In other news I’ve been updating my art sections. Eventually I’ll get around to re-posting some of my photography but for now I just don’t have the time or motivation. I’ve seen a couple movies since my last review post, Beauty and the Beast 3D, Tin Tin and Sherlock Holmes. They were all really good, I enjoyed them a lot. Totally recommend them. It was really cool seeing Beauty and the Beast remastered like that. The 3D reminded me of my old View Master. lol

My comic site is also a year old now and we’re fast approaching 50 comics! Woot! I’m kinda proud of myself for sticking to it for so long. I usually get to about three or four pages of comics then stop, but I’ve kept going. Mainly though because I’ve received so much feedback about them. I appreciate it folks!

Well that’s all for this update. Cheers!

Happy New Year 2012!

I haz a candy cane!

I found a bunch of old art so I threw together a slide show and made some commentary.

Check it out!

Now I do realize that most people cannot pay “professional” prices. No worries, but my gosh don’t get your panties in a wad that your favorite artist charges $30 for a color image. This is really rather reasonable compare to what they would be getting in the professional realm for something of the same quality. Consider yourself lucky that they might even be open for small private commissions like that. They take the time to work at such a low price just for you, when they could be making much much more commercially, or maybe they do and they just do this for fun. Who knows!

A lot of people like “badges” that display their character and its name. They wear these things to conventions etc, a lot of artists will laminate, mail, put clips etc on these things, if digital print them out but most of those artists will charge $30+. I find that quite reasonable considering all the time, effort and materials that go into making one of those. That’s why it irritates me beyond all reason when someone whines that I’m selling a badge for $10 because I cannot print it out or laminate them due to not having the right equipment. I don’t make a living from badges, nor do I sell enough to actually require purchasing these and my pricing certainly doesn’t cover the cost of gas to get to a store that does. I get a lot of nose turn ups because I won’t do that, but you pay for what you get. I find $10 really reasonable for anything that’s drawn, fully colored and shaded to your specifications.

Most people want something for nothing. As someone once put it, and they said it rather well, it’s basically like you going to work, working for a few hours, then having your employer say you don’t get any pay for that day. Regardless of if this person you are working with draws for a living or not. It’s still work. I’m sure any of them would enjoy drawing something for themselves rather than drawing something requested, I know I do. Yes I’ll admit it, but it’s true.

Another that kills me, are people wanting movie quality animations for under $20. Regardless of whether it’s an icon or not, it’s not worth spending a week of work on an animated commission for $20. That is less than minimum wage, not cool. If you pay that little for an animation, definitely don’t expect it to be the world’s smoothest most astounding animation. Unless that person is really quick at animating or doesn’t mind almost giving away their skills for peanuts.

A lot of people complain an artist is overpriced, well they charge what they think they’re worth, or as I said earlier undercharge. The only time I find that a person might not be worth the money is if you can see a LARGE gap in quality between what they produce for themselves versus what they make for others and are trying to squeeze $50 out of a quick sketch. And by the gap in quality I mean “half-assing” art drawn for others just because they don’t enjoy it and just want the money. Though! Also consider what it was that someone paid for, if it’s a $5 flat image, it’s going to naturally look different from a fully colored image with shading and a background. You also get what you pay for, the higher the price, the better the image. That goes for most everything. You buy $10 shoes, those shoes will be less quality than some you spent $50 on, typically.

When you commission someone, it’s only fair to pay what they ask. After all they’re taking time out of their day to work for something you want, not something they want. Don’t haggle over the price. Maybe this is their only source of income at the moment, or maybe it’s helping alongside another job. Some do it for fun, but most I know do it because they have to or they’d be in trouble financially or already are. When you get annoyed at the pricing of private art commissions, keep all this in mind.

Been almost a year since he’s gone, so I painted something. Decided to make it a new speedpaint video for youtube.