#artist advice

[maikaartwork]

Artists, let’s talk about Instagram commission scammers

There’s been a huge rise in commission scammers recently, mostly on Instagram. A lot of new artists don’t know what to look out for, so I figured this might help people.

How they begin

Usually the scammer will write to you asking about a commission. Something deceptively cute - mostly I encounter asks about pet portraits, with one or two photos sent. They’ll probably try to sell you a sweet little story, like “It’s for my son’s birthday”. They will insist that they love your artwork and style, even though they don’t follow you or never liked a single piece of your art.

What to look out for:

Their profiles will either be private, empty, or filled with very generic stuff, dating at most a few years back.

Their language will be very simple, rushed or downright bad. They might use weird emojis that nobody ever uses. They will probably send impatient “??” when you don’t answer immediately. They’re in a crunch - lots of people to scam, you know. 

They’ll give you absolutely no guidelines. No hints on style, contents aside from (usually) the pet and often a name written on the artwork, no theme. Anything you draw will be perfect. Full artistic freedom. In reality they don’t really care for this part.

They’ll offer you a ridiculous amount of money. Usually 100 or 300 USD (EDIT: I know it might not be a lot for some work. What I mean here - way higher than your asking price, 100 and 300 are standard rates they give). They’ll often put in a phrase like “I am willing to compensate you financially” and “I want the best you can draw”, peppered with vague praise. It will most likely sound way too good to be true. That’s because it is.

Where the scam actually happens

If you agree, they will ask you for a payment method. They’ll try to get to this part as soon as possible. 

Usually, they’ll insist on PayPal. And not just any PayPal. They’ll always insist on sending you a transfer immediately. None of that PayPal Invoice stuff (although some do have methods for that, too). They’ll really, REALLY want to get your PayPal email address and name for the transfer - that’s what they’re after. If you insist on any other method, they’ll just circle back to the transfer “for easiest method”. If you do provide them with the info, most likely you’ll soon get a scam email. It most likely be a message with a link that will ultimately lead to bleeding you dry. Never, and I mean NEVER click on any emails or links you get from them. It’s like with any other scam emails you can ever get.

A few things can happen here:

They overpay you and ask for the difference to be wired back. Usually it will go to a different account and you’ll never see that money again. 

They’ll overpay you “for shipping costs” and ask you to forward the difference to their shipping company. Just like before, you’ll never see that money again.

The actual owner of the account (yes, they most likely use stolen accounts to wire from) will realize there’s been something sketchy going on and request a refund via official channels. Your account will be charged with fees and/or you get in trouble for fraudulent transactions. 

You will transfer the money from your PayPal credit to your bank account and they will make a shitstorm when they want their money back, making your life a living hell. They will call you a scammer, a thief, make wild claims, wearing you down and forcing you into wiring money “back” - aka to their final destination account. 

Never, EVER wire money to anyone. This is not how it’s supposed to go. Use PayPal Invoice for secure exchanges where the client needs to provide you with their email, not the other way around.

You can find more info on that method HERE.

What to do when you encounter a scammer:

Ask the right questions: inquire about the style, which artwork of yours they like, as much details as you can. They won’t supply you with any good answers.

Don’t let the rush of the exchange, their praise and the promise of insanely good money to get to you. That’s how they operate, that’s how they make you lose vigilance. 

Don’t engage them. As soon as you realize it might be a scam, block them. The sense of urgency they create with their rushed exchange, and pressure they put on you will sooner or later get to you and you might do something that you’ll regret later.

Never wire money to anyone. Never give out your personal data. Never provide your email, name, address or credit card info. 

Don’t be deceived by receiving a payment, if you somehow agree to go along with it. Just because it’s there now doesn’t mean it can’t be withdrawn. 

Here is a very standard example of such an exchange. I realized it’s a scam pretty fast and went along with it, because I wanted good screenshots for you guys, so I tried going very “by the book” with it. 

Please share this post, make it reach as many artists as possible. Let young or inexperienced artists know that this is going on. So many people have no idea that this is a thing. Let’s help each other out. If you think I missed any relevant info, do add it as an rb!

Also, if you know other scam methods that you think should be shared, consider rb-ing this post with them below. Having a master post of scam protection would AWESOME to have in the art community.

[art-appreciation-dog]

(via artmaker223)

[academic-vampire]

[kyri45]

Hoi there!

You are so talented and creative. I love your art so much, the style is adorable ^^

I do have a few questions, as one creator to another. I don't post at the moment, but I do love making art, especially for my fanfic/original projects.

Can you tell me how you do it? Like how can you stay motivated and be able to post almost every day?

Any tips maybe on how to deal with artblocks and burnouts?

How do you pratice certain art styles and be able to do them accurately?

1. It’s because I really really REALLY like what I’m drawing right now. (gay monkies). Plus I have- an endgame lets say. I have a clear ending for my comics and reaching that point is what keeps me going, but I also ONLY draw what I want to draw, not EVERYTHING that needs to be shown for the endgame. This actually helped me go throught my ISAT AU comic.

It’s like- narrating a roadtrip. The ending is your destination, you can’t wait to arrive there, but first you know there’s a long road ahead. But you don’t actually need to describe/draw every single town / city / landscape to go there. Not every single kilometer of a roadtrip is a mouth-dropping view.

That’s why you can just-skip it. Stay 4 chapter at one diner if you like the set, focus a chapter on the protagonists looking at the stars, start a scene somewhere completely different, completely skip 30% of the road. As long as you can imply with details what was in between, you don’t need to show/write it in details if you feel it would be hard to make interesting, or just not your thing.

Also if you start to grow an audience and people ask you to draw/write certain things that you don’t feel like to, or just feel like they are extras, don’t do it.

Not because you can’t, but the MOMENT something that you create starts to feel like you are doing it for the audience, then you are not actually doing something yours, and from then on it’s gonna be harder and harder to do things. Like, I have hundreds of fanarts that I did on my IG that were mostly directed to my audience, and not something that I just did because of fun.

All of this is also- answering to your second question - for not burning out. All of this is for keeping your passion up. I’m not talking about mental or physical energy. You could be dead tired (like I am many times) but still be fueled do draw for hours. Because you’re drawing only exactly what you want.

It took me 4 years to understand. I used to do this in high school. Draw something just for the hell of it. It was harder back then, because drawing was hard. I arrived to a point where drawing is much easier (also cause I draw almost everyday for 6/8 hours.) and after I was healed from my broken arm this july, it became my drug. I understood I can’t live without drawing what’s in my head, and that (unless it’s specifically for work) I don’t wanna draw something that’s not only what I want.

I want you to arrive to the point that your drawings / fanfictions are so much exactly what you envisioned /wanted that you fangirl about them. That you read/watch them and squeak in delight. Because even if no one likes them, you must be crazy about them.

(I’ll make a post about this in the future, because it literally changed how I draw after years and it brought back my passion for art after 10 years, but rn it’s a little late and I wanna draw my LMK au so I’ll stop now)

3. I keep some reference to look at every now and then. I also draw a L O T. ( a ton shit of things that I draw are not posted anywhere bc of work)

[greentrickster]

I think every wanna-be artist should be required, by law, to read at least the first volume of Mob Psycho 100. Just so that they have hard, irrefutable proof that no, really, you don't have to be Perfect by any means to make art and have it be adored by many, many people. You don't even have to be able to consistently draw your own characters on-model.

This isn't a dig at ONE or his art, btw. I genuinely think he's the ideal role model for starting artists, both as an example of putting your art out there and telling your story even if your anatomy or consistency isn't perfect (or even that great), and also because you can visually track his improvement as an artist as you go through the series. Seriously, have you ever compared the art in chapter one to what he's doing by chapter ninety? Respect!!!

[claypigeonpottery]

How do you price your work?

there are a few methods that I use

1. by size. larger pieces means more clay, longer decorating times, more underglaze and glaze, and taking up more space in the kiln. it adds up. plus, it’s easier to be consistent if I’m pricing by size. the heron and snake are a lot larger than the tailorbird, so there’s automatically a price difference.

2. by amount of detail. if it’s a complex design, it takes more time and effort to create. the unicorn and fox trivets are the same size as the skull and bird trivets, but they’re much more complicated. that effects the time spent carving and sketching

3. by amount of time. this is often hard to estimate, and I sometimes lose track of this one tbh. though these four trays are all the same size, the time it took to paint the cat and the unicorn trays was substantial. the gator has a lot of detail and complex carving, but time-wise, it went faster.

unfortunately this one is tricky when it comes to skill level. if I’ve made 50 mugs, it takes me longer to make a mug than a ceramicist who has made 500 mugs. and they’re likely also making a more balanced and beautiful mug, having had more practice. so time also has to consider the months and years you spent perfecting your craft

4. by comparison. what are other ceramic artists charging for a similar size/design? etsy is a good tool for this. if possible, look for other artists with a style similar to yours. you don’t want to be overpriced, but you also don’t want to undercut other artists or devalue your work

5. this is a more personal pricing rule: if it’s a copy, how much of a pain in the ass was it to make originally? lol

[dolls-self-ships]

guys please for the love of god reblog peoples art. Like if you like it, reblog it. Idk. Like yes it's annoying to see "reblogs > likes" under a post but tumblr's tagging system and algorithm is absolutely shit. I see so many incredible artists who's work goes under the radar because of this. So just please. Reblog people's art. They worked hard on it. That shit takes hours- days to complete. The rb to like ratio has just plummeted in the past decade I've been on this site. Tumblr has no algorithm. You may personally like an art piece but if you want others to see it and share it, you gotta reblog it. Not meant to be a guilt trip, I just think we need to start showing artists more support- ESPECIALLY in this age of AI. So please- IF YOU LIKE IT, REBLOG IT ♡

[sarcasticscribbles]

Do you think drawing fat people is hard?

It’s a bit different from drawing slimmer people, especially when most references and art assets mainly showcase slimmer folks. Plus-sized characters in media are far and few in between, and they often just have a little more curve with a slim face. There's nothing wrong with that, but everyone has different weight distributions, which can lead to a lot of diversity in body types!

I don't think drawing fat people is “hard”, but it can take a little longer to seek out references for the anatomy. There are some good resources online but one I've found super helpful is FAT PHOTO REFERENCE, you need approval to access it but once you're in there are so many amazing photos of bigger people posing!

AdorkaStock (also known as Senshi Stock) have a great body diversity for art references, and a rich library of different poses!

In general, I decide what body shape I want to go for and add some mass to it based on my reference; I based a lot of my character designs on shapes, so that decided the weight distributions. Good to remember about weight is that it weighs (lol), so instead of just adding rounder shapes to characters, make sure it's also pulling down a little.

Double chins are very common but rarely showcased, so I think it's a good feature to add if you want to draw a bigger person.

I’m not sure if any of this is helpful, or if the question was meant to offer advice or just to critique my character designs (which is fair). As an artist, I've noticed that “flaws”—and I mean more than just weight, as someone who has struggled with my own size—make for more engaging character designs.

Adding my own insecurities to character designs helps me accept and embrace the uniqueness of features that aren't often seen; everyone deserves to be seen, because we’re all here, and life’s too short to strive for a picture-perfect existence.

[animefeminist]

Aiba Kyoko at Otakon 2024: Reverse Villainess Isekai, Social Issues, and the Manga-Making Process

Aiba Kyoko has been working as a manga artist since the 2000s, developing a signature style that spotlights familiar tropes and turns them on their head. While best known for her BL work (especially, in English, the stunning Derail), Aiba’s most recent series targets a different genre: the wish-fulfillment isekai.

“In a typical isekai, you become a pretty woman, or a cool guy. It’s always these positive transformations, and I just didn’t like that. So I decided to do something the exact opposite,” Aiba explained during our interview, comparing the experience of an isekai protagonist to her own convention visit. “Me traveling to America is already this much of an ordeal, so how can someone going to an unknown land have such a great experience?”

That “opposite,” upside down and reversed isekai is Oji Tensei: The Villainess’s Days of Aging Gracefully, the story of a haughty villainess who awakens from execution to find she’s been reborn in modern Japan…as a middle-aged man. Originally a one-shot, the title was greenlit for serialization after it broke its platform’s record for most comments on a one-short work. It’s now a monthly series with five chapters available at time of writing.

While the premise of the series involves playing with gender, Aiba noted that her impulse in creating the series was more about that upending of expectations than telling a trans narrative. The chapters of Oji Tensei so far focus more on villainess Chloe learning life skills she was ignorant of in her former life and coming to terms with living in an aging, unglamorous body. Aging gracefully, in other words.

That isn’t to say that Aiba is uninterested in social issues—in fact, she emphasized the subject in her Otakon biography. The story that prompted her changing interest was Young Carer: Invisible Me, which she wrote last year. “I t actually started with a conversation with my editor when we got to talking about what my background is like [as a former young carer], and we thought it was an interesting topic so I was asked to write it. It was happenstance. It became a more socially conscious piece, but I didn’t think I would do that when I was working on it.”

Read it at Anime Feminist!

[acid-comet]

Baby update on artstyle. NOTHING HAS CHANGED 🥲

(Not done, complaining, and im gonna add more angles/lines/etc. also will be posting individually once all done🤪🤪)

PLEASE ADVICE, CRITICISM, ETC

[alithographica]

Re: Redbubble & Alternatives

Redbubble is doing some nonsense and I've deleted my account. I barely bothered with it anyway, was mostly there for people who've asked for specific images as posters.

Anyway in doing that I sacrificed the $4.35 that was still sitting in my earnings. They only let you cash out at $20, so rather than drum up sales and therefore make Redbubble more money, I'm gonna do what I feel is $4.35 in anti-publicity for them. 🥳

tl;dr there are new fees that hurt artist income at all sales levels. Redbubble is either looking to cut costs and raise profits for funsies, or is in serious financial trouble.

About the new fees:

Redbubble offers their services to artists by allowing artists to control their profit margin above a certain baseline manufacturing fee. This was pretty cool! There's now an additional fee that will be charged starting May 1, 2023. It is not an upfront fee that requires you to pay out of pocket, but it does directly cut your profit margin. How badly? Well...

By Redbubble's own example, if in one month you sell $300 in products that you had set at a 25% margin, you'd previously earn $75. Under the new structure, that earnings level means you pay a $28 fee, so you will now be paid $47. That $28 represents a 37% cut off what you were supposed to earn.

There's a full fee table in that link, but other highlights include a $1 fee if you earned $2 (aka 50%!) and big sellers who'd expect to take home $400 will now receive $320 (an $80 fee, 20%).

It also puts you in a weird spot that earning $1 more in a month may bump you to the next tier, causing you to actually take home less money. Make $1 more, end up losing $11. Make it make sense. 🤨

About the new tiers:

Each shop is evaluated and labeled Standard, Premium, or Pro. Premium and Pro shops are not subject to the new fees, but there's no clarity on how to move from one tier to another. Redbubble says it's under your control but it's clearly not. Many artists are reporting that they have accounts with next to no sales that have been labeled Pro, and accounts with thousands of annual sales that are labeled Standard.

Action items:

Look, I'm not gonna tell other artists that they have to close their shops, or tell buyers not to buy from Redbubble if your favorite artists have chosen to stay. What you do with the above info is up to you.

What I will say is that many artists are leaving because the new pay structure sucks. I encourage people who buy from Redbubble to expand their support to other sites.

Attrition is arguably their goal here—they know people will leave over this, and that'll probably lower their costs and lower competition for the remaining accounts. But goodwill is lost easily and they're playing a dangerous game on betting how many stay vs. leave. I'm out.

Feel free to leave your feedback on Redbubble's feedback form here, but it feels slightly like yelling into the void.

Alternatives:

tbh I don't have a good read on things. If you do know of any recommended (or unrecommended) print-on-demand sites, speak up!

I will say that as of now (April 2023), based on my research:

🟢 INPRNT sounds like a winner if your game is art prints and stickers. Does not have any wearable products like t-shirts.

🟡 Etsy + Printify/Printful might be viable? Etsy always had higher profit margins than POD marketplaces, but it's a bit more work and they also do weird things occasionally. Also has a listing fee so if you're the type to upload a ton of designs, pricey.

🔴 Teepublic is owned by Redbubble. Doesn't have the tier/new fee structure as of now but might be imminent. Have also heard their customer service sucks.

🔴 Society6 is going to charge artists shipping costs, and there's going to be a (mandatory?) subscription service launched in the fall, so that's not a winner anymore either.

[bludermaus]

Tip to new artists: don't be afraid of making mistakes!

You can only learn by failing! Yes, sometimes it'll look bad. Yes, sometimes it won't be as we envisioned. Yes, sometimes we'll feel so bad about it we'll cry.

But learn from it, what could you do differently next time? What things worked right and what didn't? Don't be afraid to experiment! Experimenting will make you learn new methods and things!

[art-appreciation-dog]

Common perspective mistakes (proko)

[sweepweep]

ARTISTS, WRITERS, CREATORS IN GENERAL:

IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE PERFECT. IT JUST HAS TO BE

[busybussinbee]

i wanna start filling sketchbooks cause i’m waaaaaay too perfectionistic and i wanna loosen up

does anyone have any tips on how to start?