#if you are able to go to the artist's page they have more info about the paper craft

[every-tome]

[dcufans4palestine]

What you need to know about DCU Commissions For Palestine

DCU Commissions for Palestine is a fan-led event to raise money for Palestinian causes. Creators in the DCU fandom can volunteer to offer commissions in exchange for donations. All creators interested in offering fanworks (including fanart and fanfic) for any part of the DCU fandom are welcome to join! Creators will have complete control over what they offer.

How it works:

Creators will have the opportunity to sign up here between July 1 and July 15. By signing up, creators agree to offer DCU commissions in exchange for donations. Before July 20, creators will be expected to create commissions sheets explaining what they will offer. These commissions sheets should be limited to DCU fanworks, but there are no limitations other than that. All comics, ships, characters, crossovers, etc. are welcome! We will provide examples for any creators unsure what a commission sheet should look like.

Commission sheets will go live on July 20. Creators will post their sheets on their own accounts, but all offerings will be compiled in a masterpost on the @dcufans4palestine page and shared via reblogs. Donors will be able to search through tags to find offerings based on types of work, specific characters, ships, etc.

Commissions will be live from July 20-August 10. If creators have a maximum amount of slots they are willing to accept and those slots are filled before August 10, they are welcome to close their commissions early. Donors will donate directly to charity and then send proof of their donations to us, and then creators can get started on the commission! More info about donating will be available closer to July 20.

On August 17, posting will begin. This is not a deadline for when works must be completed, but this is when our account will begin sharing completed works. The week of August 17 will be a celebration of everyone’s hard work! Throughout the week, we will spotlight specific creators, fandoms, etc. Depending on the size and success of the event, there may be some additional surprises in store ;)

If you wish to get involved, follow this account and join our discord!

Additional info under the cut!

FAQ:

How much will commissions cost?

That is totally up to the creators. We will provide price suggestions for any authors or artists who are unsure how to price their offerings, but these will only be suggestions. Creators will also get to choose if they have just one price options or price tiers.

Is NSFW art/writing allowed?

Yes, but only if the creator explicitly states that they are willing to accept NSFW commissions and donors who want NSFW work must be 18+.

What types of work are allowed?

We expect that most commissions will be for digital fanart and fanfiction, but any type of DCU fanworks are allowed! If you wish to donate a physical item for the event (merch, comics, physical fanart, etc.) please contact us directly!

If I want to be a creator, is there a minimum amount of work I need to be willing to offer?

Nope! All we ask is that creators be upfront about their offerings. If you only are willing to take up to three commissions, state in your commission sheet that there are only three slots. We also ask that creators contact the account once their commissions are closed so that we can share that information.

Where will donations go?

We have a carrd with plenty of donation options, all supporting the people of Gaza. Creators can specify in their commission sheet if they would like donations to go to a specific cause. Otherwise, donors can donate to any of the fundraisers in our carrd or any other vetted fundraiser or charity supporting Palestinians.

[kedreeva]

Any bird artists/graphic designers/photo-editors out there that might be willing to make a logo and/or a merch design for our local small game bird association, after the new year?

Story below the cut if you want more info

I'm currently in the process of taking over my state game bird association's website stuff, to help them recover after incredibly bad leadership did their level best to wreck it entirely. It's a "State" association, in that it's for people in this state but isn't run by the state, it's just like. a few people who like game birds who have made nonprofit (like an actual 501(c)) club for other people that like game birds. There's less than 100 members in it according to the registry I saw, to give you an idea what it's like. I'm dealing with one 70+ year old lady, one Older Mom (who isn't even in the association anymore) that helped transfer stuff out of her name, and one Other Lady (who is apparently the sister of one of the hospital board members, but who lacks her sister's desire to watch the world burn I guess) that I've only had phone conversations with so far. I've so far been able to get their website under control and I'm working on getting their facebook back into their hands (it's still being held hostage by a hostile board member they're trying to get rid of), and to try to help them all limp into being a functional association again, like it was when I first started interacting with it 20 years ago.

That being said, in the transfer of the site, the previous site is 100% lost, including all old graphics. No one still in the association has any of the old graphics saved. That's fine, they were.... terrible. Like, this is an old preview pic of the site banner

Truly terrible. So, not gonna lie, kinda glad it's gone forever.

There is an OLDER banner, from before dickhead mcfuckface took over the association, and it's "better" but it's very clearly got an 80s vibe like you would not believe

But, the old lady that is running the association now asked me about having a header on the front page, so here I am. I told her that there were a TON of talented artists that would be happy to be paid (all of the following would be PAID work, if the association can afford it and if not they will just do without, I was VERY clear about needing to pay artists for work) to design a logo and/or some kind of graphic designer that could help with a little banner for the website. She also asked me about selling t-shirts and hats, since some people at the swaps have asked for them. I told her that a nice looking logo would be a good start for that kind of thing, but that I could ask around and see if anyone wanted to draw a game bird design to sell at their bake sale table or maybe redbubble or something similar so people can just get what they want.

I'm sorry that this is vague, but beyond the logo/site header, I'm not sure exactly what they are going to want, just that they are going to want An Artist Or Three. You'd be dealing with me once I've wrangled them into telling me what they exactly want for anything outside the website.

As for the website, I actually don't mind the basic design of the second banner (the 80's one, a rectangle, circle badge logo in the middle, game animals to either side), and I think it would be good to bring back that general feel, but cleaner and brighter on colors, and different animals. The club does not really deal with deer or raccoons regularly, and pheasants are not the only game birds. I was thinking maybe just doing birds on both sides. Peacocks, pheasant, chicken, turkey, ducks, quail, and dove(s) are the most common at swap meets, so some combo of those would be nice (doesn't need to have all of them), as that's what members will mostly be raising.

If that's something you feel you might be interested in, and can provide your pricing & an example of your style so I can bring it to them and tell them I want them to pay you to give me things for the site and/or association at large.

For the laughs, here is what I "mocked up" for them as an idea

But they also liked the idea of a plain badge logo like this one (because they don't live and breathe peafowl I assume, it's the only explanation)

anyway. if you have the art skills and wanna help a bird nerd group out, please let me know!

[randomyuu]

the way it follows you home, the stories i never told

My guy Vox once again graced us with lovely Goyuu fanfics, and the way it follows you home, the stories i never told, made me go FERAL.

Time travel? Two Gojou Satorus? Double affection for our sunshine Yuuji? Yuuji sandwich? What feels like possible continuation of (you'll whisper, serpent tongue) what you fear you have become???

FUCK.

I need to stop indulging my imagination too much. I should’ve been content with writing long-ass comments but noooooo, my brain goes “you gotta draw it”. DAMMIT VOX, YOU AND YOUR DELICIOUS WRITINGS HHHHHH

So… usually I should’ve picked a favourite scene that is within my drawing capability, but I just… love all three chapters??? So I made a questionable time investment? I can’t stop??? Help???

This is probably the most ambitious fanart project I’ve ever done so far. Fair enough, considering I might combust if I keep these welled-up emotions inside from reading Vox’s Goyuu fics. Fuck.

Fic info:

Title: the way it follows you home, the stories i never told

Author: @voxofthevoid

Pairing: YuuGoGo. Future!Yuuji, Future!Gojou, Teen!Gojou

(idk why I laugh writing YuuGoGo. I’m beyond help)

Currently, it is 3 chapters out of 8. And it’s gonna be NSFW chapter 4 onwards, so don’t forget to read the tags first, folks!

The drawings are under Read More, because I have lots of thoughts surrounding each chapter and drawings. It’ll be hella long if I didn’t hide it here. It was a mess down there. A combination of hours before, during, and after I read said fic. I’d say good luck finding the art among the sea of jumbled words but… you’ll find them easily. Don’t worry about it haha

SPOILERS FOR ALL 3 CHAPTERS! I highly recommend reading those first before diving into these drawings!

Also for the comics, read from right to left please!

From here on, I will be referring to the Future!Gojou as Gojou and the teenage one as Satoru.

Overall, drawing all these is fun! Really fun! This project pushed me quite hard, forcing me to test my limit (because I rarely draw this much back to back). Since this is a combination of drawings and comics, the coloring style will not be consistent. In a way, I want to try some brushes I never get to use, as well as try out my new graphic tablet. Drawing these got me giggling because I was finally able to let loose during line art. It's much easier to do so, and sometimes I just get to reread the fic and giggle to myself for the nth time.

CHAPTER 1:

Whooo. Whooooooooo—

Ok, ok, the premise is just that good. It intrigued me, fascinated me, and I just… oomph. I cannot refuse a Time Travel Yuuji Sandwich. Sign me up.

Honestly, there are two scenes that are just… a bit too clear in my mind when reading this chapter. That would be the one I drew above, and the other is when Yaga called Gojou to come outside of the class. I love, loooove how Vox wrote Satoru’s POV. And when Yuuji fucking giggles?

I lost it.

Can you imagine, drawing Yuuji grins, with shiny stuff, maybe some sunlight, just purely happy and indulging Gojou?

Help me, for I am drowning in my love and adoration for Yuuji.

Page 2 is an experiment on using harsh black as shading (kind of?). I really enjoyed colouring Yuuji, and drawing those buffalo skulls! I wish I can grasp the concept of contrast a bit better tho :v

CHAPTER 2:

This is probably the only chapter where I picture still images instead of comic panels. A bit like those cool chapter covers in mangas. The one I really, really want to draw is the scene with Satoru on the table. Can’t pass the opportunity to highlight Satoru being a brat, albeit a really cool brat.

Cool idea drawing always proves to be a challenge, because of course my artistic skill just so happens to be below the requirement. Thank you, Sketchfab, for the chair and desk’s perspective otherwise I’m screwed lmao

The second scene that I want to draw the most is this:

Gojou is one step away from climbing Yuuji. Also, I have a bit of a problem picturing a man pouting that makes him look crazy instead, so please have Gojou pouting adorably instead. Because, as Yuuji said (with love), Gojou is (also) a brat.

This is possibly my favorite art in this project, after Yuuji's in Chapter 1 page 2. It's clean because I don't have to draw background, and I was having a fun time drawing Yuuji. And Gojou's squishy cheek as well.

Oh, actually, there is a “manga” scene in this chapter. It’s when Yuuji said, “I love Satoru.”

I just—

AAAAAHHHHH YUUJIIIIIII YOU AND VOX ARE GONNA BE THE DEATH OF ME. That secure relationship between Yuuji and Gojou? Satoru’s description of how Yuuji’s smile could blot out the sun??? Not me screaming 💀 I also see bits of hints of possible co-dependency, though I could be reading those wrong, but either way I’m good. Secure and possessive relationships are fun to consume hhhhhh

But yeah. There are too many wholesome Yuuji smiles in this fic, and I… I am not confident enough to draw genuine happiness. It’s too much for me ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

For this chapter, another reason why I chose these two scenes is just because I want to try and draw cover-worthy pictures of Yuuji and Satoru, and Yuuji and Gojou (cough)

CHAPTER 3:

We start the chapter with Nanamin. Ah, Nanamin. I forgot what his teen self looked like and was surprised to see his design again lmao

I want to draw Yuuji and Nanami scene because… I just want to, I guess. I have never drawn him before (Yaga as well) so that's an interesting challenge. I got two ideas on how I want to draw it. One is a bit painting-esque, and the other one is like another chapter cover. In the end, I chose the cover one because I want to emphasise the difference between teen!Nanami and the Nanami from Yuuji’s original timeline, and how the watch feels like a connection between the same (yet not) person. It’s a bittersweet feeling? In a way?

I’m not really good at explaining my intention ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

I love Yuuji’s answer to Nanami's question.

AND FINALLY.

A Yuuji SandwichTM scene.

And oh B O I do I love it. Have I told you I like every chapter? I probably have. But this one? Satoru’s curiosity, Yuuji’s on-brand self-deprecation, and Gojou come strolling down to show more of Yuuji to his mini-self. I want to draw this whole scene, from Gojou finding them, feeding Yuuji snacks, bitch-slapping Satoru into the backroom, to Yuuji growling. Them trying to hide a boner from Yuuji’s growl got me cackling so hard I LOVE IT 😭

I love it all. Please love Yuuji in my stead, Satoru and Satonyan :3

Oh! Also! 40-finger Yuuji sounds really, really cool! I’ll be happy with whatever Vox will give us in future chapters, but 40-finger Yuuji… possible scene with this timeline’s Sukuna… my god. The action! The drama! The bloodshed! One can only hope.

However, as much as I love that whole scene, it’s still too much for me :”) I’m still not yet confident in delivering the humour and action. Also my already-long drawing plan had my brain groaning in protest so I can’t push my luck :'D

When Gojou said "He looks sweet, but he's a bit of a beast", I kept picturing Yuuji staring innocently, but there was an edge to his look. As if the moment Satoru looks away, he will pounce. But in the end I just stick with innocent-looking Yuuji because I accidentally drew his eyes that way and I want to keep it in lol

Since Satoru points out how soft and cuddly Yuuji is, I also want to draw soft Yuuji :v

And the last one… is the last scene. For some reason, I read that both Gojou and Satoru share Yuuji’s lap and was having a frustrating yet fun time figuring out how it’s… physically possible, without having their butts on the ground because they both are not small at all. As I lined the art, I reread it again and… perhaps I read it wrong? Satoru is beside Yuuji, and not on his lap? So yeah, this one might be the least accurate, but hey, at least you can view it as a crack drawing or something :v

AAAANNNDDD I HAVE EXCEEDED TODAY’S BRAIN CAPACITY OF FORMING WORDS

Have I told you I love this fic?

…I probably have.

Have an amazing week (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

[empiropediazine]

Hello empiresblr! We're in the early stages of planning an Empires SMP themed zine focused on worldbuilding and we are doing a bit of an interest check :)

If you find that interesting please go ahead and vote on the following poll! If you're not sure what to vote for make sure to read the whole post before picking an option :>

If you wanna know more about this we will be providing more in-depth info under read more!

What's the deal with this zine?

This zine is about Empires SMP Season 1, focused on exploring and expanding the worldbuilding and lore of the series. The name, Empiropedia, is a play on words between ‘empire’ and ‘encyclopedia’- it’s not structured quite like a regular zine, instead presented as if it were an in-universe book (or books) that puts together different sources to describe the culture and history of the 12 different empires. The zine will include both illustrations and writing. Some of the things we want to include are clothes, architecture, folklore, and artifacts/cultural items!

What's the difference between the two options the poll offers?

We are currently deciding whether we want to make one (very big) zine with a set amount of pages dedicated to each empire, or if we want to make multiple zines (one at a time) with one dedicated to each empire. Both options have pro and cons listed below!

120+ pages zine:

Pros:

An overall shorter project since it would be put together all at once

More intersection between different empires (pages dedicated to discussing alliances and the like)

People participating can contribute work to multiple empires more easily

Less pdf files to download! :D

Cons:

FAR less space for each empire to shine and be explored

A pretty long read

While it will take less time overall, it will definitely take much more time and coordination to put together than one singular empire zine of the 12 zines option.

12 separate zines:

Pros:

So much space to truly explore each empire!

You can decide which zines to pick up according to what your favourite empires are

The overall project will be able to include more artists and writers

Each singular zine will take less time than the 120+ pages zine to put together

Cons:

A much bigger project that would stretch over a way longer amouth of time to get to all empires being included

A lot less cross-working between different empires

Certain empires might not get as many applications from artists, making it harder to put together a zine dedicated completely to them

Will Season 2 be included?

While we are thinking of making a similar project focused on Season 2 that's pretty far off in the future, so for now we are focusing on the current project.

How/when can I apply?

We are currently getting everything set up, and we might open mod applications before opening contributor applications, so for now we don't have a set date. All necessary information to apply (including a timeframe) will be provided as soon as we set everything up!

[mraeelli]

Hi guys, I’m opening up my commissions! 💌 I will be doing it slot based for every month and will update my status on my tumblr page itself (on the left box). I would love to draw/paint your characters! Email me if you’re interested 😊 (more info below the cut) 🤗🎀

What I can do: +Original Characters +Fanart +Mild Nudity/Artistic Nudity +I accept text descriptions and supporting references, though the payment will differ slightly due to me having to design from scratch. +If there’s anything you want me to draw that isn’t listed here, don’t hesitate to ask! I’ll see what I can do :)

What I can’t do: -Very explicit NSFW -Anthro/furry characters -Heavy Gore/Sci-Fi (If it’s not too complicated then I might be able to do it :) -Mecha -Overly complicated armor (this one is negotiable, you can contact me for more info!) -If I find any subjects uncomfortable for me to draw, I reserve the right to turn the request down (sorry!)

Additional Info Personal usage only, and I reserve the right to post it on my blog or use it for promotional purposes unless you have stated beforehand that you don’t want me to. +Commissions will likely take around 3-4 weeks to complete, or sooner depending on how complex it is. If there are any delays I will inform you accordingly +Payment will be made once initial sketch has been confirmed and will finish through by email :) +All payments are to be made upfront through Paypal invoice

How do I send an inquiry for a commission?

Thank you so much for taking your time to inquire/commission!

To inquire about anything general regarding the commission, i.e: a simple question about if I accept drawing this/etc. can be asked through my email (stated above), Instagram-DM, Tumblr-DM, or Tumblr-Inbox.

Any inquiries will be replied within 3-4 working days. To inquire about applying for a commission, sending it through email is the best way for me. Thank you!

What do I send in for my commission?

please send an email to j.mraeli@gmail.com

Some things to include:

Your paypal email that you’d like the invoice to be sent to

A description of what you want me to draw (eg. your OC, a canon character) and the type of commission you want

References of your OC/Character you'd like (or alternatively, text descriptions with maybe a face claim if it’s alright)

Info (some personality traits, mood/vibe of the drawing,lighting, etc. anything you think is important for me to know when I am drawing)

More Info

Character Info 

General Information : Name, Age, Race, Personality and anything you’d like me to know :)

Some reference pictures (if you only have text as reference - it would be great if you could provide some images such as face claims of the character, and/or clothes that you’d like the character to be wearing.)

If you are going for the painting option, it would be great if you could tell/provide some references on the mood and lighting that you would like to go for. (For example, a dark somber scene with only the moon as the light source) - to evoke a certain feeling/story

Don’t hesitate to ask me any more questions through DM or email!

[moons-of-dewclan]

I was curious how to get your clan really set off? I recently (LIKE EARLIER TODAY JFJSJFJ) started my own clangen blog but idk if it's worthy of Tumblr😭

How can I improve my art and improve my process? You're one of my BIGGEST inspirations ngl you're literally him (or her or they I'm so sorry I never caught your pronouns) but I was just curious on how to be better? If you wanna look, don't. It's like, rlly bad so.... save your eyes. Have a lovely nighttt <33

HELLOOOOO I'M NOT 100% SURE WHAT YOU MEAN BY SET OFF I'M SORRY :{ if you mean to get people reading it, i think it's vastly just luck also appealing to an audience by accident i posted my art online for 10 years (i started posting in 2010 as a wee ka- told you i'm an adult haahahueu) before anyone showed consistent interest and i valued those two or so commenters who occasionally had something to say about my stuff, so much LAKSNLKD. that entire decade i got between 2 and 30 favourites for every piece i posted- usually between 2 and 10- until around 2021 when a making a comic aANNND joining a wolf ARPG group exposed me to many kindred art-enjoyers that wanted to keep up with my goofy stories then for some reason, i posted Dewclan's first page on tumblr and it got way more engagement than any other piece of art i've ever posted SO LAKSDNLKDAS WE CANNOT PREDICT THESE THINGS.. at least i can't if you're looking for engagement, pLS AIM FOR ENGAGEMENT THAT FEELS MEANINGFUL over anything else IN MY OPINION, and it's just my opinion- part of being 'better' is, first and foremost, being able to enjoy your art alone. and then being excited with what you choose to share! even if you don't care about your quality of art, care about the story. if you don't care about the story, care about the process and just having fun. but you have to have fun in doing it, and do it for your own eyes primarily. like if you were alone in a room and creating only for yourself! because, until you happen to find others who like what you're liking, you are then when someone is interested and you get to share that excitement, even that ooone comment on something you care about is OOGHHH SUCH A NICE FEELIN. enter communities, comment on other artists' work, try to make friends! but make sure to remember, if you create with the hopes others will like it, without liking it yourself, you're going to be really broken down if someone doesn't like it FOR you :{ loving your own art is tough work but it's integral to your longterm relationship with drawing ON IMPROVING.. for me, nothing is more integral to improving than finding a way to practice that suits you (looking at live figures doesn't help me at all. i don't know why. it's insane), and having fun doing it. i can't grasp anatomy unless i break it down with shapes. SHAPES ARE EVERYTHING. study the shapes of what you want to draw. break em down by tracing simple shapes over your subject. see if the leg is the same length as the head from muzzle to neck and lock that info in. STUFF LIKE THAT on the technical side of things, it can be super helpful to dedicate half an hour or so to drawing a day- eventually it becomes a habit and you just default to 'oh i think i wanna draw' when you've got nothing else to do. more drawing, more improvement!

HONESTLY THO another important thing is not putting yourself down. i know it's a hard habit to break (i struggle with it outside of art myself!), but it doesn't do you any favours. the more you rag on yourself, the more it'll manifest as something that actually damages your art, AND your relationship with it. let it be fun- don't sabotage yourself! you can be critical of your work and still kind! little tip here, improving can take a while, but experimenting with styles can make an INSTANT shift in how you perceive your stuff. ALSOOO EXPERIMENT WITH DIFFERENT BRUSHES FOR SKETCHING AND LINING. I PROOMISE. PLS DO IT. IT'S LIKE A MAGIC TRICK. i cannNNNOT sketch with a hard brush. everything looks horrible. marker brush tho?? so smooth. full of character. lovely. binary brush sketches? suddenly i'm Anime. pencil brush?? i digidevolve back into baby ka who loved to crosshatch and do semi realism. airbrush??? i explode into atoms actually

i find for a lot of people, they don't need to improve or be 'better' at art, they need to learn to enjoy what they're capable of doing now, and improvement is a byproduct. from what i've seen through the years, unless you work to curb it the negative view of your art will stick with you no matter what 'skill level' you get to bc the calls' comin from inside the house, yknow what i mean 3: it can be a long process to learn to accept your art, and sometimes you just plain grow out of it over time! but in the meantime it can't hurt to make efforts to fight your d e m o n s

I'M SORRY I WROTE SO MUCH IK YOU DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS ALL IT ISN'T JUST TO YOU, ODESSY-CLAN BLOG RUNNER, IT'S AIMED AT ANYONE WITH ARTSY SELF DOUBTS. i hope i phrased everything kindly bc i meant it all kindly 3: i hate to see an artist doubt their work, but THERE IS NO SHAME IN IT. i want to encourage loving it regardless of any flaws tho, even though it takes time!

[naumin]

no tall towers: a postmortem

is 'postmortem' too dark a word for it? just talking about the things I learned while organising this project :)

this one's a bit rambly but it's got a little bit of instruction inside. if anyone has any questions get in touch and let's talk BOOKS!

the concept

in april i got the idea that i wanted to organise a laios/marcille fanbook (because i LOVE them and especially because there wasn't a lot of fanwork around). i originally wanted to produce and sell a solo doujin with 1 or 2 pieces of guest art. however when money and multiple people are involved there's the question of how to compensate everyone fairly. i had several ideas of how to do this:

pay contributors a fixed amount e.g. $50 per piece (this is hard when you have no idea how much your book will earn)

pay contributors a % of sales e.g. 10% of all earnings (this is hard because you need to keep track of it for as long as your book is being sold. you may want to limit how long your book is available for for this reason*)

because i didn't want to limit how long the book was available for and to make it as simple as possible for me on the admin side, i decided to make it a free book with open submissions.

*a limited sale period can be good because promoting a project is super exhausting the longer it goes on. 1 month is reasonable imo. but because this is a rare-ish pair for a newly popular series i wanted to keep it online so fans can keep finding it.

communications

i've been in almost 20 books as a contributor, and pretty much all of them create a discord server to handle communications. some are mandatory to join, some let you opt out and receive announcements via email only. depending on the projects some are very chatty and some are extremely quiet.

the main advantages of discord ime are networking (i've made great friends from being on a project together) - which also helps with morale and giving ppl positive feedback to make their works - and for organisers gives the option of instant communication, e.g. if someone asks a question several people are wondering about, you can answer them all in one go.

the disadvantages of discord ime are people muting the server (understandable) and possibly the need for moderation - most people are extremely lovely and civil, i just am a worrier. also, discord can be a time sink... you don't want to be backreading a chat for 30 minutes when you only have 30 minutes to work on your project a day! i get distracted easily so for me that was a no go. what was good is that there is a laimar server (run by @saccharineomens) so i knew people could still chat and support each other. i'm really grateful for that.

so, if you want to avoid discord my experience is you totally can. all you really need:

an info masterdoc on somewhere like google docs or a public blog post/web page - you need to be able to edit it in case you need to add new information (with a time/date marking the change)

a way for people to submit their works like google forms or just your email

a way for people to ask questions, my main tumblr blog worked fine for me. you may want to copy your answers to common questions into your infodoc as they come up

important documents

this is the infodoc I created for this project. one thing is I did forget to specify the orientation for image works (portrait), oops.

one thing I'd really like to see more in collab projects is for organisers to list their experience. we already ask contributors to give so much... what about on the other side u know. I think a lot of people leave it out because they might not think they have any relevant experience. Really try to dig deep and list any type of project you've been in or helped complete... doesn't have to be art or fandom related.. or maybe organise a solo project first to get your feet wet.

for example I used my solo books I made for school/zine fairs. i'm a visual artist and i rarely work with text. so some of them are pure images, then some of the comics have computer lettering, but technically speaking i never formatted large amounts of text in my books so that was something new I was promising people I'd do. but it wasn't scary because I think my previous projects gave me a foundation to try new stuff like that. that's all people need to see to be willing to trust you handling their works ime.

formatting a zine

so I personally used InDesign here, it's one I've worked with before and enjoy. for other pdf projects I've also used Scribus and really like it (I'll be using it for Nerd Sex again this year) and its free!!! I haven't used Scribus to format text yet but for pure image books it's a really simple case of creating your page-size image in your art program and then inserting onto the pdf pages of Scribus lol. really easy.

for previewing, viewing, rearranging etc anything to do with your pdf I really recommend PDF24. also free!!! 5 stars incredible software.

here are the indesign tutorials I used and liked:

How to Add Page Numbers

How to keep Page Numbers on Top

How to Create a Table of Contents

What is Overset Text and How to Fix It <- essential for formatting text onto multiple pages

How to Reduce InDesign File Sizes

if this is all too complex here is the most basic 3-step method to creating a pdf book that applies to using both indesign and scribus or likely any other pdf creation software you can find

create new document. Select facing pages if you'll have double page spreads or think you might print out your book one day

locate the rectangle frame tool (indesign) or image frame (scribus) etc and draw a frame over your page (your whole page or just where you'd like your contents to go)

ctrl+d (indesign) or right click>get image (scribus), find your image and click on it. that's it!

repeat for all the other pages. that's my most basic guide to creating a pdf image-based book where all the pages are the same size.

publishing

publish on whatever platform you think is suitable (itch.io, gumroad, personal site, whatever etc.) and remember to advertise the shit out of it. if it's free keep saying it's free!!! if you feel like a resentful jaded broken record you havent repeated it enough my friend. say it one more time for good measure.

that's my messy postmortem of no tall towers to climb a 112-page free fanthology from 14 fans of laios x marcille including all new fic comics illustrations and recipes available for download and to print-at-home NOW!!! :) <3

[rustbeltjessie]

To what purpose, April, do you return again? (or: finally, a pinned post for April)

Hi all. I'm Jessie Lynn McMains, aka Rust Belt Jessie. I'm an Xennial/Elder Millenial (please don't call me a Geriatric Millenial, thank you) writer/artist/zine-maker/etc. (I wear many hats.) I'm queer and nonbinary/genderfluid, and as far as pronouns go, I’m okay with any human pronoun (they and she are my most-used, but I like he, too, and I especially like it when people switch up the pronouns they use for me). I’m disabled and neurodivergent.

I live with my partner and our two kiddos, both of whom are also neurodivergent, and right now I’m supporting all of us on whatever money I earn. I do freelance copywriting and editing as my main thing, but I also make a decent chunk of my income from selling my zines and books and pins and whatever else I make, so the more I sell, the better able I am to pay bills and take care of my family.

Through my Ko-fi, you can buy my zines and books (I have both poetry and prose available) and pins, as well as commission me to make you a music-inspired mini-collage or hire me to edit your own writing. Or also just throw me a few bucks if you appreciate the content I make available for free.

If you live outside the US (I can only ship within the US via Ko-fi, because setting up shipping for multiple countries is a pain the butt), or just prefer to purchase something or donate via a different platform, I also have PayPal and Venmo (@ JessieLynnMcMains).

I also have a Substack newsletter. I try to send something out at least once a month. Sometimes it's a longer piece about music and nostalgia (I recently started a series called These Fucking Songs, for just that purpose), sometimes it's just updates on what I'm up to, sometimes it's something else. I'm currently working on one about poetry, and my writing process, and revision.

As if that weren't enough, this month I'm doing a 30/30 on the Tupelo Press site, which not only means I have to write a poem every day to be posted the next day, but I am also fundraising for Tupelo Press. My goal is to raise $350 by the end of the month. You can follow along with my daily poems here (the newest is always at the top; scroll down to read previous days), and the fundraising page is here. (I'm also offering some cool incentives for people who donate; more info about all that is available on the fundraising page.)

I'm pro-trans, pro-vaccine, pro-sex worker, pro-abortion, pro-Black Lives Matter. I'm for harm reduction for any drug user or addict, meaning I want them to be able to use drugs as safely as possible, rather than forcing them into rehab or incarcerating them. I'm anti-censorship and anti-fascist. I believe everyone, everyone, should have a safe place to sleep and enough to eat without having to earn it. I consider myself an anarcho-socialist, basically, but I do vote. I'm telling you all that because if you are vehemently against any of those things, we'll probably not get along.

I'm a forever-goth/punk who loves all kinds of music. (Things on heavy rotation for me as I write this are: The Replacements, Einstürzende Neubauten, and Oliver Nelson.) I'm femme but I'm a disaster femme; when I use nailpolish it's always sloppy and/or chipped, when I wear eyeliner it's always crooked and/or smeared, and I am incapable of not ripping a hole or two in every pair of tights and stockings I own. I love art and film and theater and literature and music. I'm a Shakespeare stan, I love growing my own vegetables, I collect souvenir pennies and stick and poke tattoos. I'm always a slut in theory, even when not always in practice. I'm perpetually nostalgic, melancholy, and restless. I spend all my free time posting pictures of myself on the internet and trying to prove I'm punk to anyone that'll listen.

Want more Jessie content? There's my website (still under construction, but it exists). Or you could try searching the my writing, my art, Jessie Lynn McMains, or Rust Belt Jessie tags on this blog. I also have a side blog, where I tend to post more frequently than I do on this blog. If you ask nice, I'll probably give you the URL.

On that note, my DMs and asks are open, and, as of right now, anon is on.

I think that's it! As always, whether you can send any $$ my way (or to my fundraiser) currently or not, keeping this post circulating helps. Thanks much. 🖤

[bug-memory]

I wanted to write a post thanking everyone for their interest so far in my Harold ball-jointed doll. To anyone who shared, interacted with, asked questions, or preordered: THANK YOU!

I’m almost at the minimum order quantity I need for the project to happen; specifically, I need three more orders (one each of gray/clear, dark tan, and dark tan/smoke). I’m so happy to see a positive response to my first casted ball-jointed doll.

Since starting the preorder on the 29th, I have had several people ask about whether I will hold another preorder for this doll, having an interest but wanting to wait till later for a number of reasons. At the moment that answer is no, because basically the viability of this doll (and tbh my viability as an independent doll artist) depends on this preorder. This is my first foray into doing a preorder and having my dolls casted rather than me printing them. And, on a larger level, this will help me determine whether my future doll projects are viable. Although I have been sculpting for a few years, I recognize I am relatively new to the ball-jointed doll hobby and community as a whole, and this preorder is kind of a way for me to see if there is a niche for my creatures and me in the hobby. I hope that answer is yes.

I don’t go into this looking for profit; it took me over a year (of unpaid work) to finish sculpting Harold, and I sculpted Harold for myself because Harold makes me happy. I would be able to make more dolls and create more designs if I were able to do this as a main—instead of secondary—focus. And, I’m hoping that despite the widespread difficulties most people are facing at the moment, enough people can support my dream of creating more dolls by joining the preorder.

Few things bring me as much joy as sculpting a little creature and then printing it into existence. It’s op! It’s magical! Idk how to describe it. But it sparks joy. It sparks joy in me to have a little creature on my work desk or on display somewhere. And I hope it sparks joy in others as well.

Marketing stuff is fun and interesting but also weird and draining for me. It depends so much on other people’s approval and help. But I believe in Harold! I gotta show people how cool Harold is! And so far, some of you also think Harold is cool, and I’m so happy about that. You validate my existence as an artist. (There’s so much anxiety that goes into something like this lmao)

So… if you’re still reading, thank you. I’m going to end this post by saying, the preorder runs until November 12th. The info page is pasted all over my profiles and in my pinned posts on all my socials, so, take a look if you’d like.

[mutiny-huyutiny]

comissions info!

so, a few people comissioned me last month and I've been asked about it from a couple of people as well, so it's seems it's time for...

...Price list!

My prices are pretty flexible - feel free to dm me to discuss the price. If you have a budget - tell me and I'll say you what can I do :)

So, I'm also able to draw difficult perspective (or I guess so) and I can design you a character! Feel free to ask for more examples <3

Boosty Payment:

so, boosty is a russian analouge for patreon. They're pretty similar. You can use your card\paypal\etc for the payment, it's pretty simple and I will send you a guide! [with pictures!] a small guide here: - register on boosty (you can use your google\facebook\etc account to sign up) - go on the page of artist you'd like to pay - click donate and choose payment option - if amount of money you're trying to donate is too big, boosty may not let you donate it. in this case, split the payment in parts. - once you paid, say to artist that you did it [not necessary but nice and it will make things faster x) ] - you're great!

[anim-ttrpgs]

The Review Copy of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy

Guess what is coming soon at the time of writing this? The review copy of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy!

This represents the first official pre-release release of a version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy that doesn’t look like an unformatted mess!

Don’t get me wrong, the version of Eureka you get for just $5 on our patreon is plenty readable, but in its current unformatted state the page count is hugely bloated, there’s a lot of blank space, and the flavor text is all just shoved under the body text with notes denoting it as such. Plus, it’s all just black text on a white background without much in the way of aesthetic besides the occasional snoop to break things up.

Well not anymore! The copy we are going to be sending to reviewers and rpg news outlets is going to be a test-run of our actual intended aesthetic for the finalized rulebook, that of a bunch of conspiracy and investigation notes pinned to a corkboard with red string connecting them!

(The text within the images you’re seeing here is slightly outdated because these are just mock-ups, the text in the actual review copy will be much cleaner thanks to some excellent copy-editing help we have been getting.)

Due to time constraints and being behind on deadlines, plus not having the Kickstarter money to pay for additional art yet, this version will not showcase the full scope of the intended aesthetic, but it will at least give you a pretty good idea of what we’re going for.

The final version is going to have a wider variety in the paper scraps so as to more efficiently use the space available, plus a bunch of different “styles” for the side text, which will help denote whether it is a rules clarification, an example, a bit of flavor text, etc—plus a whole Kickstarter campaign worth of art from theblackwarden, qsy, and chaospyromancy! The Kickstarter campaign is launching April 10th, 2024, and we are going to need about $3,000 to meet our base goal and $33,000 to meet all of our many stretch goals, so if you want a more stylish and artistic rulebook, please give what you can to our Kickstarter campaign in April!

We are gonna be sending this version of the rulebook to tons and tons of TTRPG personalities and news outlets within the next couple of weeks in hopes of an honest review or two that will help get Eureka on people's radar beyond the modest following we have here on Tumblr. If you are one such personality or news outlet, and you want to recieve access to the free review copy to read and write about, please do not hesitate to contact us, even if you only have a very small following! You can find our contact info on out website or just contact us right here on tumblr!

Check out our Kickstarter page for the best accumulation of info on what Eureka: investigative Urban Fantasy even is! The Kickstarter campaign launches April 10th 2024!

Check out our Patreon to get the whole prerelease rulebook + multiple adventure modules and pieces of short fiction for a subscription of only $5!

If you wanna try before you buy, check out our website for more information on Eureka as well as a download link to the free demo version!

Interested in actually playing this game, and many others, with the developers? Check out A.N.I.M.'s TTRPG Book Club, a club of nearly 100 members at the time of writing this where we regularly nominate, vote on, and then play indie TTRPGs! At the time of writing this, we are playing Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy, and sign-ups are closed for actually playing it, but you can still join in to pick up a PDF club copy of the rulebook to read and follow along with discussion, and sit in on and observe sessions! There is no schedule obligation for joining this club, as we keep things very flexible by assigning multiple GMs with different timeslots each round, to try and accomodate everyone! This round, we had over thirty people sign up, and were able to fit in all but one! Here is the invite link! See you there!

[ierotits]

hello, i hope this is okay to ask you! i remembered you had your post about pounamu so i figured u might be a good person to ask about this.

i have had a māori bone pendant (which ik is not the same thing; i was just hoping you might know) necklace for several years. it was gifted to me. it has been like my comfort item necklace; i literally have worn it every single day and it’s a my fidget / security item / comfort / safety token.

unfortunately i have managed to lose the necklace. i am. very upset by this. i wanted to see about potentially getting myself a new one? but i also don’t know where the original necklace was sourced from. so what i wanted to ask is if you knew of how/where to find bone pendants that are actually made/sold by māori people? or even like individual makers who sell their own? i’ve tried to look around myself online, but i haven’t rly been able to find much and i don’t trust myself to be able to know whether a place that is selling these is actually made by māori ppl or not. i was also wondering if there’s a similar importance with these kinds of items as what you said in your post with the pounamu, where i shouldn’t actually even be getting one for myself at all but it needs to be gifted to you.

tl;dr would you happen to know anywhere to buy bone jewelry made by māori folks?

i hope this isn’t too much of a bother, and sorry if i’m a bit rambly; i’m still very upset about losing the necklace. thank you so much

kia ora e hoa! I personally know very little about bone carving but for sure have tips for finding your own! I'm sorry to hear about your taonga, but sometimes the loss is a sign that you are moving into a new phase of your life and it is time for your taonga to move on with you

in general, the best method for finding authentic carving is looking into who the artist is! any carving should name who the artist is, and usually will also list their whakapapa, iwi affiliation, or what authority they have for carving. find something you like, search for an "about us" page or any info about the carver, and they should be very upfront about if the artist is māori or not. anything that doesn't clearly list iwi, I would always steer clear of

that said, there's a few local companies and carvers that would be my go to! most pounamu carving places will have some bone available

hapa is a company that puts māori artwork into the public sphere

tarati design is an artist who started to raise money for drug rehabilitation

moko pounamu is one of my locals, and they've been great at replacing the cord for my own pounamu previously

generally I'd advise finding somewhere local, or somewhere you have a connection to?

authentic whale bone will always be more expensive (over $5,000) but beef bone can be very affordable, some even below $100!

good luck, and I hope any of this helps

[einsatzzz]

Profile Info + Project KHRe(:born!!!)

Hello! You can call me Ein. I'm an artist who's trying to improve my drawings and to manifest the visions in my brain. I also love OCs very much, whether it's mine or others' OCs. For more information, you can refer to my Carrd and my Tags page. Feel free to send an ask too if you want!

Blog’s Current Status: Semi-active (can be inactive on weekdays; working on my projects)

OC Profiles (Oniyanagi Wiki)

Kurumi (Wiki Page ⬗ Character Tag)

Kana (Wiki Page ⬗ Character Tag)

KHRe Webcomic

Status: IN-PROGRESS WITH CH1 Target Release Date: SOON IM COOKING SO HARD BUT THE GLAZE PROCESSING WILL TAKE SM TIME EVEN IF I FINISH IT WITHIN THIS WEEK

Main Tags

#einart - Art posts on Tumblr since 2022.

#queue i can't put into words - Queued posts. I will occasionally remove this tag from older posts.

#khre - Posts related to KHRe:born's universe and related AUs.

↳ #khr oc - Posts related to KHR Original Characters, both mine and others.

↳ #khre oshiete - Posts related to KHRe OC asks answered under a "Oshiete Yuipachi-sensei" crack segment.

Project KHRe(:born!!!)

@amiahoshi (Sou) and I decided to call the project "Katekyo Hitman Re:born!!!"*. We call it either Re:born!!! or KHRe for short. This is my main brainworm cultivating mega-project that has several sub-projects under it (including the webcomic). Anyway, read below for more details on this project!

*Note: Inspired from T/oky/o Gh/oul's title, where it had "T/G:re". And it really just emphasizes the "Re" in "Reborn", meaning "again, do over" - mainly since it's a retelling. MOST importantly...it's very easy to remember for me and my goldfish brain.

So far, the major ambitious projects I have under this are as follows:

Oniyanagi Wiki

This is a wiki site I made in Miraheze and I have already set it to public, so you can visit it through this link (or the one I linked above in the OC Profile section).

All characters/items/stories information related to KHRe is planned to be compiled here bit by bit, including certain canon characters (due to the inevitable canon divergence).

I learned a lot from making this wiki.

KHRe Webcomic

A webcomic that features KHRe's story. KHRe is sort of a similar universe to canon, but not exactly the same. There will be additional characters, which are our OCs, then there will also be modifications/additions to the story/lore as well (e.g. certain arcs/chapters will be rearranged, certain events will happen earlier).

Tsuna retains his protagonist role in KHRe as well (I'm so fond of him, my 2nd fave...), but he will also be joined in this role by the twin bosses from Oniyanagi, Kana and Kurumi.

Oniyanagi's full 10th Generation line-up can be found here.

Just like canon, it starts with Daily Life Arc. I will draw chapters for as far as I can get into the story. One of my main goals in making this webcomic (besides being able to draw both KHR and OC art at the same time) is to improve my art.

Into the Looking Glass

This is a Horror RPGMaker game that features a prequel story for KHRe through Kurumi's childhood (around 8-9 years old). Long story short, it does follow the classic formula of a kid exploring a scary place by themselves.

The title is very much still subject to change, but I referenced Alice in Wonderland for it. Because it's Baby Kurumi (Alice) stumbling in an otherworldly place (Wonderland) and the events that take place moving forward changes her life.

This will take a very long time to complete, but I wanna finish it eventually because I'm also a big fan of Horror RPGMaker games and I've always wanted to make one.

KHRe Test Game (no title yet)

Yes...that's right. I'm editing this now after three months and still no title. 👍

This will be a very short RPGMaker Game with Tsuna as MC and it's definitely less ambitious than the previous two listed here. This is just me testing and learning the features of RPGMaker before I go do more work for Into the Looking Glass.

The game is just about Tsuna being invited to the Ninomiya Estate by Kurumi and he has a very "fun" time there 😂👍✨ (just like a normal Daily Life Arc episode~). It won't be horror, but maybe for Tsuna it will be 😀.

Other Projects

As for other projects that are even more less ambitious and more doable in a shorter time, I do have MV Projects for KHRe plus a few shorts (like this one) I plan on drawing them in. I listed my priorities here (along with the major projects I mentioned) and will try to update when I can (at least monthly).

═══════════════ ◈ ═══════════════

That's all for now! THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK! Any questions are always welcome and very very appreciated! 👀✨I really just love talking about this series, OCs and my projects. I will also continue to update this pinned post as I figure out my projects more.

[shco-ss]

Alright, it’s time, I’ve had quite a few people ask me recently, and tbh I would've much rathered have this out earlier, but life got in the way (I'll almost definitely be bringing on a couple more admins next year, provided, that is, that the event runs next year - which fingers crossed it will!!) so here’s the info on submissions, posting, and how everything on the tail end of this event will work.

Long post incoming!

(you can view the contents of this post in a google doc here if you prefer)

So How's it Gonna Go Down?

Further down on this post, I've linked a google form, where you will all be directed to submit your works. authors who post to AO3 will have an extra step in needing to post their works to the event's AO3 collection (which is also linked below). This collection is currently unrevealed and anonymous, which means that any works posted to it will, for now, show up blank - don't worry though! Your fic is still there! others just won't be able to see it quite yet.

By the tenth of January, the deadline for this event, each participant needs to have filled out the submissions google form. - including those who have posted to the AO3 collection - If you need an extension, please reach out individually before the due date and we can discuss it on a case-by-case basis.

On the 15th of January, I will reveal the collection on A03, but keep it anonymous - this means works will then be visible, but authors will not be. I will also work through individually DM'ing each participant their gifts. after this process is complete, I will post a list of every participant in the event, so people can have a guess at who their Santa is , if they'd like to.

Throughout the 20th of January, five days after gifts have been revealed, I will gradually post Santa reveals on the event's accounts, with the work, the santa, and the giftee, potentially alongside a few other details.

After this is complete, and once I give the all-clear on the event's tumblr & twitter accounts, Santa's are welcome to post their works wherever and whenever they see fit, although I would request that you include the tag "shcoss2024" on your post, and, if you'd like, mention the relevant account to the platform you're posting on so I can see and reblog/retweet your post!

How & Where to Submit Your Work

This is hopefully a comprehensive-enough guide, but please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions at all.

For Authors on AO3

First, you’ll need to post your work to this collection here. You can do this either by opening the link to the collection and pressing "post to collection", or by typing " shcoss2024 " into the "post to collections/challenges" box of a new work and selecting the collection, as seen below.

Be sure to check out AO3’s Collections FAQ page if you’re not entirely sure on what this means, but I’m also happy to create a full tutorial at some point in the near future if lots of you are confused.

Before you hit post, you can also gift your work to your giftee through AO3, if you’ve been provided with their AO3 account. You can find more info about this at AO3’s Gifts FAQ

Please also include the tags "Event Tag: shcoss2024" and "Event Tag: Sherlock & Co Secret Santa" on your work when posting!

After posting your work to the collection, please move on to the next section

For Everyone

Right, now I need you to go fill out this Google form. After the initial page of the form with general details, you will be taken to either one of the below pages based on whether you’re an artist or an author.

Artists will be taken to a page where they can upload their artwork, as well as answering a couple other short questions.

Authors will be taken to a page where they can either paste in a link to a document, type in their AO3 username if they've posted to the collection, or upload a file with their writing, alongside answering a few other short questions.

If neither of the above options are viable for your gift, please reach out and we can come up with an individualised solution

A final page will ask you to answer a final couple of questions, and then you will submit the form, and there you are! You've completed your part of the 2024 Sherlock & Co Secret Santa event! Give yourself a pat on the back!

As always, please reach out if you have any questions <3

[blorbopolis]

hello! im sorry if you get asked this a lot, but I was curious how you got into doing art ttrpg? and what should an interested artist have in their portfolio? thank you 💖

hi! so i wrote out a big "how to" before re-reading your message and considering you maybe just... asked how it happened for *me*, not necessarily how someone else should do it LOL. so, how it happened for me: i've been actively courting freelance art work since ~2009, and fantasy ttrpg is a natural extension of my interests - my portfolio was already full of world of warcraft fanart by the time ttrpgs & D&D really started having their modern moment. TTRPG is a good low-to-mid level place to find leads, as well, because the barrier for entry is super low for creators, which means a lot MORE projects to go around. (If you want to make a board game, your artist has to know a LOT about packaging, printing, manufacturing, graphic design, etc. if you wrote a D&D module and just want to publish it on itch.io? your artist only needs to know how to send you a decent sized .jpg.) as far as portfolio goes, when i started getting consistent replies to my cold emails, my portfolio had mostly covers and half-pages (ie, narrative illustrations), portraits, and animals. If you want to be more well-rounded you could also include pieces focusing on environments, items, and creatures. Don't include anything unless it's GOOD though. (i am so serious about this - bad work in your portfolio makes the good stuff look like a fluke.) now. if you wanted a "how to" answer, here is 600 words lol. I'm gonna start with the base assumption that your work is already hirable so we can focus on just like, specialization + client acquisition tips. getting a folio up to snuff is a whole other can of beans short version goes like this:

this whole thing only works if you have the ability to honestly self-assess. new work & skills: you should have fresh stuff that's a snapshot of what you can do *right now.* this doesn't mean old work can't stay in your folio if it's still good, but a small, current folio that really hits is WAY better than a bloated old one with irrelevant studies or student work. new artistic peers: as you continue to evolve as a professional, you should have an idea of which other working artists your work is most similar to, in terms of skill/tone/specialties/other relevant skills (3D/graphic design/etc) in order to see how you stack up to your """competition""" for lack of a better word. Additionally those artistic peers have hangout zones (discords or FB groups, etc) where you can talk shop & pass around job leads. research peers' clients: research who those peers are contracting with. See if your work would be a fit for them; if so, find their contact info and put it on your list. Those clients are probably also promoting other similar projects or publishers on their feeds; twitter has a handy "you might also want to follow" list that has other similar accounts you can explore. You can also work backwards from the product to the creator (see any cool battle maps, CCGs, board games, etc? find out who made it and whether they're the ones doing the art hiring.) Additionally, those discords & fb groups I mentioned will have leads (of varying quality) shared around that you should be assessing as they come in. reach out to new batch of clients: cold email. be realistic about who's worth contacting, but don't self-disqualify. that part is a balance. art directors are people with problems to solve, and you need to be able to A. anticipate the problems they need solving, and B. confidently (and honestly) let them know exactly what you can do for them. Attach A FEW, SMALL, RELEVANT jpgs that they can easily download and keep for reference. do not send massive high res attachments, their inboxes are full enough as it is. If you're responding to a specific call, attach relevant pieces or curate a page on your portfolio site specifically for work that would fit the project. If reaching out to clients doesn't result in a lead - *or*, if it takes them 3 months to get back to you, you should spend that time doing your own stuff and bolstering your skills. eventually your portfolio will be good enough that it kicks down doors for you.

you'll notice i never included "be active on social media! post your new work! feed instagram's ad revenue by giving it more content!" in this strategy because it doesn't matter. i'm not professionally active on any social media. we were getting hired before twitter existed and we'll still get hired after it dies. just do make sure you have an online portfolio (your own website >> artstation >>> other free folio builders >>>>>>>>>>>> an instagram feed.) the more times you do this cycle the easier it gets; both because you'll just get good at every step of the process, and because more people will know you and have known you for *longer* so you seem like a safer bet. I'll be honest: it's a ton of rejection lmao. I would get a rejection in my inbox at least once a week - even more than that i'd just get radio silence. But eventually you'll get a yes, and if you're lucky that yes will result in high quality new work you're proud of and can put into your folio (taking you back to step 1 lol.)

the freelance life is (INSHALLAH!!!) behind me since i now have a full time job doing marketing/supporting art for video games. But my portfolio never would've gotten there if i didn't have the experience of going through the freelance meat grinder first. it really taught me how to be an actualized *creative* (who can stand up for her own expertise, think like a project manager, and take creative ownership of / responsibility for my assignments) and not just a hired hand. my team likes that. i think