Artists Alley Information Thread

Selling at Cons is best during the...

Spring	11.6%	[ 83 ]
Summer	30.3%	[ 217 ]
Fall	7.0%	[ 50 ]
Winter	5.3%	[ 38 ]
Any time!	45.7%	[ 327 ]
Total Votes:			[ 715 ]

[Fiammetta Rey]

I'm living with false hope

And my eyes just want to see a ray of light

I'm gonna find it in my fairy tale...

Wait... does that include stuff like... not the copy-pasted series title logo, I wouldn't do that... but like, the Geass symbol? If you don't know the series, it's that bird-like thing that appears in his eye when he uses his power, like this. I put it into the design of an in-series character's original outfit for my comic... I hope that wouldn't be a problem.

On the other hand, I might just be better of selling prints of the "cover pages" and stuff and just having the comic online. I'd never print a doujin into big volumes, and it's going to be kind of a "fanfic epic" type thing.... a complete rewrite starting from about 8 episodes before the end, and stretching out for years... quite long. With giant robots. OMG, what did I get myself into...?

(I could also maybe put together little books of 6 or so of the first pages, as a sample, and give those out as a promotional thing).

[Kaxen]

I'm not sure.

>_> As a whole I'm too paranoid of legal ******** to sell fanart. I decided I'm only going to draw fanart on commission so it's like "Um. They're paying me for labor?" I always fight with myself about selling fanart. I like doing fanart, but I don't want to make money riding someone's coattails and it always makes me paranoid about my art skill. "Oh God, do they like me or do they just like Altair?!"

[Vicemage]

Starre, that's really a convention-specific question. Some might say that's okay, but using the copy-pasted logo is not. Some might say "No, no fanart at all." Some might say, "No doujin, but fanart is okay." Some might just not care. It's all over the map these days, so it's really something you have to take to the specific convention, there's unfortunately no blanket answer at all.

Kaxen, I feel the same as you. I do my little charms that are super-easy to pull off sale for those cons where they're not welcome (or where I flat refuse to sell them for whatever reason), but no prints, no buttons, nothing like that. Just fanart. And even with the charms, I kind of hate selling them, as cute as they are... I want people to pay more attention to the other things on my table, not just the stupid chibis. sweatdrop I spend twenty minutes, maybe, start to finish on a chibi... and I spend years total on my comic. Please look at my comic. gonk

[Fiammetta Rey]

I'm living with false hope

And my eyes just want to see a ray of light

I'm gonna find it in my fairy tale...

I feel like I don't do enough fanart... I want to show my love for the shows I like. If I were to draw Naruto... I think that would be wrong, because I don't like Naruto. If I sold pictures of Naruto, it would be like what you're talking about... there's Naruto merchandise out there. It's not like there's any sort of lack of it. But with shows like Princess Tutu, there's DVDs and manga and that's it. No wall scrolls or plushies or anything. So not only is to make Princess Tutu fanart available to provide something that people can't get officially, it's not really encroaching on anyone else's sales. People who would have bough a box set of the DVDs would still buy one after buying your fanart print, however, someone could buy a Naruto fanart poster and possibly not buy a wall scroll because of it.

[AEAcomics]

Damn! I went to pick up that laminator but they were all gone. I should've gone earlier or asked if they were going to get any more in. gonk

On topic, I plan on only doing fanart on commission as well. I don't draw much fanart at all anymore, I'd much rather spend the time and effort on original projects and pieces.

I think I've managed to convince my kid sister and one of her friends to come. I'm trying to get in touch with my friend that hooked me on animu in the first place to see if she'll be able to come. I'm gonna have a Biochemistry final the day before the con, won't that be fun? xd

[Vicemage]

Starre, oh, I do fanart from time to time, but never really for sale... (If you pick through my dA account, there's a few FMA drawings, some Farscape, some Invader Zim, and probably something else too. I enjoy drawing the characters, just not selling the art of them.) But you have another good point with your thoughts on fan vs official merchandise. Many cons ban only what you can officially buy, in order to not cut in on the sales for those who have licensed the property.

DarKlaw, Ouch and ouch. >.< Good luck with the test. Do you have any other branches of the store nearby, or another one that might carry it? And yeah, I always ask when they're getting more in, if something I want is out, as long as the clerk is clever enough to figure out the answer. (And if there's still a shelf tag there, that helps too.)

[Jayde Panda]

I do a lot of fanart on my tables because it sells, and I like it when I can at least pay for the con (table, badges, room, cost of printing stuff, etc.). As Sweet Fofo pointed out, it sells more because people already have an attachment for that character. I'm trying to keep an even mix of fanart vs. nonfanart on my table--or at least I'm working towards that right now.

I justify my fanart in that it usually is part of a theme--like I'm doing a deck of tarot cards with different characters from different series for each card (including a mix of popular stuff and really super obscure stuff, plus a lot of stuff that gets spots in the set just because I really like it XD). Or I'm doing cross-over pieces, like taking a character, keeping just enough of the original design so that you can tell who it's supposed to be, and turning it into something different. I don't do any "serious" styled fanart, and try and keep most of what I do in the realm of parody and humor. That and it keeps it creative for me, so it's not quite as boring for me as drawing straight fanart.

[Kaxen]

Vicemage

I want people to pay more attention to the other things on my table, not just the stupid chibis. sweatdrop I spend twenty minutes, maybe, start to finish on a chibi... and I spend years total on my comic. Please look at my comic. gonk

Oh god, that is exactly how I am about my DA gallery. -_-' Someday I'll go insane and put all my chibis in storage or something...


Gah! Seller's permits hurt my brain. >_<' I hate government paperwork...

And why does this year have to be the year taxes go up?! And recesshamashun! Why does the economy have to die when I finally decide I want to try to make money? sweatdrop God, I'm going to lose ten years off my life just by driving myself crazy.

[Fiammetta Rey]

I'm living with false hope

And my eyes just want to see a ray of light

I'm gonna find it in my fairy tale...

Did Otakon announce when registration will open? Will they ever announce it? *freaks out*

[Nyawyn]

Starre257

Did Otakon announce when registration will open? Will they ever announce it? *freaks out*

This is one of the reasons why i decided not to bother with otakon for a while, lots of stress over when the reg goes live and if id reg fast enough to get a table. I do wish you luck though smile

[pearberrie]

Starre257

Did Otakon announce when registration will open? Will they ever announce it? *freaks out*

not yet they are taking their time though -.-; i hope they announce it soon people got plans to make D<

for fanart, problem is 90% of the people go to artist alley specifically for fanart and nothing but. It's kinda a miracle when they rather have the original stuff xD

[AEAcomics]

Okay, I got the laminator. Got finals to take care of before I start playing with it, though.

[Jayde Panda]

I'd love to hear how your laminator works out. I need to buy a new one, as my last one fails completely--it can't even heat up enough to properly seal a 3x5 3mm packet. I'd like to get one that can handle 10mm packets and letter size sheets, but after the fiasco with the first one (which was a GBC Heatseal)....

[AEAcomics]

I'll let you know how it works out.

I think I'll try requesting some sample pouches from http://www.laminatorwarehouse.com/index.shtml and see how they work with it.

[pearberrie]

anyone here done NYAF before? They just opened their artist alley and I'm super jawdropping shocked at the table cost!
Full Table: $225 (Includes 2 Weekend Badges)
Half Table: $125 (Includes 1 Weekend Badge)
is this normal for them? stressed