrote a story where she said, I’m done, I’d be sad but… I’d get it. But why naked? Why is that a requirement in this contest? And for goodness sake, why are you holding a contest when it’s National Suicide Prevention Week this coming week? When a company I love does something like that, it makes me question their intentions, you know? It’s beyond getting upset over a fictional character. Now I’m wondering, “DC what are you doing?” And that’s to be expected when you’re a fan of something.
There’s a difference between being upset over a fictional character because, oh, they hook up with a character you don’t like, for vain reasons. “Oh no I don’t want Heero to end up with Relena because I like him with Duo because I like yaoi.” There is a huge difference between that and, “Why does your suicidal girl have to be naked in this contest,” and, “Why can’t Batwoman get married to her canon girlfriend?” That’s what people are upset about. Stuff like that hits home. Stuff like that is personal. Stuff like that is hurtful, fictional or not. We’re not getting “up in arms” over something trivial. Having a suicide drawing contest when National Suicide Prevention Week is coming up is in terrible taste. Having your lesbian heroine NOT get married to her girlfriend is a slap in the face, ESPECIALLY when Marvel was like, “Hey look gay marriage let’s do it.” So you can’t even say that no comic book company has done it before, because they have, and they did it proudly. So what’s stopping you?
THAT is what fans get upset about.
It’s the same with “Ender’s Game.” Is that more credible because it’s not a comic or cartoon? Because there’s a BUNCH of people not going to the movie because the author is terribly homophobic. So, to not support HIM, they’re not going to the movie. Are we getting too “up in arms” over that? This man flat out does not like gay people, so when we say, “We’re not going to the movie,” it’s met with, “oh yeah completely understandable.” So is getting upset over Batwoman not getting married or naked suicidal Harley less credible? These women are created by real people, who made these decisions. So… why do fans get bashed for being emotional over it?
Oh my dear god I finished these before Gee.Kon. The top picture is the before picture, where I sketch on the shield and swear a lot. The bottom picture is what it looks like after being woodburned. I still have to apply the coat of poly to it, but besides that these are DONE! I hope everyone likes them?
Reblogging for the morning crew. Also to say that we’ll be heading out to Geek.kon tomorrow morning, so if you’re going these will be at our table on Friday. Artist alley opens at 3. I have a panel at 3, lol, but my partner will be at the table :)
I’ll be Tiana all weekend. Normal Tiana is Friday, then armored Tiana is Saturday, then on Sunday I think I’m just doing the make up and hair and wearing like a dress or something, you know, modern Tiana or “I’ve been at a con all weekend and I’m tired,” Tiana ^^;;;
Oh my dear god I finished these before Gee.Kon. The top picture is the before picture, where I sketch on the shield and swear a lot. The bottom picture is what it looks like after being woodburned. I still have to apply the coat of poly to it, but besides that these are DONE! I hope everyone likes them?
