/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

>>8122904
I've never done artist alley, but I do work with furs. I live on a ranch with my fiancee's family in Washington and we recently started raising rabbits for meat and fur, and I have plans to sell hats and such made from the pelts on Etsy, at ren faires, etc.
Do any of you who have more experience know if they'd go over well at an anime con? It'd probably be Sakuracon (I live a couple hours away from Seattle.) and I'm a bit nervous about PETA types in addition to my merchandise just not selling well.

>>8123048
You'd probably do better at a renfaire or something that caters more specifically towards lolita. Fur pieces are probably more wanted in those scenarios (ie collars for lolis and raw pelts at renfaires), but I doubt they'd do well at your average con. I'm not into even faux fur stuff myself, so it wouldn't be something I'd really look at, but that might be different for others.

Since Storenvy is a hot mess right now, what other sites (Etsy excluded) would you guys use to sell your stuff online? I remember that the K-pop fags on tumblr would use Ecwid.

>>8123048
Rabbits for meat? Aren't there better choices in animals like cows or pigs? Rabbits are so small, I can't imagine them having much meat or is it for fur primarily?

In my opinion, the con scene is not a good place. There's just not a large enough market to justify the cost. Plus I can imagine furries being pissed that it's real. Personally as a lolita, my rule of thumb is not to buy real fur for fashion purposes since I can never know for sure if it's ethical and I can't wear the fur of something I own as a pet. I know many lolitas who go for faux or recycled vintage only as well, Opinions are pretty split on the topic, so I can't say for certain if lolitas would be your primary market. Ren faires are probably a better bet imo.

>>8123875
I see a few ren faire-esque booths at my local con circuit? A lot of people go looking at what they sell, but IDK what their overall sales are like.

Personally though, OP, I would rather buy real fur than fake fur on an accessory if it looked clean/nice/not ratty and gross. But everyone's mileage may vary.

>>8123875
They've got about as much on them as chickens, and there's the fur too.

A-Kon people, I bring you this:
http://www.artistalleys.com/A-Kon/signup.html

They're testing it out right now.

>>8123875
You can get about 7 pounds of meat off each one. Cows and pigs certainly produce more meat than rabbits but they're much more labor intensive to raise. (We mostly raise sheep, with chickens and rabbits on the side.)
I'm going to take all of your advice and avoid peddling at cons and stick to ren faires and farmer's markets.

>>8123830
ecwid and tictail are the ones I see the most right now.

This blog post have a list of some e-commerce sites at the bottom:
>http://littlereddo.com/post/108610027150/regarding-storenvys-new-changes

I did get a package from Vograce today, I choose their slowest shipping and it got here in a week, so still pretty good.

I got an order of one sided and a few two side to check those out. My one sided 2.5 inch keychains came out great and I love the keyring they added to it. It's nice and sturdy. They also come prepackaged you still have to remove the backing though. But you can easily reseal them. The phone straps they add on are actually my favorite (I chose type 3), but I make more keychains than phone charms. I printed both 1.5 inch and 2 inch for phone charms and I lean towards the 2 inch ones.

Not feeling as much love for the double sided as I do the single ones. Mainly because their technique is paper printing layered between the acrylic. The one sided ones I have no problem with but ones two sides are not as sturdy. I can pick at the one sided and they're solid, but I feel like the two sided ones can easily split apart. If you're looking into doing double sided it's better to work with a company that prints directly onto the acrylic. (Zap, Inkit, Chillypig)

>>8124352
Would it be possible to see photos?

>>8124352
Can I ask general area where you are?
I wanted to order some charms from them but the event I need them for is in roughly 5 weeks. It's my first time ordering charms so I'm really nervous.

>>8124352
Interesting. What number did you pick out of the 4 technique options for your double sided ones? Did you pick the double sided option with the epoxy or without it?

I actually really like the look of the chalkboards in her display.

>>8124784
It helps a lot that the person has nice handwritting.

>>8124034

Just tried it, hopefully they work out the kinks. Looks like 3/1 is gonna be the date?

>>8124858
I think they said on the AkonAA Twitter that they're still deciding on an official date.

>>8124863

Praying so hard it's not the week I'm on vacation out of the country.

>>8124897
Maybe you could get a friend to apply for you if it is? Just put all your info into a wordpad document and send it to them or something.

>>8124329
thanks anon. the new fees are seriously shit

>>8125051

Will have to. Hopefully it's another date.

So is everything else set though? Was it just me or did the website show $165 for a table but the application said $175? I kinda wish A-kon would get their stuff figured out before all these changes.

>>8125071
They changed it; it's $175 because it includes 2 badges now instead of 1 which is pretty good, imo.

According to the forum the signup date MIGHT be March 1st.

>>8125132
holy shit I hope it's march 1st. Still waiting on that tax id shit.

>>8125354
Well to sign up you just need the number. You don't need the actual paper ID until you go to the con.

>>8124784

I like the chalkboards, but mostly just because of the prices being so prominent. I'm sure you could get a similar effect with a nice frame and a print out of prices inside.

The other thing I absolutely adore about the table is the lace that the buttons are pinned onto

Anime Boston is still like a month and a half away and already I've had the onset of con-nightmares.

How early does this bullshit start for you guys? What's the worst pre-con nightmare you've ever had?

Alternatively: Did anything from a con nightmare ever come true?

For me last night I dreamed that we forgot all our pipes, and anything besides a binder of 11x17 prints. Everything new that we worked so hard on and invested in was at home.

>>8125132

Oh, that's a good deal then, yes.

>>8125359

Yeah, but don't you get the number when they give you the paperwork? I didn't get my # until they mailed the ID.

>>8124352
Do you have to mark where to put the hole to attach the phone straps to or do they just pick a spot?
I'm unsure at what size I should work on my charms on. Could I just use zap/inkit templates?
Since vograce uses paper backing if they get wet you think they'd fuck up if water seeps in? Should I seal the edges?

Sorry for all the question first time making charms and I don't want to fuck up.

>>8125071
How fast do akon tables sell out? I was thinking of getting one if I do pretty well at Matsuri. But Matsuri (April 3-5) is after the table registration so i don't want to buy a table then get fucked if no one likes my shit.
I've read in previous threads that akon is a pretty easy sell even if you have shit tier art though

Picture is my art.

>>8125816
I got my ID number when I finished filling out the online application. Maybe you just didn't see it? It should have been at the bottom of the page.

>>8125842
I've heard that last year sold out in 20 seconds. IIRC, once you enter your Tax ID, you "reserve" a spot in the queue and have 15 minutes to fill out the application.

I'll get samples done of the epoxy ones in march once they come back. I'm curious to know if they get sealed in sides. Vograce does have pretty good customer service so I'm sure they help me out with that.

>>8125830
I ran water through the one sided one and it was fine. Just to make sure I'll accidentally wash one when I do laundry to see how they hold up.

>>8125842
Almost instantly. One does not simply consider signing up for A-Kon. It's not a maybe, maybe not deal. If you so much as might want a table, you need to be on that shit. And yes, it is VERY easy to sell at. I've been selling at A-Kon ever since I was on the better side of meh, and I've always made good sales (although part of this is up to you- be smart about what products you carry and how much you pay for them).

>>8125811
I was asked to help out at a table at Anime Boston years ago and it went pretty badly. A pair of students at the school I was attending asked if I'd be interested in helping them out, and I agreed even though I knew they were awful artists. I should've seen it coming but it was my first time at a convention and I really wanted to go - especially if I could be in an AA. They made absolutely no preparations, didn't make prints and expected to sell their own (incredibly overpriced) original art, and actually ran off for a good half of the convention while I maintained their table. I actually sold more shit I made myself than what they had for their own table, and they gave me almost nothing back for it.

Bad experience aside I was wondering if they have more quality control regarding artists at AB compared to how it used to be. I've gone to Connecticon a couple times but I noticed the artist alley there is kind of so-so, I remember AB having some tables run by really good artists such as art college students but they also had some shit considering my past acquaintances.

I mainly drew this for myself in order to make a custom planner, but I was wondering how well you guys think this would sell at a con.

>>8127621
It's a good starting point. You should totally do this concept with the Free! boys. Bam. You're welcome. I'll take 10% of the profits.

Serious notes here:
-Colors: They're not horrible, but they're not awesome either. Use a site like ColourLovers to make your life easy here.
-Handwriting: Again, good for a starting point, but not a finished product. Obviously block letters aren't supposed to look all neat and tidy, but for something you're selling, it should look cohesive. See pic related.

I've been thinking about this for a while, but whats the appeal of selling fleece hats? I've seen them at cons a few times and have to wonder why? Do they turn over a good profit? Are people actually interested in them?

To me they're really lazy and low quality, I made the same thing in my year 8 sewing class at school and honestly can't see someone making any kind of profit off it.

Posting a couple pics that I took at Anime Milwaukee for display inspiration!
>free! body pillows holla

>>8127758

>>8127758
>>8127778
I love these, can we get more display inspiration in here? Next con is soon I wanna get more ideas.

For displays, what do you guys prefer, PVC pipe or Wire grids?

Do many of you guys do phone cases? Do they sell, in general, as an item?

I've had a few people ask for them, but i'm not sure where to get them (outside searching aliexpress) or if it's a worthwhile idea..

>>8128032
if you have peopel asking, it can't hurt to get a few done. Maybe poll people on what designs they'd like best and get a couple?

>>8127948
I use both but because there's crafty stuff and print stuff to display. Mainly the prints are my friends' since we share the table together, otherwise I prefer the wire grid stuff.

Does anyone happen to have that comic of a sweet lolita with an AA booth for ' things with :3 faces drawn on'?

>>8128032
I sell phone cases. I only did an original run of about 20 for two designs, 10 for the iPhone 4 and 10 for the iPhone 5. It took me about 3 conventions to sell them out. I don't really think they're worth the effort, despite how cool they are, just because people have so many different phones that you can only appeal to a tiny sliver of a market.
They're really really cool to have though.

I got mine for $1 a pop, and sold them for $15 each, so it was a okay profit margin.

If I can't get my name out there/followers on social media like deviantart and tumblr does it mean I'm just a shit artist?

I've done two artist alleys and profited at both of them but my stuff just doesn't do a good job of blowing up online.

>>8129618
No, it just means you're a shit promoter, which might be worse than being a shit artist actually (regarding sales, anyway).

>>8129618
Something to consider: I have found that a lot of it depends on how fast you produce as well. You can have fantastic art but if you only produce something once every few months then you don't get much exposure.

>>8129721
>>8129780
Both of these. My friend is super talented and actually worked for a few companies but does shit worse than me at cons.. I just do art as a hobby. Then again, she has a major in art whereas I majored in business. Give and take.

>>8128854
Hmm ok, thanks for the input. Where did you gets yours, if you don't mind me asking? I was worried because there are so many phones that people have that it would be hard to cater to people.

>>8128549
I guess because i've had LOTS of people say "i'd totally buy x!" and so I make some, and then all the people who said they'd buy it suddenly disappear, so i'm fairly cautious about new things. Which probably makes me a terrible businessperson, but yea.

I'm going to be working on a new piece and I've done this sketch. Just curious if anyone could give me any crit before I move on with it. I feel like the arms are a bit wonky, thoughts?

>also I'm saving working on the hands until later, but top hand will either be a solute or V sign

>>8129982
Torso a bit short, I find. Also her left upper arm looks too long. I would move that elbow up a bit.

>>8129982
Do the pose in a mirror. The calf on the right is completely wrong. Also she's fat.

>>8129982
consider a more interesting pose or push it more before you even fiddle with details. Super boring right now idk

>>8129721
>which might be worse than being a shit artist actually (regarding sales, anyway)
I don't know, I'm a pretty shit promoter with no online following, but I still make damn good sales at cons.
Sure, it'd be easier if I had that sort of base, but I don't think by any means it'd make up for it if I was shittier.

My main problem is >>8129780, though, because I'm slow as fuck at releasing content. I'm finishing up a print now, but my last one before it wasn't since September.


>>8129811
Yeah, there's definitely way too much of a variety to really sell. I got them from an alibaba reseller, but I don't know the listing name they go by because they contacted me through Skype and the customer service rep left the company. Only went through with it because they were extremely communicative, and had no signs of stealing art or designs anywhere in their merchandise.
They turned out really well. I wish I could give a name but I have no idea where to even look. I contacted so many companies.

>>8130157
No problems!

They do look great! I might do some research and have a think about it. I appreciate the info!

>>8129618
Mentioning this because other people haven't brought it up but most people don't blow up unless they're heavy fanartists. It's really rare to see people get popular purely on original work unless they're god tier artists and even then they don't blow up nearly as consistently as a popular fanartist.

And yes, I count professional artists in this category - they had to ride their company's marketing dollars to fame because they wouldn't have gotten nearly where they are without being associated with said company.

I've seen people selling keychains like this at cons where they preprint the images and let people choose which ones to insert in so they can have doublesided keychains. Do these sell really well? Arylic charms and keychains aren't in my budget right now and I was wondering if this might be a good alternative for a little while.

>>8127758
>>8127778
It's funny, neither of these look anything like what you'd expect them to going by the artwork.

>>8130115

Thanks so much for the red lines! Helps a lot.

>>8130377
I feel like these do well if you do a lot of characters from a fandom or just have a large inventory to begin with, so there's going to be a bit of an investment up front. I like them because they generally make for a pretty solid product, but I haven't seen them do phenomenally well either.

I just got accepted into Animazement's alley. It's been a few years since I was last at that con. Anybody have recent experiences in the art alley there?

>>8130386
You're right. They look like they belong to the other's table.

I am able to get up to 1,000 free 4x6 prints. Obviously, I did not expect this situation, so I'm a little thrown back. This is my first AA. I don't know if I should price cheap and make a bunch of designs, stick to a few designs and sell them for a normal price ($3 maybe?), or do a lot of designs and sell them somewhere in the middle. I've also been tempted to tell people they can pick their price, but knowing the con crowd, I'm sure I'd end up making $100 off of 1,000 prints that way.

>>8130377

These look cheap and unprofessional to me. I wouldn't ever buy one because it's going to be clunky on my keychain and definitely won't go on my cell phone.

Honestly, either investigate the laminated charm route or if the charms really aren't in your budget, I'd say nix the idea and just save up.

>>8130491

Don't price cheap. Price them at a normal price. Don't know the circumstances of this opportunity, but you don't want to sell prints for $1 and then the next year suddenly you have to sell at $5 because you had to pay for the printing. It'll piss off other artists, too, and can disrupt the marketplace. However, if you're worried about the inventory, do deals like buy 2, get 1 free. Another idea is to have an exclusive bonus print you can only get by spending X amount of money.

>>8130833
A good idea is when you have fanart of multiple characters from the same series - Put a good discount on a 'set' of every print.

>>8130377
I have bought some and I like them. I keep them with my keys and it's lasted for... 3-4 years now? I think the bulkiness is convenient because I can easily grab my keys from out my bag without groping around forever.

I agree with the others to have a wide selection of characters though. I'm a shameless fujoshit who bought them just to pair up my obscure OTPs.

How do you guys feel about placing bins or baskets of small merchandise on the table as a display? I always have my stuff securely attached to my grid displays because I'm super paranoid about people snatching something out of the bin when I'm not looking, but I think bins are pretty cute if they match the table display.

I'm working on a new print and plan on using the anime' logo in my composition. My question is what should I/what do you guys do in similar situations?

>Copy the logo 1/1 or as best as you can?
>Try to add stylization to add some personality?

>>8130491
Price them normally. It's been said, but try doing "sets" to get people to buy them in groups and if you still have a ton of stock on the at the end of the con, maybe use them to make grab bags ex: You can buy these prints for 3 dollars each or you can get 3 random prints for 7

>>8132640
logos are typically trademarked, in addition to being copyright and are a HUGE no-no for artist alley. You can parody a logo if you like, but under no circumstances should you ever copy an existing logo for use in your artwork.

Typically those official logos are only legally allowed to be used for officially licensed merchandise; which fan-art is not.

>>8132640

Like >>8132795 said, you can't use the official logo (Japanese or English). You can create a new one that is totally different or just use type in other ways, but the series' logo is only for official use and using it would be the quickest way to not get into AA or to get kicked out. However, you can copy the style of the logo or other elements and be fine. I've done things using the Hetalia fonts and never run into any trouble, but none of my items had the official logo on them either.

>>8132795
>>8132984

Thanks for the input! I was thinking that it could be a no no, so thank you for confirming.

>tfw you sell a shit ton of more merchandise than the person you share a table with and they get greedy about how much display room they get

>>8133357
This happened to me lol. Friend didn't get a table, offered to share mine. Kept giving me pointers about how to sell. I smile and nod the entire time since she's been selling longer than me anyway. I ended up selling more, whereas she barely broke even. I don't think she wants to share with me anymore, and not because of the lack of space.

>>8133357
My first Artist Alley was a shared table. My partner got super bitchy about how many commissions I was getting and how quickly I could finish them. She whined at me "Remember to tell people that talk to you I'm offering commissions toooooooooo"
uh bitch make a sign that says so then.

>>8133764
I'm fortunate to share space with someone who isn't bitchy, but we both sell grab bags with similar items in them so occasionally we'll point out each other's things to customers if they seem interested. But she would never tell me "Make sure you let them know I have x item also!". They can see your partner's table and her layout or lack of signs is her problem.

>>8130377
You should know that these break REALLY easily. You use them by sticking the picture inside and then snapping them shut, so they're not even waterproof.

Source: work at a themepark where they sell these for the ride photos

>>8131410
It depends what merch it is. I think plushies look super cute when they're all stacked up in a basket.

Buttons, keyrings, and charms however might not so well. When they're all mixed in together, they aren't displayed well and it can be hard for a customer to find the one they want.

Also, they're much easier to steal.

Is merch like LoZ overdone? Does it sell well if it's not god tier prints or well made props?

I just got a dealers room booth at a fairly large convention, it's my first time doing dealers has anyone here done dealers room before and can give me advice?

>>8134273
Overdone, but it still sells reasonably well.Print-wise, I don't think it's super oversaturated, and even if it is, there are multiple versions, all of which draw people in. It's also easy to make more "subtle" stuff for it, especially if you're a crafter.

>>8134876
I don't have much advice but be ready to get haggled. Attendees seem to haggle more with vendors than AA, especially on the last day.

>>8138554
>Attendees seem to haggle more with vendors than AA
Yep. The mentality behind this is that vendors are resellers and are probably selling at an inflated price anyway, while even if someone at the AA is high priced, you're still buying straight from a small individual artist so haggling would just be trying to cheat someone out of the products they made themselves.

Trying to get deals on the last day is pretty common for both though, I think.

>>8133764
I don't understand this. The last few times I shared a table with anyone we were pointing out each other's business cards and promoting each other's work. Why share a table with someone whose work you don't respect?

>>8139761
I think it has to do with the artists and their expectations going into sharing a table: if they are going to split the table 100% especially they are strangers to each other, businesses are mostly kept to each artists unless they warm up to the other artist to help promote them. Also, how do they go about finding that artist to share a table with? Sometimes you can only tell so much from someone's art website and social media; they could make beautiful stuff but be a self-centered jerk at the table. I dunno, I'd just hope they are courteous and a bit professional about it.

I'd be anxious sharing a table with someone completely new and who I don't know that well. I'm so used to sharing the table with my friend but may be less of a case this year, and cutting down some costs would be great. I'm nice and respectful to others, so if they are the same, we can help each other out no problem.

Probabll a silly question but I'm new to the AA game so I hope you all don't mind me asking.

How do you gauge popularity of a show versus the art you want to sell?

I know long standing series like Sailor Moon, Naruto,One Piece and things like that are popular and more modern series that are popular on tumblr and other media like SnK, KLK, and Tokyo Ghoul.

I'm not usually into the latter so I've been trying to look at popularity polls and just drawing series that I generally like but I'm not exactly sure if that's smart.

How do you decide what series you should cater to?

Should I suck it up and draw the obviously popular stuff and not risk it or should I say fuck it and draw what I like hoping someone will like it?

I'm not saying I have good or ~*super obscure taste*~

I just want to make things people would actually want to buy.

>>8140315
Pick what you like and pick what is popular. Things like Pokemon, Sonic, Mario, Smash, Sailor Moon, Tokyo Ghoul, Persona, Homestruck, etc. are a granted sell.

>Popular on tumblr
That's everything anon including things like Sailor Moon, Naruto, One Piece. If you don't want to attract weebs then sell things that are not mainstream but then you might end up catering to only people who know said things. That's the price you pay.

>tfw you've made significant improvements in art
>tfw you suddenly remember there are actual people out there that bought your art when it was still crappy and its sitting out there somewhere or was once possibly hung on someone's wall

Just something odd and funny I thought about.

>>8140341
oh I'm not trying to insinuate anything negative really about tumblr, it's just one of the ways I can kinda gauge the target audience which would probably be much younger than I am and have their own spin off things. ( Like the flower crown art thing)


I gotta educate my self on some of the newer series cause I was attached to silly shit like slayers and houshin engi when it used to be showed on the international channel years ago.


I get what you're saying though because it's true, everything is popular somewhere.

>>8140395
I wasn't really sure if you were talking about that you didn't want to sell or carter to tumblrettes or you wanted to avoid the tumblr/weeb crowd.

What's in right now is: Ass Class, Food Wars, anything from Weekly Shonen Jump, Seven Deadly Sins, Tokyo Ghoul, Fairy Tale, Noblesse, Pokemon, maybe Yokai watch, Kuroko no Basketball, Uta no Prince sama or anything with reverse harems and what I named in post >>8140341

>>8140315
The way I see it, you can go one of two ways-

-Have everything: if you have a little bit of fandom y just because it's popular, but mostly have stuff from fandom x, you're wasting your time. If you want to do popular series, hit several of them. It diversifies your inventory and appeals to more people. If someone sees one Free print, they'll probably look for other recent series of the same genre or time period. If all you have is free amongst s ton of western fandom and nostalgia fodder, they lose interest quickly

-stick to what you like and have faith: at a large con, you'll find people who love everything. If you draw what you like, you're banking on this fact.

For research, browse tumblr, see what people are cosplaying on /cgl/.

>>8140587
>>8140483


Thanks for the advice guys. I did get into AssClass recently and I'm enjoying that one a lot.

I wanna make some koro sensei amigurumis.

>>8140628
>Koro sensei amigurumis

I would buy these in a heart beat. You have a shop?

Is the Tumblr crowd worth catering to? I'm a pretty diverse reader/watcher so I can probably pick up on the new trends, but is it worth it? How stingy are they as a target audience? I imagine they're young without a stable income...

>>8140662
yes and no. they are flaky as hell, never EVER do any commissions for them, just sell your stock. however, they will buy shit like mad if they like it.

>source: did commission for some tumblr weeb in october, still not paid for it
collected a downpayment but fuck man. fuck.

>>8140662
>Is the Tumblr crowd worth catering to?

What do you mean? If you mean trends such as anime or manga yeah because not every fan of those anime/manga/video games are bad.

If you mean shit like flower crowns and "this character is trans!1!11" then hell no.

They are not stingy. Many of them would most likely pay big bucks to get Tsukiyama/Kankei to get their mack on but that's with any group of people. Unless you absolutely hate series like that then just don't do it.

>>8140668
Thanks for the input!

>>8140671
I'm pretty laid back in terms of anime/manga, don't passionately hate anything and only love a few more or less obscure ones (old school ish shit). I meant catering like flower crowns. shippy-shippy type things, flavors of the season (I was thinking Binan maybe), etc. I don't know if they would be a reliable crowd or if they're the kind to just say "OMG I WOULD TOTALLY BUY IT" and then disappear as soon as it's for sale.

>>8140668
What's been your bad experience with commissions there? I'm curious

>>8140709
where do I start!? other than my experience I just shared it's been pretty much annoying flakiness all around.
>people sending me tons of messages asking for specifics and then don't respond after the quote is given
>people agreeing to terms then never paying down payment
>people cancelling after paying downpayment(which is non-refundable) and then whining about not getting their money back
>people complaining about not reading my terms for things like sizing etc.
>people asking me to make them huge background sized, detailed pictures for the same prices as a tiny white background figure drawing then bitching when i say no
it goes on and on.

>>8140662
Older tumblr is fine. Draw that Sherlock x Cap au shit, it's fine, they'll pay.

Younger tumblr isn't worth it.

Which makes me wonder, are there any demographics you guys particularly like or dislike?

I like the vidya brodudes haha. Early impressed, down to throw down cash, and generally pretty fun to talk to

>>8140694
Well then what I mentioned >>8140483 and >>8140341 are what's in with tumblr right now ignoring Persona 5.

>>8141007
I dislike people who ask for really porny graphic things like Octo John with whale Sherlock sex or Bee Sherlock and Bee John sex.

>>8141045
Please.. tell me that's not an actual thing.

>>8140315
>I want knights of sidonia art...

>>8141064
>Please.. tell me that's not an actual thing.

Bees yes. Whale no but I have had people ask me about:

>Octo John x Fawnlock porn
>Octo John x Pirate Sherlock porn
> Dead Sherlock x John
>Any tentacle porn x Sherlock
>A/B/O shit
>mfw

>>8140652
Not yet anon. I'm working on it. My roomate actually taught me to knit. I have a lot of unfinished projects.

Pic related

>>8141007
Seconding vidya bros. I had one guy come back repeatedly for commissions because I had a print of a game he was into.

>>8141007
>are there any demographics you guys particularly like or dislike?
love customers who buy stuff or talk about anything Studio Ghibli or older vidja games with me (JSR bros are the best).

dislike customers who see my Steven Universe or Adventure Time stuff and start telling me about their pairings and that they want to cosplay __ ver of certain characters. Thank god I don't do Sherlock/Supernatural/Hannibal stuffs

>>8142154
oh my god this..
I have some South Park pins so the first con I had them at like 3 people came over to tell me how 'Candy(cartman/wendy) is canon' and all this other stuff. Or just talking so long about.. really.. irreverent... sp things.. why..

>>8142193
I kiiiiiinda get Superwholock but why do people ship cartoons

>>8142220
Why do people ship anything?

>>8142250
idk hot dudes gettin it on or something
at least that's why I do it

For the ones who own a store. How does charm preorder works? Especially with multiple designs, since ink it or zap only offers 5 designs when you print 50 charms or more. Do you invest your own money or do you wait for the money of the people that preorders them?

>>8142251
Or lesbians. Or just to see a couple fuck in a doujinshi or be mushy. In some cases self insertions.

bamp

>>8142267
I wouldn't make anything that *depended* on preorders to fund, that means my idea is so risky I don't think i could recoup at a con. Most people who put preorders have a set end date and will order the charms whether or not there's enough interest online.

looking to starting aa next year, but wanted to know what size of buttons are most popular? i've been saving up for a button maker, but i see a lot of 1" buttons and some smaller/bigger?

>>8143325
The 1.25"-1.5" seem to be the most popular with customers.
I find the 1" too small to fit art onto imo.

And get the TECRE model of button maker if you don't have your eyes on that one yet.

anyone know when fanime will send out acceptance letters ?
I'm holding off paying for az hoping that fanime will accept me but I still haven't gotten anything even though they promised to send out acceptance letters over a month ago.

>>8146403
I've been waiting on these as well... Little annoying to not hear back by now.

>>8146403
>>8146449
They don't even have an estimated time yet.

>>8146403
Ditto, I didn't think it would take this long. Really want to go but I wanted to have enough time to plan for it and schedule enough time off since I'm coming from FL.

I got into Animazement and paid for the table since it's refundable till the 31st of March. So at least I have a backup.

Welp, I got wait listed for the first time, but very likely I won't get in. I'm bummed because of the timing, I thought I got in, and just a week before the event I'm told they can't guarantee a table for me.

It's just a local one-day thing, but it would've helped me jumpstart the year. I'm getting over it since it means more time to work on stuff for the summer.

A-Kon just sent out an AA link. It's in countdown mode now. Sign ups begin March 1, 2015 at 3PM CST. It says they strongly advise you to go to the link to make sure you can see the countdown, so I'm guessing there's some sort of plugin that will end up being the sign up button as well? Something like that. I'm on my phone right now.

>http://www.artistalleys.com/A-Kon
>Jury Process (Note for those unfamiliar with this: It's basically to weed out the banned, the trash, the irrelevant, and people who can't into online art galleries- You'll be fine as long as you're not in those categories.)
>April 1, 2015: List releases
>April ???: Map release
>Cannot access the application without a tax ID
>No photographers
>AUTOMATIC NO IF YOUR "ART GALLERY" IS A TUMBLR THAT ALSO HAS OTHER PEOPLE'S ART ON IT. MAKE A DEVIANTART. DO NOT LOSE YOUR SPOT BECAUSE OF A STUPID MISTAKE.

>>8148081
I hate the tumblr rule. I have a tumblr with nothing but my work on it but they have some bullshit rule on the forum saying "if we have to scroll for more than a few minutes to view your work, it's an automatic NO"

I hate deviantart. Tumblr isn't great either but I prefer it so much more.

>>8148161
Same tbh

>>8148161
I think it's one of the rules they throw in there just to be able to reject people quickly and move on to the list. Rewarding the people who read the rules, but ignoring the fact that better/more experienced artists might be in the rejected section. It's fine, though. DeviantArts don't take very long to set up and you only really need it for the gallery section. Fuck the community and the weird categories on dA, though. You can put your tumblr on a business card or something.

>>8148161
Why not just link them to your tagged art page? Unless they're instabanning tumblr on sight

>>8148161
If you have an art only tumblr, why would it take more than a few seconds for them to see your art?

>>8149022
That's what my friend did; hopefully, they're not instarejecting tumblrs. I'm wondering if I should ask him to upload newer stuff to his DA account, just in case, though...

>>8148161
The tumblr rule is because they apparently had some people whining that they wouldn't sift through their tumblr full of reblogs to look at their art. If your blog is nothing but your art it's fine.

do art reviews for AA tables have anything against NSFW/R-18 art? Am I going to need to create a separate gallery if my main one is predominantly NSFW?

How do you all deal with taxes/ business licences?
Do you just not bother with them? How do you handle them? When you do have them, how do they affect your taxes?
Most of the advice I can find seem to be for business that sell year round. I only sell once a year. Do I have to send in reports for all the months I don't make anything with my business?

>>8149300
>some people whining that they wouldn't sift through their tumblr full of reblogs to look at their art
Artists should have a tag for their own art then, and link that instead of the main blog url. Problem solved.

>>8149655

Depends on the con. For my cons, I needed a sales tax license. Legally, I have to file my taxes for my business (registered my freelance design business as a formal front for my AA stuff) once a quarter or pay a late fee. I have to file regardless of how much I make. Most of the quarters I don't make much, if anything, but the ones I do AA, I report what I make.

Theoretically, you could lie. However, at least for my state I've heard audits are very common on businesses with your "home" as your office. My taxes were negligible though. Maybe $40 on $1600 from my last con? I personally think it's worth it to have your business registered if you plan to do this for a while. And I certainly advocate that if you DO register, fairly report what you make. No one wants the IRS on your tail.

>>8149655
This is specific for CA - I had a permanent sales permit just for AAs but it just became too much of a hassle to deal with the way reporting works if you're doing less than one AA a quarter. If you're only selling once or twice a year I'd stick with the temporary permits and the reporting you do with those right after the show, it's far less to deal with than remembering quarterly due dates and such.

Will I be seeing anyone at San Japan?

I'm not a fan of laminated bookmarks personally, but I can laminate for free at my work; should I put some out anyways?

>>8127758
Erm, I'm hoping to get a table at AMKE next year. Does anyone know the age minimum? 18?

>>8151198
Why does it matter if its 18? Are you not able to get a table if it's 17 and up?

>>8151198
Why does it matter if its 18? Are you not able to get a table if it's 18 and up?

>>8151212
I'm thought some places required you to be older than 18 (like 20) is the thing? I also heard of places that had experience requirements or s/t or maybe im just an idiot and can't remember right. I kind of just wanted to be 100% sure i was good if im only 18 :'/

>>8151119
I'll be there, itll be my first time in Texas.

>>8151258
Me too, but hopefully I'll get into A-Kon this weekend and it'll be my second time in Texas.

>>8151292
I'm trying for a long too,Best of luck to you! I heard its one of the toughest cons to get into to. If I don't get in I plan on just going to colossal con in ohio as an attendee and partying my brains out.

>>8151618
A-kon*
Damn Autocorrect.

Are you shitting me AN

>>8152296
I know! I really wish they would put the Comic Market and Crafters Corner back together. I have a lot of merch that I can't sell at AN just because of the split.

And AN not allowing acrylic keychains is one of the big reasons I can't justify getting any made yet.

>>8152296
these fucking split-hair rules, oh my god

>>8152296
This is the dumbest shit I've ever seen, what the fuck. They're charms and buttons not goddamn perler beads or whatever.

>>8152296
Does this mean it's ok if paper is included with plastics/acrylics, or that anything other than paper is not allowed?

>>8152296
This rage makes me want to put the effort on properly packaging my charms and basically selling that cardboard paper backing w/ a free charm.

What a stupid rule, AN is my local con, too...

>>8152582
God anon, that's brilliant.

>>8152582
Anon, you're a fuckimg genius.

>>8152582

Better yet, make the carboard backing with the charm art so it's like they're paying for a cute chibi print.

>>8152582
>>8152591
>>8152853
>>8152898
Mieau is already doing this but yes, it is a great idea.

I thought the disorganization AWA had last year was bad... this year is topping it.

>Staff being unaware that applications go live until three weeks before
>Deleting forums and rarely checking back on their facebook page for questions and information.
> No official update on what time applications except a reply to a random facebook post.
> People that preregistered last year have yet to hear back from them leaving them confused as to whether they should reapply.

Me thinks I might do Dragoncon instead.

>>8152911
That's actually a really cute idea even when not trying to get around idiotic rules.

Has anyone tried selling premade fursuit heads at cons? How well do you think that'd work if it was a cute head and was pretty cheap.

What did everyone sell when they first started out?

I've never done anything other than commissions and was thinking of a low-cost test run to just sell a few things online to gauge interest. Shrinkydink charms, maybe?

Finally was able to photograph the gitd charms I got~ I know some anons were interested in seeing how well they glowed, so I uploaded natural light, utter dark, and then artificial light/small shadow. I was surprised to notice that they can glow pretty obviously in even the smallest amount of shadow! The glow is really strong, I'd like to make more designs for this material!

Hope this is helpful to anyone~

>>8153937
BF is such a gigantic faggot for that show. He would seriously lose his shit over those.

>Pic just another new offering to the SM gods

>>8153937
May I ask how much the total cost of getting them done was?

I always want to make things like this but I don't think I ever have the big lump sum to initially pay for it.

They look really amazing too.

>>8154182
Holy shit. That's cute and useful. How much are you selling those for and at what cons?

>>8151242
I think that 18 would be fine. There are child labor laws/business requirements in pretty much every state which require an adult and/or guardian to be present and responsible for an exchange of currency.

>>8154182
Everytine I see that I cry, that's going to be the first thing I buy come Megacon.

Anybody ever sell stationary sets before? Like, pad of paper and sticker set and maybe some envelopes kind of thing? I have a few designed but not sure if it's worth it to produce them for a convention.

>>8154673
Planner $17/ Notebook $15. I'm mainly at Florida cons with Animazement + Momocon added on. I hope I'll get cleared by my doc to go further out of state next year ugghhh

Etsy is my main storefront at the moment since next con isn't until April. www.cutecraftsetc.etsy.com

>>8154917
I thought about it, but my partner shot down the idea and had me refocus on other functional goods. (╯︵╰,) And I had so much research saved up too...

>>8154917

I'm considering this too, but I polled my friends (not really a good poll admittedly) and everyone was like, "cute ideas, wouldn't buy" because they don't use stationary. I buy stationary but only use it to write my grandparents.

>>8154917
I don't know about stationary but I'd buy cute cards for holidays/birthdays/ect.

>>8154927
>>8154998
That's what I was afraid of...my boyfriend had sort of the same reaction. That being said, my friends and I all like to write letters to each other so I guess it really just depends who you ask. I might save this for etsy, then. Thanks!

>>8155014

>>8154998 Here and I feel like I BUY stationary I just rarely use it (I like to hoard paper). But I guess talk to other people to see if they would buy (even if they're like me and don't use it as often).

>>8154182
!! HAHA good.. good.. It's honestly a great show and the only sports anime I'll recommend to people who aren't already into sports anime..
>>8154211
Thank you! I got them from zap creatives so you can actually look on their site for a range of materials/sizes/etc..! Mine were, uh, like 107 after shipping to me? For the 25 glow in the dark charms (2 design option). But also, they sent a few extra so I ended up with 30(15 of each~)

I also add the straps/bells/stars separately but they're super cheap from ebay or aliexpress~

>>8152296
What? Why?

>>8154917
I have two friends who made stationary, both said it was a labor of love. They'll break even but that's about it, but worth it for them because they wanted the stationary for themselves.

just remembered this morning-is there even a male audience for prints? i dont mean moe lewd poster tier but edgy action anime shit? i feel like my portfolio is more geared towards that demographic

>>8155921
A very under-served audience at the moment. If you're good at high octane action scenes you could really fill a niche. Of course, it also depends a lot on who is in attendance at the con and who finds your booth.

>>8156853
This. My guy friends don't buy prints too often, but the last con we went to they practically threw money at this one artist who had a bunch of really high-action Kamen Rider stuff. It helped that we're all a little older.

>>8156853
>>8157038
thats really good to hear actually! ill consider making pieces in that direction then, thanks anons. in the future, how appropriate is it to get crits here? /ic is too slow/anti anime but i prefer really honest feedback

>>8157066
For stuff you just drew without really planning to sell, /ic/ has stylized general threads.They're constant. Try there. /cgl/ is better for critiques on things you plan on selling in my opinion.

My print lineup for my next con so far is
>Sly Cooper
>Psychonauts
>Wind Waker
>Sonic CD
>Kingdom Hearts
>Punch-Out (WIP)
>Jet Set Radio (WIP)
>Star Fox (WIP)
>Classic Spyro (WIP)
>Earthbound (WIP)
But is there even a large enough demographic that would be interested in these prints? I didn't even realize that all of my prints were 1) video games and 2) mostly not super popular video games until recently. I only do prints of stuff I love (I would sell out and do popular stuff if I could, but I'm just not able to put hours of work into something I don't care about). I was thinking I could make this sort of thing my niche, though, doing prints/merch of games that you dont really see other people do. Do you think there's a market for that though? I'm just not sure.

>>8157196
I'm all for nostalgia prints. After the nostalgia thread on AANI, I will be doing some old school stuff as well.

>>8157196
>Psychonauts
>StarFox
>Punch-Out
>Earthbound

Yes. Since you don't normally see prints for these series, there will be people who are thrilled to see some. I know I'd buy a good Punch-Out or Earthbound print if I saw one.

>>8157196
Give me all the earthbounds

I have 2 Earthbound prints. I'll be completely honest-- they don't really sell, but they're great talking pieces and the people who do buy them are usually super thrilled. Also the hottest person I ever saw at any sort of convention bought one so there's that.

You've got wide variety, so you'll probably be okay.

>>8157291
>>8157317
>>8157352
Alright, thanks guys. I'm having a LOT of trouble coming up with interesting compositions for my prints though...I always end up doing a portrait-oriented, center-focused composition without even realizing it until after the fact. I'm trying to do thumbnails for the WIP prints in that list but I just can't come up with anything. It's really frustrating...It's as if the extent of my imagination's capability just stops there. What do??

>>8157196
I find while the demographic may not be that large people who are into those fandoms are way more likely to impulse buy because it's something not seen often. I have a Kuragehime print that keeps selling out because it's the only print of that anime they can find.

Also sometimes if you dig yourself into a smaller fandom, people will specifically seek you out for merch.

does anybody know where yanimator and nayuki-chan went? I mean, they are in many convention. But they both haven't update their DA for a while, is something wrong?

What do you guys do with your inventories that didn't sell at the con? Do you discount next time around? Grab bags?

>>8158996
I usually let it sit for another 2 cons before I decide to put them in discount grab bags. Sometimes things don't do well at one con but sell incredibly well at the next.

This is killing me but what was the name of the artist alley/exhibit that takes place in Japan again? Not sure if it's exclusively in Japan, maybe it's held elsewhere at times too. Brings in international artists. Not Comiket.

>>8157457
Apply the rule of thirds into your composition.

Speaking of composition I'm not sure I'm feeling pic related... I wanted to make a print for Death Parade with the theme of Karaoke (excuse shit tier sketching). My prints are usually more character-focused than environmental and I don't know if it's actually bad, or if I'm just uncomfortable moving out of what I usually do..

>>8159000
Agree with this, sometimes an item will barely go at one convention and then sell out right away at the next. Very hard to tell sometimes.
Grab bags after a couple of different shows.

I'm finally ready to start jumping into AA and have my first convention targeted. Yay!

>>8140315
Regarding this...is it not right to draw from popular shows or games you don't play or watch? Like, I can do minimal research on a character but cannot sit through their show for either time constraints or I just don't like it. Obviously this would lead to a lack of "life" for the piece which I'm usually big on, like making huge groups of characters with their own quirks and adding in obscure episode-only references.

So I mean, do people buy prints of generic poses and backgrounds if its a character they like?

This leads to another question: how new of sources do you guys use to make art from? How recent are the majority of congoer's newly-watched shows? I have a bit of an older taste compared to how trendy Japanese otaku are, like making art of anime that aired a year ago. I can't go to conventions often so I'm not sure if a year counts as old news to non-Japanese animufags or not. Should I wait for the summer season to draw art from those shows (since con I'm watching table releases for is at the end of summer) or will art from winter and spring season still sell?

>>8159000
This scares me. I thought the life of a print would be longer than that. Guess I should draw faster.

>>8159601
I have a rule of thirds guide over the canvas every time I do thumbnails. It's just a matter of THINKING of a good/interesting composition...Which is the part I'm having trouble with. I guess I'll just have to study other people's compositions more to build up a mental library.

What do you attach your charms to when you package them? I want to start packaging my things really nicely but unsure what people use? Do you find a nicely printed cardstock? Cardboard? I have a surplus of cute origami paper at my disposal would I be able to neatly attach it to cardboard and use that as my backing?

>>8160562
The origami paper idea sounds nice, but might be a little too much effort considering there is pretty patterned cardstock at stores like Joann for ~30 cents a sheet. Don't forget your coupons.

>>8160574
Would they be at most craft stores? Like in the stationary section?
We don't have a Joann here on my island. So I'm stuck with either mom and pop stores or Ben Franklin's.

>>8160093
It's not "wrong", but you'd be competing against people who actually HAVE seen it.

You are either going to appeal to someone's emotion or have REALLY GOOD ART, if your art is subpar AND boring then .. welp.

In my experience people are slow on the uptake for games and anime, only for super popular anime like SNK/FREE were they good sellers during the season they aired in.

>>8160665
Sorry! I use Joann as the generic word for craft store (kind of like with Kleenex and tissue). You should definitely be able to find them at any craft store. They're much easier to work with than trying to make everything look all nice and pretty by trying the origami paper method. I couldn't find a photo online (I'm guessing it doesn't photograph well?), but some of the sheets have a nice metallic sheen on them that really grabs people's attention.

>>8160690
I agree. You can tell when someone hasn't seen a series. It's such a generic drawing. Bonus points if it's generic anime smiling girl pose on a character that's never happy.

>>8160713
It's hard to mess up already generic popular stuff like Love Live and Kancolle, though, so there's that.

Besides Taobao what's a good source for those resin cabochons and "antique gold" charms? I'm trying to make myself jewelry for lolita and etsy and ebay prices are mixed.

So I fucked up and let my the date of my convention creep up on me. I normally send my prints to catprints but if I do that now it'll be cutting it close to whether it'll get to me on time.
I did luck out though and my friend who works at a print shop said her boss will give me a great deal on printing, if I provide my own paper. Which is fine, i'm just not sure what paper to get. I normally get the heavy cardstock 1 sided matte paper and would like to find something similar. Though at this point I would settle for any nice satin paper. Would i find anything like that in an office max or walmart? or would i have to order online specifically.

>>8163796
I order mine off amazon (2 day shipping) or go to photography stores if I'm really strapped for time.

I always wanted to sell art, but my art skills are shit. Can anyone here offer art advice/critique ?

>>8166676
Post your art. Or are you just looking for general advice?

>>8166686
Sorry, just wanted to make sure, someone would be willing to do it. Don't be too hard on me, I'm still trying to develop my own style.

>Practiced on homestuck characters, don't hate me

>>8166676
>>>/ic/
If you post your art in this board though, there are a couple people who frequently offer good crit here.

For general advice just practice every day, improve fundamentals before style, research composition, color theory, etc, etc. Even the most basic knowledge about those sort of things will get you further than you think.

>>8166721
Pretty cute. I like the colors, but your lines are a little wobbly and I think the eyebrows/lips could be improved. Such prominent features are a little distracting.

Also the colors at the bottom sort of blend together, making it hard to distinguish their clothing. I think the eyes are really your strong point.

>>8166721
For chibis these are pretty good, the body proportions are nice. The colors and eyelashes make you look like a Mookie copycat, not in a really bad way, but it just looks a little obvious. The parts that looks most off to me is the way Vriska's hair makes her head shape look a bit weird and the outline of Aradia's hair is a bit wobbly. It's hard to judge your art as a whole only from chibis, if that's what you wanted to know, but this style in particular is really cute and would sell, I think.

>>8166732
I definitely agree! Yeah, my lines are definitely something that I've been trying to get better at.
Thank you!

>>8166770
No problem. I should have added that I definitely think they would sell as is.

>>8166736
> a Mookie copycat
FUCK, I was so afraid of that
I agree completely tho. I just really like her art and the colors she uses, gives me a Lisa Frank vibe in a good way. I just feel it really catches your eye, especially if you are looking to sell.
But you're absolutely right it hits way too close to her style, which is what I was really trying to avoid. I drew this back in November and I now realize how atrocious my eyelashes, face shapes look and how the wobbly lines are haha. As of recently I've only been drawing chibis because my regular art is really shitty and is all over the place because I'm still experimenting with different styles and I'm never satisfied enough.
Thank you for you honest opinion!

>>8153937
sauce on anime?

>>8166877
Yowamushi pedal

Do you guys know if AX reg went up yet? Normally I buy at-con, but I didn't know what my summer was gonna look like so I didn't.

>>8166893
When I spoke to an AX rep at ALA, they said they sold out most at the con and you'd have to contact their artist alley email to be notified of small openings. So no normal table sales.

>>8166801
Haha, I totally get what you mean. Her style is just so unique, so it's easier to tell when people follow after it. Like I said, yours doesn't look bad or anything, it's just really noticeable. I love her art too, especially the colors!

And like I said in the other post, try taking a while to just focus on fundamentals. Study anatomy and real human faces rather than styles, then when you feel more confident with that then go back to trying to find a style that comes more naturally. It's okay to mess up a lot, learn to ask for and take criticism all the time, and just keep practicing!

Do your best, anon!

>>8167003
Huh, interesting Thanks!

>>8167114
Thank you again anon, your advice is super helpful!
I will try my best!

Is it that common for companies to ask artists to take down fanart merch? I was looking through the copyright take down list on the facebook group and it looks like most of the takedowns were for Western properties, though there are some Japanese ones in there. I was hoping to do a Kill la Kill print, but if it's just going to get taken down, I don't want to spend money making prints of it.

The only time I've seen someone getting in trouble for copyright stuff in AA was when some guy was found selling decals of official logos and stuff

How good do you guys think LL or bishoujo animes merchs would sell during cons and online?
At the moment, I see lots of artists doing big shows that attract fujos. I don't really normally draw bishoujos and recently just got into cute girls animes but at least from what I can see (on tumblr), there really isn't a big fanbase for this kind of genre...
For instance, I started preorder for a nozomi daki I just finished and I'm getting minimal exposure on tumblr.
Would this situation be similar in con scenes or I'm just not targeting at the right place?

>>8167340

Is it that common for companies to ask artists to take down fanart merch?

Fanart prints that do not have any TRADEMARK words on them Character names, Publishers, Media company name etc. on them are fair game. Those decal pirates, probably cost them pennies to make and people buy them caring less if it is non-official items. Simply trace-vector artwork and print-direct to their vinyl cutters.. no-skill. But if they have such machines, they must be legit printing/sign businesses after a convention I suspect, a worthwhile lawsuit waiting to happen I suppose if someone reports them.

>>8167364
K, so you know all of the 13-16 year old girls running around cons? What do you think they're into? And what do you think they can never find in AAs? You're hitting a jackpot here. My AA booth concentrates solely on the shoujo/otome stuff and I always sell out. Skill level wise, I'd say I'm pretty good, but not omggodly, you know? But I'm selling something that people want and other artists forget about because they're either unfamiliar with it or they think selling a SnK print when everyone else in the damn AA is also selling one is going to work out.

I didn't see a post in here about this, but if I did feel free to correct me because I don't lurk here terribly often anymore but I can't find an answer anywhere without being directed to shit I don't care about.

How do you guys generally transfer/store your stickers or keychains?

I'm pushing 50 differents types of character stickers from different series (2 inches tall, but I'm thinking of bumping up to 3 in. tall) and the way I had it set up to give to customers wasn't cutting it, it was just taking way too long to locate the ones I wanted. Do you keep portfolios or bead cases like people do with buttons? Or what?

>>8169756
I keep my stickers in a CD book and let customers flip through em.

Haven't found a place to store charms yet but Mieau has this and I'm jealous I can't find one anywhere. http://41.media.tumblr.com/c73b007773c1929f7af7c079e6a372f8/tumblr_nkgfytj2km1qilaugo1_1280.jpg

Continue AN bitching here

So, my friend applied to AA table there this year, submitted an application and everything else but didn't provide A HANDWRITTEN SIGNATURE on her samples I guess.
So apparently they contacted her regarding this signature issue a week before they assigned a lottery ticket but she didn't receive it. And now they're telling her this.

I've never seen an organization this fucking rude: are you fucking kidding me about "this is our last correspondance?"

I'm so fucking mad right now. I'm so fucking mad I wanna create a FB page for it...

>>8169766
I found this that looks similar to hers: http://www.containerstore.com/shop/storage/drawers?productId=10001493&N=62561

>>8170026
As much as the AN AA is a headache to apply for, I see nothing wrong with their response anon. If your friend got this e-mail, they must have gotten the previous one as the staff member even mentioned a time/date when they had sent it. There is a strong possibility that your friend accidentally deleted that e-mail or it was sent to their junk folder like mine always seem to do.

My boyfriend applied to the AN AA this year and also was asked to resend his application since his signatures weren't visible on them.

>>8169766
>>8170351
oh, I should also mention to buy the divider walls as well. You can move them around anyway you like which is super helpful! (I use the 44 drawer storage container for all my nendoroid figure parts and that way I can store 4 nendos worth of parts into one drawer)

The update on Fanime tables is their halfway through applications and they won't give a ETA on when they'll be completed.

>>8169766

Sticker storage anon here, do you mean you display stickers with that and keep all your extra copies in there too? I mean I'm looking for a place to store the extra copies that's easy to navigate to give customers what they need. Sorry if I wasn't specific enough

I saw the drawers Mieau has but I'm not sure about being able to carry around something as bulky as that.

>>8169756
Not sure what you're using currently but I use these in the index card size for charms and stickers. Different color per series and then depending I go alphabetical by character or by popularity.
Stickers it's normally not a problem with them sliding around but if you make sure to wrap it up really tight you won't have to worry about your charms sliding into the other slots.
Best thing is you can get them for like $2 each at target or walmart.

>>8171852
i wonder if they realize a lot of the artists they're taking their sweet time rating have already basically backed out because animazement/AN released their aa info and a lot of their new applicants are from the east coast.

Anyone else lucky enough to get into the Anime North Comic Market?
I'm honestly in shock, a lot of my friends didn't get in this year.

Has anyone ever sold at mcm london? I know it's a piss poor convention but with such a high attendance I was wondering if it's a good place to sell

Holy shit. What do you guys make of this?

>>8175157
WOw..just wow... OK, this is a give and take situation. Givin it won't rain. flood. snow. tornado. It sounds amazing. BUT I don't know the local(s) are like there, so a big plus is the non attendees, casuals walking by, and possibly tourists? could add to the money pot.

Open as early and stay as late? That could be interesting. mhmm

I do hate the idea of having to take down and re-assemble each morning. This would completely change how one could setup in the least amount of fuss I think - very mobile setup drop-it and open-it done! lol.

>>8175157
holy shit, what a terrible idea.

>>8175157
Wind, weather exc are a nightmare with prints let alone crafts. If they tent it nice, like circus tent it will be fine. If they are throwing up ezups and callin it a day... Well.... :/

>>8175157
Don't understand why so many people are freaking out about this. Market stalls survive fine, so why not the artist alley? You'll get extra footfall, the only real downside is having to break down and set up again but it's not like most artists actually have a large volume of merchandise.

>>8175157
Kumoricon is garbage, I've been going since high school but it finally got bad enough that I put my foot down and didn't buy a badge this year. So, uh, good luck, artists.

How much does everyone sell their prints for? i'm thinking of re-pricing mine for a bigger profit but i have no idea how much is too much.
I sell A5 prints on matte 250grade paper.

>>8175858
Weather is temperamental and unfortunately a dramatic factor between having an ok con and an absolutely horrible one. I've never had good experiences at outdoor venues, primarily because I'm a print artist and even slight wind fucks with my display.

Theoretically, no, this isn't awful but kumori con is also historically a sorry con for artists. Last year it was in a dank ass parking garage so forgive me if I'm a little reluctant to think this location change was made with the artists' interests at heart

>>8176103
Also weather can effect con goers as well, some may choose to stay indoors for the rest of the day because of certain weather concerns, even if it's temporary.

I don't see why they can't place artist in the hallway indoors if space was an issue.

>>8176257
Not to mention the general area is sketchy as fuck.

>>8173025
MCM's are always big money. I've never sold at an MCM without walking away with at least 1k£

>>8175858
It's Washington so even though it's in the beginning of September it's still likely it could rain and even more likely that it could be windy.

The weather sucks here.

>>8173025
It might be a little different this year. Normally it's nothing BUT a dealer's hall, so people walk away with ridiculous amounts of profit. But on the other hand, weekend tickets have become more expensive now, so attendance will probably go down, and people might be more choosy about what they spend their cash on.

>>8166721
Wait, are you the anon from the draw thread? I love your style, especially the eyes. This chibi stuff would really sell well at cons, especially as stickers. I know I'd buy it.

>>8176513
Haha yeah it's me!
Aaahh thank you! I really appreciate that a lot, but I think I have a long way to go before I would ever sell at a con. I want to make sure my art style is nice and solid.

Does anyone use laser printers to make their prints? I normally use inkjets but this year it is just not looking like a possibility. Would the quality of my prints go down? What would be the best laser paper to use if i do go with that?

>>8175941
Second this. Average I see is $15 but I'm still curious. Which is more effective and likely to make better profit, moving up or down two dollars?

Anyone planning to do Emeraldcity Comic Con? I've been looking at the floor layout and feels like the AA was just shoved as far away to place the commercial booths front and center. By the time you get to AA section figure you'll be happy any attendee will feel generous and patient to have made it that far to spend anymore lol.

>>8176785
Do cons even if you don't feel 'ready'. You'll never really be 'ready' but they'll help you improve so much, and you'll probably make great friends. It's very hard but very rewarding.

>>8176987
Depends 100% on the kind of con. Older audience and more money, shift prices up for better results. Younger audience, less money, shift prices down. That's what's always worked for me.

>>8176510
>>8176369
thanks for the info anons! I'll probably wait until next may so I can see how the ticket price affects sales
Aside from that, any other uk cons that are good money?

I know that things like snk, klk are really popular but I'm super into jjba and love drawing it, since the anime came out there are a lot more fans (more so since part 2 anime) but they're super tumblr, do those kinds of fans even buy? and would fanart from the later parts even sell?

>>8177821
meant to say part 3 anime woops

So I'm currently trying to make new prints for an upcoming con. However, I don't really know what's currently popular besides Love Live and Tokyo Ghoul and my table partner already has merch for those. Does anyone have a good sense of is popular right now?

>>8177821
I'd buy pretty much anything Jojo related since it's rare to see; I think most fans, even the tumblr ones, like the non-animated parts just as much. Especially part 7 probably.

>>8178155
I see! That's good to know!
I just got an email from mcm about tables in comic village and it says
(NO FANART IS ALLOWED TO BE SOLD FROM A COMIC VILLAGE TABLE)
But every mcm had fanart normally, is this an enforced rule??

>>8178113
SnK and KLK are still pretty popular, more so than tokyo ghoul

>>8178892
This. Out of the most recent releases its the most popular but stuff from last year still reigns supreme as TG is kind of polarizing. Perhaps some DRRR because of the second season and Digimon since the anniversary thing is happening.

>>8178892
>>8179024
Ah thank you! I already have SNK and KLK stuff and my KLK stuff has actually not been doing that well in recent cons.

AA thread, how do I handle this situation?

Background info: I'm still fairly new to the AA scene (1 year), but I make enough money doing it to support myself. My work is weird and not everyone's cup of tea.

My problem: I have been doing this for an entire year, and whenever I visit my relatives, or one of my friends talk to me about it I get one of a few sentences (sometimes many at the same time)
>"It's working now Anon, but you can't expect it to last forever."
>"I have a really great suggestion for you, it's *something that is completely not my style and is outside of my brand*, I wouldn't want one but I'm sure someone would!"
>"You should feel so blessed and privileged that you get to do art for a living. There are people all over the world who want to do what you do but aren't privileged enough to do it."
>"I really liked when you were doing cartooning, why don't you do that anymore? You could have been a professional!"
>"You should outsource to China, you'll make more money that way."
>"That's cool but when are you getting a real job?"

I feel like a cunt because I know they're just trying to look out for me and or help me, but it's really getting to me. It's taken a lot of personal work for me to not only have something people want to buy, but to convince myself that I can actually make a career and do what I've always wanted to do. I feel like a pussy that it bothers me so much, but I realized yesterday that apart from my husband, nobody has ever said "Anon, I'm happy you are doing what you want to do."

How do I politely escape this negativity without being even more of a bitch? It happens too ofter (more than once a day) for me to say 'screw the haters' and I'm at the end of my rope.
Sorry for blogging, I hope you have suggestions. Thank you!

>>8179277
i feel you anon. id consider myself "making it" and that still happens plenty, even when friends and family know you're successful. if you havent already, give 'art & fear' a read

>>8179277
>>"You should feel so blessed and privileged that you get to do art for a living. There are people all over the world who want to do what you do but aren't privileged enough to do it."

This one hits home for be as an AA person and aspiring GD who dropped out of nursing school. I went in that path originally because I had a lot of guilt driven into me that if you don't have a career in helping other people you're selfish.

It might help to dabble into some things that are considered more "normal" like invitations for Zazzle or submit some entries to Threadless.

>>8179495
Some of my teachers have recommended this so I think I'll pick it up now.

>>8179277
Actually, a lot of that type of feedback comes from people voicing their own fears and jealousies. You might be able to uncover more about what they actually are thinking about with questions like "What do you mean?" or "Can you explain more?" which invites them to open up a bit more (even if you're not terribly interested in hearing it).

For example, the whole "Why don't you get a real job?" type question - if their definition of a real job is going to an office, ask them why they think that. If their response is ultimately "because I said so" then you know it's them and not you.

>>8179892
Wise as fuck anon

Probably a stupid question, but I just kind of wanted the assurance either way.

I've got some holo sticker paper and unfortunately I ended up initially printing on the back. Front prints came out fine and cutting by hand wasn't too much of an issue (I only learned how to trick my Cameo into cutting it after sadly).

I think from the front they look pretty decent. I was debating selling them as just like, B-Choice or smth for $1 a piece since they're not 100% professional looking from the back, but I wasn't sure if I should just sell them for regular price as-is while advertising the issue with the back paper, since the back would have to come off to stick it places anyway.

Which do you guys think would be a better option?

>>8179495
That book is a crock of shit. I wouldn't buy it to wipe my ass with.

>>8180102
they're gonna peel off the back anyways. If you don't mention anything to anyone they're going to think it's intentional and it's not as if once they have the sticker in their hand they're going to ask for a refund because of a misprint on the back, that's silly. Charge full price.

Can I ask where you got this paper though? It's alright if you'd like to keep it a secret.

>>8180217
Nah I don't mind sharing. It's the Holographic Silver vinyl from Papilio. They've got all kinds of fancy inkjet papers (clear, glow in the dark, chrome, etc). They apaprently used to carry some other holgoraphic patterns and I asked them today if they have them or plan to stock them again.

Thank you for the answer btw!

>>8180102
As it turns out I also just figured out how to clean the backs of the stickers so they're only a uniform grey-ish rather than "I can tell you fucked up" misprints. Oops.

>>8180124
im sorry that it did nothing for you anon. what instead (doesnt necessarily have to be reading material) would you recommend? i found it more comforting that there were issues across all forms of art making, regardless of their smug rhetoric. i also read it at a turning point in my career so it mightve been right place right time. im curious all the same

>>8154182
I love your stuff,so does the bf.
Can't wait to buy something from your booth at Mega.

>>8155250
How much do you charge for one charm so you make a profit?

Anyone got any con or event recommendations for an NYCfag that is starting out on AA but can't drive/have no friends that can drive? I've been cancelled out of two cons within a reasonable area and I got waitlisted for CPAC. I don't want to travel to the middle of bumblefuck nowhere for ANext either.

I'm considering Mincon in Long Island but it doesn't seem worth the travelling.

>>8169766
you can get that thing at walmart

>>8180464
My advise for cpac is to legit show up with a roller bag full of prints the day off. Last time I was there there were so many no shows it made the gym look half empty. Wait until noon to ask about buying off one of their empty tables at discount considering you already bought a normal badge. Even if you dont sell out with your lack of display you can 100% be sure to break even and get lunch money.

Last year these noobs had a table next to me and they had zero display. Prints laid flat on table. They still sold out on certain prints and and made just as much as I did. Even did a few commussions.

Can anyone recommend cons to start out on in the Florida area for a first timer? The central florida area is ideal, but I am willing to travel a bit.

>>8180405
Thank you kind anon. Just trying to improve my stuff in light of last year's board critique. Unfortunately, in terms of new prints, Murphy's Law has been kicking my ass. I've only had time for mainly physical goods thus far.

When it's not me, its someone in my immediate family in the hospital at any given time. I need a baymax.

is it common or weird to bring a print two years in a row, only massively improved the second year?

>>8154927
Do you have any other planners/notebooks..?
A-And also an online shop?

>>8181605
Anon there are artists in my area that have been selling the same set of prints for the past 4 years.

Any tips on where to get good quality postcards or prints in general with cute designs on the back? I've bought a few like this in AAs and there's always a lovely signature, pattern or contact info on the reverse, which is what I'd like to sell instead of ordinary standard prints.

>>8181660
oh, yeah i just wondered if it would be like odd to sell a better version the later year but i guess it doesnt really matter

>>8181638
So far, what I have listed for planners and notebooks are in my shop. (www.cutecraftsetc.etsy.com) I am trying to finish some more designs by Megacon.

has anyone seen any book of life stuff in AA? i feel like it would do well

are you guys catching this Kawaiicups stuff in the FB group? I'm new to the group, but is this person a regular or...?

>>8181949
The artist alley fb group?

>>8181970
Yeah; it looks like they deleted the post though. Some person selling mugs with various vectors and shit grabbed from the internet.

>>8181977
Pffffft how fucking dumb are some people.
Wish you could have screencapped it.

Man that Mike Dio guy is really pissed for being told no on his art for a table.

>>8181982
Actually I did cap a part of it

>>8181985
Assuming his story is true and they really did reject him on the grounds that his website showed that he does logo design, lbr, I'd be fucking mad, too. Whatever rules they're going by sound pretty shit.

>>8181992
Their facebook page is even BETTER.

What? Aren't these dresses like $50 on taobao?

>>8182016
jfc and etsy isn't a storenvy where you can sell crap you don't make.

>>8182010
I took a look at her personal page because I assumed she was some 13 year old who didn't know better...holy shit, she's an adult with a kid.

>>8182036
>I have A brand new love and her name is Emilie Chibi Lyons born 11-14-11

She uploaded to AAIN quite frequently. So just searching Kawaii Cups on the facebook page will bring up most of her "art."

how much would you charge for a necklace like this? the lines would be straighter and the whole thing a bit glossier, this one was just a test. I just dont know how much people would be willing to pay

>>8182241
5 bucks at the most, it looks kinda amateurish.

>>8182241
Take 2 steps back and say to yourself...would you buy it? Some people appreciate that little done by hand but be careful if it leans towards sloppiness

>>8183036
>>8183318
its just the test, not a final one
but thank you anyway

>>8183404
Post a finished one so ypu can get a proper amswer then? Thats like someone posting a sketch amd asking how much to charge
Even neater and glossy I'd only pay up to 8 bucks though

>>8183530
I know, i shouldve been clearer about what i was asking. it was more like, how much would you charge for a small handmade pendant similar to this. I just wanted to get an idea before i went into making a mold and making the nice ones. but thank you, i think 8-10 sounds good since it'll include the chain as well

>>8183548
I would buy it for around that price.Wouldn't go over 12 for what it is now.Goodluck with them.

>>8182241
I would keep the arms and legs made of the same material for consistency, and glaze it. Right now, the picture looks unflattering and rigid. Too symmetric.

>>8180698
Seconding this, I live in the same neighborhood as cpac now but last year in traveled via public transit and it only took 15 min from the city. There's a bus that goes there and you can take the path train straight from Herald square. There's no reason not to go, I made like $1000 there last year selling leftovers from past cons and my entire investment into it was under 40 bucks travel included.
In comparison springfest was in my old neighborhood and I barely made $300 in 2 days and it cost me over $150 to table there. No one showed up it was a bust.

>>8179277
Just a question for you anon, are you actually able to support yourself doing aa (pay for bills,rent,hobbies etc) and how often do you do aa/how much do you usually make per con (after investment) if you don't mind me asking?
I want to start doing aa full time but so far doing 1 con a month plus my minimum wage job I barely make enough to support myself and I want to know if it's worth it to do aa full time (2-3 cons a month) or to persue a manager position at my current job which would raise my wage to $11/hour and sacrifice my weekends.