#everything in this draft is super rough but unfortunately that's pen's problem since i asked her to beta rip sorry pal

[thychesters]

i got pasta making attachments for my stand mixer for christmas which means it's the perfect time to put zoro through the proverbial pasta press too!

[thewolfmanslayer]

Honestly the amount of people who say artists and writers should do stuff for free, or try to rip them off on comissions still royally piss me off.

I think the worst part of it is the entitlement, I dont want to make this too much about generations but a lot of commissioners are millenial/Gen z's who grew up on the "steal and pirate everything" mentality, take everything that you can because no one else is going to hand it to you. which I can get behind, when you are screwing over MULTI BILLION DOLLAR COMPANIES. NOT THE STRUGGLING ARTISTS AND WRITERS who are trying to keep food on the table as desperately as you probably are!

It's simple, you wouldn't walk into a restaurant, order food and tell the server "sorry I don't have any money, but I've got like a few thousand followers on social media, I can get your name out there, get the restaurant some exposure" NO! They don't need "exposure" they need you to pay the damn bill!

On top of that, most of these artists and writers ALREADY HAVE FOLLOWINGS. They already have thousands of people following them, waiting for the chance to get a commission, who are willing to pay for said commission, they don't need "exposure" when they're already out there! He'll even the artists and writers with a few hundred don't need it, they'll get more followers as time goes by, their skill alone will see to it.

And what is with people trying to get free art and writing? It's not going to work! You can't harass someone until they cave, trust me, you'll be long since blocked before you even have the opportunity. I don't do comissions, online anyways, but my own friends and family, people who actually know me STILL PAY ME whenever they ask for me to do art for them because they KNOW it takes TIME AND EFFORT.

How many times do we need to have this discussion???? Like when is it going to finally click that people who need to pay their bills just as much as you do AREN'T going to do this shit for free!?

Here's the thing about art and writing, that you've heard a billion times but still aren't getting; IT. TAKES. TIME. AND. EFFORT. TO. GET. DONE. the art isn't going to magically appear and the writing isn't going to suddenly write itself, if either were so convenient YOU WOULDNT BE ASKING AN ARTIST OR WRITER IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Look at that, you see that? The first picture I did back in 2012-13, the picture beside it? I did that TWO YEARS AGO. I didn't suddenly know exactly what to do, or had anything close to a god given talent for drawing (I'm not that talented). The first picture WAS THE ABSOLUTE BEST I COULD DO AT THE TIME THAT I MADE IT. In the time between these two drawings I admittedly took a break from art, but then I got back into it four years ago. EVEN STILL that was four YEARS of starting over from the basics, relearning everything, learning new things, wanting to actually improve my art.

Which, guess what, DID NOT HAPPEN OVER NIGHT. It was HOURS UPON HOURS of my limited free time as an adult drawing over and over and over and over again, every single goddamn day to get to the point that I was able to make that redraw look as good as it does in comparison. He'll, my art now puts them both to shame! Because I spent the time improving my quality!!

Now look at these artists doing comissions, they've probably put EVEN MORE of their time to get that good! They've put in LITERAL YEARS of sweat, blood, tears, frustrations and dedicated hardwork. Some did the same as me, self teaching and lots of practice, others probably had to go to school, which definitely wasn't cheap. But all of us put in that time and effort TO REACH THESE POINTS. Of being better artists, developing our styles, getting faster at drawing.

And maybe you think that this is super easy, right? That I or every other artist can just fire some art off and boom its good and done in like an hour?

FUCK. NO.

Even now it takes me several hours a day OVER MANY DAYS to make something exceptionally good! It doesn't matter how good an artist is, it still. Takes. Time.

Maybe the issue is that you don't understand how much actually goes into art, let me break it down for you, the steps that most people follow to finish ONE drawing.

-Rough draft: general character outline, get a feel for what I want to draw.

-Rough sketch: I start doing a bit of pencil to start filling in details like mouth, nose, eyes, hair, clothes. Ect.

-Penciling: I go over the rough sketch and clean everything up, maybe do some editing, this is when you can start making out all the details.

-Ink: I trace over the finished pencil with a pen tool and actually have the line art, everything looks clean, presentable, it actually looks like a character now. I'll spend time editing this and possibly redoing the inking many times over to get to a point where I like it.

-Flat color: I decide on which colors to use for skin tone, clothes accessories. Ect.

-Shading/highlights: I figure out where my light source is and how strong it is, I then apply the correct amount of lighting and shadows to the color to give it depth, I also have determine the texture of skin, clothes and accessories to make everything look real and natural.

-Blending: I smooth out the shading and highlights so that it looks more natural and isn't too hard (noticeable difference between color) so that it looks as natural as possible.

-Finish: I go over last minute details, finish any editing or corrections that need to be done. Once it's good I call it a day.

Each process is longer in length then the previous, with the exception of the final editing (as long as everything looks good) and even the rough draft can take some time. Over all this is SEVERAL HOURS of work for a SINGLE DRAWING.

So is it sinking in yet? How much is put into doing even a single character drawing? God forbid if its done with background. This isn't a "scratch a pen around and be done with it in ten minutes" kinda deal, no, this is SEVERAL HOURS OF SOMEONES LIFE BEING PUT INTO THIS

And if you still have the AUDACITY to try and wrangle free art from an artist then there's no helping you, you're just a selfish piece of shit, no question and I want nothing to do with you.

Someone might say "But I got free art/writing from.-" look I don't give a shit if someone did something for you THAT ONE TIME, these other artists and writers? Totally seperate and different people. You're one freebie experience does not, and should not apply to other artists and writers.

"But what if I really want this commission but don't have the money right now?" Well, that's tough shit. Save up and properly commission them when you can, it's not their problem.

"But what if I'm in a really bad financial situation and really want it?" That sucks, and I'm sorry, but again, not their problem. Chances are this is their only source of income and they need to make money so that they don't end up in a similar situation.

"They have a gift! They should share it!" What kind of cheap ass- LOOK, just because someone is talented or really good at something does not automatically obligate them to do anything for total strangers in anyway shape or form. These are living, breathing people, the same as you. They need to eat, they need to pay rent/mortgages, they need to pay vet bills, send their kids to college, do their taxes and everything else that YOU YOURSELF need to do. Asking anyone to spend their time doing something for free, when that something is how THEY ARE SURVIVING is beyond asinine. Not only that, this obviously isn't a hobby to them, it is very clearly THEIR JOB. Would you want to do a job where you didn't get paid at all? Doing a shit ton of work for absolutely nothing? No? Didn't think so.

"It shouldn't be about the money!" Well unfortunately, as with almost every other job, it is. We live in a world where we desperately need to make money in order to survive. That's the painful fact of the matter. If money never had to be an issue ever again then this would be a very different story. But it's not, plain and simple as can be.

Look, these people are just like you, artists and writers who are just trying to get by in a shitty ass world, using the one thing they have that let's them have an income. Leave them be, don't try and trick them, guilt them, or cuss them out when you don't get your way. Either properly comission or leave them the hell alone, plain and simple.

[themagiciansreccenter]

The Great Blank Spot: @highestkingbambi

So much goes into creating fanfiction even before the first words hit the paper. And in-depth spotlight on our writers and the process behind their work.

Tell us about your current project.

I’m currently working on a multi-chapter hardboiled style fic that I have called The Lamb in the Wolfskin Coat. Set in late 1940s Los Angeles, it follows Margo Hanson, a PI, and her assistant Eliot Waugh as they look into the disappearance of Quentin Coldwater. It’s one great big Alternate Universe that features many characters from the shows and books in a hopefully suspenseful and interesting story.

We’re well into the creation period for The Trials. Are you participating? If so, is this your submission? What Tier did you select?

This is my fic for The Trials, though I did start conceptualizing and wrote the first couple of chapters prior to the official start. I decided to keep it for The Trials as I’m not the most consistent writer and needed a hard deadline to finish the whole thing.

I selected Tier 2 for this story. As soon as I started putting it together I knew it would need more than 25,000 words to tell the story.

What is your current word count?

As of posting, I’m at 29,004 words and I still have a few chapters to go.

Do you try to write daily? Do you have a word count or other goals you try to hit for each writing session?

I do try to write daily, but it doesn’t always work out that way. When I first started, I had a goal to write 1,500 words per week but I haven’t stuck to that. Some days I’ll write 2-3k other days all I can do is open the document.

What was the inspiration for this fic?

The entirety of the blame for this fic lies with @gwendolynflight. Just kidding, but for real, she started talking about a fic of hers in a similar genre and all of a sudden the seed was planted in my brain and I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. I’ve also taken a few cues from some classic and modern hard-boiled/noir books and movies including but not limited to The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Notorious, and The Black Dahlia.

Did this fic require any research? How much research do you typically do for your fics?

So much research! As V can attest, I have gone on long-winded research journeys into elements as varied as 1940s dry cleaning processes to the cost of a ballpoint pen. I know for a fact that I’m not going to get everything right, but I have tried to be as accurate as I can to make the story feel authentic.

How do you stay motivated between chapters/stories?

A large amount of my motivation for this fic, in particular, has been the support and encouragement of other writers in The Magicians fandom. Without that, I probably would have given up a long time ago. Another huge motivation has been the WIP of some of the artwork my Trials partner has shared with me so far. It’s stunning and I’m so excited for us to share it with everyone once we’re done.

Outside of fandom, I try to stay motivated by surrounding myself with inspiration material, cosplaying as some of my characters. (Yes, I do own a fedora and a trench coat--no shame.) My husband is also a great motivator and by great motivator I mean he’s constantly nagging me about how much I’ve written and gets me off my ass to write some more.

[Outside of the Trials] Do you typically write ahead or post as you go?

I am not great at multi-chapter fics. In the past, I have gone out guns blazing, posting as I finish each chapter and it has not gone well, to say the least. I’m trying to write ahead now, as I still have one WIP sitting unfinished on AO3 because I ran out of steam and after a tea related accident, I no longer have my outline or any idea what I was supposed to be writing.

How much planning and outlining did you do before you started putting words on paper?

I’m not a planner. I get a rough idea of what I want, maybe write a handful of notes and then go full steam ahead on the first draft. With this fic, I did write a more in-depth outline after I had written about 10,000 words, but since then I have changed so much that the outline is basically a different story altogether. As a visual person, I mostly conceive of the work in images, which doesn’t always translate well to a rough written outline.

Has it been pretty smooth sailing or rough waters? When things get rocky, how do you handle needing to rewrite sections or scrap scenes entirely?

A mix of both. Some chapters have been super easy to write, with the words I put down matching exactly what I have in my mind, others have...not been so easy. One of my biggest challenges has been maintaining Margo’s voice in a wholly different universe to canon and essentially whenever I lose that, my writing stalls.

I can be pretty ruthless with writing that I don’t like and if it’s not working, I’ll cut it and leave a copy in my outline in case I need it later on. I’m leaving a lot of that to the very end though, I’m trying not to be too nitpicky with my edits while I’m still working on the draft so that I don’t end up too sidetracked--I already have enough of that with the research.

Teaser

Finding a reporter in Los Angeles was almost as easy as finding an aspiring actor. In a city where films were made and gangsters ruled, there was never a shortage of stories, or someone to write them down. The problem was finding someone objective. Freedom of the press only went so far as their freedom to take bribes from Jack Warner to Mickey Cohen and every asshole in between. With her gut telling her that the Quinn case had something to do with Quentin Coldwater’s disappearance, Margo didn’t need information from someone with a mysterious backer. She needed someone she could trust. Unfortunately for her, the most objective reporter in Los Angeles didn’t like private detectives.

The Great Blank Spot is an in-depth spotlight focusing on the writing process and previewing in-progress fics for our fandom. It is meant to be an organic, ever-evolving feature. Previously interviewed fic writers can reach out to us here, to have a specific work featured. If you’d like to have a work featured but haven’t done the author spotlight, reach out to us to get started. If you have suggestions for questions you’d like to see answered, shoot us an ask!

Image credit (x) (x) (x)