Artist Alley Generally Speaking

Do etsy favorites turn into actual sales? I get good traffic and a lot of people are favoriting my items but nobody ever buys. Now my items are just collecting etsy fees. Selling online is so hard.

>>9102790

That usually means your prices are too high if you get a lot of favorites/views but no one bites.

>>9102813
Really? All my prices are very standard... $1 stickers, $12 charms that are double sided and 3" big. I can't go any lower than that. Is there another way to get more sales?

>>9102820
May be do some "promossions"? Your prices and sale listings might be a bit generic. Try adding OTP deals, buy your favorite otp character stickers at a slightly lower price. Pokemon character deals since the new app released, ETC.

I did some holiday specials listings and boosted my sales a little bit last year.

>>9102820
>>9102827

I'd have to agree, maybe adding set deals would help nudge people into buying?

>>9102790
I'm having the same problem as you, I just think right now isn't a very good time for people financially.
I'm even having a hard time selling cheaply priced good condition Brand that usually sells for a lot more.
I think since there are so many summer cons plus people saving up for tuition/supplies for the school year sales everywhere are slow.

I'm wondering if there's a way to search what tags are "trending" on etsy so maybe if sales are slow but your stuff can appeal to normies a bit you could try marketing to them a bit.

>>9103035

Yeah I haven't gotten any sales at all this month, even on listings that are usually gone in less than a day when I replenish them.

>>9103039
I'm so sorry to hear that anon :(
If you're comfortable enough post your shop here and if I see something I like I'll purchase from you since I like supporting fellow artist alley seagulls.

Is AcornPress really that bad? Took a look at people's charms that ordered from them and I don't see a problem. Can anyone explain why they are so bad?

>>9103063
If you search through the archive, there are posts that explain why some people really don't like AP. They are a growing company though, and I think a lot of the issues they had in the past have been fixed up. As long as you're patient, and willing to work with them through any mistakes, I think they're fine.

>wanting to make custom oppai mousepads for a while now
>find artist who is selling their own
>ask them where they got it printed, specs, hell even just a company name would be fine
>"I get them printed from a company that prints custom oppai mousepads"
>well no shit
>they keep avoiding anything further
I really wish artists would stop acting like Alibaba is some secret club.

>>9103063
they had a couple of issues in their first year of running but i've ordered from them twice and i adore my charms and they're very good quality considering the price. there's that one person on aani who insists on talking them down, despite dozens of ppl who are perfectly happy with their charms.

>>9103250
this fucks me off. Like, I know you got them printed at alibaba. there are multiple sellers. I liked how yours turned out, would you mind recommending a particular one?
it's so stupid. There was an artist doing a Hanzo (from Overwatch) boob pad and i was gonna get one from her at AWA but she's acting like her source is some top secret personal supplier.

>>9103250
>>9103256
Because they don't want more competition to their business. You want a source? Fucking search for it. Sources are time spent finding them. Fuck off.

>>9103250
>>9103256
lol i hate that she didn't bother filling in hanzo's tattoo after she copy pasted the official art

>>9103259
Oppai mousepads have been around for a while, it's not some wild new concept.

Just petty as fuck.

>>9103280
I agree. You'll always have competition, no need to be an asshole

>>9103039
Everyone has dry spells. Everyone.

My shop was doing great, making at least twice as much in sales compared to last year... until May and June. This May and June were actually worse than last year. But now this month, July, my sale are back up to where they should be.

>>9103063
Hi I hope you don't mind me popping in here! (I run AcornPress)
True that over our first few months we had our share of problems across the spectrum, from customer service down to our packaging. But we've been working hard for a year to put that past behind us this season and we think it is.

>>9103259
lolololol don't be that cutthroat bitch in the AA who treats everyone else like they're customer thieves. I know there are a fucking ton of sources, the point of reviews and asking ppl for recommendations is bc you don't have to take the risk on the quality/customer service/shipping times etc.

>>9103408
well, the other person took the risk, so why shouldn't you?

>>9103415
....because I could ask someon?
i don't have an issue with people who genuinely have a private source or whatever politely turning people down. It's when it's a matter of like, 5 different identical alibaba companies and I just wanna know which one they used. I'm gonna get the mousepads anyway. Whether or not they tell me which particular store they used is irrelevant... there is 0 reason to not share that information, unless they're petty/insecure enough about their art that they think the mere fact that other people might create similar products will devastate their sales.

I don't like spoonfeeding either but there's a difference between not telling people bc it would take 0.03 seconds on google and not telling people bc you're jealousy hiding what specific alibaba store you used like its some kind of world class secret

>>9103352
Thanks for popping in to voice yourself. I'm honestly gonna take the dive after this weekend to test you guys out because the prices are nice. Still looking at other people to see what my options are going forward but i'm gonna get a test batch from you first

>>9102717
How do you guys do taxes on online sales? I'm from Sydney Australia and was thinking of selling stuff online.

>>9103259
OMG this!!! I've had this person nagging me every time I post stuff asking where I buy my materials. And every time I tell them the same thing, its all chance with these. I have yet to find a consistent seller but they keep acting like I am lying. Super frustrating, like if you don't like my answer then do some research yourself.

I'd like some advice. My art has hit a dry spell, haven't sold anything in a little over a month. This happens since I do expensive hand painted items. My question is do you think a sped up video of me painting them would help? How should I go about filming? I don't have any filming equipment besides a phone and old camera. Should I do a picture of each step and make it a video?

>>9103949
just make it a gif desu

>>9103959
Thanks :)

>>9103943
That's a little different than what they were bitching about though. In your case, it doesn't seem like you're trying to ward off competition, your sellers are just inconsistent.

>>9103949
I think just a sped-up process video would be fine. Keep in mind that views =/= sales, but it'll at least get you more exposure.
I don't know a ton about filming this, though. I know a girl who does this with her Copic art sometimes, she just has her phone rigged above her workspace, she just has to make sure her head doesn't hit the phone while she's working.

>>9103949
Gifs will help for crowd appeal but there are definitely people out there, especially other artists who will be interested in videos.

Not quite related, but do any anons here dabble in the adoptable community on deviantart? What are ways to make yours stand out because it always ends up in a sea of other adopts.

>>9103996
Don't have much to say, but I think that having an account solely for adoptables can help. Also, the best sale booster I had when I still did adopts were those quality-controlled groups that have admins that filter out submissions.

Hope this makes sense.

>>9104023
No that makes sense! I do feel like the 'market' is currently dominated by a handful of artists that do species, and the rest seems to be getting no bids at all.

Propmaker and aspiring vendor here
What sort of licenses are needed?

Has anyone had to deal with a table next to you being ultra obnoxious? This guy wouldn't stop yelling at every single person wearing ANYTHING Pokemon related (cosplay or just a plain t-shirt). It got the point where he was shouting at pretty much every person that walked by, saying crap like "We have a button of XYZ character that you're cosplaying!" or "This would look great on your cosplay!". Just really grating.

>>9104205
PMX last year tabled next to a crafter who did just that. Turns out she had a less than favorable personality too and gave a friend shit for telling her it was rude to ask strangers how much they made.

>>9102820
How much is your shipping? If I'm paying $4.50 for $1 sticker you can bet I'm not buying it.

>>9103425

I was thinking about this and I think you're lucky they'd rather dance around the issue than tell you who they used.

If I were a mega bitch and wanted to keep wherever it was a secret I'd find the shittiest looking seller with the worst prices and lie to every stranger who asked where I made them. Someone would fall for it eventually.

I think I'd rather have someone refuse to tell me than blatantly lie to my face.

>>9104450
Not that anon, but how much shipping do you recommend? I think $3 is the bare minimum, but I keep mine flat rate at $5 to avoid headaches but I realize that is too much if all you want to buy is a $1 sticker.

>>9104529


Okay, so I'm in the US. Not sure where you're from.

I sell plushies so basically everything I've shipped has been in a box. I've been shipping first class when it's under 13 ounces, otherwise it goes priority mail. I'd check with your local post office if you can ship the stickers first class and then add tracking because that'd probably be cheaper than flat rate. A while ago I sold a coin pouch, tossed it in a mailer, and sent it off first class with a working tracking number, but looking it up online to verify you can add tracking to first class has confused the shit out of me since I'm being contradicted. This was also before I started using Etsy shipping labels.

My advice: buy a kitchen/postal scale or use the post office to weigh your stuff, then let Etsy figure out the shipping cost for you. You can do this by entering the weight of the item inside its shipping envelope/package when you're listing it and choosing to let them calculate shipping for you. Everything is basically done after that.

Also: I've recently started using Etsy shipping labels so I've been saving money through that as well. My last couple of plushies have been shipped first class, have tracking, weigh around 9-10 ozs, and cost less than $5 to ship. I've also been tacking on a $1 handling fee so they're actually under $4 to ship

>>9104529
If you are selling charms and stickers shipping shouldn't be $5, that tells me the seller is lazy and added more profit in the shipping cost. Or i guess they are buying packaging one at time in which case you know.. stop..

Stickers can be mailed as letters so they shouldn't cost more than $1 to ship i imagine, with extra packaging and such maybe $2 (like chip board or stock to keep them flat).

Charms cost about $2.5 to ship, envelopes and bubble wrap add about 25 cents max, and then covering paypal / shop fees is maybe another 60 cents. I round up to $3.5. I guess if you are literally buying envelopes for $1+ you would be charging $5 to ship but.. idk I guess you can't help it if you aren't selling that much.

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Anyone want to share their autistic con customer stories?

I always have people who stop by my booth who are completely and utterly socially inept. I'm sure this happens to others, please regale me with your stories so I dont feel alone

For jewelry makers what's your source for inexpensive but decent quality findings? My store is growing and I'd like to be able give my customers something better than metal that smells kinda funny and will turn copper after a few wears.

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>>9104890
>at a con
>pretty normal day so far
>small group of teens come look at my work
>all saying nice, pretty normal stuff
>suddenly one kid starts doing the "hey girl hey gay voice" bit as he's complimenting my work
>okay.jpg
>they leave, mark it as one weird occurrence and move on
>he comes back five minutes later and starts doing a bunch more "lol so funny gay voice jokes"
>awkwardly laugh so he'll leave
>a few hours later hear him doing the same kinda shit to a table behind me

>>9105097

How much quality are we talking? I find its easier to find silver colored findings that are inexpensive and quality. Gold coloring is a bit harder.

I've heard good things about http://www.firemountaingems.com/ but I've never ordered from them. But they sell legit precious metals. If your looking for high quality metals then you will see a lot of
>gold plated
>gold filled
>solid gold

Gold (or other material) plated basically means nothing. There are no regulations on it whatsoever. Gold filled however is more regulated and will be a good material. As well as a more expense-friendly choice to a solid material like solid gold or something.

>>9104890

I have this one guy I have to start ignoring at cons or he will stand and block off my booth FOR HOURS and not buy anything. I see him literally every con I've been to for the past 3 years. I usually just smile and nod and try not to engage him further into conversation. My first con I was way too nice to him and would actually talk/converse with him. Huge freaking mistake. He stuck around so long or would leave but eventually come back again and bug me.

>>9104129
depends on your area and whatever show you're going to. Google your state and local board of equalization

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gotta love AANI
this shit is cracking me up

>>9105481
oh my god what

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>>9105481
>sexy buttfuckery
>yay debauchery!

Easy indicators someone has never actually had sex let alone butt sex

>>9105481
The left looks like some typical yaoi shit but the right looks weird as fuck.
I like that she mentioned meth and a pig.

>>9105481
God I always hate seeing updates from RV. I feel like I'm looking back at 2005 cringe worthy BL virgin postings. Making everything sexy is getting old real fast.
>Please stop.

>>9105481
People actually buy this shit? Not only is the art horrific but there's so much better stuff on the internet, for free.

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Can anyone custom print a welding shield, hood, or cap?

>>9105561
Having been a fag for Teahouse and Star Fighter I'm going to guess this person has a webcomic following and the printed version probably has SPECIAL EDITION PRINT ONLY BUTTSEX or something else of that caliber that would warrant purchase from fans.

>>9105481
what are fucking noses

>>9105576
Haha, I noticed that too.
I think she picked wacky shit like this to avoid drawing noses.

>>9105592
and feet

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>>9105563
pls respond

>>9105666
Are you lost, anon...? This is the artist alley thread, not a prop thread.

I haven't seen anyone here mention offering custom 3d printing services and even somebody did, you're probably better off just searching for a local 3d printing business instead of trying to find a rando who may not even live in the same country as you.

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>>9105687
>3d printing
I was just hoping I could find someone to print qt anime grills, like Cutey Honey or Milia Jenius, on welding shield or hood

>>9104890
yeah.. subtle hints begins as they circle your table not saying anything..but suddenly mention an anime or game and their mouths won't stop. blabbering excitedly spitting n drooling as they speak.. yeah been there

just one of the backfires of greeting every eyeball glazing your table, never know who will end up wasting your time and become a creeper/autistic/barnacle.
>Ignoring them works for 5 mins., avoiding eye contact and body direction towards them is the only way to keep them away unfortunately.

>>9104890
I have one customer who I think has actual autism. Manages to go to a lot of conventions though and never fails to visit me. Decent dude but sometimes he asks really odd questions not related to my art like why a pen is on the table or how come I chose my tablecloth. It's harmless enough so I just indulge him until he gets bored, suddenly smiles really hard at me like someone who doesn't know how their own face muscles work, and leaves.

>>9105481
This is making me so uncomfortable

>>9105481
I get that the one is supposed to be a bee and a flower but I can't for the life of me figure out what is happening on the right side.

>>9105837
going by the cephalod on the guy's dong and the fancy ' i cant draw feet' fins...i think its supposed to be merpeople? with Jasper noses?

>>9105806
>but suddenly mention an anime or game and their mouths won't stop. blabbering excitedly spitting n drooling as they speak.. yeah been there
I had a friend do this once when we were browsing the AA. I thought it was pretty obvious that the artist wasn't listening after a minute or so but they just kept going.

>>9105837
>>9105843
I think the small dude in the middle is supposed to be some kind of flower (feet as petals, hair as maybe the pistils?) and the dudes in the back are probably some sort of pollinators, most likely some kind of bug.

Has anyone ever paid to have their art page promoted? Facebook, Pinterest, Etsy, Storenvy etc. Have you noticed any differences? More sales? More views? Got a new page and am considering promoting it

>>9105986
I've only tried the facebook one, my views definitly went up and I got more likes and some new follows. I felt it was worth the $20 I spent

>>9105976
The Jasper noses might be squid beaks and then weirdass feet tentacles. It explains the waves in the background.

I'm looking to buy a button maker and would love advice on which ones are best.
I'm looking to spend 100-300$.
Thanks for any and all help.

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>>9106196
Tecre brand button makers, hands down, best option. These things are solid as hell, built to last, and easy to use.

So I'm doing some research for grab bags, but wondering how you gulls do yours?
>I was thinking of using cheap colored paper bags and making cheap sticker tags to say what they are.

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>>9106229
I just made a bunch of these last night. I'm changing it so it's just leftover buttons though.

I've also taken clear seal bags and place the items within a folded piece of cute paper so they can't peek in.

Hinting at 1 or 2 of the fandoms inside helps customers decide if it's worth it or not imo

>>9106206
Thanks!

>>9105830
>Decent dude but sometimes he asks really odd questions not related to my art like why a pen is on the table or how come I chose my tablecloth.
The odd questions kind of make it seem like he was just trying to come up with an excuse to keep the conversation going because he wants to keep talking to you...Even if it's asking questions as weird as those. Oof.

>>9106240
This is so cute!

>>9105568
>>9105561

No real fujoshi would buy this trash. Teahouse was also trash, but it and Starfighter are well above this kind of bs art.

>>9106514
The shitty Tumblr kind with low standards would. There's also the babby's first yaois.

Together it's an unfortunately large market.

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what the fuck AANI

>>9106594
omg it's literal garbage attached to a keyring

>>9106594
I can't even tell what those are made of, plastic streamers? Old wig wefts? Troll doll hair?

>>9106613
Fun fur and eyelash yarn is the answer, my friend. True horror.

Has anyone driven a super long distance to a convention? Talking 15~20+ hours. Trying to convince myself it'll be worth it and sales will make up the travel time... (If anyone has feedback sales on Metrocon I'd love to hear it, good or bad.)

>>9105691
Have you considered looking into decals?

>>9106621
I doubt I would ever drive that far to a convention, the furthest I drive to a con is like 6 hours, and the longest drive I ever did for a con was 8 hours and that's only cause I took the scenic route and ate at a nice place for breakfast along the way.

The real question is what is your time worth for you? And what is your gas mileage and cost? Is the wear/tear on your vehicle worth it and can it make the trip there and back?

>>9106621
If you'd rather spend 20 hours driving than a plane ticket then you're doing something seriously wrong.

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>>9106624
I had not. Thanks anon, I dearly appreciate it

>>9106689
It completely depends on your stock I guess and the size of the con

Do you have a ton of huge bulky items and enormous stock that will be hard to transport via plane? Maybe worth it

Is it a huge con that will guarantee the dollars? Then you could maybe afford the flight. If it's a small con here you won't be making a ton it might be worth it. Figure out the cost of gas and the price of parking when you get there. There's also a pretty good chance you won't want to make the trip in one day

>>9106621
What is the farthest you've driven before? I drove around 5 hours to a con and that was fairly annoying. 5 or 6 hours is my limit honestly.

>>9106689
Unless you are a craft artist and your crafts take up a lot of room. Idk about op, but I can't travel via plane because of how much it would cost to travel with all my inventory.

>>9106628
We're actually going to rent a car so we don't have to worry about the cost of wear and tear on our vehicles! But yeah, overall the drive is much cheaper than a flight would be all costs included. Plus I can cut things out for prep in the car and I can't on a plane.

>>9106689
I have far too much stock to fly with, and the cost of airport parking, shipping of items, cab/uber to & from the airport actually makes it 3x the cost of driving. Also road trip will be split among a few of us to make it even cheaper.

>>9106734
Furthest I've driven was 12 hours, and that was on my own. At least with this upcoming trip there will be a few of us to swap out driving so I guess it's not too bad.

Thanks everyone for the input, I think I'm just nervous the con will be a bust but that's convention life.

>>9106621
I have! I've driven to San Japan from SoCal before. I think it's about a 21 hour drive? We had a full carpool so the costs were pretty cheap and we treated it as a road trip. I always have a good time - if you treat it as a fun vacation with friends it'll probably go by faster than thinking of it as a business trip.

Has anyone tried to order from Vograce from Japan? I read somewhere that DHL hits hard with customs fees almost all the time in Japan but I don't know how true that is. I'll be here for a year, so if it is true I might just have to suck it up...

>TFW you don't post tumblr, pokemon, or fans shit >crickets

ugh.

>>9107065
git gud

>>9107065
is your art good enough or interesting enough to not need pandering to any fanbase?

can anyone explain to me what's going on with someone trying to sue that one plush company on AANI?

>>9107071
>>9107108
Yeah...probably right. :/

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>>9107115

>>9107117
Yeah, it's nice, but nothing special. Either hop on some bandwagons or get more creative with the design

>>9106734
>>9106780

I think how far you're willing to drive depends a lot on where you live and how many conventions are close by.

If I want to go to more than my one local convention a year, I have to drive 5-6 hours for literally every option. That's standard, and with an audio book I really don't mind it. I would consider anything that I could drive in less than a day.

>>9107229
wow, thats sad :/ There are at least 12 big (2,000+ attendance) conventions within 6 hours from me. I actually live in between 3 very large cities, Nashville, Birmingham, and Atlanta. Probably the best place to live for doing AA other than maybe California.

>>9106621
The farthest I've driven is 14 hours. I had an alternate driver so we could switch; we did the way down in one go but broke up the trip back over 2 days.

I also did a 16 hour trip to a con recently that would've been more like 8 hours if I had just gone straight there and not gone out of my way to pick up friends also going to said con.

Personally, I really like driving! Not just to cons, but in general, I just find long drives to be very pleasurable. That, added to the fact that I absolutely hate flying, means I nearly always drive to cons. I like that I can keep my stock with me and not be separated from it, and the fact that it's cheaper is an added bonus.

Should I saturate my files when printing paper sandwiched acrylic charms with Vograce? What about their clears?

>>9105481
It's like I'm looking at a "How to draw manga" cover.

>>9107804
That's "How to draw Shounen Ai" to you, anon.

It's so weird reading you guys discuss 10+ hour drives to conventions when I live somewhere that you can drive end to end in about 5 hours and only has 2 cons a year.

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any advice artists have for those of us that like to commission artists?

>>9107993
1. don't splerg out about your characters/story/ship/whatever. Please remember that while it's really special to you, this is the artist's job. Be efficient and clear with what you want.

2. don't ask for a billion and one revisions because you can't make your mind up. Have a clear idea BEFORE you commission someone, unless you're paying them for a design or concept. If there's a major flaw or incorrect character detail, that's fine, let them know, but yeah.

and this is selective to certain situations and will probably come off as elitist, but:
3. please don't use your commission to try and befriend the artist on a personal level. So many times i've been forced to an unwanted conversation because the commissioner would interject random personal questions and anecdotes throughout their email and try and keep and exchange going after they had been sent their commission. Be friendly, sure, but keep your words on topic to the commission.

>>9107993
If it's your OCs, please have adequate references! I love it when people make reference sheets to pass out to artists at cons because it makes our lives easier. The best ref sheets I've seen have the character refs on the front (usually at least one fullbody and several expressions + text details about important features and personality traits) and the commissioners details on the back (phone number/email to reach you, possible scenarios/poses you want drawn).

If you're going into an AA with Oc commissions in mind, I highly recommend ref sheets over just emailing/linking refs on thr spot.

I guess drawing in the style of a show still gives them the right to issue a takedown notice even if the character itself isn't there's.

If anyone wonders why I don't do much fan art (even though people keep telling me to go for it), this is why. I'd rather not run the risk of getting my work pulled. It's kind of bogus that companies really go out of their way to target people that aren't even making a ton of money but I guess that's the nature of the game.

>>9108168
What show, anon?

>>9108178
Bob's Burgers. The design was a pretty old one that I hadn't sold much of which is what made it even weirder.

>>9108191
It's FOX. Anything by FOX is gonna have a bad time.

I'm opening up a shop and I'm thinking of what to sell. So far I've got buttons, stickers, keychains and postcards. But I'm debating on whether I should go for either postcards or keychains. I can't have both rn because I'm starting out and want to manage my costs. Which would be best to go for first?

>>9108222
Yeah, didn't know that at the time that I made the design. Still, I try not to sell much fan art in general. I know that's going to be what gets me a larger following but I've seen whole shops get shut down because of it.

>>9108045
should i come with a few pre-printed pages about the charachters back story and ship so the artist can understand and have it to read? then they wont need to take notes and itll be easier

>>9108324
keychains for sure.

>>9108045
>3. please don't use your commission to try and befriend the artist on a personal level. So many times i've been forced to an unwanted conversation because the commissioner would interject random personal questions and anecdotes throughout their email and try and keep and exchange going after they had been sent their commission. Be friendly, sure, but keep your words on topic to the commission.
Oh jeez, I'm glad somebody else said this. I know they're just being nice and all but sometimes I'm just not looking to make new friends at the moment, you know? I've always worried that I'm elitist for thinking that though.

>>9105806
I'm so sorry, I'm really just hovering because I really am trying to decide to buy something or not. Like I'm conflicted between impulse and my budget and struggling with indecisiveness. You don't have to talk to me or even acknowledge me after the first time.

>>9108353
Is there a way to not be rude about stopping the conversation? There's literally not enough time for friendly chats from buyers if you have more than one. Plus if you get to be friends, they expect free art.

>>9108368
There's a difference between hovering to talk to the artist about a fandom they drew and hovering because you're debating buying something.
The latter is okay, people do it a lot. The former is annoying and sometimes scares off potential customers.

>>9108404
I just stop replying.

Any Canadian AA'ers have recommendations for trusted card readers? I just ordered a Square reader, but apparently they don't support debit.

>>9108338
That'd be fine, but keep it pretty concise or in bullet format on the same page as the reference. I'd personally wouldn't want to spend time reading an essay if most of my time will be focused on drawing.

>>9108452
most people I know use square.

If you want debit you'll have to shell out for a wireless machine that some stores have, and it won't be a small fee like the Square.

>>9108427
Honestly I don't think the former is all that bad either, given circumstances (if sales are slow, if they're not blocking off my table, if the conversation is good, etc). Part of why I go to conventions is to meet others who enjoy the same things that I do.

That said, there are definitely times when conversation is unwanted- I generally find the best way to end a conversation is to finish up a thought and then say "Well it was great talking to you, enjoy the con!" That's generally enough to make someone leave.

I'm really tired of all the straight up Pokemon Go logo rip 'art' that's started appearing. I was selling badges with team chibis I'd drawn at a con last weekend, but most people just wanted the logos and every other table was selling them. When some of the rip-off artists started to sell out, I had people come up and ask me if I 'just had the logos'.

>>9108802
I'd personally prefer the minimalist designs of the logos too, but yeah that is just ripping the design.

>>9108802
There was a table at a con next to me last week that was just selling stickers/buttons of the logos and they were making a ton of money. It makes me angry too because they're getting paid for copy/pasting a official artwork

>>9108808
con staff did nothing when you reported them?

which con was it?

>>9108827
Hoshicon. I didn't bother reporting them, I figured the hype would die down eventually.

>>9108353
>>9108404
if it's over email, I politely thank them for their business and stop replying. IRL I smile and tell them to have a great day and I hope they enjoy their commission, which usually cues all but the truly socially-deaf to move on.

>>9108802
if it's any consolation there are likely to be dozens of cheap artists ripping off 'too late' to ride the hype train who will end up wasting money on excess stock. I don't really see pokemon go enduring past another couple of months

>>9108469
>I'd personally wouldn't want to spend time reading an essay if most of my time will be focused on drawing.
if you were paid extra to read it then it would be okay?

How do you guys turn down a trade when another artist wants to trade with you but you don't like their art or don't recognize any of the fandoms they're selling?

I have a hard time saying no so a couple times I've traded with people and just taken something to give to a friend because it's series I don't watch/read/play (Fire Emblem series/all the sports anime/etc)

>>9109202
Just say no. Don't feel pressured into trades, if the other artist likes your stuff enough they should be happy to pay for it instead. Only silly people would get offended, especially if you tell them something like you don't recognise their fandoms.

>>9109202
You can keep passing it off your friends, or yeah just tell them that you're not really into any of those fandoms.

>>9108969
....please don't do this. unless you're contracting them to make a comic or something for you, if they're just drawing a picture of your characters for you, they don't need to be that involved. We get that it's important to you and will try to be as accurate to what you want as possible. That doesn't mean we have to be a fan of your world/characters/whatever.

>>9109202
I smile and say that I like their work, but we don't share any fandoms and/or i'm only after things from x series or whatever

>>9108808
>copy/pasting a official artwork
This is just as bad as those vinyl sticker sellers, they are always at least 1 or 2 cons (maybe more though - selling on the down low not being blatantly obvious as some) as long I always see them selling I don't worry much about fan art.

>>9108045

For #3, I think it really depends on how much your commissions cost. $15 - 30? Nope, don't have a lot of time to waste on you. But if you've got a big spender dropping a lot on you, then I think fostering a personal connection can be a good thing provided you want to keep them as a regular customer for the future. I consider it a part of my customer service. Also, you never know what doors someone can open for you just through a couple of friendly exchanges.

I will say, though, if they're asking about the size of personal body parts, boy/girlfriend, or your fetishes (provided you're not being commissioned for something NSFW), then it's a problem. But asking about my favorite pokemon? Not so much.

If you'd prefer not answer random questions then making a form can help deter conversation somewhat.

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For the artists in the thread: has there ever been someone who's commissioned you in AA that you're okay with being friends with or is it all strictly business? How can I tell between the two?
Sorry I just dont have any friends and was wondering

>>9109303

It sounds like you want to buy friends. You can't buy friends. Well, I mean, you can, but only if you have a lot of money and prefer them to be fake. If you're in an AA the people there are working. It's like trying to hit on a waitress in the middle of work. Don't do that.

I'd suggest taking up a craft, posting art/fic of a series/ship YOU enjoy and finding friends that way. Post your stuff, find some mutuals, strike up a conversation about that thing with them, and go from there.

>>9109296
yeahhh i'm more referring to convention commisions/casual ones which I price differently to say, contract work and 'official' jobs; where of course, it's important to make contacts and befriend who you can. But chances are, random anime fangirl #73 isn't going to bring in a ton of work for me after I give her her $20 husbando sketch.

>>9109303
I know its difficult if you're not naturally a social person, but it's really just reading the situation. What do you have in common BEYOND you liking their art/maybe a fandom or two in common? are you a similar age? do you both attend the same local college?
I have made friends from people that commission me, but all except for one of them was another artist ( or content creator of some kind, photographer, writer, etc). And we became friends because there was a natural conversation happening, regardless of the fact that they had commissioned me.

I know people want to be friends with artists they like or even idolize but to be honest it sucks (speaking from experience on both sides) because one of you will be WAY more interested in the friendship/getting closer than the other one. For artists, it can also feel like you're just trying to scam free art since you're 'friends'.

>>9109303
adding on to what other anons have said, please, for the love of god, don't commission someone JUST because you want to be 'friends', especially if they're a cute girl and you maybe want more than friends.... it's awkward and uncomfortable. There are ways to make friends with people (including artists) that aren't forcing them to feel obligated to talk to you because you just paid them.

Anons, is Vograce the best option if I want to do a bunch of transparent charms for myself and a couple of friends? I have like 7 designs and I need 3-5 of each. It's just crazy to see such low prices and no fixed amounts for purchase.

>>9109360
Yes. Go with Vograce.

HBas anyone that have done artist alley did a themed Table, such as since Pokemon Go is so popular with basically everyone, all of the items are pokemon related items and cosplaying as a pokemon character (I'm thing of Nurse Joy; classic version)

Is it a good idea or is it too overkilled?

>>9109557
Pokemon's one of the few fandoms that you can successfully do that with. I'd say go for it.

>>9109202
not having any fandoms in common is one of the easiests outs actually. Everyone understands that if you do only fanart and someone doesn't like those fandoms why would they want art of it? easy mode trade rejection

If on the off chance they do have art of a fandom i'm into i'm just honest: i'm really picky. but if it's literally tear down last day of a con i'll often offer them a discount on my stuff instead.

>>9109557
Sounds really gimmicky to me but you'll make money so go for it if you want to

>>9109303
I'm normally very open about giving my contact information to people who seem very interested in my stuff.
Just explain that you really like their stuff and ask if you can add them on social media and such.
I've had many fans of my work contact me after a con or after seeing my etsy shop just wanting to be friends and talk to me, so I'm sure other artists are use to it too.

I'm interested in selling prints of art and greeting cards/stationery, but I'm new to all of this.

In the Artist Alley Guide, I noticed that Office Depot/Office Max is mentioned but not Staples. My local Office Depot is out of business, so the closest office/print store is Staples. Are there major differences in print quality and deals?

>>9109717
Yes. There's a huge difference in quality, at least in my town. Staples always seems more expensive than office max/depot too.

>>9109792
In your experience, did Staples print in higher quality but Office Depot had the better deal?

>>9109557
Pokemon is one of the few fandoms you could completely get away with it. Many con attendants like pokemon, and you get the rush of new people thanks to Pokemon Go.

You could even do some bonus stuff like a free sticker or discount to pokemon cosplayers, or Pokemon Go players who are above a certain level,

>>9110009
Same anon that asked the question another thought I was thinking is get a big bag of those individual salt water taffy in a bowl and call them Pokemon candy for them to take one for free.

Want to keep it very general and not so team orientated or it would be a blood bath in the worst of ways

>>9109995
Oh, no, Staples quality was worse. Sorry for the vague wording.

Is there a good way to get girls contact info for a date when they visit your booth in AA?

>>9110287
No.

>>9110287
Nooo...? Because they're not there to be picked up by total strangers, they're there to buy things...Seriously, don't be creepy. You're just going to lose out on sales, and if you care more about dates than sales, I'm not sure why you're even paying for a table in an AA.

>>9110372
....because I make good money on my sales. Why not also line up a cutie for the evening after I'm done tabling? Especially when we share fandoms and can hit up some of the same panels in the night

>>9110287
if you were the type of person cute girls would want to date you would know how to do this regardless of the setting

>>9110374
You can start a casual conversation but if they're not interested, just drop it.

>>9110287
Have you tried treating women like human beings and having real conversations with them?

>>9110287
Maybe talk to girls like human beings and you wouldn't have to ask questions like this.

>>9110381
>>9110410
>>9110491
What made everyone think I'm such a bad person? T_T

>>9110518
>T_T
bait confirmed

>>9110518
this comment will be the inspiration for my upcoming hit manga "Is It Wrong to Try and Pick Up Girls at an Artist's Alley?"

>>9110581
Is that part of the series I see at west coast cons about photos in AA and con health?

>>9110581
Off-topic but there are panels in my area called "Is It Wrong to Try and Pick Up Girls at a Convention?"

>>9110750
It's a play on "Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?" series from Japan.

If you're in an AA you should know weeb culture

>>9110753
I.. know that. I was saying, that is a legit thing in my area. Hence why the "off topic" note.

>>9110792
oh god, do they run the panel like it's serious?

>>9106780
Done 2 days from nj to Florida. Tons of stock. Megacon. Made buck. If I can get the time off next year will do again. Driving ftw. At least for me.

>>9110831
I've never gone to one to find out, just nearly every major convention for the past year has had it on their schedule.

I've been wanting to make some pokemon merch but I find it difficult to draw them in my style and in different poses. How do you anons draw them? Mine always end up looking exactly like official art. Any advice?

>>9111071
I've only seen Pokemon in 3 styles: hyper cute/simple, copying the official style, or hyper realistic and usually creepy.

Have you ever drawn animals in your style? Try basing your Pokemon around that.

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Do you guys do any nice packaging for your charms/pins?? I'm trying to get into making charms and wasn't sure how to approach packaging them for selling or if i should even worry about it.

>>9111189
As much as i like packaging, the volume at which i move charms makes it a complete waste of time since people just throw the packaging away anyway. It also aggravates my repetitive stress injury.

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>>9111189
Here's some of my packaging rn. I might rework it once my current stock sells out.

>>9111208
Yeah, currently worried it might just be a waste of time/money right now considering I'm just starting to sell them and im not sure if they will move yet.

>>9111221
What type of paper do you use for the backing? Is it print quality or just cheapy stuff to fill the space?

>>9111233
It's 14pt aqueous coated paper, same stuff I use for my small postcards. I have my source score the inserts too. Then I just fold them, and assemble.
Each of the cat ones has a personality profile on the back. And the veggie version of my bunnies has a corn chowder recipe inside the insert.

>>9111285
>corn chowder recipe

That's so cute.

>>9111189
I package my charms. Tbh it looks nicer and more professional if you have a big following, sell online often, or do conventions as a small business instead of as a hobby. If you do it as a hobby then it's kind of a waste of time.

For me, I treat my packaging like a business card. My logo and URL are printed on it. I added social media icons, etc. I think it looks best that way because you can save cards. Some people just want to collect cards and if they ask you can still give them one, or display them, but I save on cards by saying "my info is printed on the packaging".

Some people and many friends do ask if they can give me the packaging back and I really love those people, because I can reuse it!

As a buyer purchasing online. I hate it when you open a bubble mailer and and it's just a charm and a card. I like creating an 'experience' even if the buyer isn't at the con.

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>>9111189
I use a bunch of cute bags like this(I bought a bunch with just pink plaid and a little doily on the lower part, so the charm is way more visible) I would love to make custom packing for my stuff but I lack the money and time to do so.

>>9111177
Thanks for the suggestion! I have actually never drawn animals before so I think I'll start making them more cute.

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I thought I would post some art in the art thread. Posted this like three months ago. Finally got back on that horse and finished Lulu's hat and candy pieces. So much more to go...but I think it's going to be so fun and colorful when I'm done.

>>9111233
I have one friend who packaged her charms for like 2 cons and stopped because it ended up just being too time consuming. I admire packaging but in the end, I just don't have the time to package 500+ charms every con. It's just not feasible and idk what to say when people say it's "disappointing". Either i package far less of them and don't have any more when they sell out half way through day 2 or i don't package them and everyone gets the actual product they want. The latter is whats happening right now and although i wish i could even hire someone to package them for me i can't because i don't trust anyone to come into my home.

I feel a lot of disappointed people are really just other artists who package, it's the same as me saying i'm disappointed when a charm made in china chips. But i'm not an attendee, who by and large.. don't care.

>>9111583
I didn't see your 'before' pics in the last thread, but I like where it's going! The hat and candies look great.

>>9111507
Those are so cute. I always like getting things in little bags, cause I use them for other things once I get home.

New to this sort of thing but I wanted to get into printing stickers and charms but I just realised I fucked up with RGB/CMYK (been years since I've drawn anything digitally)-- how do you guys handle that sort of thing? Do you start off your artworks on CMYK to avoid the heartbreak of seeing your vivid illustrations turn into a muddy mess...?

>>9111507
Anon do you have links for those bags... The ribbon ones are the perfect size for my charms.

>>9111783
If you save your image as a flat RGB file and then copy + paste into a CYMK canvas, there will be a less noticeable difference than converting from RGB to CYMK directly. You can also mess with adjustment layers to bring up the saturation once you convert.

>>9111796
quick search gave me this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-x-Self-Adhesive-Cookie-Candy-Package-Gift-Bags-Cellophane-Party-Birthday-ZZ/141961509196?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D37429%26meid%3Dc531365cd8a94b5fafd0a9a5ee2834b1%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D172159015121

>>9109202
i like doing art trades but my biggest worry is pressuring the person into doing a trade. I always try to tell the artist it's ok if they say no, but I know it's awkward.... Please say no if my stuff isn't your bag!! i wont be offended.

I think you should gauge it on how... weird... the artist is acting about it.

>>9109717
try searching for a local area (google search City Print Shop).. they're often really fast with good prices.

>>9111071
make them doing something with a prop. That's the easiest way i make something interesting.

For example: ponyta with a foot up = yawn
ponyta balancing on a ball = not super original but way more interesting!!

>>9111783
start off in cmyk. it will change your life and teach you to not rely on magenta and teal (my two favorite colors boohoo)

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>>9111507
I do this too when I mail out things from my shop. They're really cute.

>>9111783
If you choose to work in rgb and then convert to cmyk, use Adobe RGB as your base rather than sRGB. Easier conversions.

>>9111830
... yeah it's the teal that's got me by the balls, so now i'm scrambling to fix it, urgh. Better that I've learned this lesson sooner than later, I suppose.

>>9111783
I still work in RGB, but I do keep the CMYK palette in mind meaning no wild neons for me. I convert it in Photoshop later with some adjustment layers. I dislike working in CMYK; many printers nowadays can print more colours than the ones you would be limiting yourself to.

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>>9111189
custom packaging is my weakness both as a customer and a seller

i get backing cards made for my charms and pins that have a simple design on the front and my website on the back. they used to be holo, but it wasn't really... financially responsible.

Umm... how do you specify colours with Vograce?

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First time ordering with vograce.... I hope the semi-transparent parts turn out alright.

I'm sorry for the OT, but I figured this would be the place to ask. Does anyone know any good websites where I could print custom croptops? Not in bulk, I want to make a few as gifts to my friends, but I'm unsure about who has reliable printing and good colors.

What's the best way to protect your stuff on display getting stolen? I sell jewelry so I was thinking maybe putting it in a glass case although some glass cases are fairly expensive. I'm wondering if there's a better alternative.

>>9111829
Thank you for the ideas!

>>9112035
just securely fasten it so it'll be obvious if someones fiddling it out. pin in place with multiple pins, have it within easy reaching distance, make sure you can see all area of your table.

>>9111973
man, these are cute but their heads seem super wide

im very new to AA and want to start an online shop, what would you guys recommend? i've heard etsy and tictail are good places but im not sure

>>9112053
Etsy is a great place to sell things online. Extremely easy. Just make sure you have nice pictures and descriptions. Also, don't worry if it takes one or more months to even get your first sale, it takes time.

If you open an etsy shop, use this link http://etsy.me/2a5GSKY We both will get 40 free listings (normally $0.20 to list).

They will also send you a free etsy card reader so if you don't have one already, I highly recommend it.

>>9112053
tictail is only good if you sell ONE type of item or only like 5 items total. because they have no good way to save shipping categories. You waste a lot of time customizing shipping costs and it's also not integrated with any shipping company so you're also copy pasting tracking numbers by hand a lot too.

Over time the shop is annoying to manage because there's no copy item as far as i can tell, so i have to make new item, copy paste the same options etc. I much prefer storenvy or etsy.

>>9112035
Display board with pieces pinned to it and acrylic/glass in front. They get to see what's on offer, you get to reach under the table and give them the item, nobody steals shit unless they try to take the whole display.

I'm working on my first print piece and goddamn. Art is hard.

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>>9111583
I remember this!
just some suggestions but
it'd be good if you did a rough colour of your sketch/lines to plan out the colours and values first, rather than start rendering and polishing to find the colours don't work as well as a whole.
also consider using hue shifts (pic related)

>>9105481
! I remember this comic from my old fujoshit days, aw I can't believe this nonsense is still going on.

>>9112052
Thanks! I noticed that later though They've already started printing, thought generally speaking all my chibis hae reletively oval heads. But thanks for pointing that out! I'll try fix it up if I do anther batch

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>>9112736
You're not the first person to suggest this to me. However, I don't see the point of it? Or rather, I'm awful at color theory, so...here's what I guess it should look like? Now it looks like shit. Lol.

But thanks for the shading info sheet! That will come in handy for sure!

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>>9111973
anon... you should rethink your style

Has anyone ever bought a table the day of the convention? How much of a bloodbath is that? What's usually the percentage of artists that are no-shows?

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/custom-printed-acrylic-charms-acryklic-keychains_60154174648.html

This is vograce's page right? The image in OP can't be opened and I just want to make sure.

>>9112829

That's so cute. Can't help you with the colors (I don't know what I'm talking about either) but I would like to suggest you make the tail end of Veigar's hat go up instead of down. His model is game has it up and I think it would look nice if it matched Lulu's hat tail pose too.

Don't make the background just trees? All that green doesn't look good. I think.

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>>9112829
rough colours help your colours be more cohesive, I guess?
I'm not very good at explaining, but here's a simple process I sometimes use to plan colours or when starting a painted piece (painting goes on a layer on top). It doesn't work for everything, but it works when there's a warm light source and cool shadows. I would mostly suggest to start off with less saturated base colours, especially try keep the background less saturated, otherwise it overpowers the main subject (the characters).

>>9112892
yes

>>9112843
I can't tell if that's a good or a bad thing with you image. But if you could give printers that would be nice!

I do chibis in different styles this is one of my less preferred styles but I already did a one off kanna charm so I thought if do these in the same style.

Not AA related but still about art. How do you guys go about pricing your original work? I have three paintings that I'm going to display at a local art show and I'm having such a tough time thinking of fair prices. I know I'm supposed to think of time spent and factor in material costs but I'm afraid of charging too low or shooting for something unreasonable.

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For the life of me I cannot find the specific terminology for gold metal charm straps (instead of the usual silver), I've found black ones like the picture on ali, but I'm needing white ones.

>>9113089
How much is everyone else going to be selling for? I know you can't really contact other artists that'll be selling at the show to ask, but looking at how much stuff similar to yours goes for at art shows in your area can give you a good idea of how much is too much or too little.
I wouldn't be afraid of sounding unreasonable if I were you. People tend to see higher prices as confidence and don't really feel ripped off (unless your stuff is mega shit, ofc), so charging a little more than you would ordinarily be comfortable with isn't a terrible idea.
I can't give you exact prices since I don't know any specifics but please don't price too low. People will think your stuff is shit if everyone else's work is twice the price of yours.

>>9113223
Maybe like "white corded phone charm strap"? Good luck!

>>9113273
That brings up ones with silver finishes, I still need the gold ones. Thanks though.

>>9113272
It's impossible to know since I have no idea who the other artists are but I did look up some paintings to get a good ballpark idea (just pieces that were the same size as mine since my work isn't the typical landscape painting that a lot of people seem to sell) and most of them were priced for $150-$175 for pieces that I definitely wouldn't pay that much for. I'm not tooting my own horn but I'd like to think my work is good enough since I got accepted.

My bf told me not to go any lower than triple digits so I guess he's right. This is my first time doing anything like this so I guess I'm just nervous.

>>9112938
Who are you, and can I get you a coffee. Thanks for the paint over suggestion! That looks awesome! I'll try my hand at toning it down and making the background not, uh, shit? Ha. Thanks again.

Not entirely AA related but still art related:
I was thinking of opening art commissions recently. I am willing to draw NSFW but I was wondering if there's some way I can verify that the person asking for the commission is 18+.
Paypal's not really a good way to do that since they could be using their parents' account.

>>9113497
Just ask them to snapchat you a pick of their ID and face

When you draw all evolutions of a pokemon (for example bulbasaur, ivysaur, venusaur), is it better to sell them as a $3 set or as $1 individual stickers?

>>9113506
I'd say individual stickers would be better since not everyone will like all pokemon in the evolution line. Or they might only want to buy the final evo, etc.

>>9113541
It's kind of tricky because of the reasons you stated. If not everyone likes all the evolutions, just how many per evolution should you print? Etc. etc.

>>9113497
wait, why does it matter what age they are?

>>9113506
Individual.

>>9113679
You shouldn't show to kids, let alone let them buy, NSFW art.

>>9113679
I'm not drawing porn for a fucking child

>>9113702
>>9113704
define "child"

>>9113769
Under 18

>>9113702
>>9113704
Why?
Not trying to tell you what to do, just curious what the reasoning is.

>>9113778
Because if the kid gets caught with it, the person who sold it to them is going to be held responsible.
Same as why kids aren't allowed to buy from sex shops, at least in my area.

As for personal reasons, I just don't feel comfortable negotiating the commission with a kid.

>>9113778
Because it's illegal? I was a horny ass kid myself so I don't feel any moral responsibilities to keep them "pure", but legal and social trouble is something I definitely don't want to run into. Not worth it in the least.

>>9113794
>>9113816
yeah I'm pretty sure you could get arrested for it?

>>9113816
>Because it's illegal?
>>9113833

After some searching, I could not find any US laws against it.

>>9113902
That's because you're an idiot.
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2010-title18/html/USCODE-2010-title18-partI-chap71-sec1470.htm

Technical legality aside, there's some moral accountability too. True there's no stopping horny kids from accessing porn on the internet, but I'd say having a kid detail some sexual fantasy to you so they can pay you to draw it is a level beyond that.

>>9113922
How do you confirm people's age when they commission you?

>>9113944
That's the main issue that I'm finding here. If someone online commissions you, there's no way of really knowing how old they are. I don't do NSFW commissions so I've never been sure how you can really know that you're making art for someone 18+.

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>>9113922
> knowing that such other individual has not attained the age of 16 years
If you don't know their ages, sounds like you can't be held accountable. Also, its 16, not 18.
I don't see what is morally wrong about it, especially considered ~50% of the US population have had sex before the age of 19.

What ever, I don't care anymore.

>>9113944
I think the bigger issue here is you shouldn't let paypal know you're doing nsfw commissions because they're cunts and may kill your account for it

>>9113964
Yeah but it also says
>or attempts to do so
So I'm wondering if you're still held accountable if you ask and they lie about their age.

>>9113969
I'm not sure about terminating your account, but there's no need to let them know about it in the first place. You can just say it's an art piece of two people + a background and leave it at that.

Just say in your policy that commissioners for NSFW art must be over 18. Then the responsibility is on the buyer if they violate it.

Another question:

Does it matter if the characters I'm drawing in NSFW things are 18 or not? Many anime and games are unclear of the exact ages of the characters

>>9114012
If there's absolutely no indication whatsoever of their age (what kind of school they attend, usually appearance, etc.), then you should be fine.

>>9114012
Another gray area but if they're obviously kids or look childlike, that's getting into bad territory that you don't wanna mess with. I say use your common sense.

>>9113970
>So I'm wondering if you're still held accountable if you ask and they lie about their age.
You typically are not. Exception would be if they are very obviously lieing about their age.
>>9114012
These moral laws are just so stupid. technically it can be considered child porn, but you can say a character is literally any age. Its a drawing. Made up character. If you draw official characters who are underage, just say you are drawing the adult version of them or whatever and they are 18 in your drawings.

Moral laws like these just need to go away.

>>9114036
>Moral laws like these just need to go away
Please dont tell me pedos like you are in our AAs with your "300 year old" vampire lolis

>>9114040
If it is just a picture, who cares? Not sure how a picture of a loli is worse than actual murder that is depicted in video games and movies.

>>9114012
Like the others have said- if the age isn't ever stated, then there's nothing to be held accountable for. Use common sense though- if the character clearly looks like a kid then it doesn't matter that no age is actually given.

As for legality: that depends on where you are: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartoon_pornography#The_United_States

Generally speaking, most places seem to agree that drawn child pronography is just as illegal as the real thing.

>>9114046
Please gtfo. You're disgusting

>>9114012
If you're not in canada and they look over 18 then you should be fine

>>9114012
Depends where you live. I live in Canada so I'm fucked if I toe out of line. US have states that are more lenient with drawn/fictional child pornography. Japan... well, you know how it is.

>>9114052
Um but seriously, no matter how much you don't like seeing young/young looking characters, it's just a drawing. It doesn't harm any living person. It sure is gross to look at, but hey, it's just a drawing.

>>9114215
can we PLEASE not go into the stupid debate on loli/shota porn. The AA threads get shit up enough by trolls already. Just stop.

>>9114215
You're encouraging child abuse, please read about how even the existence of this material creates more demand for it

>>9114219
Its actually shown to reduce child abuse since they are able to get off to drawings and not have to find real children.

Either way, when are we going to finally get rid of violent video games and artwork since that must cause violence?

>>9114219
Uh sure, the existence of something that doesn't involve any real children will create demand for more things that don't involve any real children and that's bad because someone might (might) show it to real children to groom them- though porn of real life adults work just as well and the fact that depiction is of (not-real) children is basically irrelevant. Also what >>9114228 said.

Where do you anons get your enamels pin created? Are they worth it?

>>9114215
I had a friend that was fucking abused and her father was way into that shit so please miss me with those inaccurate "facts". Seeing those images normalizes it for them.

>>9114219
Thank you.

But I'm done. Not trying to ruin a perfectly good thread.

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has anyone been following how @Zara has stolen artwork more than 40 times this year alone?

A drawing is a drawing and as long and nobody is breaking any laws, who gives a fuck?

Go away with this boring moral policing. I don't like the stuff either but I see this kind of shit often enough on tumblr anyway.

>>9114733
I have been keeping up with this. The list just keeps growing. It hurts that companies do shit like this constantly. I'm just glad that Zara has been called out for it and the story has been picked up by a lot of big online news outlets. I don't know how much it will change but hopefully more companies will think twice before ripping off independent artists

>>9114747
I doubt it, it's nearly impossible to fight this shit. Zara has enough expensive lawyers to convince a judge the orignal design either wasn't copyrighted or that it was a coincidence.

>>9114733
Some of those are generic enough that it'd be silly to fight about, but the ones where they take multiple pieces of the same person's work.. wew.
Their reasoning was piss poor hilarious too.

When you split a table that includes a complimentary badge, how to do calculate the table fee per artist? Do you subtract the cost of the complimentary badge from the table fee then divide the remainder by the number of artists?

>>9114747
Not that Zara is doing anything right, but but some were very generic and some seemed far-fetched. Some made me say, how did the artist think their art was being copied??

>>9114794
Some of the artists might just be jumping on the train because Tuesday Bassen got so much attention for it.

>>9114794
The ones with multiple designs stolen have more of a case especially since Zara's response makes them look even more guilty. Some of the others are hard to tell, though, but I guess it would all come down to timeframe.

>>9114792
Yes.

>>9114733
It kills me to see how Zara would rather rip off indie artists instead of hiring a few of many overqualified, talented and struggling indie artists out there to come up with their own versions of these or even original designs.
It just shows you how fucked up the fashion industry has become to keep prices low and profits high.

>>9114845
Yea those artists have a valid case because that's too much of a coincidence.

Is anyone actually organized enough to make it into a bigger lawlsuit or will it just be case by case?

How bad is the quality of transparent acrylic that Vograce use for their $1 charms? Is it much thinner than Zap's?

Also, what the hell is Pixiv Factory? Print on demand service?

I'm gonna make BNHA charms, but I want to do only a few of the characters, maybe 5 or so. Which ones are the most popular/well-liked? So far I'm thinking Deku obviously, Bakugou, Tsuyu (personal fave), All Might, and Eraser Head.

>>9115217
tsuyu best girl

>>9115217
Todoroki and probably Kirishima to pander the fujos. Uraraka could be also but as >>9115229
said, Tsuyu is quite popular too.

>>9115217
From what I've seen Deku actually doesn't sell as well as Bakugou or Uraraka. You should still make him, but if you're printing somewhere that lets you specify quantity per design print less of him.

Eraser Head sounds like a great idea, I haven't seen much of him around and he's awesome.

what do i photoshop on my shitty hand drawn pictures before i send them to the printers?
i've already tried googling it but the tutorials are not what im referring to
>inb4 "gawd no spoonfeeding you dumbass"
pls no bully im still noob
thanks

>>9115315
I am not sure what you're even asking, can you elaborate more?

>>9115306

Oh really? I didn't think Uraraka was too popular, I'll try to include her then. The thing is, I'm drawing them in kigurumis and I can't think of a good animal for her to be.

>>9115217
Todoroki
Bakugou
Deku
Ochako

would be top 4, the 5th could be iida/tsuyu/all might/aizawa or any of the A class kids.

>>9114993
The acrylic they use on the clear charms is thicker than zap's last I checked.

Since we are talking about charms. What do you think of shipping charms? I mean the ones that feature two characters interacting. Do you think it's worth doing them or it's better to stick to single characters charms?

>>9115454
From a buyer's perspective, I like charms w multiple characters, It feels like you're getting more for your money I guess. As long as the ship is relatively popular it's probably a fine idea.

>>9115454
I think it's good to have both. I'll see artists make like.. 6-10 single-character charms and then charms for the fandom's top 3-4 pairings.
But if you had to pick one or the other, single charms are safer. Unless it's YaoiCon or something.

>>9115454

I switched over to shipping charms and they've done much better than my single character ones. I think in part because I had too many single characters, and I've also tried to be really targeted in the ships I pick. Most of the pairs I have are from shows no one has stuff for in AA, so that helps.

As a buyer, I would always buy my OTP over my husbando.

>>9115454
I'd rather spend money on a cute OTP charm of them interacting than paying the same amount of my favorite character in a generic pose. Just make sure that the ship is relatively popular. But I think it depends on the fandoms like shipping charms would be good for sports series but not for something like Fire Emblem Fates where there's too many ships. Unless you only do Corrin + royal sibling.

On the topic of charms and Fates, I've seen a lot of big charms with the royal families together and I thought they were neat. Maybe something similar could be done for series with like 3-4 characters?

>>9111189

I do custom packaging for charms and my button packs. The charms come with a mini print of the chibi on the back. Even if people don't buy the item, I get a lot of compliments on my "creative" titles to avoid the lawyers, and it's a good starting point for sales. Having packaged items feels more complete, even if it takes me extra time.

>>9115504
>Maybe something similar could be done for series with like 3-4 characters?
I've seen Love Live do that with the year-groups or subunits. I'm not sure how well they sell, but as long as it's reasonable to stick these characters together, I don't see why not.

>>9115504
I'm probably in the minority here but specifically for fates I'd much rather buy a sole character than the whole family since most people already offer the 4/5 siblings rather than singles. But for a group keychain or a pair of sets that are more uncommon, like Keaton & Kaden, or Jakob & Felicia would be nice.

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>>9115555

Different anon, but I make heart resin pendants and a friend suggested making the pendants with the confession portraits on them.

It might be cute to make them and offer people the option to order a pair set.

>>9115337
i make traditionally drawn stuff instead of digital art cause im still getting a hang of that. Anyway a tip that was given to me was to use photoshop to polish up the piece and i honestly dont know what else to use but the stamper tool for that and it really doesnt do much.

tl;dr i dont know how to use photoshop to make my basic bitch drawings even better

>>9115596
Oh, you mean cleaning and all that?
Look up how to clean traditional art in Photoshop.

A question--is your legal name printed on the afest AA badge? I have never tabled at afest and would like to know.

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Im wanting to make holographic stickers and buttons but can not figure our where to get holographic film/laminate? Is it something you print on top of or is it laminate I place over the art?
Bonus: Does anyone know a good place to get holographic / sparkle prints?

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>>9115713
Somebody shared this on the AANI. Hobby lobby sells it.

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>>9115728

how much do people like blinky lights on things

>>9115713
I think CatPrint does holoprints now.

I'm just getting into AA right now maybe doing my first con in Sep/Oct.
What do you all use for shipping I'm making pearler bead sprites and charms and I'm selling stuff from 4 to 20 bucks and I really don't want to charge people 7 bucks for the flat rate USPS stuff.

>>9115728
Sadly couldn't find this on their website, will make a trip there soon.

>>9115728
>>9115730
>>9115767
This is old news. Just search "holographic" on AANI. They only sell it in stores, by the way, and not all stores.

>>9115713
if you're not american you can get it on Ebay (search holographic clear adhesive film) but it's ridiculously overpriced. hopeful I can stock up when I make a trip to the states later this year.

>>9115772
Im super new to this thread / AA. What is AANI?

>>9115797

artist alley network internationale

Speaking of AANI, what the fuck is with people posting about "well, if you do fan art you're basically stealing" shit? It seems like someone posts that kind of thing every other week now. Does their original work really sell that well or are they just salty that fan art is selling better than their ~amazing original comic~

>>9115454
My otp charms sell like hot cakes. It's definitely worth the extra effort. Bonus if the image you have on the back is different from the front.

>>9115857
Probably the latter. I mostly sell original work but I do some fan art and I don't see where all the animosity is coming from otherwise. Everyone knows it's a legal gray area and technically you don't own the characters but to try and vilify people for it is pretty stupid. Of course people are going to draw fan art and it's going to sell. There's no need to get so mad over it.

Kind of related. I did my first table last month, didn't do amazingly well but sold more than I thought I would. I had mostly original stuff but I had a bit of fan art that sold. My table partner apparently wasn't happy because nobody was looking at her comic. My helper told me that she said, "good maybe now I'll have a chance" when I was packing up to leave a day early and I just ???. I didn't even sell that much.

>>9115857
Salty. Original artists and crafters who actually make money do not waste their time complaining.

>>9115596
Basically all you want to do is make sure the scanned colors match your originals as closely as possible. You can adjust using levels. If a color being used is unprintable ( some turquoise, violets, neons) you will have to use the select tool or color select range to select only that color. Then adjust by hue, brightness exc till you get closer to a likable printable color.

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How do you feel about fanmade merch imitating art styles of official products? For example, I like the look of es series nino but not sure if people want to buy imitation even if it's technically not a bootleg.

>>9116318
As long as you aren't copying the style for a series that already has official merch in that style (basically bootlegging right?) i don't care. I like the merch of those little chibis being pinched too and everyone copies those?

>>9116318
It breaks most AA rules which ask artist not to make products that directly compete with official merch. Imitation is still bootleg and personally I would be turned off as a buyer. Id' rather just get the real deal.

>>9116318
I'd definitely be turned off by any fanmerch that imitates official merch styles especially something as iconic as Kotobukiya rubber straps. Why buy your charm when I can buy the official one for probably cheaper and nicer quality?

Just develop your own style, I'm sure it can be just as cute as official merch. When I buy fanmade merch, I like how it looks different from official ones.

What do you do if you catch someone trying to steal from your table? I'm very quiet and shy so it's difficult for me to confront people and the thought of it scares me, haha.

>>9116557
But anon is asking about style imitation, so for example doing sailor moon straps imitating that kotobukiya es strap style. (however of course es doesnt have a line of SM rubber straps.)

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im thinking about doing wooden charms with kind of a "crayon" type of brush. do you think it would look decent? pic related

>>9116866
First get a real good look at them, then confront them. If they run, be sure you can describe what they look like.

>>9115983
your table partner and helper are petty bitches

>>9116925
I personally don't like charms that have the crayon type of brush unless it's only for the background coloring. Charms are small so having crisp lineart and bright colors would be better at attracting attention - the crayon textures/features would be hard to make out unless the charm was 2.5+ inches.

Is there a good reason AA staff get away with all this preferential treatment towards women? I keep getting rejected from AAs as a man when it looks like 80% of AA are girls.

>>9116866
I just say "excuse me, can I help you?" and they usually scarper. You don't have to confront them, just let them know that you know.

>>9117225
please fuck off and stop dropping bait in the AA threads, we get enough off topic bullshit as is

>>9116693
I still feel the same way. AA is for artist to show their style. Not copy official styles. It says so in pretty much every AA rules.

>>9117352
that's kinda silly, what about people who copy alphonse mucha over and over? If the style isn't used for the fandom they drew why should that be against the rules?

>>9117352
I don't think it's possible for EVERYONE to have different styles?

>>9115748
Slow blink is attention-grabbing, rapid blink is obnoxious. Stationary but festively shaped lights are always cute.

>>9117719
It's not possible, but you can at least try. You can do dotted eye chibis all day long, but to actively say "hey I'm going to use this official merch style and combine it with these official characters" is kinda dumb and creative, but that's just me.

Fan artist are getting bold with their stuff and asking the comm if it's okay so they can stop feeling bad. If you have ask if this would be okay, it probably won't.

>>9118247
Yeah that makes sense, I agree

>>9118247
Do you feel the same way about people who do tsumtsum plushies of non disney things? Like tsumtsum sailor moon plushies, or pokemon plushies etc. It seems like people are okay with that, why not this?

Wait a minute, Vograce won't let you choose between keyring/strap if you order less than 1000 pieces?

So I have a question.

For anyone that sells Plushies, how do you tag prices on them like do you have a big board with all the prices on them or you do like a grocery store where you have the price of the plushies on/front/ next to the item?


Cause it seems to be the inevitable thing of people asking for the prices when the price is right next to them