Lily Neon Vagabond's Blog, page 11

The Inking Process: Tattoo, Comic Book and Graphic Novel Art

Jump to:[ps2id id=’top’ target=”/] First Tattoo Tattoos and MRIs Second Tattoo Third Tattoo Creative Process Commercial vs Independent New Plan and Sample I’ve always loved the tattoo art form. It’s amazing how much artists can create using skin and ink. I planned on getting many tattoos, but I settled on three. Due to medical reasons, […]

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What If It Was You? | Flash Fiction

This is a fictional account of a “what if” scenario. What if a Canadian had an online relationship with an American, right now in 2017? Again. this is complete and utter fiction. I’m sharing the story with the world. Anyone is free to copy/share/whatever. Do what you want. I’ve rated this piece of flash fiction […]

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To the Bone (2017) – Review Controversy

I admit I decided to watch To the Bone, a Netflix Original, because of various online complaints about controversy and claims of glorifying anorexia. They’re all wrong. Netflix originals are either a massive miss or a big hit. To the Bone has an all-star cast, both seasoned and new. It’s one of those movies that’s […]

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Dorian Grey (2009)

Oliver Parker’s Dorian Grey is a slow burning thriller with sparks of horror that builds up into one quick firework. Then the light fades. For too long the North American audience has been beaten over the head with pop psychological and very little history. I’m saddened to see in many reviews I’ve read after I […]

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GLOW – Review of Netflix Original

GLOW – Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling. Everyone knows television wrestling is fake. But that isn’t the point of this Netflix Original miniseries. Heavy on neon and 80’s references, GLOW looks and sounds cheesy as hell. I half-expected the show to be accidentally funny. It’s actually quite entertaining and smart. The creators behind GLOW did something […]

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Streaming Eternally

Streaming Eternally is a commentary about television from the past 30 years and online streamng today.

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My Memory of Ghost in the Shell

 

Walking into my favourite bar, about 20 – 25 years ago. The smoke machine slithered through the metal cage that surrounded the dance floor. Leather and tattooed skin gleamed under the black lights. Silver chains and dangerous piercings. And in the far top corner of the room, Ghost in the Shell anime movie played on a hanging TV set.

We were all ghosts in our own shells.

I don’t think anyone can find an accurate fan demographic. Ghost in the Shell was one of those obscure anime cult classics. Loved by all, regardless of gender, and hugely popular in the underground at the time. Now? Apparently people are saying on social media that Ghost in the Shell fans are 75% male. Since when? As I skim these comments, I can’t help to think they’re posted by people who don’t know and were never there.

In any underground, alternative scene, anime was a huge influence. Ghost in the Shell and Akira are top of the list. I wouldn’t dare say which one is better, they’re both unique movies. But I will throw in a quick recommendation in the same vein. Robot Carnival. Worth it.

You see, it was all a part of the lifestyle. Anything punk. Cyberpunk long before anyone started calling it Cyberpunk. It all meshed together. It was never only a fanboy thing. It was a freak thing. And we were proud of it.

Times have changed, of course. The scene has long since become scattered. People got old. Got families. A lot died young. Live fast, make good looking corpse.

The truth is, Ghost in the Shell doesn’t have an original active fan base anymore. It’s an old movie, and people have moved on to the 21st century.

In regards to any controversy about the failed live action version, it’s the same underlying problem as the movie I Am Legend, and many other examples. There are still fans of the original book that hate the movie. I liked the movie. I also like the book. I don’t like how Hollywood keeps copping out by using the same title, when the movie is obviously a completely different story. I don’t think Hollywood knows how to market to a brand-new 21st century audience, and it is tiring waiting for them to figure it out.

Well, this post ended up being more depressing than I planned. That really wasn’t my intention. I was aiming for nostalgic.

Anyway, on a lighter note, I’m updating this blog and my website. Enjoy the changes and look for a new blog design soon.

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Busy Bee

I've been busy, working on a new art technique that will, hopefully, allow me to finish Cottonseeds myself. I've posted concept art on my Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/Lily.Author/

So, what do you think? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

Why I Can’t Work With an Artist Anymore

Well “can’t” is a rather strong word. If I ever meet an artist that I can work with, I’ll go for it. In the meantime, I just can’t work with artists anymore.

In the past year, I wasted a lot of time and effort trying to achieve only one thing. Get the first issue of Cottonseeds published by ComiXology. Why? Because they’re the biggest online digital comic book publisher and instant sales. It took almost a year of grief, invisible hoop jumping, and a crapload of bad communication.

The thing is, ComiXology isn’t really a publisher. They’re an online distributor that distributes through their own app. That’s all well and fine, it would just be nice if they were honest about it. I’m relieved that Cottonseeds issue 1 has finally been accepted by ComiXology (release date coming soon). However, I find it sad that the company has total monopoly. There really aren’t any other options.

ComiXology doesn’t have any real guidelines. They only communicate with copied and pasted messages, the same thing over and over. They don’t help, they don’t guide, they couldn’t care less about the quality of the story, never mind whether it makes money. They only care about whether the submission can be rendered using the ComiXology GuideView ™ app.

It took four re-submissions, each slightly different, with a blind guess of what the hell they want, yet each was completely redesigned. That took nearly a year. For one issue. 22 measly pages. And there’s no way I can go through that again. Sales or not, it wasn’t worth the stress.

But enough ranting. Back to the topic of this post.

I’ve talked to and interviewed A LOT of aspiring comic book artists/line artists/inkers/colorists to see if they could help make sure Cottonseeds is accepted by ComiXology. Some were really good artists, but unfortunately they couldn’t commit to a ten issue series. A number of them were… awful.

It wasn’t just their low-quality art that I could tell would never get past the ComiXology guards, though that was a big factor, it was the attitudes.

Seriously? You expect to get paid thousands of dollars per issue for, what, fan art? That’ not only highly illegal, it’s absurd. Imagine someone applying for a plumbing job and saying in the interview, I don’t know anything about plumbing but I can imitate you, and you can pay for that! No. Just, no.

I really don’t care how many times you can redraw Batman. That still isn’t original dark art. It’s just copying. I can get the same result using a photocopier. But, again, that’s illegal.

Legalities aside, it looks bad. It’s just obvious the artist didn’t come up with any art themselves. It didn’t make them a good candidate.

And then there were aspiring artists hoping to get paid lots of money for something that looks like the back of a Hallmark card. Unimpressive.

After all that interviewing and testing, I’ve concluded that I can’t work with aspiring comic book artists who don’t have any experience. Yeah, I know that makes me sound like a snob, but it’s honest. To be further honest, I don’t have the time or money to waste on teaching anyone how to do art. A small part me wishes I had better resources and I could help every artist really shine. But, I don’t have the teaching skills either. I’m just not a good match.

Don’t get me wrong, I get it. We all have to start somewhere. We all need at least one person in our entire lives to give feedback and say, look, it’s not good enough, go back to the drawing board, try again. It’s just tiring advertising a real job only to have a million aspiring artists practically beg, look at my special art!!! Applying for jobs just to get free feedback is not appropriate. Join a club. Attend a comic con. Go to the library. Whatever you have to do. Practice, practice, practice. Then, maybe, someday, you can get job for your art.

And please, do not ever submit fan art for a comic book job. For pity’s sake.

I don’t need an artist. I thought I did, but I don’t. I am an artist. What I needed was an aid, no different than using cane as a walking aid. But after a year’s worth of unnecessary pain and grief, I’ve concluded that the concept of an artist aid doesn’t exist. I tried. I wasted a year learning that. Live and learn.

There is good news in this ranty post. (Yes, I know ranty isn’t a word. Go with it). Although issue one isn’t as good as I would have liked, I’ve figured out a new technique so I can finish the rest of the series myself. I might still need an inker, we’ll see how it goes. For the meantime, it’s interesting to see once I accepted I can’t work with another artist, I began to see all the possibilities for what I can do with my own art. Even better, the first issue has been accepted. I feel it can only get better from now on.

I went the long and hard way, but I’m here now.

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Artists! Stop Charging per Hour (and I’ll tell you why)

You’re doing so much harm to yourself as an independent artist by charging per hour. Artists get paid more if they charge per project.

It’s been a disturbing trend that’s grown rapidly in more recent years. It’s all over the internet and so-called freelance websites that I won’t bother mentioning really don’t help.

The problem is someone, somewhere spread the rumour online that artists shouldn’t charge less than minimum wage. That’s half-right. When you work for a company, don’t work for less than minimum wage because a company that pays less than minimum wage is kinda, sort of, illegal. So, of course at least minimum wage for a 9 to 5 job. That’s just common sense.

Freelance work, other hand, has very different math. If you want a guaranteed income, a specific salary, than independent freelancing is not for you. Getting a job at a company is the only way to get a guaranteed income from doing only one job. That much isn’t new. It’s always been that way.

Freelancing is another world. You have to do everything on your own. Your own boss, accountant, manager, everything. Freelancing means more work, sometimes for less total pay. You’re completely independent and you also have to self-manage customer-relations. It’s not a guaranteed income, and, more often than not, you have to work twice as hard to pay your bills. Welcome to the real world.

Not all is lost. Personally, I love freelancing. I can set my own pace, my own schedule. If I don’t want to take job, I have the freedom to say no. I enjoy full independence, and it works for me.

For freelance work, I charge a flat rate of 25$ an hour, and 10$ for corrections. There’s always corrections. Client change their minds. It happens. But, I charge 25$ an hour because I have 20+ years of experience and I work fast. I assess how long it would take for me to finish a project, then tell potential clients the total cost for the project.

Freelance means knowing what you’re worth.

Let’s say, I get 14 jobs to design business cards each. It wouldn’t take me more than a half an hour to design a business card. So, that’s 7 hours to complete 14 jobs. I tell clients 12.50$ for a business card design. Clients are happy to pay such a small fee. At 25$ an hour, the total pay for less than one day’s work is 175$, maybe more including the cost of corrections. If I charged minimum wage, I would get around 56$ (USD, more like 70$ as per Canadian minimum wage).

The secret to freelance success, though not really a secret, is to take on a lot of jobs at once and speed. Work fast, take more jobs, get paid more.

But, if it took me all day to design only one business card and I charged, say, 60$ for that one business card design, I would never get hired and end up starving to death. Charging more, working slower, you get paid less, and frankly, you’re ripping off clients. No one in their right mind would pay a whopping 60$ for one measly business card.

Of course, if you’re new, be prepared to start small. Take on small, quick projects. 10$ here, 10$ there. Gain experience, build your reputation and resume, learn to work faster. Portfolios rarely get anyone decent paying jobs. Resumes get you paid jobs. It takes time and work. It never happens overnight.

Keep in mind that clients have every right to say no, or offer less than you think you’re worth. You can always drop the client, but consider the possibility your work isn’t good enough yet. I know, a bitter pill to swallow, but that’s what it means to be a new artist. Time and work.

I would love nothing more than to live in a world where every independent artist is hugely successful and gets paid massive amounts of money just for existing. Maybe in a few centuries we can all live in that perfect world. In the meantime, first things first. Stop shooting yourself in the foot.

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