How To Be A Con Artist III

Before you read this, please make sure to read parts 1 and 2:

How To Be A Con Artist I
How To Be A Con Artist II

Previously I talked about organizing yourself to choose what shows to attend and a way to keep track of those conventions.  I'll repeat what I said before: Go to conventions that are interests you have.  If you like fantasy, go to a fantasy convention.  If you like Star Trek, go to a Trekkie convention.  If you enjoy the show, you'll have a good time and feel excited about being there and that will translate into sales, even if your items aren't specific to the convention's theme.

I'm going to talk a little bit here about what you are selling and also, the big issue of pricing.

Many people who are anime artists worry about selling at other cons.  People who do fantasy illustration worry about selling at anime cons.  These same artists will change their style and attempt to do other styles to try to appeal to the audience of the convention.  This tends to be a mistake.  The most important thing I can tell you as one artist to another is this:

You be you.

Do your art.  Do your style.  Create your work.  Its possible that audiences won't buy your work at a specific type of convention.  If that's the case, then you don't go to that convention to sell your work.  If you keep changing to try to make sales, you aren't going to develop as an artist and your personal style will get lost.  We are all selling art, no matter what form it is, but most importantly, you are selling you.  You are selling YOUR vision.  No one else sees the world the way you do, so no one else can create what you create. 

Red Dragon Hatchling by Georgia Horesh

When I started at the conventions, I drew what I was inspired to do.  Some of it was anime style, some of it was fantasy...  I sold both.  As time went on, my work stood out from the other artists because my way of drawing wasn't what anyone else was doing.  My most famous pieces were my cute dragon sets, which at the time, no one had or were doing.  And those sold at all the conventions I went to, whether it was anime, literary, or sci-fi fantasy.  Heck, they even sold at comic-book conventions.  I did do fan art, but those pieces were one of a kind that were placed only in the art show.  I didn't sell fan art at my table - but I'll get into that in another blog.

Create the work you love to create.  You will eventually find your audience and place to sell it and it may be in places you didn't expect.  I'm not saying don't go out of your comfort zone and don't grow - experiment, try new things and don't be afraid of change.  My point is, don't try to be everything to everyone.

Now on to the rough stuff.

Pricing your work a huge hurdle and there are many ways to go about it.  First, lets talk about prints, photos, jewelry, paintings, plush or what not.

The most important thing I can tell you is to not undersell yourself.  Selling items cheaply does get you sales, but a lot of times it won't get you profit and it makes your work... well... cheap.  I undersold a lot of my work and it wasn't till I was going to conventions like Dragon*Con where I was meeting full-on professionals that I saw I was really undervaluing my work.  Remember, you can always lower prices at a show if that appears to be the big hurdle of attendees buying from you, but you really can't raise them at the show.  And here is a secret: if YOU think your work is worth something, then guess what?  So will the customers looking at it.  I mean, do you really want someone to buy something from you just because it was cheap? 

Drowess. 1 of my 1st copies sold for $2 at my table.

The other side of this, is that we as artists have to train the audience.  What you are doing, what you can do as an artist, is a skill.  See how I bolded that and underlined it?  That's because its important.  Art is a skill.  It is a skill like any other that is worth paying for.  Electricians get paid, plumbers get paid, mechanics get paid - and even if people complain about paying, they pay.  Why?  Because they can't do what electricians, plumbers or mechanics do!  If someone comes up to your table and likes your work, even if they are artists, there is something you can do that they can't, or something you captured in your art that they didn't.  They should pay for it!  By undercharging, you undervalue your work and you undervalue ALL art work.  If people see they can pay $2-$5 for art, they think others are overcharging for the same work for more money.  They believe those other artists are snobs or demanding for some reason.  So as a community, we have to stop that thought process and teach the audience that they should pay good money for good art!  (And trust me, that's training that will carry on through your professional career in the arts - ask any professional graphic designer!)

This is also why you should rarely, if ever, do work for free.  Anyone who says to you that if you do the work for free for them, you'll be paid in "experience" or "free publicity" or "free exposure" or "to add to your portfolio", should be sending out a bunch of red flags in your brain.  Basically, they want you to do work for free and are using those excuses to get away with not giving you money.  The creative industry is one of the only places this happens for a good reason.  Its because they get away with it.  Artists are a needy lot and we want people to like us and our work and we fall under the sway of those who approach us with offers and say they want our art.  Its acceptance.  And it all sounds good.  But think about this... Let's go back to our electrician...  Have you EVER heard of someone saying to an electrician, "I'd like you to wire my living room...  Instead of paying you though, you'll be getting free publicity.  I think it will really be great experience for you and it will be a great opportunity for exposure.  I mean, I'll tell everyone what a great job you did and your signature will be on the wall by the light switch."  That wouldn't go over well...  but that's the same thing that happens to many young artists all the time.  

Below is a great rant/speech by Harlan Ellison and while it is regarding writers, I think it applies to other artists as well.  I'd give it a watch if I were you.



Yes, he is vehement, but there is a reason for it.

Now, let's look at pricing...

You need to look at this as a long range situation.  You need to be thinking in regards to a year rather than convention to convention, you should be thinking of yearly income...  How much you want to make a year as an artist.  You have to decide if you want to sell a lot of inexpensive pieces or go with a few expensive ones.  Below is an example of price thinking assuming that the artist wants to make about 20,000 a year to see it in simpler terms:

2 for $10,000 each
4 for $5000 each
8 for $2500 each
16 for $1250 each
32 for $750 each
64 for $313 each
128 for $157 each
256 for $78 each
512 for $40 each
1024 for $20 each or
2048 for $10 each

You also need to be asking yourself the following questions:

• How much are you comfortable selling your work for?
• How many pieces can you realistically sell in a year?
• Who is your audience?

For pricing individually,  you can follow this sort of formula:

1. Add the cost of all the materials (cost of print, cost of mat board and tape or cost of plastic bag if it isn't matted, cost of frame and glass, wire and screws, clay, fabric, stuffing, buttons, thread:  EVERYTHING you used to get the final product.) 
2. Estimate how many hours it took you to create the item and multiply this by how much you'd like to make an hour. ($8 an hour? $10?) Add that to the previous figure.  For example, if it took you an hour and you want to make $10 an hour, you add $10 to the previous number.
3. Multiply the total by 2 at the minimum.
4. Now compare that price to others in the area or that you've seen. If your price is much higher, you may have to look at cutting the costs of producing your work. If your price is much lower, then you might to raise them to be a bit more competitive.

Don't confuse income with profit! Income is what you get from the customer. Profit is what you have after you've paid your expenses. You don't want to just cover your expenses, you want some profit.

Here is an example to figure out a pricing.  I'm rounding up to keep it simple.

1. I made a necklace.  The cost of chain was $7.  The pendant was made from two different pieces which add up to $15.  Jump rings come in a package of 10 for $2 so, figure each jump ring costs $.20.... I used 3 of them so that's $.60.  The lobster clasp was $.50.  That leaves the total of the cost to make the necklace at 23.10.  But wait, I include packaging and price tags to add another 1.40 to bring my total to $24.50.

2. I want to make $10 an hour and it took me an hour to make the necklace so I add another 10 to my total, bringing it up to $34.50.

3. Multiply by two and that brings it to $69.

4. Now I can look at my pricing and decide if that is too high or not.  I can look around on the internet and see what other similar products are selling for and adjust my price accordingly.  Even if I lower the price, I can still make a profit - you don't want to undercut yourself.

Even if you are making prints at home on your epson (which I did), I had to pay for the paper and the ink cartridges.  I had to take that into account when I charged for my prints.  I bought mats wholesale so I got a good price and that got put into the cost.  (If you can, buy wholesale!)  If you can't make a profit you need to figure out where to cut costs and what is putting you over the edge.  Always keep in mind that it isn't just about selling, its about making income!

Now... about Commissions.  This is a big issue for many artists.  I'm going to give another sort of list to follow:

Start with the cost of the actual materials that you will be using.  (note: This is an example and so, I'm throwing a few numbers around, but you'll get the idea)

Full color commission

In this example, a customer wants a full color copic marker commission.  My 12 x 18 Bristol pad cost me about $20 for 10 sheets, so I'll start with $2 for the paper. The markers aren't too expensive and are pretty darn cheap when you realize how many pieces you can get out of them, so I'm just going to call that another $1. I almost always ink my drawings before I color, and since this is a pretty complicated piece, maybe I'll use up a whole pen. Let's call that another $3, which is pretty generous and can include the pencil and eraser wear and tear and some sketchbook pages making the initial sketches (if I decide to do that). So, I'll have about $6 invested in actual art materials.

In the case of digital art, you've got the cost of your computer and your tablet to consider, but there aren't any tangible costs, unless you count the price of electricity. Do include the price of a print here, if you will be mailing a hardcopy of the final version of a digital painting.  You need to figure out what you are printing it on and how much a pack of that paper is so you can determine the cost of printing on one sheet.  Its hard to figure out how much printing you can get from a cartridge, though it sometimes does say on the box...  Figure at least another $4 - $5 on top of the hourly rate - more for the paper to get a digital print.  Each print you make of digital art should include a percentage of the cost of the ink and paper and added to your commission rate.  

The customer wants the original mailed to him, so I'm going to charge him $5 to cover priority mail and insurance on the image.

Now I'm up to $11. No matter how I decide to charge for my time and efforts and extras, I don't want to go below this number, or I'd be losing money on the project. And that's just bad business.

Again, now its time to add in my hours.  Again, you have to ask what kind of wage you want for doing this.  I want to make $10 an hour so... I add that in because I'm guessing it will take me about an hour to do the piece (it always took me longer but we'll keep this simple for now) Now its $21.

There is also a little something called overhead.  This is to take into consideration the situation in which you find yourself doing the work.  Overhead is the cost of electricity, or studio space, the past cost of your tablet or computer, the past cost of your drawing table if you do a commission at home.  Overhead is the cost of your artist table, your parking spot, your hotel room, convention registration, and other such costs if you are doing the commission at a convention.  You can always adjust, but $5 is pretty good start.  So, the work is now up to $26.   That's a lot better that some starting prices I've seen for a full color commission but the price should be higher.  I just threw this together as an example of how to approach pricing your commission. 

When making your sign for your commission rates, make sure you leave leeway for pricing.  For example, a black and white shouldn't just be $20.  It should be shown with a scale so the customer understands that if they ask for more, they will be paying for it.  So you could have it as $20 - $30. 

Make sure you note differences in prices for pencils, black and white and color, whether its traditional art or digital.  Those can be divided down further to head portraits, upper torso, or full body shots.  One person or two people.  Full illustrations with backgrounds.  Character design and so forth.  On your sign, you should have small illustrated examples of those things as well.  This will help people understand what they are getting when you say a pencil drawing or a full color one.  If you can, I also recommend a commission portfolio, featuring previous work you've done for others - again to give customers an idea of what they are getting and to see your skills.

But I will say this - no one should be charging less than $10 for a pencil drawing.  You can disagree with me if you wish, but I'll point to my arguments above. 

Here is something to give you perspective (it is directed at attendees buying art, not artists, but you get the point):

You'll figure out what you are comfortable with, but be fair to yourself as well.  See what others around you are charging and figure out how long it takes you to do the work.  As I said, if you start out high, you can always lower it.   Remember, you shouldn't be thinking just about the show itself, but about your income for the year.  You'll be doing taxes and will have to take into account the fact that you will be paying taxes on that income as well.

So you've set your prices and are ready to go.  You are approached by an attendee who likes your pricing and wants you do work for them.  What do you do now?  You should have a commission list ready to keep track of customers.  This is where you are going to write the person's real name if possible, an email address and/or phone number and a brief title or description of the commission they are getting.  This should be a numbered list so you see how much work you have to do and can give customers later on an honest answer for a timetable on when they can expect their commission to be done.  On the same piece of paper or a different one, write down notes on the image - especially if its an original character.

Ask what the customer wants and make sure you can give it to them.
If this person wants you to draw robots and you aren't comfortable or able to do it, then you aren't doing yourself any favors by attempting it.  I personally didn't draw characters in explicit sexual situations.  If a person requested that type of art of me, I apologized and explained that I didn't do that type of art, BUT I was aware enough of the other artists in the artists alley and I would direct the person to another artist who I knew was comfortable with the subject.  Yes, I lost the commission, but I didn't force myself to do something I didn't want to do AND I established myself as an honest person who could be trusted.  Trust is important when you are selling yourself as an artist.

Black and White Commission

Sometimes the customer has unrealistic expectations that you might not be able to fulfill - turn the job down.  Better to lose out on the money than go through the time suffering and ending up with an unhappy customer and an unhappy artist.  The headache isn't worth it.

Ask them what they want to see in the art.
Look for broad answers that have to do with the way your art makes them feel.  Get details and specifics about what colors they want and what that want to see.  If its an original character, ask them for personality aspects, maybe a brief history so that you can bring something extra to the work.  If the character thinks danger is fun, then drawing them having a grand time killing something will make it a better drawing then them standing there staring at you - the customer will appreciate the aspect that won't take that much more time to do and may become repeat customers.  I had customers that found me at EVERY con so I knew walking in I had at least 3 - 5 commission slots filled before I even sat down at my table.

Ask them if there is anything they don't want to see.
The last thing you want is to put in something the person won't want.  If its pencil, sure you can erase it, but removing ink or marker is a bit harder.

Ask them if they have any other questions or requests. 
This is the moment for the customer to make a change or to clarify any confusion about what they are getting.  This is when you give them a quote on the price and you can make sure you are both ok with that before starting anything.

If everything seems ok, give the customer an idea of when they can pick up their work.  I started getting people's cell phone number so that I could call them at the con when the work was done and they could come get it when they were able rather than having them swing by repeatedly.  That way I wasn't feeling pressured by them popping in a lot asking "Is it done yet?" and they could relax knowing I would let them know when to come get it.  Or, you can say it will be ready for pick up on the last day of the convention and everyone comes for their work then.  Having the phone number also helps you out so that if you are there with work and someone is REALLY late picking it up, you can contact them and see what's going on.  Sometimes people forget they even commissioned work.  I remember standing at my table on Sunday afternoon, everything packed and ready to go, but I had a commission and the person hadn't shown to pick it up.  They were closing the artist alley down and I finally called.  The girl was actually just getting into her car getting ready to leave and if I hadn't called, she would have been gone.  Luckily she was able to run in and pick up the art.

Payment depends on each person.  Some artist like to take all the money up front.  Some like to be paid only after the work is done.  I think doing half up front and half when the work is done is also fine too.  What ever works for you!  Just remember to mark down what has been paid by who.  I'll discuss receipts another time, but this is a moment when that will be a good idea.  On the receipt you can say it is a commission and write down what has been paid.  When they pay the rest, you just add that in and know its all set.

There are many different ways to handle the payment art exchange.  Some artists do a situation like a coat check at a laundry mat.  You give the person a ticket and they return it and get the art they paid for.  You can mark it on your commission list.  Whatever you are comfortable with.

Don't feel badly if this all feels overwhelming.  Pricing is the hardest part for any artists, no matter if you are making jewelry, plushies, illustrations or sculptures.  Our first instinct is to go for a lower price due to our ideas of our self worth, but keep in mind, EVERYONE is feeling that way.  Some of what you'll do is trial and error.  What might work well in one aspect, might not work in another.  What I've posted here isn't law and might not be your cup of tea.  Use it as a guideline - something to help get you started as you try to figure this out.  Be patient with yourself and remember to have fun!

If you have any questions or even some suggestions, PLEASE feel free to post it in comments.  Even if it isn't directly connected to this posting.

Next is: How To Be A Con Artist Part IV

How to Be A Con Artist Part II

Since things have settled a bit and after reading posts on an Artist Alley group page on Facebook, I decided to pick back up on this and post another blog on being a convention artist.  Sorry to those who thought this was about something else, but you can read the first part here:

How to Be A Con Artist Part I

We've covered my brief history lesson of conventions as I knew them and a bit about myself so you know, I have some experience under my belt.  I've done just about all types of conventions (manga, anime, fantasy/sci-fi, comic, literary and so on) and so, I'm coming at this from different angles.

So, you've decided you want to not only attend a convention, but set up a table or booth in an Artist Alley or Artist Bazaar, or Seller's table?  Congratulations... I hope you enjoy loud music, bad acoustics, weird smells and the taste of coffee.  I'm not being mean!  Anyone who has attended a con will attest to those things existing and being experienced!

Dealers' room at an anime convention. (Source: Google images)

The first question you really need to ask yourself next is: Do you want to be/are you a professional artist OR do you just want to hang out and have fun as a hobbyist?

The reason I ask is because you really can't do both.

See, if you are doing it as a hobby, there is no pressure.  You're there to have a good time, not make money.  Sure, hey, getting some money for your art is great, but whatever...  Its all good!  And whatever money you make can go right into the Dealer's room with no guilt!  Your friends can come and hang out with you at the table, block it, yap, show off the latest cute plush they bought and it doesn't mean a thing.

That isn't how it can go if you're going in to be a professional artist.  This isn't to say, it can't be fun.  I had a GREAT time in the artist alley, no matter where it was.  Socializing, looking at the new work, sharing ideas, yapping, drinking coffee and a lot of laughing were all part of the experience.  But it wasn't why I was doing it.

I was there to make money and to expand my audience.

Yes, the dark side of art rears its ugly head.

When you are a professional, you have to have your paperwork in order, you have to keep track of your expenses, you have to keep track of your income, you have to be able to talk to people - and you have to know when to joke and when to have a professional demeanor.  The money you make is going to parking, your hotel room, your registration cost, your supplies.  Your friends hanging out at your table are distracting you from addressing customers, and them standing in front of your table is blocking your items from being seen by potential buyers.

I'm not saying you should shun your friends, but be aware of the balance of socializing and working.  Because as fun as conventions are, they are work too if you want this to be a business of any kind.  I learned the balance and because my friends were all professionals, they understood that when a customer walked up to me, they stepped aside to allow me to do business - without me even having to ask them to.  Same thing for me... when I went to see another artist, if a potential customer walked up, I stepped aside, no questions asked.

So, you want to be a professional artist?  Great!  Get ready to work for it.

The first thing you have to do is start thinking in terms of what you can afford to do so you can make a profit.  Some cons are close but might have a smaller audience.  Other cons that have a large attendance might be too far away to go to.  Many shows have Art Shows you can submit work to on top of having a table to maximize the amount of views of work.  There are sites like this one: animecons.com/events/ that list all the anime cons all over the world, or this one devoted to Science Fiction conventions: www.upcomingcons.com/science-fiction-conventions that you can use.  Just Google Convention List and see what you find.

Once you do that, you can see what conventions are close to you - usually more than you think.  One point I'll make here is that you shouldn't limit yourself.  I've gone to all sorts of conventions and I changed my inventory very little.  I brought the same items to all the different cons I had a table at.  At anime cons, my fantasy work was something different and stood out.  At Literary cons, my more anime inspired items drew attention.  The reason is, people who like one genre, tend to like others as well.  Sci-fi/Fantasy lovers probably also like some anime.  Manga fans probably also like comic books and so on.  So go to different conventions if you have the time and money to do so, keeping in mind that the anime stuff MIGHT not do as well at a literary convention right off the bat.  Best rule of thumb here is... GO TO CONS YOU ENJOY GOING TO!

When you get your list of conventions that you are interested in going to set up, go to each site for each convention and start your pricing.  Calculate hotel room cost, table cost, any parking cost and if you can, gas cost.  Also, write down how far away those cons are from you (Google Map directions with the address of the hotel or convention hall to your house).  Write those things down next to the con title and go down the list.  You'll be able to start seeing what conventions are plausible and what others might be too difficult to attend.  It will also help you prioritize.

What I mean by that is this:  You may have to sacrifice a closer cheaper convention to attend a larger more expensive one.  For example...  Let's say you want to go to Otakon in Maryland.  It is expensive to attend and have the cost of the hotel room, but you REALLY want to go because you know its large and you'll have a larger audience and besides, there will be a guest you want to see there.  To have the money to go, you may have to forgo 3 smaller conventions that are closer and won't cost much.  OR, you may not go to Otakon because you'd rather attend other mid-sized cons.  You don't want to spread yourself and your finances too thin and now is the time to make decisions and figure it out.  Keep the cons you wanted to attend but for some reason couldn't go on another piece of paper...  you'll see why in a bit.

Now we have a list of conventions you want to go to - Great!   Give each of those conventions a separate page and list under each, all the things you need to get ready for it.  That means things like:

• Hotel Registration
• Convention Registration
• Artist Alley Registration
• Art Show Registration

Etc...
Think of all the things you might need.  As you do each item or arrange for each thing, you can put a check next to it and know you have done that part.

Sometimes, even though a convention has been announced, the registration isn't available yet - MARK YOUR CALENDAR!  Check the site every other day.  Many Artist Alleys work on a first come first served basis and the tables go fast.

http://www.geocities.ws/fujiakon/dragonpics.htm

Read the Artist Alley rules for application before you apply.  If they require a portfolio, provide the work in the format and way they request.  Some Artist Alleys judge what work will be a part of their show.  Dragon*Con does and there is a reason: REAL ART DIRECTORS ARE THERE!  (And professional artists like Keith Parkinson and Yoshitaka Amano have shown there...) They have a reputation they are trying to uphold and present to the audience at large.  Is it fair?  That isn't even a question.  Fair has nothing to do with anything and you do have to suck it up and accept it as a professional artist.  If they ask for jpegs of your work at a certain size, send your artwork as jpegs in the requested size.  Some panels may not even consider your work, no matter how amazing it is, if its not in the format they want - if you can't follow directions, why do they want you?

If you don't get into an Artist Alley, cross the convention off.  Keep in mind why you didn't get in (missed a deadline, didn't register fast enough, wasn't chosen, etc...) so that you can adjust for next year.  Don't make it sour grapes and say, "They didn't want me so screw them!" Learn from what happened and move forward.  If you don't get judged into a show, KEEP TRYING THE NEXT YEAR.  If you are working as an artist should, you will improve and who knows, you may get in next time!  And sometimes, you can contact the person in charge and find out why your work wasn't accepted.  Sometimes it makes sense and sometimes it still doesn't and might not seem fair.  Take it as a lesson and move forward.  There are plenty of other conventions to try for!

Get some folders, one for each convention, and a planner or calendar (electric or real - though having a real calendar hanging on the wall is a great in-your-face reminder of when you have to do things and you can see things coming up).  Print out paperwork and confirmations and put them in the appropriate folders.  For example, hotel, artist alley, art show and convention paperwork for Otakon ALL goes in the Otakon folder.  You keep this with you when you go so if there is a problem, you have easy access to the papers you need.  Conventions are dealing with thousands of people and those in charge are HUMAN BEINGS WHO MAKE MISTAKES.  Having paperwork to back you up will simplify things and streamline situations into solutions for everyone.  Don't expect the convention to be keeping up on YOUR information.  That's YOUR responsibility.  Failure to do so isn't the convention's fault.  Its yours.

I'll go more into what to do when things go wrong in follow up posts.  I know I am sounding harsh, but remember, this is from years of experience and seeing things happen from personal experience and from friends.

So, let's say you have not gotten into all the cons on your original list.  Well, now is the time to bring up that back-up list!  See if you have time to go to those and do the same as you did for your first cons.  Sometimes going to small cons is great because you can build up your audience faster than jumping into a big con where you are a small fish in a big sea.

There is another aspect here and that is, even if you can't attend a convention, perhaps you can mail work in to their Art Show.  Most conventions have a mail-in policy for their Art Shows and its a way to get your work seen, even if you aren't there to have a table.  It is also a bit more cost-effective if you can't afford to go traveling.  Handle this the same as the convention list above.  Read all the rules!  And follow them!  Not just because you want to make sure your work is seen, but you want to make sure your work that doesn't sell gets sent back to you.  I know a few cons where people didn't follow directions and the staff couldn't send the art back to the artist...  Not where you want to be - especially if you are planning on using that art in another show.  Follow the directions!  You may not have to register for the con, but you may still have to register for the Art Show and see if you get in.  I'll cover sending to art shows in a later post as well.

There are some of the first steps to consider and hopefully some ways to start thinking about attending and being organized about it.  If you have questions you specifically want answered, post them and I'll do my best to answer them!  Even if it isn't business oriented!

Hopefully this helps a bit!

See part III here:  How To Be A Con Artist Part III

Attempts at New Experiences

As most of you know, I have been going to Los Angeles once a week since I moved to Las Vegas to attend a class at The Red Engine School.  The first couple of times I went to L.A., I drove there in the morning and drove back to Las Vegas that same night, getting home at about 3 a.m. 

My cousin Sue lives in L.A. and we got in touch and we figured it might be better if I spent the night at her place and drive the next day.  What you might not know is that Sue teaches yoga and not just the standard practice on a mat.  She teaches H2yOga!  If you don't know what that is, head over here:
H2yOga

It didn't take much convincing for me to want to take the class since I've been wanting to do yoga for a long time now.  Sue kindly invited me/welcomed me into the classes she had on Friday morning.  Last week was my first classes - yup, not just one, but two classes.  The first was Flows Afloat, which has a focus on connecting breath to movement.  The second class, Detox Aloft, is a bit more rigorous and intensive.  The classes started at 6 a.m. so we had to get up pretty early to get to the facility and that was a little hard on us since we had been up a little late the evening before talking and catching up.  Still, I was very glad I took the classes.  First, it was something good and healthy for me to do and usually you feel good when you do something good for yourself.  Second, I went in with no idea what to expect, so I had no expectations - I could just go in and... experience it.  Which I did.  I was easy on myself for not getting things right away or doing things right.  And while I felt the results of the workout, it wasn't harsh.  We did the class in a heated salt water pool so there was little strain and I can say that the next day, I didn't feel really sore - just a light ache that wasn't a big deal.

If you aren't sure about whether these classes are good and thinking I might be biased, read some reviews on Yelp!

This past week, Sue had added another class to the Friday morning lineup... the new class starting at 5 a.m.  My friends will know that I am not an early riser, nor really a morning person, but I did it!  This added class is a Pre/Post-Natal class - Now wait... before you say anything, you should know that out of the four of us there, only one was actually pregnant.  The class was much easier, working on balance and breathing and retaining a limber aspect to your body.  Its a really great way to start the day...  Of course this moved into the Flows Afloat class and then the Detox Aloft.

It was actually harder this time around - and it wasn't because the classes were harder, but because I was harder on myself.  Granted, I was tired physically - I was doing three classes of physical activity that I hadn't done before and no, I didn't feel it so much consciously (I guess because I was floating in the water) but my body was getting tired even if I wasn't aware of it.  For some reason, because I was doing this all a second time, I expected to do all the moves easily or better and that interrupted my actual ability to do the exercises.  I was tense.  By the third class I was having to stop and relax myself and let things go when they were getting either too difficult to do or I missed a movement that was meant to flow into another.  I had to stand in the water, take a few deep breaths and roll the tension out of my shoulders before trying to get back into the class.  I also forgave myself for not being better - mentally talking to myself to remind me that this was still new to me.

Its funny how hard I am on myself when I feel like I should know what I'm doing.  Its been the same situation with the classes at Red Engine.  Because I know a certain amount of information, I feel like I should be automatically better at what I'm doing.  Granted, my drawings are good and my character stuff is pretty good, but I'm still struggling with other things. 

Re-enactment of actual events

I'm getting frustrated with myself and annoyed, but I'm not being as forgiving as I am in the yoga class.  Perhaps because the yoga is new and doing art isn't, but I realize that I have to remember that this particular form of art is new to me.  It was easy for me to say that I knew I had to readjust some of my thinking when approaching the concept art, but I guess some part of me assumed I would be able to pick it up fast and be able to hit the ground running.  After all, most of my attempts at other forms of art have been fairly successful and not too difficult to pick up.  That just hasn't been the case here.

Just about final version of the character

We reached the 'midterm' this past week and I had a final character and environment.  The character was fine, but the environment image wasn't that successful.  I can honestly say that I was frustrated and annoyed and feeling like I wanted to just give up on the whole thing.  I was hitting that "I AM NEVER GETTING THIS!" moment and feeling that petulant "I don't care!" attitude - I just wanted to walk out. 

But like the yoga, I'm not giving up.  What I have to do, when I hit that wall of frustration, is to stop what I'm doing, get up and take deep breaths, roll my head on my shoulders and release the tension in my neck before jumping back in to try again.  I also have to be more forgiving of myself.  Seems that is always the hardest part.
 

Realities and Priorities

I wish I could fully understand the priorities of people's minds.

We live in a world where the people we trust and elect to create a better country for us to live in, betray that trust and lie, cheat and steal, many times blatantly.  There are mass graves of people being created as I write this and entire villages are being wiped away.  There are rockets being fired and bombs going off.  Innocent people are being killed, seriously injured or having their entire world turned upside down and destroyed in ways in which they will never recover.  People are being arrested for speaking up for human rights - being locked away, tortured, beaten, raped and forgotten: No record of their existence will ever be found.  Children are being lured, tricked, and kidnapped - yanked into the dark to be sold and used till they are no longer useful and then.... discarded.  Homes are being broken into and robbed; not just a physical violation, but for the homeowner, a mental and emotional one.  The sick and bereft are being denied services by Insurance companies; services they had paid for and finding they have no legal recourse so are left dying or in the cold.  Women are being raped and then forced to suffer severe trauma if they dare try to seek justice.  Babies are being beaten, abused and neglected, trained to create a cycle of violence that may never be broken.  In 'civilized' places, people are being beaten to death for something that makes them different, whether it is the color of their skin, the belief they hold or because of the person they choose to love.  And all over the world there are the hungry who quietly die in dark corners of cities and countrysides, wasting away into the shadows.

These are only a handful of the horrors we inflict upon each other.

And yet, with all of that, people believe G-d will weep now because the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled that a certain group of individuals can now have access to legal rights.

I believe we have given G-d many other reasons to mourn as he looks upon his children.  This small action in this moment of time is not one of them.

Finding My Limitations

I can hear the voices of support saying, "But there are no limitations other than what you place upon yourself."

And I know that.  Deep down.  Deep... deep... deep... deep down.  At the very bottom where the sun doesn't shine.  I know I am only limited by my own mental blocks and fears and frustrations.  I know that and it doesn't make a difference because I have to sit at my desk staring at my computer and wondering "WHY ISN'T THIS WORKING?"

Oh how the Modo Chicken mocks me...

What has gotten me to the point of near tears is Modo, a 3D program.  I don't seem to do well with them.  I'm not sure if its just inexperience or that my brain is having a really hard time thinking in 3D after so many years of illustration in 2D.  It may also be that I don't have a lot of desire to do 3D modelling and its kicking in some sort of mental blockade as a form of protest.

Whatever the reason, I am left feeling frustrated and trying over and over to figure out how to make this program work.

Usually when I get to this point, I fly into a frantic rage/breakdown and then figure it all out and move forward, but I don't see that happening.  I've watched videos and each time I think, "Ok... I think I got this," and I sit down to try and work, I'm stymied by the program and trying to work with it and around it to get it to do what I just saw the tutorial do.  It could be I have some setting in Modo that prevents me from having it function the way I want, but since I don't know what THAT is, I can't fix it or adjust it. 

Reenactment of actual events

I missed one class at Red Engine and of course, that was the Modo class and it seems that the others are getting it to work.  Even with the tutorial overview we had last week, I'm still not getting this.  It makes me more frustrated that I see others who are just as new to the program as I am, progressing while I slam my head against the wall. 

Add to that the worries I carry anyway and it leaves me feeling rather useless.  Yes, I know that I am good at many things and I'm good enough, smart enough and gosh darn it, people like me...  but you know that sometimes, it doesn't matter what you are good at, since you aren't good at the thing you are trying.  I'd say this is a weight that creative people carry as a burden, but I believe that it is something all people carry as they step along their paths.  Its why some people don't try new things or new experiences and remain focused on the one or few things they know they can do. 

Perhaps it isn't giving up, but realizing your limitations and being ok with it?  Or maybe it is just giving up and giving in?  I don't know. 

In the end it doesn't matter right now, because I'm going to continue to try and make this work and maybe I'll break through and maybe I won't.  I am taking this class to get to do something that I really want and so I'm going to keep working at this.  And no one do that "There is no try..." quote from Yoda.

Trying Something New

I mentioned in my last post that I had attended a family get-together a week ago (family reunion sounds so official).  I had a great time and reconnected with people I love and miss...  It was a reminder that they are really great individuals who I am honored to know and lucky to be related to.  There were a few bumpy moments of course, but that's to be expected when family gets together - we are family after all.  Over all though, it was a great time and I'm so happy I was able to go.

While I was there, my aunt was giving away bracelets she had made because she was no longer going to be making them anymore.  There were some real beautiful ones and I chose a few for myself.  During our time together, I asked her to show me how she made them and she kindly did, as well as giving me some of the supplies she was no longer using.  I was inspired to use the process but include my own twist and so after finding a bead store called Bead Jungle, I picked up a few more things I needed.

I got home and started messing around and I'm pretty happy with how they came out.  I still have some fiddling to do, but I think these are cool and certainly something people will like.

The first one I made was still following more of my Steampunk work:

The second one, I was thinking of more for a man if he wished.  Its more simple, but certainly I don't think that it would be odd for a woman to wear if she wished.

Like I said, more simple.  Both will be put up for sale on my Etsy shop to purchase and there will be more coming along.  In the future, I will also be adjusting my shop for more categories so it will be easier to find specific items such as necklaces, earrings and now bracelets.   For now, please be sure to check out my work at Stormwolf Studios on Etsy!

So what do you think?

Return of Etsy!

Yup, I am returning to Etsy - well, to be honest, I never left.  I simply 'shut down' my Etsy site while I was busy moving across country and trying to acclimate to life here in Las Vegas.  I would have done this sooner, but we also had a wonderful family reunion gathering in Toledo, OH, hosted by my 'big sister' and her amazing family.

But things have calmed a bit and if I'm going to be completely honest, the money from selling jewelry would be really very helpful right now.  So, I'm opening the shop up and will get back to posting something new everyday and possibly some new items that aren't from my inventory.  But I'll talk about that another time.

If you want to check out my Etsy site now, you can do so: Stormwolf Studios: Art, jewelry and more!

I will try to also post more to the blog because I do enjoy writing.  As another 'big sister' of mine pointed out, it would be a wonderful idea for me to do more of it.  Its something that has bubbled in the back of my mind from time to time and yes, I have thought about writing an actual book, but of course, the plot eludes me even though I have many ideas that pop in and out.  Perhaps it will happen one day, perhaps not.  Till that ever happens, I am going to start writing more.  I do have a lot of thoughts and things that I would like to share with people and I have this Blog, so why not use it?

My Red Engine classes are moving along and I'm finding it a lot harder than I thought it would be.  Part of it, or perhaps a lot of it, is working on the computer to create my art.  Yes, I've done that before, but never in such a concentrated manner.  And I'm not as fast as I would like to be with it.  Also, I realized that when I worked traditionally, I was more physical about it.  I didn't stay sitting at a desk staring at it - I was standing sometimes, leaning over it, walking around the piece, getting close, moving further away before coming back in to make a change.  That process doesn't translate well working on a computer.  Also, my wacom is to the right of my screen, another thing to get used to because I feel a sense of disconnect from the image I am trying to create and my hand.  Perhaps one day I will be able to afford a fancy computer tablet thingy where I can draw right on the screen, but that isn't happening anytime soon.  Add to that, the fact we are also doing some work in Modo, a 3D program and I am running uphill some more.  Its a lot to take in and we are now reaching our 'mid-term' so to speak with session 6 happening this week.

Our assignments were an environmental design and a character design.  We had to do 9 of each in basic grayscale for the environments and mostly silhouette for the character.  The characters were a lot easier for me than the environments (in fact, I had to do the environments over again...).  

Once we were ok on this part, we had to choose 3 environments to do a more painterly study of and 3 character designs to develop.  I won't show all of them, just the ones that I think I'm moving forward on (still not sure). 

Its supposed to be a forest but the feeling of the game I'm sort of creating these for is Industrial, so I'm trying to create an 'industrial feel' to something that is meant to be organic.  On top of that, I have to use Modo to create a 3D environment and then paint in Photoshop on top of that.

And here is the character.  One of the things I was told was that it is hard for players to connect to a main character if they don't have any sense of their 'humanity' so I lost the full helmet to reveal more of her.  Which was nice because I really like the hair. 

I have to develop these further into more final images.  We aren't going to be doing them in color, just the grayscale.

So... that's where things are right now.  I'll be working on more stuff, both for my classes and jewelry.  And of course, trying to blog more because I find myself coming up with things to write more and more as my mind moves forward. 

Another reminder: The Etsy shop is open so go check it out!: Stormwolf Studios Etsy shop!