trubluebecca

[trubluebecca]

On the social media note:

I think I've gotten more activity on Cara this week than I have in previous months. I think some twitter/x users might be migrating there as well. I have not spent a lot of time looking around there. I've been using it as more of a portfolio site and somewhere to link to images. Actively against AI and does not allow it.

Bluesky is basically twitter/x. Lots of people migrating from that site to Bluesky right now. I never liked the twitter UI, but I'm trying to post and do at least a few reposts and interact some. I think getting into "starter packs" (lists of users generated by other users) is extremely helpful for gaining followers. Has made a statement saying they do not plan to scrape for AI, but doesn't restrict people from posting it.

Facebook has ended up more for dog stuff and a lot of people I know IRL. I was super bad about instagram, but then I started using the business manager and was cross posting to insta and my business page. Now I don't want to feed Meta's AI with artwork. I really don't want to do with my photos and videos but oh well.

Tumblr is tumblr. This is the only site I still make sure to check all the posts that have appeared since the last time I logged on. All of the others I just skim a couple of scrolls with my mouse, might look up a user or two in particular, and then move on, since they're algorithm based. I'm here for the long haul even if though they've jumped on the AI train.

[trubluebecca]

I'm trying to post more on social media that isn't Meta based, so here's some older art that never got posted on Tumblr. It's my now passed cat, Echo, as a fuzzy little kitten.

I've had a Cara account for awhile now, but rarely posted. I was using it to post work and then link to FB even though the reach for external links is shit. I do not want to feed the Meta AI anymore than I already have. I just started a Bluesky account this week because an artist I'm friends with on Facebook has had some incredible response there. It seems to be growing exponentially and I'm already beyond 200 followers which is a lot of growth for me in a week. Linked artist has a guide to getting started on Bluesky.

[trubluebecca]

Only my OG followers remember Maud, but I think she's getting a makeover.

Basically swapping her species for the new, smaller, related species that I designed earlier this year. The design for the big opossum beasts is staying around, but they get to be wild animals now.

[trubluebecca]

Posting this so I can pin it because I guess I'm better about keeping this updated than a post every year. Please reach out if you're looking for something other than a pet portrait. I'm open to other work.

[trubluebecca]

Posting this so I can pin it because I guess I'm better about keeping this updated than a post every year. Please reach out if you're looking for something other than a pet portrait. I'm open to other work.

[trubluebecca]

I have a bluesky account now??? I never liked twitter, so had no interest in joining, but other artists are getting a lot of activity there, so guess I'll try?

[trubluebecca]

Reblog and put in the tags if you can remember where you got the shirt you're currently wearing.

[trubluebecca]

getting you getting you getting yu getting you getting yuo getting you getting u

[trubluebecca]

Has this been done yet?

[trubluebecca]

My expectations were not met at the cat show I attended this past weekend, lol. It was my second worst show since I've moved. I had 4 sales all day. I did cover my booth fee, which is the bare minimum I try to do. I didn't have to stay in a hotel or anything because I was able to stay with my aunt.

Things I learned:

As far as pre-made merchandise, any purebred animal exhibitor is going to be looking for "their breed." If they don't see it, no sale.

That said, my hopes for a cat show weren't so much the exhibitors buying pre-made merch. I was hoping they would opt for commissions of their individual cat. I had hoped the general public attending the event would go for the "generic" cat merch. Unfortunately, the foot traffic was lower than usual. That said, I think all but one of my sales was to "the public." So my theory might not be too far off. I just didn't have a big enough sample.

I probably need to cater my signage to the show, lol. All my signs that used any art had dogs. Nobody seemed upset by that, though, haha.

I'm probably getting to the point I need to upgrade my booth design. I was told by another artist that I don't have enough art out big enough to make a good impact. This person also told me I could easily charge more for my work.

This really isn't a "new" thing I learned, but the dramatic opossum continues to sell anywhere. I sold multiple copies/formats of that in those 4 sales.

My next show is a furry con, so I'm like hmmm. Do I draw more generic anthros? I have mostly dogs, which are like...a personal project/headworld that I've not wanted to add other species to. I get the feeling furries would be more interested in sketch commissions of their sonas/ocs, so I probably will make that an option at that show.

[trubluebecca]

Applied for my first AA at a furry con. Interested to see the response at a show in my state. If one of my sculptures sells, I will be sold on furry cons.

[trubluebecca]

The last wild cat out of the three I finished recently: A serval!

I've actually used the same reference photo before, but I wanted another shot at it. I just really like the flow of the fur pattern.

[trubluebecca]

Another wild cat! This time a cheetah. I'm thinking it might be fun to chip away at portraits of all the wild cats. That will take quite some time, though.

[trubluebecca]

Finished this jaguar this week. I started it traditionally, but I didn't pick the right surface for what I was going to do, so I scanned what I had and finished digital.

Based on some awesome wildlife photography by an agility judge that I'm friends with on FB. She went to South America and photographed jaguars in the wild!

[trubluebecca]

Finished this jaguar this week. I started it traditionally, but I didn't pick the right surface for what I was going to do, so I scanned what I had and finished digital.

Based on some awesome wildlife photography by an agility judge that I'm friends with on FB. She went to South America and photographed jaguars in the wild!

[trubluebecca]

reminder that coming up with some fake little dudes and creating intricate storylines in your head is a completely free and fun way to pass the time and the government can't stop you

[trubluebecca]

Regardless of what you think about generative AI in general, NaNoWriMo allowing AI-generated works is beyond stupid because that completely defeats the purpose of the challenge, which is for you, a human being, to write 50,000 words in a month. Yeah, that's hard. That's why it's a challenge. Where is the challenge when you can ask a chatbot to spit out 50,000 words of whatthefuckever for you? Even if you think that is a legitimate way to produce fiction, even if you don't care about the ethics of training on stolen works... where's the challenge? What's left of NaNo at that point?