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**This blog is courtesy of `GrimFace242 concerning the novel phenomenon that is NaNoWriMo. TDW has huge respect for NaNoWriMo and so we are happy to promote the article. `GrimFace242 has acknowledged the following users as thanks in making this article possible and deserves a huge pat on the back for his work so can everyone give him a friendly dragon's breath of fire in appreciation: *TarienCole, ~WTFgirl, ~AzeeraTheNinja, *kittykittyhunter, ~forbiddenhero, ~Thy-Robocop, ~damina, ~AeternusVotum, ~TMCanada, *MeganLawler94, =Loza-Muse, `thorns, =TheSkaBoss, *SkysongMA, `PinkyMcCoversong, ~Nekolai, ~ozzla, =BloodrainFireDawn, *The-Monoblos and ~AspiredWriter. Thankyou to all and here are the do's of NaNo.**

We may only be one week into October, but November and NaNoWriMo is just around the corner. If you've never heard of it, NaNoWriMo is short for Nationa

Art School or State School?Hey Friends, I published this on Doodle Alley already, but I thought you guys might benefit from this kind of discussion too. Let me know what you think!
Hi Stephen,
I've been (quietly) following your cartoon essays for a while--I adore them and appreciate you sharing them.
I imagine you get a lot of emails from people asking about creative direction, their meaning in life, existential angst, etc. And I know you're a cartoonist and not a licensed therapist (although hey, I never claimed to know everything about you), but I was hoping you'd be able to help me.
I'm pursuing a career in comics. I *wish* I could say that I was attending the School of Visual Arts, the Art Center College of Design, etc., but those are rather cost-prohibitive. Instead my soul is being sucked out of me at a public university.
I'm aware that where I attend school isn't the end-all of what career I have and what level of success I reach, but I'm not learning what I want to learn. Currently in my drawing clas

Meeting Jesus, or Hello, Ted NeeleyJesus is shorter than me. He is 68 years old, with slightly lazy blue eyes, short brown hair, and his voice is so quiet sometimes you have to strain to hear. When he speaks, tinges of a Southern drawl--Texan, he reminds people often--mix with the influences of California and a life that has seen the rest of not only America, but the world. He wears glasses and a denim jacket. He had worn a leather jacket earlier, coming out on stage singing "The Age of Aquarius," but had shed it soon enough, hanging it on the back corner of a rocking chair while complaining that it had become too hot too quickly.
I don't know how many of you know who Ted Neeley is, but if you've seen the 70's film version of "Jesus Christ Superstar," you've seen him. He played the Jesus Christ with the rockstar voice 40 years ago for the movies, but he basically lived through the beginning of the Rock Opera, when theater finally accepted rock and roll into its repertoire. He was in Hair, in Jesus Christ Superstar, play

Experts Exchange!We're often given the advice, "write what you know" but that sometimes narrows the focus too much.  So much of what we want to write falls outside our area of expertise, and that often means... RESEARCH.
Google and Wikipedia can only take you so far.  For realism, to sound like you know what you're writing about, you need more.  You need expert advice!
After a lovely conversation with =Lucy-Merriman I figured this would be a good topic for a journal: who are the experts around here?  Who can we contact on dA when esoteric facts are needed?
Like, how much does a .50 caliber machine gun weigh?  Is it something you can just carry around or do you need a coupla guys?
Or, how the hell do authentic 17th century leggings stay on when you're running?
Or, what's a fast-acting tranquilizer suitable for humans that renders unconsciousness without killing?  What's it look like?  Does it have a smell?
Stuff like

I need to understand kimono layers. Help?I'm such a bad manga fan. And a bad fan of other cultures' clothing?!? But I mean I'm not just drawing a thing, I'm needing to write a description of a thing! OH I'M SO AWKWARD. DX *sob* So I'm hoping someone here will be able to help me. I'm googling, but am failing to come up with the correct keywords and kind of need to solve the mystery sooner rather than later.
SO I know that layers are typical, though not so much now with centralized heat and air.
I'm looking at these photos and wondering what these three robes are, what are their various functions are, if they're worn beneath other type of robe??
This specific query deals with Japanese robes, but oh I would so love descriptions or references of similar robes from Korea, Mongolia, China, Thailand, Cambodia .... I know that time periods have different garments, I'm most interested in what is commonly found today.

5 Things I Wish I'd Known Before OCTingBefore there was Project Hades, there was a little thing called The Book of Stories OCT. Like PHOCT, it was run by RobinRone, and it operated in pretty much the same way that the current tournament does. TBOS ran for six rounds. I lost in round 6. I actually wholeheartedly agree with the judge's decision, though. You see, ever since Round 1, I'd had absolutely no idea what I was doing. There was a basic guide to OCTing, sure, but nobody explained to me what it felt like. I made a ton of mistakes and I had to learn a lot of things the hard way. This whole article is a letter to my one-year-ago self, but until the advent of time-mail, I think that you guys will be able to benefit from it more than the past me can. So listen well, O ye childrens! Hear my words of sagely wisdom, and save yourself a few of the headaches that I experienced! (Please note that while some of my advice is geared toward literature entries, the same basic principals can be applied to every medium.)

An IMPORTANT NOTE to all artists!Please read this if you are someone who offers commissions, or someone who KNOWS anyone who offers commissions, cares about anyone who offers commissions, etc. etc. etc. This is both a warning against certain types of people who would take advantage of you, as well as a reminder about why it's important to be aware of your own worth as an artist and the services you are offering to others! I also hope it's helpful to those who do not make art, and like to buy commissions, as it may give you some insight about how to not be offensive to the artist who is doing work for you.
Without naming any names (but if any of this gets personal on the other side of it, this will become a PSA against taking commissions from specific folks, so let it be known that I tried to play nice out the gate), someone I know recently took a commission for what is, in my opinion, an INCREDIBLY low amount of money. What they were offering was worth way more, quality-wise as well as content-wise, than what w

Dealing with Creative DOUBT...I'm at the point where nothing seems right. Everything I write down is cliche, badly written, and has bad pacing. Yet when I was younger I would turn out stories one right after the other like a non-stop machine. But now...thanks to all those instructors and classes, the creative edge is now limping along like a dog with only one leg.
...I don't have an agent or anything published in the first place. So that does paint an extra layer of doubt upon the situation.
...when I discuss this, usually I'm berated with people saying, "Stop being so emo." As if depression were something that one can simply switch on and off.
...I guess what I'm doing here is ... trying to find some kind of sign, revelation or clue that I'm not a bad writer or that I'm just another writing loser.
You're not a bad writer or a loser of any kind.
-- You're NORMAL.

The truth is all artists of every kind have to deal with Doubt -- from the rank beginner to the professional. All of us, without excep

Advice For Anime Con Artist Alley TypesI was recently asked for some Artist Alley tips, and it made me realize two things: one, that I've been going to cons for 13 years and working Artist Alleys for 8 (good god), and two, that I had a huge guide typed up already. I'd been meaning to post this for a while - so I dug up that ancient draft, refined it, and put it over here: Massive Artist Alley Advice Post</b>
ETA Thu, July 7, 2011 - My LJ is locked, so I'm reposting the content here.
GENERAL TIPS
STUFF TO BRING:
- Large water bottle or thermos - Keep this with you and refill it often. You'll be talking ALL WEEKEND, so keep dehydration at bay. (Be sure someone can watch your table during pee breaks.)
- Cell phone - You won't be able to hear your phone ring over the noise of the alley, but text messaging is a godsend at cons. Make sure your phone is set to Vibrate, and keep it close to you.
- Healthy snacks that keep - I recommend apples, alm

Good and bad kimono referencesrepost from tumblr, but I thought it would be a good idea to put this up here as well.
so here we go! (thank god I have a sub)
BAD
the obvious robe-style is just sad

THIS ONE HERE FUCKING KILLS ME

GOOD
note the silhouette
kimono are NOT supposed to accent your curves. A kind of barrel shape is ideal
also, please look up the different colors that different types of kimono will have. Don't go all crazy with prints, simplicity is often important.
and these are just a few examples

Stop the perfectionismOn my Tumblr site someone asked me for some general advice for an aspiring comic creator. This is what was on my mind. Thought I'd share it here on Deviantart as well.
Right now all I can think of is something I've been thinking about lately. And that is the depression some of us artists get about our art. Like our expectations aren't just "My drawings need to be good!", they are "My art needs to be PERFECT."
So I would suggest always try to improve, gain confidence, but expect good/average output. Don't expect perfect art, ever. By doing this only causes you to be frustrated, which in turn causes mistakes, which pisses you off more, then you're stuck in a lame spiraling circle downward to the pathetic whiny artist. Which in turn kills your deadline. Giving yourself freedom from perfection makes drawing much easier and better art is produced and on time.
I'm currently working on this piece where it started out difficult, I had high expectations for it, I was in a bad mood, nothing was

UPDATES CONT. - Warm Winter Project: 2012UPDATE 9 - As of Sunday, November 25, 2012, I WAS ABLE TO MEET AND PURCHASE MY DONATION GOAL OF 50 HOODIES thanks to deviantART's 30% off Black Friday sale as well as my 10% Premium Member Discount. Congratulations to us and thank you to everyone who helped out!
UPDATE 8 - As of Saturday, November 17, 2012, we are at 125,125 points, with only 34,875 points left to go! I was able to purchase 2,000 points a moment ago to put directly into the pool myself. My original intent was to get 8,000, but I ended up working less than I expected this week and was unable to, but as of my next paycheck (in two weeks), I will be able to purchase 8,000! That will leave us with 26,875. And after `TimberClipse's AWESOME point doubler, like the one that helped out and did so amazingly earlier in the year, that will be another 8,000, leaving us with only 18,875! And his doubler is already halfway full with much thanks to =rainylake for immediately putting 2,000 points in

How to Commission an ArtistI've been commissioning artists for a little over two years now, starting with site money on GaiaOnline and moving to dA from there.  One thing that's hard for me to ignore is the number of artists who are concerned about being scammed, either because they've gone through that experience before or because the stories and warnings of it happening all the time proliferate.  Commissioners have their own concerns about being scammed by artists.  The simple fact of the matter is that it happens.
However, I think a good portion of the problem is that many people who want to commission an artist have no experience doing so, and it's not as easy to find instructions on it as, say, how to draw anime eyes.  That's why I'm making this guide.
It should be noted that while I mention commissioning through other websites now and then, this is meant as to general guide, and all of the examples are from deviantart.com.  Also, this does not

The thing about seeking critiqueA cross post from my Tumblr:
I always get super nervous when people present artwork to me, requesting critique. I tend to shy away from nitpicking aspects of a specific image in favor for offering broad stroke suggestions that could apply the artists' entire body of work as a whole. There are plenty of people who are much more qualified for nitpicking, and are more happy and comfortable to do so. I am not one of those people.
But there is a reason for this.
I come from the school of thought that believes the more work you produce, the better you'll get, faster. You can spend a month painting one image, trying to get it as close to perfect as you can—or you can spend that month painting several images, applying what you learned from the last image to the next. By the end of that month, it doesn't matter which route you take, you'll never end up with a perfect image. However, should you take the second approach, you will find yourself with a larger body of work to show f

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Selling Out

Journal Entry: Thu Nov 17, 2011, 1:33 PM

Commissions are OPEN.
My Tumblr
___________________________________

Woops, tumblr got my brain cogs going again!

Selling Out
Verb: Going against what you believe in or against what you identify as in order to make a quick buck.

Growing successful and enjoying great popularity and/or financial success doing what you love does not count as "selling out". It annoys me when people are so quick to equate success as "selling out". Especially in the arts.

I posted this on tumblr and got a few comments from art students in 'commercial art' majors telling how they've been accused of 'selling out' by other students in fine art majors.
And once again, as an illustrator enrolled in a fine arts (painting) program, my empathy burns with a passion for artists in such a position.

Personally, I've had to lay the verbal beat down a couple of times in regards to the topic of 'selling out'.

The most common thing I heard was that "all illustration looks the same, probably just because that's what the public likes." To which the response was "All abstract painting looks the same, probably just because that's what the curators like." Minding how ignorant it is to say and actually mean such a statement like that towards any genre of art, it's all catering to a market, to a particular group of people. But it's the market/group of people that we most relate to, that we want to cater to.

If an artist wants to cater to an 'art educated' public, that's their choice—and it's a good choice. I personally like to cater to a moderately critical public viewership, and so I do work for that kind of audience. Other people want to cater to fandoms, and the people who partake in those fandoms are their audience. It's all valid, it's all good. And if you love it, if you're passionate about it, if it's what you dig, how is that selling out??

It would be "selling out" if people like myself, with a love for publicly accessible illustrative work, gave in to the pressure of an educational institution, and to the pressure of our peers, to make work that caters to something we give little to no shits about. Such as what is widely accepted/defined as 'fine art painting' (what does that even mean, anyways??).
If they don't like what we do, that is a-ok! But no one should accuse anyone of "selling out" because they're not doing the kind of work other people think they should do. That's just ignorant.

__________________________________________________________________

_{background image by *ashwara}

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Selling Outby *painted-bees

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~pfors Dec 8, 2011

"Verb: Going against what you believe in or against what you identify as in order to make a quick buck."

By that definition, identifying with and believing in the quick buck makes one immune to selling out!

Problem solved.

~otherwise Nov 21, 2011 Professional Filmographer

Trueeeeee there is always an audience! There is always a message to be conveyed and also what's so bad about making a little money anyway.
I think there are always extreme cases of so-called selling out when it comes to really intense pandering, but people are way too eager to press the "she's selling out!" button.

Animators are considered the "selling out" department to the extent that we're pretty much shunned from..... our financial aid program XD It's very common for people not to be able to afford to graduate since we're allotted so very little money--their reasoning is "oh, they actually will be able to pay off their debts eventually--let's make those REALLY BIG debts!"

I am continually in awe of anyone who braves a real Fine Arts department! IT sounds crazy!

*painted-bees Nov 21, 2011 Professional Digital Artist

ahh that's super shitty to hear about how even financial aid presents that uninformed bias :I ...It's so unfortunate when it feels like students seem to understand what art is and what it means to be an artist--than the institutions that are supposed to teach it :<!

`sambees Nov 18, 2011

I am successful at what I am doing. I am selling out... OF PRINTS

*painted-bees Nov 18, 2011 Professional Digital Artist

~LavaLizard Nov 18, 2011 Hobbyist General Artist

By the concrete definition of "selling out", I have been selling out for my entire life, and have never experienced the feeling of refusing to do so in the face of criticism.

That's not even a joke, unfortunately. :-\

*Quilsnap Nov 17, 2011 General Artist

herp a derp

~str4yk1tt3n Nov 17, 2011

I'm sure someone has mentioned this already, but not all illustration looks the same! I mean, yeah, there are popular styles in any time period...but I see such a diverse sampling of commercial art EVERY DAY...also, I get paid to draw. Yeah. Suck it, jealous whiners. Call me a sell out all you want, I get PAID TO DRAW.

~goldenavatar Nov 17, 2011

Being a starving artist is for chumps, the stupid and the mentally impaired.

=Luminela Nov 17, 2011 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Wow, this is just what I needed right now. I'm enrolled in a fine arts program at school and my critique the other day was terrible to say the least. My professors do not like digital art and want me to be more abstract in what I do. I just do not want to do that...but unfortunately I'm going to have to do as they like if I want to graduate.

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