#act6tarotproject

[calicorn]

My experience with WeLoveFine/ForFansByFans as an artist.

This in regards to the Act 6/7 Tarot Project, which occurred from 2017 to 2018. I also want to thank @aryll for the chance to participate in such a project, and thank you for doing what you could with the group and what occurred. I realize this is a few years late, however, but it’s been bothering me ever since it occurred, and I only chose to speak my mind about it. But to summarize, the project started out as unofficial, however we were approached by FFBF in February of 2018. They were willing to sell the deck as official merchandise on their store. I have my own opinions on the company, as it’s known they underpay artists severely for their work despite selling most items for extremely high prices. A similar payment issue occurred with the Official Homestuck Zine, and one of the artists of the Tarot Project posted this in the comments:     “Can relate OP. I did work for the new tarot deck (using my throwaway account for that reason lol) but we aren’t being paid at all. No money. The only compensation we are getting is a free deck and an exclusive enamel pin which is pennies compared to what they’ll be making off us. One might argue that the project wasn’t supposed to be printed so I should be grateful it’s even happening but I expected a big company like WLF to y’know, pay artists... The only reason I agreed to letting them use my art was to get a free deck. I also honestly dislike WLF’s artist compensation policy. My art has been selected from the Fan Forge before and the idea of being able to sell my HS art was so appealing, but the execution is so poor. They don’t pay us until we sell $100 worth of shirts, but that is so difficult in a market that is so oversaturated. I wish they like, cycled designs in and out. Instead, they just keep adding more and more designs, drowning out old ones and just flooding the entire market. Plus, they get to withhold money from artists until every hundred-dollar mark. I can’t imagine how much they’ve made off of small time artists that get their design accepted and sell maybe 3 shirts since it happens so often.” So. What exactly happened? I’ll explain under the cut given there’s a decent amount to go through. Though to summarize; WeLoveFine/ForFansByFans is an extremely egregious company that does not value their artists whatsoever and will do what they can to pay them as little as possible. Please support said artists on sites that actually do give them fair pay, or support them via commissions.

There were a few bumps during the tarot project, though overall it went extremely smoothly and we released our art to the Tumblr blog. FFBF approached us during this time, and we were all given the option to agree to continue working or the project or decline. However, this is what was an important piece to the initial email sent out by the Tarot Project team;      • Each participating artist will get a full finalized copy of the deck, COMPLETELY free. This includes packaging and free shipping of the deck.      • Each participating artist will get an enamel pin commemorating the project, EXCLUSIVE to the artists of this project only, with a custom design as chosen/designed by us. What will most likely occur is that everyone who wishes to submit a design for the pin can do so, and as a group, we will vote on which one we would like to submit as our final design choice!     • Each participating artist will receive FULL COMMISSION on any further usage of their artwork by What Pumpkin or For Fans By Fans. For example, if they release a mini-print, wallet, etc. with your design on it, you will be paid in commission for the usage of your work. (If you have ANY questions about how this would work, please don’t hesitate to ask and I will hook you up ASAP with a For fans By Fans representative who can go over the details with you further.)     • Each participating artist will have a window in which they will be able to make updates or revisions to their illustration(s) before the project is released. This means that if something is bugging you about your work, or you feel that it does not reflect your current level of skill, you will be allowed to resubmit a new version before the project officially goes up as merchandise! So, the majority of us agreed to continue forward with the project and retouch our cards. From there, things continued, and we were emailed by a FFBF representative on occasion to discuss how the process went, as well as various other things that required discussion, plus asked to assist in the promotion of the 4/13/18 celebration on their website. This is where the issues began and would continue through the entire project, with it still being seen post-release of the cards. We were sent an email in April of 2018 requiring information to be provided in the  accompanying booklet of the deck, as well as being asked to answer various interview questions that would be posted to FFBF’s Tumblr, and most importantly; the Commission Agreement form. So what did it entail? This was the form I was sent. My interview was never posted. I have looked multiple times and never seen evidence it ever was, either. And this was also included in the email;    • We are going to be hosting a pre-order bonus promotion surrounding the new tarot set, starting 413. Anyone who pre-orders the set will be entered into a drawing to win a commissioned art piece from a random artist who worked on the tarot. You will be paid by us, FFBF, for this commission work in the amount of $50.  So we had to draw more art with a very close deadline date to obtain a payment  for art we had already created, both of which should have easily been worth more than $50 total. I signed without thinking, which looking back on, was incredibly idiotic, despite my own worries over the fact that even at the time, $50 did not seem like a lot. Progress continued. An exclusive pin was designed and created for the artists, though the production and delivery dates would be delayed to September of 2018. During this time, we were also invited to join FFBF’s Discord server as well, which I am still in, though am not active in. And eventually, we were provided a Commission Schedule. I do not know if I’m missing an email between the enamel pin shipment and this schedule post, however I cannot find any trace of it. This is the Commission Schedule email, and what it consists of. Of course I found it strange, because looking at the schedule, I could never find any sign of myself having been added. Obviously I should have replied then and there due to that, but I didn’t, and that is my own fault. But that rolled into October of 2018, when I did finally email back and asked about why I hadn’t been added. I was sent back this; “Hi Calicorn! I’m sorry I misinterpreted your response as not wanting to proceed:“3)  I am completely willing to sign up for being one of the artists for the commission raffle event, though I must say $50 would be underpaying considering most artists’ base prices for commissions tend to be $50 or more.” Then I sent “If you do not want to be part of the give-away, that’s totally ok. We are offering $50 for these commissions but if that price is not within your comfort, there’s no pressure!” You never came back with anything so I didn’t want to proceed since it seemed like you were uncomfortable with the amount we were offering – I’m really sorry if I misunderstood! The giveaway is actually over I’m sorry to say but I appreciate you following up about this. I wonder why the message went into spam.. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you Thanks!” And one of the most glaring issues popped up in October as well. When we finally received our decks in the mail, our project’s Discord group began to discuss the fact that our emails had been printed in the pamphlet without our permission. Mind you, this was also a project that included minors in it, and our emails had now been given away without our knowledge. Another issue with the pamphlets is the fact that FFBF had reused the same text from the Homestuck Kickstarter Tarot Deck, as seen on the New Booklet/Old Booklet, and here/here. FFBF then decided to remove the booklet from every outgoing tarot that gets ordered, with customers receiving a corrected digital PDF that was coordinated in its creation by Aryll. And apparently previous customers would receive this PDF via emails, as well as a link to download it on the product page. Thankfully FFBF seemed to have at least posted the PDF on the product page, however this seems extremely lazy compared to simply including the newly reprinted booklet. Though this may not be the last of issues, as I stumbled across the Amazon product page for our tarot deck earlier before typing this all up. To say the least, it is extremely infuriating, especially given the quality of the cards and how many people of complained about them on both Amazon and FFBF’s websites. Of course we, the artists, were never alerted to this development, nor were we paid for such.

But overall, we were hardly paid for our time and effort during this project, which is a massive disappointment, but perhaps that much should have been expected from WeloveFine/ForFansByFans, who are notorious for underpaying artists and overpricing products. Their actions are inexcusable, and I am still both disappointed and furious with this company as a whole. But thank you for reading, and please spread the word, as I do not want FFBF’s actions to go unnoticed.

[outragedslime]

My card, the Seven of Cups, for the act 6 tarot project !

Prompt: Rose (Pre-retcon; alcoholism & depression)

I cant remember exactly how I interpreted this card but it related to hopes and dreams- that you have to get out of your head and chase them, rather than stay where you are and let them destroy you. 

Im not a professional so this is very much to my interpretation but I went with what I found online to get hopefully the best I could make of this card!

Upright, the card says that you have been dreaming and need to act on those thoughts. A choice must be made and you see many pros and cons, but you must be able to make a mindful decision. Rose lives in a shadow of doubt; a dream of being the good daughter and wishing to relate to her mom. Realising this isnt the right way to do it, she must act to overcome the trouble at hand and move on. I also tied in the dream of helping her friends and studying the game, shown by the books in the back, some of them having her friends symbols on them.

Reversed, the card says that you need to get your head out of the clouds. You are hiding something from yourself. You are refusing to look at yourself, your issues, your problems. Roses vision is unfocused. She knows that she must act and get help, but its hard. According to the card, you pursue the things you deep down know will not satisfy you but you try anyways - attempting to drown out her other problems with this one. You need to stop, and give yourself time and space to think it over, just as she must.

Overall Im quite happy with how it came out, especially the colours! its quite old and my style changed very much since i made it but im still v proud of baby me. 

Im so happy seeing the project all together, I cant wait till the remaining cards come out !!! It turned out really lovely

[wcender-art]

aaaa the @act6tarotproject deck came in! its amazing and all the cards are high quality, im glad i got to work on a project with so many other talented artists :,,)

[aryll]

The card is now officially up on the blog, so hey, I can post it here! This is my card for the minor arcana of the @act6tarotproject! I did the Page of Pentacles. The theme for this card was John Crocker, and I had a blast with it! I hope you guys like it — and if you do, go check out the rest of the deck!

[artistotel-archive]

my card for @act6tarotproject! i’m really glad and thankful to have been able to be a part of the project! all the cards look awesome.

please check out the other artists too!

[cassandraooc]

Hey guys! So @homestuckartists had a redraw day and I had been wanting to redraw my Tarot card for the @act6tarotproject anyway, so here it is, the redux version in all its glory! I am worlds happier wtih this, I think it came out so much better! I also altered and changed a lot of little things to really emphasize the meaning of the card, such as adding the pumpkins that Jane grew an abundance of that Roxy stole and used to help sustain herself and an entire island city of carapaces. I defintieyl feel like Jane herself feels much stronger and more queenly, as well as more motherly. Also I just think my art is way better.

Hope you guys like it!

[dongoverlord]

last card for @act6tarotproject !

I wanted to help out with the last batch of cards and this one had a cute theme for it so I went for it :’3c

patreon + kofi

[aeritus]

well almost forgot to upload those :P

Cards I’ve done for the @act6tarotproject, if you haven’t done it yet I DEFINATELY advice you to have a look at this project. Lots of artist has been able to work on really amazing pieces and the whole result is absolutely lovely <3

It has been an honor for me participate in that project and I’ve had lots of fun working on those cards

[quietserval]

My card for the @act6tarotproject the Page of Wands!

[hesitantadrien]

Here’s one of my cards for the new Act 6 &7 tarot deck! I had so much fun working on the @act6tarotproject and I’m so excited that it was made official by @forfansbyfans!! If you’re interested in pre-ordering the deck you can click here.  

[s-opal]

my card for @act6tarotproject

thank you for this apportunity to draw one of my favourite characters!

the other cards in this deck are truly wonderful, y’all should check them out

[callmearcturus]

you said you'd have cast the Lovers homestuck tarot differently, who'd you have put on it? also the card itself is fucking gorgeous, go city

Eh. I am one person and my research is my own and might not overlap with others. 

Like, I have enormous respect for the @act6tarotproject. Like, very early on, I had some very very deep conversations with them about some of the card castings, and even if we didn’t see eye to eye in the end, that’s perfectly okay. It is not my project and I fully endorse them going forth and kicking ass. The amount of work and oversight it takes to successfully pull this off is.... jfc, I can’t even imagine.

[act6tarotproject-blog]

Important Announcement

Hey everyone!

As of right now, all card assignments for the Minor Arcana deck have been mailed out to the participating artists. So please, be sure to check your e-mails! 

Again, if you didn’t receive a response, you probably inputted your e-mail incorrectly on your application (there are 2 of you who did so), or we somehow made a mistake along the way and missed you. Please contact us by e-mail at act6tarotproject@gmail.com if you think this happened to you, and we’ll help you out!

Thank you all so much for your patience while we sorted through each and every one of you! We hope that everyone will be pleased with their respective card assignments, and that those of you who are supporting the project will be excited to see the results!

[clydoscope-blog]

@act6tarotproject Just thank you to everyone who was involved in this, it is amazing! • u • Homestuckers and wonderful art appreciators out there, check it out! ;3

[aeritus]

oh HEY sigh believe me I wanted to upload this the day it was released but had several issues and then had to move rip. Have the full image I did for @act6tarotproject, and be sure to follow all the other artist who participated, since they’re all amazing and it has really been an honor to work with all of them!!!

and keep tuned for the minor arcana release, lots of awesome artist are working on them aswell!

Commisions - RedBubble - WeLoveFine - Buy Me A Coffe

[act6tarotproject-blog]

Important Announcement

Hey everyone!

As of right now, all e-mails have been sent out to every artist who applied for the project. 

If you didn’t receive a response, you more than likely inputted your e-mail incorrectly on your application (there are 5 of you who did so), or we somehow made a mistake along the way and missed you. Please contact us by e-mail at act6tarotproject@gmail.com if you think this happened to you, and we’ll help you out!

Secondly, we want to announce that we’ll be expanding the project to include a second phase for illustrating the Minor Arcana portion of the Tarot deck! These 56 cards will include a wide variety of additional characters and scenes, featuring illustrations from many of the awesome artists who applied. More details on this will be available once the Major Arcana phase is well underway.

Lastly, we just want to say one more time: thank you so much, to everyone who applied for our project. The amount of attention and support our project has received is extremely humbling.

We hope you will all enjoy the results of our work once it becomes available in July!