#esp with sticker sheet here now

[wicked-gharial]

looks at u with my big ol red eyes

[alicenpai]

🌟

anime north 2023 con report

finally posting this - thank you to everyone for a wonderful anime north!! \o/ this con prep season was the longest ive ever prepped for a con, and i think it was the busiest con for me ever. it makes me so happy to see people taking my art home!! 😭

so thank you for coming by anime north and chatting and supporting me! and thank you esp to the people who came by gifting their own merch?!??? - either fanart or ocs?! and im honored to see your beautiful ocs?!?? what the hell you guys are the GOAT thank you all 🥹🥹

it was so busy that i wish i had time to walk around & talk to other artists! i really wanted to get dango and onigiri at the delta too.. didnt really get time to eat so im sorry if you saw me shove 10 timbits in my mouth at the end of the con. yes i really did that .

throughout the con i kept saying "he just like me.. HE JUST LIKE ME FR!!!!!!!" every 5 seconds like an NPC. im sorry if you had to hear that more than once.

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i wasn't able to post my con catalogue for AN on tumblr and instagram... i was so busy.. dying... maybe if i do other cons this summer ill post something similar. i had a lot of new stuff this year so formatting it was rough haha. here it is! more thoughts under the cut (bc this report really is more for me, but maybe someone can find something useful)

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this is more for me honestly, so it will be really long. but i'm sharing it in case it may be helpful for others. i find that i'm always looking back at my old con reports, so typing out all of my thoughts are really useful to me. overall a great con, fellow artists and customers alike really inspire me to do better in my art.

comparisons to last year: (since i didn't end up making a con report last year!!!!!)

location: the artist alley layout was huge, and im really happy there are a lot more newcomers to the con scene. i know how much my first con experience meant to me, so i want others to join in on the fun! i don't know how the artist alley staff managed to fit so many artists in the building now! we got placed in a corner where there was a lot of breathing room, and a lot of traffic. i got lost a few times (didn't actually have time to walk around, but you know, it was to get in and out of the con centre and to the washroom/water station) because the amount of tables was overwhelming however, and the layout was super confusing. however i didn't feel as if there were any significant bottlenecks in traffic when i was taking some walk breaks.

commissions: last year it was still busy, but i still had some time to draw a handful of commissions. this year was a non stop barrage of customers! i think i may retire on the spot commissions at cons, just because ive always found it too stressful to draw right at the con, even if the traffic is slow. (and im lazy)

fandoms: last year i felt that it was... never so difficult to sell niche and old fandoms...? most people bought primarily 3 things from me at AN 2022, and not much else was touched. it was a struggle, and i even wondered if my art plateaued, if it wasn't good, if i should stop doing conventions altogether, at least for a little while. this year was so surprising with how much love there was for old and niche fandoms. two people from quebec came by and noticed the old fandoms and mentioned that if i was able to come to otakuthon, i should, people in mtl love nostalgia.. i'm gonna be honest otakuthon was pretty bad expenses-wise for me, but i heard it picked up since cons came back in 2022. it is a really beautiful city so mayhaps.. i will come for miss montreal.................

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and a separate section on the new merch i made:

the new sticker sheets i printed (one piece, baccano, breaking bad/better call saul) did so well! nts to add luffys scar bc apparently i forgot... ive seen this dumbass's face for hundreds of eps and yet i still forgot .

these are a far cry to the sticker sheets i designed in previous years. many sticker places restrict you on how many stickers you can place on a sheet due to spacing requirements... the more stickers you have + the closer they are, the higher the margin of error, which i understand is why many professional sticker printers have these restrictions in place.

the artists i worked with for my AN stickers are so genuinely nice and accommodating with my requests. I just went wild haha. the sheets with the most stickers are brba/bcs at 27 stickers and one piece at 32 stickers.

2021 (top) vs 2023 (bottom), the chara stickers on the new sheet are larger & 2x as many item stickers! the new design makes greater use of the space. my octopath 1 stickers are meant for planners but you could use it for anything!

in 2017 i could only realistically fit 6 ish stickers on a sheet (for vinyl, not cricut home printing) due to printing restrictions. these costed about $3.30 CAD per sheet from s/ticker/mule (not worth it for the price point AT ALL... but i wanted to try sheets for the first time)... and yes it's a tiny 4x7 as well. it was a hard sell for $7 in 2017. but im glad artists have been pricing them a bit higher + sheets have become much more customizable.

now on to charms:

i am so obsessed with this borderless charm look on the new charms... they look like candy... thank you guys for loving my new charms!! i tried out a new technique with designing charms. and im so happy with how they turned out. the charm manu was super accommodating and they are so much better than vograce who fucked up my order so bad in 2022 🤡👍

the soul eater charms from last year were kind of a precursor to this. last year i tried something a bit different than my usual with the transparent bgs, which require full bleed in the file setup, and that was already pretty new for me. i find that charm sales are usually pretty mid for me, so during the pandemic i took a soft break from making them, and i wanted to do research based on others' designs and really tried to improve my design sense. to me i want to design charms that aren't just a flat piece of artwork that gets printed, but something that utilizes the capabilities of the acrylic material it gets printed on 🤔

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fandoms/merch types i want to try next time i table:

more soul eater? it's one of my favourite animes and im very happy for the soul eater love this year. my partner kept selling out of her soul eater prints even though it was her first time tabling!

fma! ive been rereading AND rewatching it lately. it's one of my top 5 anime of all time so me drawing anything for it is a struggle, the bar is set so high. i never end up having the time or ideas to draw anything for it (and the aesthetics are very different from my usual taste)

shadows house has been one of my favorites recently!

dungeon meshi, the print i made was back in 2018 and i think it's time to retire it! it sold out at AN, thank you! with the way the story has developed in the last 5 years, i really want to draw something new for it if i can.

blue period needs more love!

golden kamuy.....

and many more.....

i also want to try mini prints maybe...

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administrative stuff:

next time before the con, i definitely need an organized chart i print out before the con so im not.. literally writing down each transaction... 🧍‍♀️

clamps...?

possibly new display? grids even with plastic panels are heavy... and they can be a pain to put up. this AN we had our neighbors and good friends @nappotuna & @stripeyworm helping us put the grids up, they did an absolute speedy banger job! but it might have taken way longer without 4 hands on the grid work.

if we had used tape to hold our prints up as well who knows how long it would have taken. we used magnets, apparently a lot of people were using them at TCAF. they were so easy to put up and adjustable. *jesse pinkman voice* MAGNETS, BITCH!!!!!!!

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merch i may shelve/do less of:

i really appreciate when artists talk about these kind of things behind the scenes... when products do well, when others dont, products w surprising responses, the factors that we think affect sales... the hard truth is that not everything sells, just bc the art is good =/= good sales, etc etc.

lately ive found it so fun to design sticker sheets over individual die cut stickers!! i understand now why some people only specialize in stickers!! it's also such a pain to stock individual characters and have greatly varying levels, bc of customer interest, and bc of how printing stickers works, you often get extras of random characters due to overflow 😭.. like at some point I had 7 jeannes and like only 1 of the other vnc charas bc the printer had so many extras and she's arguably less popular HDHFJSJHDJS anyways, i think i'll probably do less die cut individual stickers for my next con...

anything old that i only have 1 or a few copies left (meaning i won't reprint) i may not have for display anymore bc of space concerns... before my next con ill just post them on social media to have people claim them!

i may want to do less 3" charms in the future...? theyre a hard sell online prob bc i cant really do deals (i could but id have to be checking the stock every few hours which is not ideal), but they do a lot better in person due to deals.

it's been fun to try specialty products (I've tried scrunchies, stamps, pouches, microfiber cloths, coasters, enamel pins), but i... find they dont sell well for me... maybe my art doesnt have that wide mainstream nostalgic merch type appeal idk... maybe im just not good at designing or advertising them wahahaha. (specialty charms are still charms and i wouldn't necessary consider them a part of this)

my jojo buttons were really popular at anime north 2019 and fan expo 2019, but when the part 5 anime concluded, i noticed that interest for the interest completely moved on 😭 (or it's possible that everyone who was interested bought the buttons already?). part 6 anime didn't rejuvenate the same level of interest. it was a struggle to sell even more than a handful of these at each AN 2022 and 2023. right now they're taking up a lot of space in my con luggage that i'd prefer for newer, better art. i still love the art i did, but unfortunately, i think ill give them a go if i get into otakuthon (and maybe fanexpo too), then it'll be time to retire the jojo buttons. sometimes fandoms come and go so fast, and it's difficult to keep old merch around when they don't have any more interest and when they're occupying a lot of space.

my banana fish lollipop charms do not sell well, and i only sold 5 of them in a 3 year period, across cons and my shop. i created a bargain bin at AN, and it really helped me get rid of old things! unfortunately even in the bargain bin i could not sell a single one of the banana fish charms. maybe it's the art that's not appealing, the characters aren't recognizable, the price point for a lollipop charm was too high, i wasn't hitting the right audience, the market was slow around the time, even when it was included in my promo post... etc. these lollipops were my first time making specialty charms. unfortunately i think that's the last time making lollipop charms, and about time to recycle these charms, so that i have space for fresher and better art!

other thoughts moving on:

maybe go back to simplifying my art a lot more... if i keep making drawings like my great ace attorney tarot + zine, witch hat atelier print, and pandora hearts print, then id not only take 1 month per illustration, id also be destroying my arm 😭 i stopped stylizing my art in 2021 bc i found that my art was getting sloppy in 2020 + i was really struggling in life drawing in school. i needed to buckle down and be more conscientious when drawing poses, learning anatomy and structure... and bc getting back into anime in 2021 really helped me cope with the isolation of the lockdown, so that had a huge influence on my style. but bc of that i think it just took longer and longer to make illustrations and that's something i no longer really wish for.

i really like the period of my art in 2017 with a lot of my persona 4/5 art bc it still has structure even though it's simplified... and the style in my zelda icon... mayhaps experiment a bit more this summer if i can...

[arcadekitten]

Wanted to say that me and a group of friends really enjoyed Blackout Hospital!! Thank you for making the game, it was super fun and I'm glad I got to know more about the characters, esp Vas since we haven't gotten to see them very often

Also, since you finish Blackout Hospital, do you have any future projects planned? No rush or pressure of course, I'm just curious. I understand if you need to take a break! I'm looking forward to whatever you put out^^

Thank you so much!! ♡

I absolutely do have future games planned, I'm just trying to get all my ducks in a row first!

For starters, I'm still a bit sick--so working on things takes a little longer as I don't feel too good right now.

I also want to try learning Godot to make some more advanced games, but I still have ideas for smaller rpgmaker and ren'py projects to make while I learn--the thing here though is I'm going to have to decide which of those I want to work on first and what feels more worth it.

On top of all THAT I also want to put some more love into Blackout Hospital now that it's out! On top of trying to fix any bugs people alert me of, I've already bought a slot to put it on Steam, and am working on a little bonus-artbook as a "Support The Developer!" option to go along with it.

I also want to look into merch I can make for it too! I have plenty of ideas but I've yet to start on any of them. I might put some designs on RedBubble first specifically for things I can't sell myself just yet (T-shirt designs, sticker sheets, etc).

Much to do!! But I appreciate your support and patience while I work on it all! ♡

[elvesofnoldor]

tagged by @ahsokhatano 

O N E

name: yolanda || nickname: yolanda || zodiac sign: cancer

height: 5′7″ || orientation: wlw, probably lesbian || ethnicity: Chinese

favourite fruit: papaya  || favourite season: autumn

favourite book: house of leaves(or American Gods? i just remember how much i love that book and neil gaiman stories after the tv show became a thing) ||  favourite flower: blue orchid? 

favorite scent: smell of metro city subways in North America or the smell of air after a morning raining, tinged with faint aroma of freshly trimmed grass || favorite animal: grey jay ;-; 

coffee, tea, or hot cocoa? hot cocoa 

average hours of sleep: 5-6

cats or dogs? both

favorite fictional character: lmao it used to be c*stiel but i dont even like him anymore. Right now im very into star wars and my fav sw characters is probably...poe...so poe i guess lol. 

dream trip: road trip around some European countries like France, Italy 

when was your blog created? September 2013 

what do you post about? star wars, movies and some tv shows (see tag page for details. i dont regularly post tv shows content. There was a lot of s//p//n in the past but thats the only tv show content i regularly post when they r on hiatus). joke posts and personal posts 

do you get asks on a regular basis? no lol 

aesthetic: dim light permeated cozy bedroom through rain streaked windows, casting a soft white glow on messy bed sheets. black combat boots, thick black stockings and texture of leather jackets. Short curtain fringe dark hair, wisps of black hair falling over forehead, with long sleeved white button up shirt and exposed collarbones. Warm, comforting but controlled colours filling the walls of coffee shop, the shop’s name is typed in clean, crispy and elegant font, wisp of smoke diffusing sunlight in the air. Spots of night lights illuminating pitch black bedroom spaces, like drop of stars decorating the night sky. 

favorite band/artist? ok whatever im gonna say leslie cheung for his Chinese Gay^tm antics when he’s performing on stage but i honestly like him better as an actor 

fictional character I’d date: A Cool Female Character. lol just kidding im picky. I guess...bloody mary from “The wolf among us” telltale video game or snow white from the same game? Or even ventress from sw: the clone wars? but i doubt they would ever be interested in me lol If they are...then bich i’d give my life for them what the fuck lol 

hogwarts house: Ravenclaw, maybe 

T W O 

Countries I’ve lived in: China, Canada (current) 

Favourite fandom: fandoms are literally all hell pits on fire scoob! but I’d go with star wars cause im technically in it right now 

Languages you speak: Chinese (mandarin), English, teeny bit of French and German and like three word of Spanish thnx to liz lol 

Favourite film of 2016: moonlight!!! (rogue one is a runner up but....im a art film bich, and rogue one first act is a bit messy) 

Last article you read: not counting the article i read about Aphra, it’s probably something abt why you need to watch the get down, or some article that talks about how dear white people gets colorism right--i was researching for my radio show

Shuffle your music library and put your first three songs here:

miss you much by “janet jackson”

分手 by leslie cheung (i cant believe my grandpa has to embarrass me NOW i s2g i dont even remember ever listening to this song) 

Gasoline by Halsey (i cheated cause the top 7 songs are all from leslie and??? i haven’t listen to his songs for three months??? @leslie r u mad at me for admitting not actually liking ur trashy mf canto pop songs) 

Last thing you bought online: finn & poe key chain, finnpoe stickers and one reyva sticker and a finn charm from an artist’s lovely online store 

How would your friends describe you? a weird and occassionally annoying gay baby 

How would your enemies describe you? idk. neurotic and super annoying? 

Who would you take a bullet for? poe and probably finn also. Plus my mom, but esp my mom

i tagged so many goddamn people yesterday in a similar tag game so im not gonna be a demon and do it again to u all again lol. 

That being said, do it if u want just say i tagged u 

[weedlovingweed]

apparently i forgot to post this but heres some resolutions or at least things i wanna do in 2017:

intake and appreciate more inspirational content (comics, art, music) and support the people making them by actually buying physical stuff (which also reminds me that they exist and that it is an attainable goal to do the same thing)

draw from reference and practice more, and finish more high quality art

do more traditional art, esp refined traditional art because all i do currently is sketching. try out more things (brush pens, painting, coloured pencils) and make tattoo flash sheets as both practice and portfolio pieces

put myself out there more! im v often too afraid to talk to mutuals, to offer commissions to people, to even post certain things or share my art w my family and such. i want to be better at communicating. also on this same idea, id like to be more confident in my art and create more finished designs so i can make pins and stickers and prints and the like!

be less critical of my story ideas and just make them. they dont have to be perfect and i can always revisit an idea later and remake it and do it how it should be done, but for now i just need to do my best and create or nothing will get done

and most of all i just wanna do everything in my power to prioritize feeling good and healthy! telling people when they make me feel bad and keeping up with schedules esp will be a goal, even if i have to schedule trivial and basic things like when to shower and stuff