#like prints and stickers i always wanted to have a lil online store

[cupiare]

i’m sick at the thought of being back on twt but i neeeed to revive my art acc 😭😭😭

[meirimerens]

I already wanted to try linocutting but seeing yours make me want to try even more now fjfjfh, do you have perhaps advice on materials or anything like that ? 👀 also the ones you did are so cool !

LINOCUTTING IS SOOO FUN honestly i wike it a lot. it's a good alternative To Me to wood engraving bc i can't really do that since leaving uni bc the materials for woodcutting are more expensive. lemme see what i can tell you!

i've bought all my supplies at the local art store for cheap, you can very likely find better quality (but also would end up more expensive...) stuff online.

carving tools:

mine look like this:

it says woodcut but it works for linocut just fine. some other carving tools will be sold with a singular handle and multiple tips, but i prefer to have a number of full tools i can go back and forth when i carve. you will also see rounded-handle tools, there tend to be more expensive but i have worked with them at uni and they were really comfortable.

my main rotation of tools has:

small v-shaped tip for most of the work

wide v-shaped tip for deeper cuts

small u-shaped tip for looser work

wide u-shaped tip for when you just gotta take everything out

sharp knife-like tip to cut out in corners and lift the material up like you would be peeling off sticker paper

linoleum:

again, i get what i find LOL. mine is grey, kinda hard, with a rope-woven backing. works for what i do, but i know some linoleums are softer, in just one block.. honestly go out there and see what your stores have

ink:

i use a water-based linoleum black ink bc water-based inks (and paints in general) are easier to clean in case of stains, and also it allows me to wash my blocks when i'm done with them with a LIL BIT of water, dishsoap, and a toothbrush (warning: this will make your dry blocks ""kinda ugly"" because the ink stains settle in the grooves, but that also means the ink does not build up on the surface and eventually destroys details of your work)

else:

you need a roller to spread your ink on! they're the hard kind specifically for engraving. like that:

you need a flat surface to spread thinly your ink on. most people use glass or clear plastic, i didn't have that so i'm using the flat back of some appliance we don't use no more LOL!!!

i personally use a press: i've gotten it from this etsy shop [honestly i recommend], they're genuinely not too pricey compared to the other stuff i've seen but also. well it's a few hundreds yknow. mine is the A3 format.

if you don't use a press, i KNOW some people just use their weights/the back of their hands/whatever else but i've been there done that and it was hell to me. save yourself the trouble and get yourself a baren, they're like these little thangs you use in circles on your paper to push it into the ink

you can make your own, i know some people use the backs of wooden spoons instead of those... try it out.

tips & tricks/misc:

as mentioned: in order to prevent ink build-ups between inking sessions if you print the same matrix over and over, please clean your linocut block once you're done. if using water-based ink, water, dishsoap and a toothbrush do the job; oil-based ink will dissolve with like vegetal oils. depending on your linocut it might curve under water so MAKE SURE it stays as flat as you can, by adding weights on them, i personally make em dry wrapped in paper towels and stack books on top. or i close the press on them LOL

ALWAYS CUT AWAY FROM YOU. my professors told me to use the tools with the index finger on top to "guide", because otherwise the blade can like. ZWIPPP fly off the block. i had read a post where the author said to always have band-aids on-hand when linocutting and. imma be honest i just think they kept nipping themselves bc they didn't have the Guiding Index and held their tool more like an excavator. but just in case, yknow. NEVER PUT YOUR FREE HAND IN FRONT OF THE CUTTING TOOL TIP again, if your blade goes ZWIPPP, you can stab yourself in your free hand.

always remember that the print you carve in your block will appear mirrored on the paper. since we do tend to draw asymmetrically, not notice things are asymmetrical when only seeing it one way and we can't really "flip the canvas" IRL to check, what i do is 1) draw my little drawing on thin paper 2) flip it 3) retrace it on the back of the paper 4) tape it like that to my block 5) go over these flipped lines VERY AGGRESSIVELY with a ballpoint pen until the ink bleeds through and appears on the block. NOT IDEAL BC IT STRAINS YOUR WRIST PRETTY BAD but i haven't experimented with other ways to do it LOL

use thicker paper for your prints. you will find by trial and error if your ink + printing method lends itself more to textured paper, smooth paper, lot of ink on the block, a lil ink on the block... etc

roll your ink thinly, but i've found personally not too thinly, you want it to make like. little... not bubbles? but like ✧-shaped patterns within the ink.

you. will. trial. and. error. it's by trial and error that i decided to ditch my previous printing method and get a press because By God you save much time, energy, PAPER, ink, when a machine allows for smooth inking, but also like. i be selling them. if you are comfortable with a hand-printing method with a baren, with just Pushing That In, power and bliss to you i envy you.

ending note: honestly you can buy cheap materials and yet still have a blast, and then slowly work on your artistic #grind month by month, year by year. linocut is insanely meditation, can be a lil frustrating, but when you pick out that clean crisp print.... ooooooh baby

have fun!!!!

[climbdraws]

How does an artist whose never really posted art online go about making a successful online store the same way you have? I'm not sure how to even start, do you open a store and pray? Get an endorsement from another artist? Am I gonna need a twitter? I guess im just looking for any tips, if you're willing to share. (BTW I got a a few of the holo skull stickers, ADORE them!)

hi! glad you like the holo stickers - hopefully gonna add more real soon!

(long answer so under cut)

I think the first thing you need to ask yourself is - how much effort do I want/have time to put into this? ((*For reference, my store would be categorized under upper-medium/high effort as I am doing art full-time))

Low Effort - POD service (print-on-demand) such as RedBubble, Society6, Teepublic (you upload your work, they handle everything else.)

PROS: They handle everything from site listings, product photos, product creation, packaging, shipping & handling, and customer support. They have brand reputation so people trust the site & your products. Offer a lot of custom printing (shirts, pillows, blankets, mugs etc) that would be pretty expensive trying to do yourself starting out. Very little involvement besides uploading your work & sharing it to your followers. 

CONS: Artists only receive a very small percentage per sale and it might take quite a while to earn anything substantial. Product quality varies (RedBubble sticker quality is hot garbage imo) as they are usually cheaply produced. A lot of stolen artwork/designs are sold on these sites and nothing is done to regulate it. 

--

Medium Effort: Online marketplaces such as Storenvy, Etsy, Shopify etc. A PLATFORM for you to sell your goods - you are responsible for creating, packaging, shipping & marketing your products. 

PROS: Convenient marketplace shopping allows people to easily browse your store alongside other vendors/artists. Allows you to brand your own store & products so that they are uniquely yours. A true “small business” as you are handling essentially everything except for the online store-hosting platform. Allows you to include personal notes/touches or freebies in your orders as you are packaging & shipping them yourself. 

CONS: Usually have to pay a fee for every sale/listing. Website/Storefront design are limited to what the platform has to offer (some don’t have custom HTML options). Requires YOU to create your own merch - whether it’s original art, prints, stickers, enamel pins etc - which means a lot of time spent talking to manufacturers, figuring out shipping rates etc. Can involve a lot of $$ investment upfront. 

--

High Effort / Full-Time: Creating your own website/storefront OR Patreon Clubs. Handling everything yourself & releasing new content quite frequently - good for artists with a following/brand reputation/full-time. 

Basically everything from the ‘Medium Effort’ tier but requiring quite a bit of time/effort (usually) daily. Monthly Patreon clubs are becoming pretty common - backers pledge every month for a ‘tier’ level and receive merch at the end of the month (which requires you to factor in manufacturing time, shipping time to you, packaging & then shipping to the customer which can be difficult for people who suck at meeting deadlines ((sometimes me but I'm working on it))

--

Honestly there is no “correct way” to go about creating a shop for yourself. I know a lot of artists who run their own stores & also have merch on RedBubble/Society6 as it’s just another revenue stream that’s quite low-key and the more visibility you have as a ‘brand’ the better. Some artists have shop openings with their store only being open for a week or two and then closed for a couple months and then re-open again (youtuber BayleeJae does this & is quite successful at it) 

There’s honestly so many factors that go into a store - what kind of merch/art you want to create, what your fanbase is, who you’re marketing to, how much funds you want to invest etc etc. It can be quite overwhelming which is why I really recommend those just starting out to start slow/small and test the waters with just a few items first before rushing in and spending a bunch of $$$$ on products that might not end up selling as well as you hoped.

Since you said you don’t really post online - I would suggest starting with a LOW EFFORT store like RedBubble, Society6, TeePublic etc and really focus on building your social media following & presence. Make sure your social accounts all have same/similar handles (mine vary a lil but it’s always ‘Climb’). Posting frequently can be hard but it’s really important to start getting people to notice you & gain interest in your work. 

[nsre]

nsre activity ideas 🍼

♡ play dress up! ♡

wear your cutest outfit and take cute pics or dress your stuffies too! (optional: do this with friends or cgs!!)

make it cute or funny!!! wear something you love or make a crazy clothes combination!!

♡ decorate something! ♡

fun fact: kiddos love to make things cute and pretty! so why don’t you use those stickers you’ve been thinking about using? put them on your phone case, your journal, a piece of paper and make a scene with them, your paci, your bottle, your backpack, heck even put them on your face and decorate yourself!!

♡ organize a stuffie meeting! ♡

okay stuffies. it’s time to talk! gather all your stuffed animals, and set them up in a big group with you in the center. take cute pictures of your stuffies, or play a pretend game where you have a party, a tea party, or an official stuffie business meeting. you can take notes on a piece of paper, make everyone name tags, or set up an even bigger space where the stuffies can be doing things! for example, using a little chair and desk you can pretend your stuffies are at school!

or for lots of fun, gather all your stuffies on a bed or soft surface, and JUMP IN THEM!!! it’s really fun and stuffies are cuddly! just be careful!

♡ tiny friend play date! ♡

meet up with another tiny friend like you and go somewhere fun where you can be small together! or invite them for a sleepover and make it a classic kiddo sleepover: prepare lots of snacks in advance, get the disney movies ready, break out the sleeping bags, get stuffies and toys ready for fun sleepover pretend games!

don’t have a tiny friend irl? no problem!! because tiny play dates can be organized online!! the best place for this is discord! make a server for your play date and invite as many friends as you want! to go on an adventure together, share pictures and stories of your favorite places and talk all about them. or go somewhere on your own and bring your tiny friends along by taking pictures of your surroundings and telling them all about the experience!! wanna have a sleepover too?? perfect!! plan to stay up tonight with your tiny friends on your sever and organize some fun things! share pictures of stuffies, spooky stories, play music, watch movies on rabb.it, and you can even roleplay a game as your toys and stuffies!!

♡ play online games! ♡

there’s so many fun games to play online that can make you feel small!! sometimes it’s enough to sit down with a laptop, ipad, or phone, cuddled with your stuffies and favorite blankie and play an exciting or relaxing game!!

♡ if you have a cg, plan a special tiny day! ♡

it’s common knowledge that having a special tiny day with your cg is lots of fun!!! you may not be able to go somewhere fancy, but you can even make the most of your time with your cg at home!! set up a play area for you to have lots of fun together with all your toys and tiny things!! have a movie night!! play games together!!

if you can’t see your cg irl, you can still plan a special tiny day!! actively talk to your cg and maybe voice call! play pretend together and watch movies together on rabb.it!! make a comfy space for yourself on your bed or floor while you watch movies and/or talk to your cg for a cozy and happy tiny day!!

♡ draw and color! ♡

should i even explain it?! drawing and coloring are the best things ever!! it’s a good way to express your creativity and use some crayons!!!! crayons are awesome!!!

draw something for someone you love and admire!

color something to hang up in your room or on your fridge!

color something to share on tumblr and show all your tiny friends!!

♡ prepare an awesome meal! ♡

it may not sound like something for lil ones to do, but if supervised, cooking while small can be lots of fun!! helping a cg, friend or family member cook when you’re tiny can make you feel like you’re learning so much and being helpful!

making desserts is probably the most fun for this!!

making a really yummy meal to put on little dishes is really cute too!!

♡ create a journal! ♡

make a lil time journal! draw, color and decorate in it to your tiny heart’s content!! make sections to write about all your favorite things! stick photos on the inside of your stuffies, or of your friends, or of your cg!!! use it to express yourself and have lots of fun with it!!

come up with daily or weekly topics to write about! make fun categories! make a section where you draw pictures of your dream room!!

♡ do activity worksheets! ♡

you can find these everywhere! just look up school worksheets online, or go to your local dollar store and pick up a kid’s school activity book!

you can print the worksheets out from online or you can use an editing app on your phone like phonto or picsart to do them!

these are beneficial for staying small and still learning and testing your baby knowledge!! you’re super smart so i’m sure it’ll be lots of fun!

♡ take a bubble bath! ♡

it sounds simple but yet... bubble baths are so much more than getting clean!! bring your favorite bath toys, put in lots of bubble soap, bring a bath fizzy! or color changing bath tablets! or bathtub wall paint or crayons!!

turn bathtime into the ultimate tiny playplace!! make yourself a hat out of bubbles, or blow them everywhere and see how they fall like snow!!

play with your bath toys and make them hide in the bubbles!! they live in a bubble castle!!!

if you turned the water red or purple, pretend it’s a scary murky lake and the toys have to get across it safely using a bottle of shampoo as a raft!!!! will they get across?!?

♡ anything you love to do! ♡

this is incredibly vague for a reason! because you know exactly what you love to do! so go do it!!!

make that painting you’ve been wanting to paint, write that story or poem, try that new food, plan that adorable lil photo shoot, reach out and make lil friends, be yourself, get those stuffies you’ve always wanted, make that cozy tiny corner in your room, dance around in your socks (but be careful)! just do whatever you love to do and be yourself while doing it!!

don’t hold yourself back, and don’t limit yourself! try new things and do what makes you happiest!

[salavante]

Spent a couple days in the chaparral and it always screws my head on straight, I was south visiting family for the last week but managed to slip away for a lil bit. (Which you tumblr folk know. I wrote this with the intention of putting it on twitter, but looking at it, I think it needs to be abridged) I like laser guns and barbarian bullshit and lot of other odds & ends that I think are obvious in my art, but I also care very deeply for CA’s native flora and fauna. Specially in places that are less glamorous, like the chaparral. I’m most knowledgeable about it & it’s occupants but being there has moved me to learn more about the place where I live now, & one of my new year resolutions has become to get to know it better. I want to be healthier & be outside more.

My love of nature and botanicals will be kind of obvious in the Derstiny fancomic I’m going to be endeavoring, which sounds weird I know. But a big part of my intentions it is to make it about the ‘little stuff’. So, that’s another tick in the resolutions box: comic. And all the stuff that comes with it (type, interiors/exteriors, design consistency). I don’t intend to make it a long run project. It’s quick, dirty & character driven. I have two ‘books’ planned but I think I could comfortably end it after two. I’ll decide if I want to do a third or not based on its reception and if I’m feeling it could stretch to a third. I’ll post it here on tumblr on a separate blog that I’ll make, but will probably also post it somewhere less temperamental. 

I’m going to really commit to monetizing my work more, by making more stuff with the intent to make it prints, stickers, etc. Maybe open up an online store. I’ll also be doing a patreon. It will start fairly modestly to test the waters, and I think will grow as I do. I won’t be putting finished work behind a wall, but I will probably start putting my WIPs in there, as well as posting things there early. It kinda grinds my gears when my WIPs get more circulation than the finals anyway, lol. So WIPs, early access, commission raffles, polls to choose content, etc. I have some research to do before I start tinkering with it.

Onward to 2019 I suppose! 

[w1737087]

Personal identity - hoardering habits

This little book of mine contains things that illustrate my own identity. They include self perspective and habits through accumulated items.

1. Burnt photograph forever slipped into an old torn oyster case. It was a gta case nobody wanted in the house and somehow fell into my lap and never left. I carried it with no real purpose but it did a job and wore out. It tore right down the middle. One half lost in the filth of the world and the other stayed with all mighty strength in the top left breast pocket of my navy jacket. Things tended to fall out from there but his one thing never drew from my armour. It contained a photograph of me that I remember vividly burning on the rooftops of aspers casino. Lonesome days smoking out, in the cold after a late shift, seeking company at the same time afraid of anyone bothering me. I sat for about six cigarettes toying with it before leaving.

2. Display of clothing tags. I am a fashionistaaaa. My most popular: urban outfitters and weekday. I’m interested in the art of consumerism. So I show this through my receipt and clothing tag collection. These demonstrate my shopping addiction and where I like to shop. They’re ultimate go to’s and I wouldn’t leave a shopping mall without seeing them both. They have the best stuff. I’d say they also mean a bad habit. As I shop over and over and may wear once or ‘not yet’ as life goes on and I add more and more, stuffing my wardrobe. I just couldn’t ever stop. To make a simple purchase ignites easy satisfaction and I do it over again as I wear the same outfits I have always worn. Though this thrill could never be tamed.

3. My beloved sudoku puzzles. They are only thrilling when completed from newspapers. No sudoku book or game on a device could suffice. I would complete them on my journey to uni everyday like I was bewitched. I would be occupied the whole duration till meeting my destination some days. It was a challenge I accepted each and everyday and fussed if a day I sat without one. I had to finish it before reaching the end of my train ride or else I’d failed. It was the best thing that coated these cold and dull months also. I would record how many stations it took for me to finish, jot it down from when and where and leave it for the spirits.

Artwork by Barbara Kruger:

4. Witness the tape down the middle. I also collect loads of tape. I love tape. Anything crafty and easy decor. Seen throughout my journal. This ones printed one of the best animes of all time: Avatar: the legend of aang. I re watched it in the past year all over since childhood. It belongs in this little book of mine because I’ve seen this show relentless amounts by now and it never ceases to entertain. I love it dearly. The storyline, and all aspects within and characters are just the greatest. I could have it on loop forever. It was a childhood memory that weaves into my adult life and if I’m honest I loved it more now than ever. It felt like watching it for the first in my life because I couldn’t forget it now and I understood it for what it was at this age. The images of the show follow me around in my house as it’s on numerously and also from the merch I see laying around me. It’s engraved boldly in my memories as it takes me back to days of being a child I couldn’t remember without it. Besides a cigarette packet. Smoking habits. You either smoke or you don’t. An effortless clarification. On the right there were just marks on the page and I connected them like join the dots as a child. At this very moment in time all I did was play with markers and hairspray for effect so that’s what that is.

5. The green pigment is random but I assigned a meaning as matches my lovely cool green sweaters I’ve been buying recently. I had been going on literal green sweater hunts for days and hours in store and online sites. It had to be this shade. Besides is a page regarding hoardering business. I collected stickers without intention and one day it became a thing. It started by sticking labels on my wardrobe off a bunch of clothes I purchased and they just never came off. The power of laze is undermined deeply.. really. So I gathered stickers of off merch and created a page to illustrate this. They show an understanding of my purchases at the time: washy tape x3, peri peri rice box I had delivered for a whole period, Apple MacBook purchase, price tag off “lady killers” novel, delivery packaging, item from China and clothing instruction label. Why should all this be deemed worthless and thrown away? Not in my book.

6. More tape and more tape. Raw paper. Smoked a lot of weed? Stopped that stuff too whilst fabricating my lil journals. It wasn’t for me anymore so I’m left with surplus paper. Chewing gum wrapper. My favourite and only flavour of gum I would ever carry. People despised it but it’s awesome. I remember years ago it used to be so strong at first and it’s just never like that anymore. My salivary glands know what’s coming. There is no war. It’s Mind over matter. They were also an accidental coil of collecting. I didn’t like to ever litter so rubbish would remain in my pockets and in all clothings i would just find them with a couple left or empty and it was just many before it became a lot and an item of collection. It was a good one because I could never change up, everything about this flavour pack was too cool.

7. You cannot say my name properly. It’s two syllables. Break it down, divide it, valve it then say it altogether. It sounds exactly as it reads. Starting Nandos I almost lost my mind because every person in the workplace couldn’t say it and I was dumbfounded. It’s anywhere I go actually. I often just say to people “it’s Naj”. I didn’t like babying anyone in teaching them how to say it fully. I was sick. Please don’t spell it wrong either. I think the letters arranged to spell my name is very fancy. It catches my eye when I see it slapped anywhere! It’s a millisecond thrill. It’s me!!! I’ve been called all sorts in my life now to think of it. My name is very unique too. I never counted so let’s.. I go by ninja, nij, bij/bidge, badger, naj, ninj, nijnaj, najin, nagini- the audacity someone called me this with sense. It belonged to Voldemort’s last horcrux, the snake. I was offended. Highly impressed I never forget a pronunciation however

8. I get overwhelmed many times a day. It’s all very sudden and as much as it happens I’m always taken by this feeling. I get this rush because I’m always so eager to do something I think of or jot a thought down really quick and I’m not, it gets cut loose and forgotten and everything is too much and disoriented. My time and mind is always averted toward my art and I don’t want to forget what I’m thinking so I rush to spill it. When I read a book I’m overwhelmed because there’s much to read and not enough time and I can’t seem to control the desires to feel every other thing I ever aspire to do with my life especially the current days in the same moment of writing or reading. When I write abkht one thing another thing comes forth and then another related to the latter and so on. By then I lose trail of all thought and I’m stuck with a bundle of heightened feelings about these critical ideas and and a static hand. Can’t keep a lid on it, I lose my shit as quick as I can gather it

9. I am both these pages. Just like no message is a message so are these plain/ destroyed pages. They induct two significant personas. Many more if I could write an essay on it