Karine Makes Comics and Stuff

pleasestopbeingsad: Street harassment is not a compliment.

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:03:27 -0400

pleasestopbeingsad:

Street harassment is not a compliment.

syrusbliz: ‘Cause Greg Weisman is on twitter now and I get to...

Wed, 22 May 2013 01:44:29 -0400

syrusbliz:

‘Cause Greg Weisman is on twitter now and I get to see regular updates from one of my fav series guy.

Hearts.

magicalmelonball: areyoutryingtodeduceme: I promised I’d...

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:31:25 -0400

magicalmelonball:

areyoutryingtodeduceme:

I promised I’d eventually upload all of this comic, and what better day than Free Comic Book Day? :D If you get this from me at cons and stuff, you’ll still get a sample of the tea featured in the comic, or, you know. You can just buy a whole bag of it on Adagio (it’s got Earl Grey Moonlight, Chestnut, Vanilla, and Cinnamon and is pretty darn delicious.)

*screaming* OH MY GOD I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS AMAZING AMAZING THING

It’s the whole lovely wonderful comic! Love this!

So now when you do Alt + Reblog, the reblog symbol turns green, "explodes" and then disappears.

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:00:35 -0400

theshelbylife:

incestuous-lesbianponies:

laurarw:

I THOUGHT THIS WAS KIDDING SOGMLASG

HOLY SHIT

virtualcara: katiecrenshaw: virtualcara: katiecrenshaw: virtu...

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:05:44 -0400

virtualcara:

katiecrenshaw:

virtualcara:

katiecrenshaw:

virtualcara:

10 tips for winning at Artist’s Alley

Con season is starting up again and I figured it’s time to dispense some experience from the many cons I have attended and talking to many people who *want* to vendor in Artist’s Alley and have no idea of where to start.

Read More

Very very good tips!!
Just wanted to add a warning to one of them that I learned the first two times I had a con table waaayyyy back in 2009.

Be VERY careful what you offer for free!
When I first started, I had three black and white bookmark designs that I copied onto card stock paper. I put my information on them and used them as business cards. Good idea right? Except that people took those free items and then didn’t buy any of the bookmarks for sale. See the free item was too good. People took that, had my art and didn’t need to pay for anything else.

So if you do offer something for free, don’t make it too nice. You don’t want your free item to compete with the items people can buy because people will take free over paid every time.

Display Your Prints!
No, really, if you want to sell prints, make sure people can see them easily. I sold next to no prints for two years because I just kept them in a portfolio on the table. Once I made a display out of PVC pipe and hung prints from it, sales sky rocketed. I sold more prints at one convention than I had in all the other previous conventions combined.
So make sure your prints are up and on display if you want to sell them!

Sketchbooks Sales are Declining
Sketchbooks are IMHO one of the most awesome things I can buy from an artist. I love ‘em. However, from what I’ve seen and hard, sales on these are declining. So I’m not saying don’t make them (because I want to buy them from you if you do!) but keep costs low. Try not to make anything you need to sell for more than $5 or $10 as that tends to be the most people pay unless you are a known artist.

Don’t Try and Do it Alone!
My best friend Elly, sits at the tables with me and pretty much saves my life. When things get busy, having someone else there to take money, keep things organized, and talk to people while I draw is critical. There is no way I could do it all by myself. So if you have a friend who can help, let them help!

And one last things.
The tip about using a suitcase btw is GOLD. I wish I’d thought of a rolling suitcase years earlier!

More great advice from Katie Crenshaw!

I have to respectfully disagree on not pricing items over $10 though - I recommend a range of prices instead. I don’t sell nearly as many pieces of original art (my high ticket items) during a con as I do bookmarks (my lowest priced) but the few that do sell more than make up for it. And I am not a famed artist by far! Best to be comfortable with the prices you’re asking for, it’s always easiest to mark high and lower them later than the reverse.

Some suitcase vendors are also making a hockey bag sized duffle with suitcase wheels and handles. I got one from Roots - can’t wait to try it out!

Oh I meant the 5 to 10 thing specifically for sketchbooks, not everything. What you say about pricing is totally right though. My Prints vary from $5 to $20 and my original art from $5 to $300. I don’t sell many high end prints, but just two usually covers printing costs, and one original art sale can sometimes cover the whole table. :D

But for sketchbooks, because they have a higher printing overhead then prints and take lots of time to put together, I wanted to mention that the average price that still sells well is about 5 to 10.

(also! Hello! very excited to talk to another artist alley vet :D)

D’oh, my bad! I have seen folks advocate selling nothing for more than a few dollars in the past, and I’m always an advocate for not voluntarily starving as an artist. Sorry to jump the gun.

Definitely agree on sketchbooks being cheaper, it’s lovely to see them nicely bound but for smaller runs the cost is insanely prohibitive, especially in color. You get a better return on comics or novels for the effort and cost involved. An ashcan zine (done with a B&W photocopier, maybe a color cover) can give you a very nice product for a few cents a page without running up supply cost, and has such a low entry threshold for being published I think everyone should be doing it.

(Yes hello, nice to meet you! I don’t get to swap war stories out of con often, and at con everything’s such a blur!)

All of the above is brilliant information. I can certainly vouch for increased sales when I displayed my prints rather than have them in a portfolio.

I’ll add a few tidbits from my own experience. I’ve done comic cons and furry cons, small, medium and huge. Main thing that happens in bigger cons is that the higher the number of dealers, the more each attendee’s budget will be split into smaller and smaller cuts to make sure they get something from many sellers. Also, in big cons, most (experienced) people don’t spend any money on the first day, because they don’t want to make the mistake of spending their budget first and then realising further in the dealers’ room that there’s other artists and artisans they would have loved to get product from. For this reason, make sure you have low-priced items to sell quickly, that people will buy (the ashcan mentioned above and prints, for sure), so you don’t end up being passed by for being “too expensive”.

Know your con. Some cons are great for original, on-the-spot commissions (furry cons are this way in particular) whereas others are more about merchandise (make sure you have art books or comics or prints or already made originals or the like, that people can just grab and go, and not have to return to you to pick up art). There’s always overlap. In big comic cons, I’ve chosen to limit the offerings to quickly done art for a lowish price, whereas in the small furry cons, I bring all my markers and bristol, my laminator and clips to make custom con badges in full colour, and I get to make large, full colour pieces at these.

Your posture in Artist Alleys and Dealers Rooms is awful because you’re sitting on a plastic chair, working on a flat table. I highly recommend finding an inclined surface to work on. I just bought a wood laptop tray, which helped me sit straighter in my chair instead of hunched over. Other advantages include that I can see the people walking up to my table, I don’t have my hair in my face, my neck isn’t killing me after a few hours, and since I have tennis elbow from drawing and one unfortunate bad move while rock-climbing, the better back position made my arm not hurt as much.

(OH HAI artist con people! Looking forward to seeing CK in November at HalCon!)

Why Do Men Keep Putting Me in the Girlfriend-Zone?

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:47:50 -0400

becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys:

philsandifer:

literaryreference:

You know how it is, right, ladies? You know a guy for a while. You hang out with him. You do fun things with him—play video games, watch movies, go hiking, go to concerts. You invite him to your parties. You listen to his problems. You do all this because you think he wants to be your friend.

But then, then comes the fateful moment where you find out that all this time, he’s only seen you as a potential girlfriend. And then if you turn him down, he may never speak to you again. This has happened to me time after time: I hit it off with a guy, and, for all that I’ve been burned in the past, I start to think that this one might actually care about me as a person. And then he asks me on a date.

I tell him how much I enjoy his company, how much I value his friendship. I tell him that I really want to be his friend and to continue hanging out with him and talking about our favorite books or exploring new restaurants or making fun of avant-garde theatre productions. But he rejects me. He doesn’t answer my calls or e-mails; if we’d been making plans to do something before this fateful incident, these plans mysteriously fail to materialize. (This is why I never did get around to seeing the Hunger Games movie. Not to name any names, but thanks a lot, Tom.) Later, when I run into him at social events, our conversations are awkward and lukewarm. This is because the moment we met, he put me in the girlfriend-zone, and now he can’t see me as friend material.

I must say that I find this really unfair. I mean, I’m a nice girl. I have a lot to offer as a friend, like not being a douchebag and stuff. But males just don’t want to be friends with nice girls like me. They can’t help it, I guess; it’s just how they’re wired, biologically. Evolution conditioned our male hominid ancestors to seek nice girls as mates and form friendship bonds only with the other dudes that they hunted mammoths with. It’s true—I know this because I studied hominids in my fifth-grade science class.

So what’s the answer? Should I take up mammoth-hunting in an attempt to appeal to the friendship centers of men’s primal lizardbrains? Should I keep making guy “friends” and then prevent them from making a move on me by subtly undermining their self-confidence? Should I just give up on those manipulative, game-playing, two-faced bastards once and for all? I don’t know. I mean, I’d really like to have a true friendship with a guy someday, but it’s so hard to trust and respect them when they never say what they mean—and you never know when you might be relegated to the girlfriend-zone.

I want to be this person’s friend. A lot.

zomg yes all of this ALL OF THIS PERFECT

typette: I remember posting somewhere once in a thread about...

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:59:39 -0400

typette:

I remember posting somewhere once in a thread about why girls aren’t exploited in animation anymore where some guy said, “all the disney girls are drawn to be generally attractive, but I don’t think there are any eye-candy men… or are there? Are there any Disney men that lots of girls like?” and I mentioned Roger. Tons of girls replied agreeing with me and the original guy was like “wait, Roger? from 101 Dalmatians? What’s attractive about him, he’s tall and lanky and has a big nose, he isn’t muscley at all! Wouldn’t you all prefer Gaston or something? Or do you girls think his big nose is indicative of something else?” and I was like “no, you idiot, he’s a silly, goofy guy who likes animals and can play a bunch of instruments, that’s why he’s attractive. What’s the matter with you? Gaston, seriously?”

This is why we need more girls in animation. And more guys like Roger apparently.

rosalarian: Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy, in case you...

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:45:41 -0400

rosalarian:

Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy, in case you hadn’t heard. How dare she remove those ticking time bombs from her chest, amiright? Like, hasn’t she learned by now that her body is public domain and we all get to vote on what she does with it? Sheesh, how selfish can ya get.

A L B: Special Guest Edition: The Hawkeye Initiative IRL!

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:37:51 -0400

A L B: Special Guest Edition: The Hawkeye Initiative IRL!:

thehawkeyeinitiative:

I recently received an email from an anonymous fan sharing how she pulled a Hawkeye Initiative themed prank on her CEO to illustrate a problem with some artwork.
My personal compliments to her and her accomplice on a mission well done; they perfectly took they…

"Some men who want to compliment random women on the street are genuinely good guys who just don’t..."

Tue, 14 May 2013 15:55:12 -0400

“Some men who want to compliment random women on the street are genuinely good guys who just don’t understand why their comments might be unwelcome. Some men who want to compliment random women on the street are creepy predators. Most are somewhere in between, and guess what? I don’t know you, I don’t know your life, and I have no idea if you’re going to leave it at “Hey, you look good in that dress!” or follow it up with “But you’d look better without it! Har har! C’mon, where’re you going? I know you heard me! Fucking cunt, nobody wants your fat ass anyway, bitch.”

When you compliment a random woman who doesn’t know you, no matter how nice you are about it, there’s a good chance she’s going to freak out internally because for all she knows, you could be that latter type. And I get that it’s really unfair that women would just assume that about you. I get that it sucks that sometimes, expressing totally reasonable opinions like “hey you’re hot” will make women terrified of you or furious at you. That’s not fair.

But if you’re going to lay the blame for that somewhere, for fuck’s sake, don’t blame the woman. Blame all the guys who have called her a bitch and a cunt for ignoring their advances. Blame all the guys who may have harassed, abused, or assaulted her in the past. Blame all the people who may never do such a thing themselves, but who were quick to blame her and tell her to just get over it. Blame the fact that if she stops and talks to you and then something bad happens, people will blame her for stopping and talking to you.”

- Why You Shouldn’t Tell That Random Girl On The Street That She’s Hot » Brute Reason (via albinwonderland)

Disney: Say No to the Merida Makeover, Keep Our Hero Brave!

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:52:56 -0400

Disney: Say No to the Merida Makeover, Keep Our Hero Brave!:

lesstitsnass:

Merida was the princess that countless girls and their parents were waiting for — a strong, confident, self-rescuing princess ready to set off on her next adventure with her bow at the ready. She was a princess who looked like a real girl, complete with the ‘imperfections’ that all people have. …

Thanks for the heads up, perpetuallurkernazanin, I definitely signed this one.

I invite you to do the same, tumblrs!

Mothers' Day Advertising: Let's reinforce those stereotypes

Fri, 10 May 2013 08:16:05 -0400

Heard a Pier 1 ad on the radio this morning. Pier 1 is a store that sells housewares imported from around the world. Paraphrasing from memory:

“So, what are you expecting on Mothers’ Day?

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I’m going to get breakfast in bed, you know… to thank me for all the hard work I do the rest of the year. And then I’ll probably get a Pier 1 gift card, for them to apologize about the mess in the kitchen.”

So basically, mom works hard, so kids and husband (implied) are doing a nice thing, and then giving her a thing but leaving her a mess to deal with in the kitchen. Because it’s her job to clean it up.

If it’s just the kids and there’s no husband, then any child old enough to prepare breakfast and having money (and lack of intelligence) to buy a gift card from a store is old enough to freaking CLEAN the freaking MESS.

It’s so pervasive that most people listening to the ad probably didn’t even catch the sexism of it, thinking instead about how cute or how true it is that kids leave a mess (thus why it’s called a stereotype).

miksacred: thefrogman: I believe that there are a small group...

Thu, 09 May 2013 10:08:23 -0400

miksacred:

thefrogman:

I believe that there are a small group of women who hate men just for being men. I believe that the textbook definition of the word misandry fits that description. I believe there are bad things that happen to men. I believe those issues should be addressed. I do not believe that a fringe group of women who hate men can be blamed for those issues.

Misandry was a dead word until recently. A group of men who feared the progress of feminism revived the word and used it to undercut the movement. They like having the power being a man provides and they don’t want to lose that. So they created a movement, found a bunch of legitimate issues that affect men, and tried to blame women for those issues. They called this misandry. It’s like conservatives using buzzwords like “death panels” to make people fear health care. They let people assume it meant Obama wanted to kill your grandma. They let their cute little phrase infect the minds of good people and convince them of falsehoods.

People are telling me that men cannot report rape without getting laughed at. They say this is misandry. It is the fault of women who hate men. But that just doesn’t make any sense to me. When I seek a logical explanation, it seems more likely that this is because men are supposed to be strong and women are supposed to be weak. And rape has been viewed as something that happens mostly to women. So if it does happen to a man, they must be weak. How did this idea of men=strong and women=weak start? I’m pretty sure it wasn’t because of misandry. It is an ancient patriarchy collapsing in on itself.

Feminism is about fighting inequality. It’s about erasing the strong/weak perception ingrained into our society. Misandry, as the term is often used today, is about trying to blame women for anything bad that happens to men.

If you want to fight to fix issues that affect men, go for it. But I would really consider distancing yourself from this term. It is used to evangelize folks into a movement that is very problematic. A group that can’t handle scrutiny of their comic books and video games, so they send death and rape threats. A group that calls women sluts and think they ask for rape if they show too much cleavage. Those are the people who coined this term, and you should want nothing to do with them or their language.

An amazing read. I am glad someone said it and so eloquently.

And I agree. Rape culture is not just about women having to constantly be on the defensive in fear of being attacked, it’s about men being perceived constantly as potential abusers because they are considered to be the ones with the power.

Individual men are not the issue. The patriarchy, the system, is, and it affects everyone under it, regardless of their gender.

Cleveland Rant

Thu, 09 May 2013 09:19:07 -0400

patrickat:

“What’s a guy who looks like [Ariel Castro] supposed to do if he wants to get laid?” - the gist of way too many random comments being left on internet news sites and even implied by some “journalists” reporting on the escape from 10+ years of captivity of three women, kidnapped off the street as teenagers, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Because if you are a man who isn’t totally ripped or who doesn’t meet Abercrombie standards of attractiveness, becoming a predator who gets sex by force is your only recourse, apparently. Why aren’t more people pissed off about these kind of statements in furtherance of rape culture?

How about “He could be a decent human being first and foremost” as an answer to these ignorant idiots. But then, I’m trying to talk logic when they’re furthering rape culture and victim blaming and excusing the criminal.

What The Fur? is May 17-19 at the Delta Centre-Ville in...

Wed, 08 May 2013 22:48:11 -0400

What The Fur? is May 17-19 at the Delta Centre-Ville in Montreal. Come see me!

(yeah… hopefully my arm will be functional by then)

wantstobelieve: “well then just quit posting your art” “blah blah blah you whine too much, welcome...

Wed, 08 May 2013 22:25:37 -0400

wantstobelieve:

“well then just quit posting your art”

“blah blah blah you whine too much, welcome to the ‘net”

“just deal with it, art theft happens all the time”

“jfc just take your art down and shut up”

“you should punish the reposters by shutting down your blog”

“it’s your fault your watermark is invisible”

“it’s because your stuff is popular so consider it a compliment”

“i don’t know i just got this off google”

“then don’t stay on tumblr”

"Why Society Still Needs Feminism Because to men, a key is a device to open something. For women,..."

Wed, 08 May 2013 22:14:00 -0400

“

Why Society Still Needs Feminism

Because to men, a key is a device to open something. For women, it’s a weapon we hold between our fingers when we’re walking alone at night.

Because the biggest insult for a guy is to be called a “pussy,” a “little bitch” or a “girl.” From here on out, being called a “pussy” is an effing badge of honor.

Because last month, my politics professor asked the class if women should have equal representation in the Supreme Court, and only three out of 42 people raised their hands.

Because rape jokes are still a thing.

Because despite being equally broke college kids, guys are still expected to pay for dates, drinks and flowers.

Because as a legit student group, Campus Fellowship does not allow women to lead anything involving men. Look, I know Eve was dumb about the whole apple and snake thing, but I think we can agree having a vagina does not directly impact your ability to lead a
college organization.

Because it’s assumed that if you are nice to a girl, she owes you sex — therefore, if she turns you down, she’s a bitch who’s put you in the “friend zone.” Sorry, bro, women are not machines you put kindness coins into until sex falls out.

Because only 29 percent of American women identify as feminist, and in the words of author Caitlin Moran, “What part of ‘liberation for women’ is not for you? Is it freedom to vote? The right not to be owned by the man you marry? The campaign for equal pay? Did all that good shit get on your nerves? Or were you just drunk at the time
of the survey?”

Because when people hear the term feminist, they honestly think of women burning bras. Dude, have you ever bought a bra? No one would burn them because they’re freaking
expensive.

Because Rush Limbaugh.

Because we now have a record number of women in the Senate … which is a measly 20 out of 100. Congrats, USA, we’ve gone up to 78th place for women’s political representation, still below China, Rwanda and Iraq.

Because recently I had a discussion with a couple of well-meaning Drake University guys, and they literally could not fathom how catcalling a woman walking down University Avenue is creepy and sexist.
Could. Not. Fathom.

Because on average, the tenured male professors at Drake make more than the tenured female professors.

Because more people on campus complain about chalked statistics regarding sexual assault than complain about the existence of sexual assault. Priorities? Have them.

Because 138 House Republicans voted against the Violence Against Women Act. All 138 felt it shouldn’t provide support for Native women, LGBT people or immigrant women. I’m kind of confused by this, because I thought LGBT people and women of color were also human beings.
Weird, right?

Because a girl was roofied last semester at a local campus bar, and I heard someone say they think she should have been more careful. Being drugged is her fault, not the fault of the person who put drugs in her drink?

Because Chris Brown beat Rihanna so badly she was hospitalized, yet he still has fans and bestselling songs and a tattoo of an abused woman on his neck.

Because out of 7 billion people on the planet, more than 1 billion women will be raped or beaten in their lifetimes. Women and girls have their clitorises cut out, acid thrown on them and broken bottles shoved up them as an act of war. Every second of every day. Every corner of the Earth.

Because the other day, another friend of mine told me she was raped, and I can no longer count on both my hands the number of friends who have told me they’ve been sexually assaulted. Words can’t express how scared I am that I’m getting used to this.

Because a brief survey of reality will tell you that we do not live in a world that values all people equally and that sucks in real, very scary ways. Because you know we live in a sexist world when an awesome thing with the name “feminism” has a weird connotation. Because if I have kids someday, I want my son to be able to have emotions and play dress up, and I want my daughter to climb trees and care more about what’s in her head than what’s on it. Because I don’t want her to carry keys between her fingers at night to
protect herself.

Because feminism is for everybody, and this is your official invitation.

”

- Caitlin O’Donnell, Drake University. (via on-another-note)

Also, please find and read Caitlin Moran’s book, “How to Be a Woman”, which is a great read regardless of your gender. It was referred to in this list of reasons and I believe more people should read it.

Fursuit ≠ Consent I adapted my Cosplay ≠ Consent comic into one...

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:19:43 -0400

Fursuit ≠ Consent

I adapted my Cosplay ≠ Consent comic into one for the Furry fandom, where there are mainly issues of personal boundaries. Furries can be cuddly, but make sure you ask first to see if it’s okay to cuddle.

Also, it’s not because you’re wearing a fursuit that you have the right to glomp anyone. Personal bubble works for EVERYONE, people.

snafflewyrm: This is the thing Bridget. Please watch it. I beg...

Mon, 06 May 2013 14:37:44 -0400

snafflewyrm:

This is the thing Bridget. Please watch it. I beg of you.

BWAAAHAHAHA *ded*

Draw like a child

Wed, 01 May 2013 22:48:39 -0400

aprildrawing:

snafflewyrm:

hi i dru muy piktur that i dreuw yesardey again i no yu wil lik it beter it is beter now

I heart u so much snaffle