christiannegg - Tumblr blog

[christiannegg]

I'm excited to be tabling at TCAF for the first time this year! I'll be at table 2084, so swing by and say hello. I'll have my published work available, as well as self-published comics and some cute stickers that I made especially for the festival!

[christiannegg]

Good news everyone! The accordion fest is back on!

[christiannegg]

[christiannegg]

New TTRPG character that I desperately want to use. Please. Someone.

[christiannegg]

[christiannegg]

Solid advice from the best mentor a person could ask for - Steve is a font of knowledge who cares about helping anyone interested in starting a career in comics.

I had given up on doing comics in college, switched majors, and gotten a degree in illustration instead. But the "what if" kept nagging at me. So on a whim I applied for an internship with Helioscope (then Periscope) studio, the comic artist collective Steve helped found in Portland, Oregon.

He employed every single one of these points while I was interning there, and I can say I wouldn't be where I am today without his help. These tips are gold, coming from gold.

Here's another thread I don't want to leave languishing at the old site, relevant because another case of shitty pseudo-mentorship is in the news. It's tough to start a career. I'm lucky to have had good mentors. I'm grateful and want to pass it on. These are some notes I made on ways to do so.

1. Promote artists a generation younger than you. Share your platform. RT them, mention them in interviews. (This means being aware of what younger artists are doing!)

2. Hire them if you can. Pin ups, commissions, variants, fill-ins, assists, anything. A small gig can be what helps them make rent.

3. (The same applies to creators a generation older. Many of them helped develop the visual language, the audience, and the industry infrastructure we rely on. Tell your reader how these artists' choices informed your own. Help your fans see what you saw in your influences' stories.)

4. Support anthologies. They've always been a key place where new and marginalized talent can incubate, & established artists can try something new. (They certainly were for me. Many of the big leaps I made as an artist happened on anthology stories where I had freedom to experiment.)

5. Mentor new artists! Even if their subject or style is different from yours, you still have much to offer. Just be sure to frame your advice in terms of goals & principles rather than "the right way" or "the wrong way." You want to help them find their own voice, not echo yours.

6. Suggest strategies for dealing with challenging clients or collaborators. The industry may be very different from when you broke in, but those young artists are still going to face the many of the same problems you did.

7. Steer them towards someone trustworthy when they need a consultant. It's not easy to find an accountant, an agent, or a lawyer who understands what we do. Your contacts are valuable!

If nothing else, make them aware of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. https://vlaa.org/get-help/other-vlas/

8. Share your understanding of industry standards for pay rates & professional practices. This doesn't mean posting your rates in public. The main that does is anchor your position when negotiating rates with a potential client. But in private, TALK. This benefits ALL your peers.

9. There will be times when you can't answer a question. It happens all the time. No one knows everything! But you probably know someone who *can* answer it. Use your network of connections and make the introduction.

10. And finally, take questions about the art, the craft, the culture, and the business on your social media. Answer them as honestly as you can.

-end-

[christiannegg]

Prints will be available at Emerald City Comic Con! I'm at table H-19, so swing by and say hello!

[christiannegg]

wish me luck

[christiannegg]

Little sketch of my Tav between comic pages. They are so fucking cute and yet stupid enough to trust a bard with an ice pick.

[christiannegg]

color of love

[christiannegg]

I don't have a heart to give to you, but I hope you know that I'm yours. Complitely.

I don't have enough words to describe how much I love Karlach!

[christiannegg]

I finally finished the game last night so you all have to look at this.

[christiannegg]

It feels kinda weird/futile drawing for a living, when it seems like society is collapsing around us. Like hanging a new painting on the wall of a burning building.

But I know engaging with art brings me comfort, even briefly, and hope that my art can do the same for others 🧡

[christiannegg]

[christiannegg]

New DND character, Isolde - a black Dragonborn warlock who uses and abuses the Mask of Many Faces invocation to fit in.

[christiannegg]

sneak peek at good omens season 3

[christiannegg]

In d&d land, my firbolg druid Silas Lockhart found his long-lost parents after being kidnapped as a toddler, and learned he isn't a firbolg after all, but a Lunar Beast! Which, in this game, means he can transform (like his parents can) into several different forms based on their innate associated animal. Silas, the lost lamb, now has the ability to change into a powerful ram creature, swift and tanky and able to protect his allies with a variety of new powers. Hot damn!