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Kupocake
Shouting Fox
Kupocake

Speaking of which, I have the alcohol tolerance level of a toddler. Actually, I think most toddlers can outdrink me, if their mothers are negligent enough. Half a lemonade-vodka, and I already felt like puking.

I am a very cheap date, naturally.


Largely a matter of finding your poison. I can drink quite a bit of whiskey but beer makes me icky. Drinking sake makes me feel stoned. Seems to depend on the body, its chemistry, and the drink's chemistry.
Whiskey makes me giggle for half an hour non-stop, and then I throw up. Beer just tastes funky to me.

But I do like wine. I feel happy and classy after wine.


I've got low tolerance too. And worse yet, I'm an angry drunk.
Also HOLY ******** THESE OBNOXIOUS ADS
Mr McGrumpypants
I've been gone the better part of a year and this is what I come back to. Hoo boy.

So I take it you are not a fan of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, IronSpike?

not a fan of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane?


Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane



....
.......
.........
Give me your hammer.
scream
Kaxen
Somewhat related to the argument going on, Sean Gordon Murphy posted this journal today on "detrimental awe" http://fav.me/d50chy2

I thought it was an interesting read.

...sort of makes me think of how I sell many of my plushies too cheap for the number of hours spent.

Well, I've been fussing over pricing a bit since I wish I could just run an Etsy shop and work less at a "real job." I'M SO GLAD I'M GRADUATING BUT AT THE SAME TIME ******** TERRIFIED.


Yeah you really gotta charge more for those plushies man.

I don't do many commissions. Half my wrists (still s**t by the by but they've got through a year of pure abuse before I saw a doctor so any improvement ever at all is a good thing for me) half my time, half my cost.

I lowball myself but I also time myself. $10 = min 25 to max 60 minutes of my time give or take a few minutes this is how much I make at my dayjob per hour and really how much I need to survive. Set myself an hourly wage for my work and generally stick to it. Because of this I don't get as much work as I'd necessarily like, but that's also because there's artists out there willing to do gorgeously rendered work for $5 (and this kiilllllssss me sometimes)

Dapper Dabbler

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Yeah, I need to raise the prices in line with what I see as going prices for plushies.

...at least then I will know if people like my plushies or just like the fact I keep lowballing myself...

Though I really need to upgrade my phone so I can use the Square card reader if I keep raising prices. I seem to be the only loony who doesn't mind carrying $200 in cash at a convention for shopping... though I divide it into several pockets in case anything happens to my bag, my wallet... or my pants...

Though I quit shopping at conventions significantly lately... and Legend of Korra hasn't got all that much merch to get.
Better than me. I was walking around with $660 in my wallet and pockets during this year's Anime Boston.

Shadowy Phantom

For some reason, I am really, really slow when I draw thumbnails for my pages.

Any suggestions for speeding the process up? I'm not even sure why I'm so slow, I can sketch the things out fast once I know what I want. I think I spend most of that time trying to figure out the shots to use. If it's just a matter of more practice, then I must be doing something wrong to still be so slow.

Dangerous Capitalist

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Kyousouka
For some reason, I am really, really slow when I draw thumbnails for my pages.

Any suggestions for speeding the process up? I'm not even sure why I'm so slow, I can sketch the things out fast once I know what I want. I think I spend most of that time trying to figure out the shots to use. If it's just a matter of more practice, then I must be doing something wrong to still be so slow.
A timer. Think of it like a gesture drawing session, except you're doing thumbs. Set it to 5 minutes or less and draw through each page, and see how that works for you. The main point is just to spill out all your ideas and tap into the more subconscious part of your brain. When you're done, you can go back in and fix your thumbs, now that you have a visual idea of what your brain likes.

Shadowy Phantom

Kupocake
Kyousouka
For some reason, I am really, really slow when I draw thumbnails for my pages.

Any suggestions for speeding the process up? I'm not even sure why I'm so slow, I can sketch the things out fast once I know what I want. I think I spend most of that time trying to figure out the shots to use. If it's just a matter of more practice, then I must be doing something wrong to still be so slow.
A timer. Think of it like a gesture drawing session, except you're doing thumbs. Set it to 5 minutes or less and draw through each page, and see how that works for you. The main point is just to spill out all your ideas and tap into the more subconscious part of your brain. When you're done, you can go back in and fix your thumbs, now that you have a visual idea of what your brain likes.

That sounds like a really good idea! My thumbs are more on the meticulous side as I work out the in-panel compositions, poses/angles, expressions, etc, but I suppose I should just start with stick figures doing basic actions and then refine from there. And pfft, timers. One thumbnail per song in iTunes is what I should do ;D

Dangerous Capitalist

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Kyousouka
Kupocake
Kyousouka
For some reason, I am really, really slow when I draw thumbnails for my pages.

Any suggestions for speeding the process up? I'm not even sure why I'm so slow, I can sketch the things out fast once I know what I want. I think I spend most of that time trying to figure out the shots to use. If it's just a matter of more practice, then I must be doing something wrong to still be so slow.
A timer. Think of it like a gesture drawing session, except you're doing thumbs. Set it to 5 minutes or less and draw through each page, and see how that works for you. The main point is just to spill out all your ideas and tap into the more subconscious part of your brain. When you're done, you can go back in and fix your thumbs, now that you have a visual idea of what your brain likes.

That sounds like a really good idea! My thumbs are more on the meticulous side as I work out the in-panel compositions, poses/angles, expressions, etc, but I suppose I should just start with stick figures doing basic actions and then refine from there. And pfft, timers. One thumbnail per song in iTunes is what I should do ;D
:U I have a music-based system too, actually! I make playlists that are roughly one hour long so that I know how long I've been taking to color/ink my stuff.

Yeah timers are kinda annoying. XD

Shadowy Phantom

Kupocake
Kyousouka
Kupocake
Kyousouka
For some reason, I am really, really slow when I draw thumbnails for my pages.

Any suggestions for speeding the process up? I'm not even sure why I'm so slow, I can sketch the things out fast once I know what I want. I think I spend most of that time trying to figure out the shots to use. If it's just a matter of more practice, then I must be doing something wrong to still be so slow.
A timer. Think of it like a gesture drawing session, except you're doing thumbs. Set it to 5 minutes or less and draw through each page, and see how that works for you. The main point is just to spill out all your ideas and tap into the more subconscious part of your brain. When you're done, you can go back in and fix your thumbs, now that you have a visual idea of what your brain likes.

That sounds like a really good idea! My thumbs are more on the meticulous side as I work out the in-panel compositions, poses/angles, expressions, etc, but I suppose I should just start with stick figures doing basic actions and then refine from there. And pfft, timers. One thumbnail per song in iTunes is what I should do ;D
:U I have a music-based system too, actually! I make playlists that are roughly one hour long so that I know how long I've been taking to color/ink my stuff.

Yeah timers are kinda annoying. XD

I make mood-based playlists for each of my projects, and I make those as long as possible so there's less repeating (and I like variety)... but I am pretty much compulsive about checking the time to see how long I've been working, so I guess that works out for me.
I'm going to try this song-timed thumbnail thing after work today, shall report back with results.
I tried doing mood based music work...
Then I found myself doodling Steam Powered Giraffe fanart for the entire duration of their CD list on my itunes.
WHUPS

Dapper Dabbler

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Listening to music helps me work, but doesn't affect what I draw.

Minus when I need to make complaints or gag comics about lyrics.

I'm pretty sure some singers just smash words together.


Though movie soundtrack music always makes me feel really urgent when it's the track that plays during an action scene.

Dapper Explorer

Is it time to break out the Richard Williams rant about listening to music while drawing?

I think it is.

Animation is concentration. Comics are also concentration, but that doesn't rhyme. I definitely feel too stupid to do more than one thing at once. I recently made the mistake of listening to the Book of Mormon while drawing turnarounds, and now I'm going back to fix all my mistakes. Although...listening to a musical is probably a fantastically stupid choice even as far as listening to music while drawing goes.
Shouting Fox
Wow. After a couple months of trying to integrate into the comic creators scene 'round here and not getting noticed, I've realized that all it takes is one ill-received comment and people will be chompin' at the bits to get to you. ******** lovely.


And now you'll know better than to say something so stupid ever again.

Quote:

You're absolutely right, sir.

For future reference, I'm a woman. But "sir" is fine.

Quote:
In my experience, a person only needs to draw on six sentences-- two statements-- before that person can accurately sum up what a person is or isn't. The ability do so as concisely as you do must be oh-so-handy. Has it occurred to you that one hypothetical statement is not the end all, be all of my opinion of creators' rights or breaking into the comics industry?


You either stand behind what you said or you don't. Since you're backpedaling so wildly, it's safe to assume you've thought better of your previous statement. Good for you. Because it was ridiculously wrong.

Quote:
My ultimate goal is to make doing what I love to do my career, hopefully one capable of supporting my girlfriend and her children, and I understand that constraints put upon my life can possibly put me in a position where I may never get the chance to make my own comics and work with talented artists.


If you want it badly enough, you'll make it work.

You may never reach a level where comics can support your family. I'm not psychic. I don't even know how well you can draw or write, or how willing you are to improve, so I can't say. But if you want to make comics badly enough, you'll make comics. You'll sit in the basement on a sunny day while your kids are running through the lawn sprinklers. You'll refuse to leave the house on weekends and skip parties. You'll make comics. Maybe a page a week. But you'll make them.

Quote:
If it meant getting my name out there, and if it meant a career by which I can support me and mine, I would do all of the above. I'd try a Kickstarter, and making comics for the Kindle, I'd submit to Digital Webbing Presents or variations thereof (because I'm pretty sure that's all gone to s**t), I'd hand out comics at conventions that I've printed through Comixpress, I would submit to publishers with staunch pro-creators' rights views-- yeah, that's great. If it didn't? I'd let Dan Didio and Stan Lee run a drug-fueled train on me while Disney and Warner Bros. execs watched if it meant a crack at my dream job, because doing what I love to do and making a living from it can't be any worse than doing what I don't love doing for a living.


You don't "get your name out there" by allowing yourself to be exploited. You do it by making comics. And you don't have to make comics for people who want to exploit you. Not now. We don't live in that world anymore. Anyone who volunteers to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous publishers in this day and age only establishes themselves as a sucker willing to work for a pittance. The industry is full of them. They're bitter, and they're petty, and they still have day jobs, and I guarantee you don't know any of their names.
In other news, my Kickstarter finally closed at $83,100, which is literally more money than I've ever had access to at one time in my entire life. It's double the down payment I made for the apartment I'm currently sitting in.

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