#zine has some great contributors too so tune in if you want to see some cool works (+the final piece I end up submitting)

[monkeymir]

an alternate version of my piece for the Paul in 68 zine hosted by @sleeper9 that comes out in July.

[stexnationaltraindayzine]

INTEREST CHECK RESULTS

IThank you to everyone who completed the zine’s Interest Check! Here’s a summary of the results with some answers to your questions!

Most who are interested would be interested as artists and consumers, 4 are interested in writing and 2 are interested in applying as moderators. I will have moderator apps posted very soon.

For digital merch, the three top choices were posters, mini comics, and wallpapers.

More or less every character has been mentioned for wanting to be seen in the zine, so the artists will have plenty to choose from. We will make sure that there is a relatively evenly distributed representation.

For specific historical events you’ve listed; the Golden Spike’s marking the ending of the transcontinental railroads construction, the phasing out of cabooses, dieselized tracks being converted for electrification, and the refurbishing and rerunning of the UP 4014 Big Boy steam locomotive.

The question of pairings was a pretty resounding yes, so some ship work will be allowed in the zine.

OCs will also be allowed in the zine with some conditions:

OCs must clearly represent real railroad organizations that DO NOT have representation in Stex canon already these would include:

-Atkinson, Topeka, and Santa Fe

-Amtrak

-Baltimore and Ohio

-British Rail

-Chesapeake and Ohio

-Chessie System

-Deuche Bahn

-Great Western Railway

-ItaliaRail

-Kansas City Southern

-The Pennsylvania Railroad

-Pullman

-Rock Island

-RussianRailways

-Shinkansen

-Societe nationale de chemins de fer francais/French National Railway Company

-Union Pacific

As for what people don’t want to see in the zine, these will definitely NOT be included:

-Anything political or controversial from a human rights perspective

-NSFW

-Overly involved meta

I will also address these points that were brought up

-Post 2018 designs: I am leaving this up to the discretion of the creators to whether or not they want to incorporate post 2018 designs /characters. There will be a number of vetting processes when it comes to idea proposals so we get enough variety, but we don’t want there to be too much of a limit for the contributors.

-Real trains: That’s kind of the point of the zine seeing as it is for National Train Day. Contributors aren’t required to portray real rolling stock in their pieces, but some amount of research and appreciation for the history of trains is helpful for the prompt, which is National Train Day.

To address your questions/comments:

“I just hope the mods, whoever they may be are unbiased” We will do our best! As long as you are following the rules it should be smooth sailing for anyone involved.

“ will characters be distributed to artists so that a wider range of characters are drawn, or will everyone get to choose what pieces they make? “

A bit of a middle I suppose. We don’t want to limit creators too much but we also don’t want to see too much of one character.

With Ocs (if they are allowed), maybe fan national engines based on actual train companies/providers?

Yes! That is perfectly acceptable! We will allow some contributors to submit pieces protraying ocs based on orgs that aren’t already represented in Stex canon as seen above.

How often will updates be posted on Tumblr?

For any major opening or deadline, an update will be posted. You can check the schedule to see when to expect updates.

 “I might be interested in being a moderator, but I’m not really sure what that means; this would be my first zine”

We’d be happy to have you whether you are a first timer or not! Basically a moderator is someone who helps put things together and assists in the approval processes for the contributors, and answers whatever questions participants may have about the project. If you are approved as a moderator you will get a written briefing so you have some guidelines at your fingertips.

I will be opening moderator applications Feb 3rd so stay tuned!

~Mod Rusty

[dotzines]

Artist Spotlights!

🎤 Bluzumara 🥁 Bom 🎷 boredlydoodling

🎺 Bri Penrod 🎸 Bubbles 🎻 C. Douglass

Interview below the cut!

Introduce yourself

🎤 Hi! I'm Bluzumara. I'm a  spanish artist more focused on digital art, and interested on manga creation. You can find me on Deviantart (Bluzumara), on Twitter (@AlmaViajero for art twitter or  @Bluzumara for personal) 🥁 Hi!! I'm bom, I do digital art and draw lots of cute ladies! I love dnd and I'm making an upcoming wlw zine featuring big women! I also love making new characters to sell to people! You can find my art at the following links! https://instagram.com/bombiibom/ https://twitter.com/bombombii/ https://www.deviantart.com/bombombii I follow back as well! 🎷 I'm an artist that enjoys both digital and traditional art. I love drawing cute girls and have way too many oc's. I'm currently in University studying character design and Illustration, and you can find most of my work posted to instagram. ->https://www.instagram.com/boredlydoodling/

🎺 Hello! I'm a nonbinary autistic guy. I love cartoons and drawing and I'm currently going to school to be a storyboarder. You can find me on tumblr at https://hey-lil-artslut.tumblr.com/ on twitter at https://twitter.com/HeyLilArtslut and on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/heylilartslut/ 🎸 Well... This is my first ever zine! I'm generally shy and awkward so please excuse how most of this is worded, I do tend to ramble, sorry;; I'm both a digital and traditional artist (I'm doing digital for this zine though hehe), and I'm currently mostly into Touhou and Granblue at the moment. You can find my art here!!: https://twitter.com/Bubblesdoodles 🎻 Hello, I'm a traditional artist.

Do you do commissions post? Where can we find the info?

🎤 https://twitter.com/AlmaViajero/status/1171118754249490433 🥁 https://www.instagram.com/p/B0zCPqkp7ii/ 🎷 https://www.instagram.com/p/By0mjHlFdld/ 🎺 https://hey-lil-artslut.tumblr.com/post/186570288557/heyyy-ive-been-struggling-financially-since-my

Do you listen to music (or tv shows/films/anything else) when drawing?

🎤 Yes. For some reason, I can't stand podcasts or anything like that, so music is my go-to option 🥁 I watch a lot of speedruns or gaming vids when I draw! I love having constant commentary to give me background noise. 🎷 Totally! I usually can't do anything in silence, but I find music tends to help me more with my schoolwork while a fun movie or tv show is put on for personal drawings! I have a soft spot for animated pieces while I'm drawing.   🎺 Yes, I listen to music, cartoons, youtube videos and movies 🎸 I do listen to music when I draw!!

What’s your favorite music artist/band? If you could ask your favorite band/music artist one question, what would it be?

🎤 Parov Stelar. I would ask them about the starts of their career. How did they started to work to the public and how scary did they feel about it 🥁 I'm really into Ghost right now! I love their spooky tunes and the melody go HARD! 🎷 I'm not sure I have one! I like all kinds. Fan creators. Vocaloids like Miku and Rin and Len, classic artists like Supertramp and I grew up listening to Nickelback, Def Leopard, and Bon Jovi. I would, however, love to ask every single one what their favourite part of music and performing is! Because to me, music is so special and can affect emotions and events, so I would love to hear what goes through some singer and songwriter heads! 🎺 My favorite band is Mother Mother 🎸 I'm not quite sure exactly who my favorite is, considering I have quite a few favorites, I guess I should say Mili since my favorite song is from them. As for asking them whatever question I want? I guess I'd probably ask them which of their songs are connected into a story? 🎻 I really enjoy the music of Lenka. If I could ask her a question, I would ask if her songs are based on her life experiences.

Do you play an instrument? If not would you like to play one? Which one?

🎤 I don't play anything. But I would love to play the violin...Or realistically, the flute 🥁 Id love to play the keyboard or guitar! I'm not musically inclined so the best I could do is a uke or otomone (they're so cute hehe) 🎷 I play piano! Not very well, but I learnt it a few years ago and I still mess around with it from time-to-time. 🎺 I can just barely play the ukulele and the piano. I'd really love to learn to play the keyboard 🎸 I don't! I guess It'd be fitting for me if I knew how to play a trumpet, so that I suppose.

Which song(s) are you going to draw?

🎤 All Night, By Parov Stellar 🥁 A Thousand Eyes by Miracle of Sound, Night of the Werewolves by Powerwolf and Handmade Heaven by MARINA 🎷 I will be drawing the song "Melt" originally performed by Hatsune Miku, though I'll be focusing on the version covered by Youtuber JubyPhonic. 🎺 I am going to draw Death of a Bachelor by Panic! At the Disco & possibly another! 🎸 Ga1ahad and Scientific Witchery 🎻 Lenka - "Maybe I Love You"

What do you expect from this zine?

🎤 I don't expect anything. More than anything, I expect myself to be able to finish it on time! 🥁 I expect to see many great arts from other contributors! Find new artists to follow and new music to listen too! 🎷 A fun time and a lot of beautiful works of art that express how important and magical music can be! 🎺 I'm just really excited to see everyone's pieces! 🎸 I just hope to gain some experience and confidence from it! 🎻 I look forward to a friendly community of artists working together to put together a nice publication.

Anything else you want to add?

🎤 I see a lot of people with creative ideas as for today, and I can't wait to be a part of it! 🥁 I hope this zine is a growing experience for all who participate and those who view it can enjoy all the beautiful art we all put work into it!! 🎷 I can't wait to see everyone's pieces and how they come together! 🎸 I really hope everyone has fun participating or looking through this zine, considering this is my first one ever I hope it's enjoyable for everyone involved! There's so many great artists here to share their work!!