A lot of stuff has happened in these past couple of weeks that I’d like to post about, but really lack the time. I fixed a couple of broken figures, cleaned figures, got new figures, I actually attended an Olympic event, and did some commission work. In addition, I’ve been working like a fiend on my new iPhone game. I’ve also been playing a lot of Resonance of Fate (yes, it won me over Final Fantasy XIII) and thoroughly enjoying it. It reminds me a lot of Valkyria Chronicles for some reason, which was also epic.
Well, to start off, I was commissioned to do a piece of art a couple of weeks ago. It’s probably some weaboo who’s writing some sort of animu story with some lame animations. (I will tell you why I’m being so bitter in a moment). The picture on the left is the one that this guy gave me to use as “reference” for their character.
The task I was assigned to, was to create a front and back for them to use as reference for their animation.
You’ll excuse me for squishing the aspect ratio of this drawing, because I needed the text to balance out on my blog. Click on the image if you want to see what it’s supposed to look like.
The strange blue-haired creature on the left with the mask was supposed to be the one that I drew from. Supposedly some sort of ninja who’s shy and quiet, but is strong and able to fight.
Within the time-frame that I was doing this work, the dude decided to change her name, and her personality type. I can’t remember what her initial generic name was, but they changed it to a generic Japanese name Yui. Anyway, I took her and created this:
click image for full size.
Still somewhat generic, but overall a great improvement. And as per my usual way of doing commissioned work, I recorded a video of it being done, and uploaded it to youtube, to prove to the client that the work is done, and how long it took.
[pro-player]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFEpAIoGDdo[/pro-player]
This is where the trouble started.
After I notified him with a link to the youtube video, I no longer got any response. A week went by with me sending him emails, and no response. I discovered that he also doesn’t have a paypal account (at least not with the associated email address he gave me).
I should have given this more thought before uploading to youtube. This is a 720p video after all. This guy was also trying to keep costs low, as he could only afford to pay me a very small sum of money. He most likely took a print-screen of the video and that was more than sufficient for him (I mean, look at the art he gave me!). I took it down after that, but it might have already been too late.
Lesson learned. I’ve changed my rules for commissioning now. At the same time, I now have a fear of uploading my images online. There’s absolutely nothing stopping people from using my work as their own. Who knows? There could be an artbook out there with my art in it “drawn by somebody else”, or some T-shirt in China with my art on it titled “radient draemr”.
It looks like I’m out a payment. I’ve opened up the video again, so you guys can check it out. I use a different method getting my rough-in this time.
So Blazblue was supposed to come out today in UK, but hasn’t. If it had, then today’s post would have been about something different. I’m just as giddy in anticipation as the Europeans, since my work is ON THEIR BOX ART WOOHOO!
Some Europeans expressed their frustration in a fun way though.
[pro-player]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXbOw-_9QVY[/pro-player]
2nd delay now, I think. It’s now scheduled for April 2nd (and probably not 1st because people would think that it’s an April Fool’s Joke ha ha).
I really do apologize if I haven’t been commenting on your blogs.
Things have been busy:
Bleh 183 unread emails is a lot. Thanks for writing, guys, and I apologize to some of you if I haven’t replied.
On the left of this image is a crop of my RSS feed. You guys in the Good Friends section are the people that have made a big difference in my blogging life, because you blog about some cool shit, or someone I know personally or heck, all of the above. (there’s actually a lot of people in this section, but you know who you are!) Thanks for blogging, and thanks for reading my blog.
The others on my RSS feed are the blogs that I like to read too, and are considered friends as well. Keep blogging guys, because I do read them when I can. 😀
Last night, I got a little bit of free time, so I did another very random paint. Didn’t really use any new techniques here, but it was fun to just play around.
[pro-player]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXxCJIEhRFw[/pro-player]
It’s pretty messed up ha ha.
But I do like the end result.
click image for full size.
The progress of my iPhone game is coming along quite well.
I revamped the website, and started a contest to name the game. A few sites picked up the news and posted it on their iPhone news sites. I’m pretty grateful for that, and the site has spiked in hits for a while since then.
While the contest for it is now officially closed, do keep your eye out on the game when it comes out!
Do click on https://www.trickshotgames.com
EDIT: Decided to replace my little Konata avatar and make a photoshop image out of rockleelotus‘ Little Street Fighters, since he said there’s no budget for photoshop. 🙂
I love the last but one draw ! Really amazing colors ! Happy to have news ^^
thanks Leonia! 😀
It sucks when you don’t get paid for your work. Maybe you can charge a small amount when someone asks you to do some work, and charge the rest once it’s done and they like it?
That’s actually what I have in mind now. Since I’m the one doing the art, and I’ve done many already, I’m reliable that I won’t run away with people’s money. I figure I’d charge them for half, and then give them a thumbnail sample to show the work is done, and then get them to pay me the other half before giving them the final art. Probably going to still record youtube videos for my commissions, but won’t post it until after the transaction.
ouch. I feel for you. But people running out from their debt is pretty common for internet transactions… but it also happens in real life (and with much more money involved). A pretty good way to prevent from losing out completely is to ask for a 50% down payment first before starting to do anything and being clear with your terms for the commission. Record each and every conversation you have with the client and if they do turn out to be like the one you mentioned, you can post evidence to warn others about it. It also helps that you know the age of the one asking for commissions. I’m thinking this one has probably got to be just a young teen… it’s something so unprofessional for something small time that it has to be… no offense to other young teens.
Hopefully, karma would get to him someday.
Speaking of commissions… do you has rates? 😀 I was kinda interested in asking for a banner although I’m unsure if I can afford it ><;
Oh, and probably a transparent watermark should work for your videos… that way, they won’t be able to print screen a clean copy
Heya Ninjovee!
Yeah, that guy will get what’s coming, I’m sure. It’ll catch up to him eventually. And you’re probably right, could be some young teens who simply don’t know better.
You want a banner for your site? I like your banner! Not sure why you’d want to replace it. But I charge reasonable rates. I’ll drop you an email.
I had thought about watermarking before, but it’s actually a really big hassle, and requires the video to be re-encoded, resulting in some pretty lossy image quality. I’d rather not…
Haha! I’m very flattered that you like my banner… but I’ve been wanting to feature sweet Nendo Kagamiku for a while now… which is why I wanted to replace it ^^; sent you an email about the banner and waiting for your reply! :3
Sorry to hear about the swindling. I agree with the others that an upfront partial payment would be helpful, especially since commissions are just a bonus for you anyway. Saw your latest vid, keep up the good work ^^
Thanks Micchi! Definitely will keep posting stuff. I’ve already got a good idea for a new figure photoshop too! 🙂
Sorry to hear about the bad experience. It’s kind of tough being an artist in the Internet age, where anyone could take your work and pretend it was their own and you might never even know they were doing it. I worry sometimes that there’s someone out there pretending they made my music. I suppose there’s comfort, though, in knowing that you could prove it’s yours and they couldn’t, thanks to having the original recordings or Photoshop files or whatever the format may be.
I guess, as Nopy said, you’ll need to start asking for a deposit prior to doing any work. It would be nice if we could just trust everyone to do the right thing, but sadly that’s not the world we live in. I just hope you can find ways to protect your work that still allow all of us to enjoy them in their complete splendour.
Heya Steve. The comfort in knowing that you have the original source files does help, and is sort of what keeps me posting. If I ever had to do something drastic, like sue, I could. But then again, we’re probably talking about chump change here (though you never know!). If I found out someone was making millions off of my work, then I’d gladly take it to court and sue the pants off of them! But if it’s some weaboo teen on deviantart, or someone trying to fake themselves into the games industry, then there really isn’t a whole lot you can do about it. Situations like that though, it eventually catches up to them.
One method I’ve thought about is bigger watermarks, or put watermarks in locations that people simply can’t photoshop it out and claim it their own. But that involves ruining the picture, which I don’t want to do.
Wow that is a real bummer hearing about your commission. Luckily I haven’t had that problem since I only did one commission job and it was recommended from a friend. Your story does make me wary of posting stuff online, but I’m sure there are a lot of decent people who appreciate great artwork to be shared while putting credit where credit is due. I might be a bit naive in saying that I dunno.
I do think it might have been a little hasty on your part to give them a video of your work, a thumbnail would’ve sufficed. I know it’s a bad experience, but mistakes are only bad if you don’t learn from them. I’m pretty sure from now on this will not happen again on your part.
Congrats again on winning the NeoGAF BlazBlue cover constest! Sad to see it get delayed, but no matter how long of a delay it is, your work is still on the cover!!!! wHOO!
I haven’t gotten around to blogging myself and I knew once I stop the harder it will be to get back into the groove of things. I have lots of figures arrive still in boxes waiting to get their pictures taken, but I just haven’t had the mood to do it with all the gaming I’ve been doing.
Your random paint reminds me very much of Sharon Apple for some reason, maybe because of the pale face and funky colors. It has a really punk look I really like!
I can’t wait to check out your iPhone game! \(^0^)/
Heh Pyauki, you’ve got a lot of talent and skill. I’m actually surprised you’re not pursuing more commission work. I have to say that you are being a bit naive (sorry to say that, buddy). I’ve had someone steal my work back in the 90’s, and posted it on an Elfwood account (it’s like pre-deviantart) claiming it as his own work. His descriptions were so pretentious too! “Hmmm, got bored, so I whipped this up. No big deal.” and people commenting and praising how great his work was. I quickly solved that.
It definitely was a hard lesson learned, and I’m glad that it was on a fairly small sum of money, so it’s like a slap on the wrist.
That neogaf contest turned out to be a lot more than I bargained for, and in a good way. I’ll post more about it when things get rolling.
I’ve noticed that you stopped blogging for a while now too! What gives? More specifically, what game? 😛
Curious on whether you got RoF or FFXIII or not. I’ve rarely had a chance to see you on PSN for some reason.
You’re right! Now that you’ve mentioned it, it does remind me of Sharon Apple now too! Can’t unsee!! O_O
183 have fun 😀
I know it’s hard to be a professional in this businnes. good luck
lol it’s jumped to 222 emails now. O_o
Yuck so this is really bad what happened to you with this commission work. I despise this kind of attitude so much, scamming people 🙁 I’m deeply sorry about this really 🙁
It’s really sad you can’t just work with trusting people these days and you did such a great work :/
Holy !!! I’m in your “Good friends” rss section ? Ho my i feel sooooo honored right now lol
Indeed 183 mails is a lot … is there any spams or is it real mails you have to read and reply ? I never had such great amount of unread stuffs but that’s because not so much people are writing to me lol
Your random sketch looks awesome btw. Keep doing random because i like it very much because it looks “warmer” for a design, providing emotions.
And you develop as well ? Wow you can do almost everything 😀 Well i don’t have an iphone and don’t plan on having one but i wish you good luck with it ^^ But seriously, a cheerleader mouse ? LoooooL how funny is this 😛
thanks for your condolences, Katsura-chan. I guess I just have to be more careful from here on.
*hugs* I’m surprised you weren’t aware that you’re one of my good friends! :3 Do keep blogging and do keep in touch! I think I still have to reply to your email. >_>; Apologies for the late reply!
They’re all real emails. gmail does a great job of blocking spam, so these are all emails from friends, newsletters, order confirmations, and business stuff. O_o
I have come to quite enjoy the random sketching, because I don’t know what the end result will be.
Glad you think my iPhone game is cute. Mice are cute. Cheerleader mouse is definitely my favorite. :3
Ugh, what a punk for running out on you like that. If it makes you feel any better I found some guy on the internet pretending to be me and using my art. He even linked to my old DeviantART and pretended it was his. (I made a new DA here: http://gksilkamina.deviantart.com/ ) Guess I should start using watermarks…
The new game looks promising. I sure wish I had an iSomething so I could play, but alas. I’m one of those “slow adopters” of new technology. I only just recently got a MP3 player. Also, your art’s used on the box for the PAL Blazblue? Awesome.
Aw that sounds like an experience I had several years ago! So not cool! I’ve added you to my friends/watch list. 🙂
It’s okay to be a “slow adopter” actually. I think that the whole gadget craze gets out of hand sometimes. Early adopters have a fair share of problems to deal with, such as incompatibility to older hardware, clunky design or functionality, technical issues that nobody has heard of, formats that become quickly obsolete (HD-DVD anyone? outdated HDMI standards? blu-ray players that can’t update firmware?), etc. With being a slow adopter, you invest your dollars into tried and true technology, and at a much cheaper price too.
PAL BlazBlue comes out April 2nd! Keep your eye open for it! 🙂
Indeed indeed. My brother is an early adopter of technology so I’ve gotten to see him go through lots of fancy pants flawed gadgets. I’ve learned never to buy a new video game console at launch…unless it’s a Nintendo product, of course. (though Nintendo’s habit of releasing redesigned handhelds have discouraged me from getting the new “3DS” at launch…)
I was planning on importing that Freshly Picked Tingle game from Amazon.uk. I might pick up BlazBlue while I’m at it.
Sorry to hear about the commission job. Maybe you can sell the artwork that you already did to someone else?
Looks like a ton of layers for that piece of art you did xD. I haven’t done something like that in a while but I will be working on a new banner for my local anime kon to be used during the convention soon so I will need to get those creative juices flowing lol.
You’re a good friend to us too at Chibified ^^.
Thanks for the condolences. I don’t think I’ll be able to sell the artwork to someone else, but I do like the resulting design. I might change some things up and make it my own character.
Do post about your banner when you’re done. I’d very much like to see it! 😀 And if you need any sort of help, I’m always open to see if I can provide. ^_^
Thanks and take care! Keep up the awesome work. I love the travelogue! Say hi to Tomoyo for me too! ;3
that really sucks about the commission job, those kind of people really annoy me XD i like Nopy’s suggestion of asking for a down payment though, hope you dont run into anymore people like that. 183 mails?! i only see that much if the spam gets active lol
dude, awesome edit on Yoko’s finisher 😀 that really made my day lol feel the power!
Yeah, I think I’ll adopt Nopy’s suggestion. It seems sound, and fair.
Emails now up to 222! O_o Actually, I wonder how much spam email I have… ha ha gmail reports it blocked 145 spam emails, and suggests a recipe for Spam Baked Pie. ^^;
Go For Broke!!
IKKU-ZE!! SHORYUREPPA~!!!11!! Psh! Psh! Psh! Psh! Psh!! PSSSSSSSHHHHH!!! KO!!! You Win!
What’s the connection between the starting image (Yuko’s performing a finishing blow on Miku!) and the rest of the content? Just kiddin :p
I’m not in this field of work, but I do have friends and have heard similar stories like yours. So everything has to be cautious. It’s like you are being restricted too. The fun is almost gone. Well, I shouldn’t add more oil to the fire. Hope nice things happen in the future.
Back to the VDO on random sketching, it’s cool! Relly. I like the eye, the light,the color. I prefer this kind of painting more than those bishoujyo or moe-moe cute little girls now. Awesome!
ha ha are you suggesting that it was rockleelotus that didn’t pay me? 😛
lol I didn’t feel so bad until you added fuel to the fire. Just kidding. 🙂 It definitely can be a little restricting, but it’s the reality of it so you just gotta roll with the punches (and blog about it to let off some steam).
interesting that you like this style more than the bishoujo or moe style. I know what you’re talking about. But what brought about this taste?
Mmmmuuu…
It’s difficult to say why I like it. I’m a man (shonen) too, so sometimes I wanna look at cool stuff. IMO, when I see bishoujo/moe illustrations, many come out with the same pattern. Same angle, same composition, mostly faced front, a little cute post, blah. It’s boring while, say shonen illustration, can be more esthetic more energetic.
Wait, I’m I bringing an argument here? Because I believe there are those who may like the opposite, hah :p
Sorry to hear that happened to you. I agree with what everyone’s saying about the half up front deposits for folks you have not done commissions for before.
What goes around comes around. I’m sure some day; he will get what’s coming to him. Maybe not in this world, but certainly in the next.
Thanks punynari. I’m very happy that you are a man of your word and honor, which was one of the reasons why when you were having a bit of trouble with the paypal thing, I wasn’t too concerned and knew that you’d work it out. ^_^
I’m sure karma will catch up to him. I’ve seen it happen to others. :O
Im really sorry to hear that!
The new measures suggested are a nice idea though and hopefully as a result it wont happen again.. c:
thanks taketombo. Yeah, hope it doesn’t happen again. -_-
I can’t believe somebody would just cut off contact completely from you after all the hard work you put into the designs, the Youtube video alone shows your dedication and attention to detail (the character you changed up looks incredible by the way)!
As for the random drawing you decided to draw, I think it may be my favourite I’ve seen from you yet. I really love that style that you used and the colours just work so well with the hair and the shadows.
The new game your creating looks really cute! When I saw the images posted, I laughed quite hard at the cat that appears to be dancing in a spotlight with the words “Nom Nom Nom” at the bottom x)
thanks lostty. I am glad that reposting the video was the right choice though, so that you guys can check it out too.
I’m surprised that you also have decided that this random draw is your favorite. I must keep practicing, then! :3c
haha… NOM NOM NOM! He says other things too like “yay! My restraining order is over!”
SHORYUUKEN!
Cuz nobody took initiative >.<
FF 13 didn't work on my 360 for locale reasons. It was a really d'oh moment… Very nineball. I really should've known, but I got a tad bit excited, or something.
I see you experimented with a lot of real-scale body proportions there…
That really sucks, the commissioning cheat. I suspected something like that the moment I saw his reference. That's what happens when you're too nice and have an all-too-abusable service first, pay later system. They dine and dash, where ever one is in the world…
For better or for worse I didn't get swept up by the Apple craze, so an iphone isn't in my arsenal of gadgets. That does look cute though; I'm trying to find the anime influences in the graphics :p
Oh, and radiant?
HOLYCRAPCONGRATZ that BB cover is the sickest thing EVER. And you know which whitewashed definition of sick I'm using. Seriously, that looks awesome. For it to be box art too – you're a world renowned hero now! Screw the commission mishap, don't let that be be a downer for the celebration! Pop the champagne! Next time, send me an email when it's that important, lol.
Never would've thought grunge would work with Blazblue, but you've pulled it off perfectly. It's so edgy! The shading is dynamic, and the coloring is in-your-face. Perfect for something as throbbingly fast-paced as BB.
Don't mind not being extremely timely with blog rounds, I'm as, if not slower, while having nothing meaningful to do that would justify being late -_-
Man, I'm still giddy about you having drawn the cover.
Ha ha ha KO! YOU WIN!
I’m not sure what you meant by FF13 not working because of “locale” reasons. Did you buy an copy not meant for your region? 360 is region locked, unlike PS3.
I don’t know why I was so trusting. I had my doubts, but for some reason, didn’t follow through with those doubts to set up precautions. Now I know, I suppose!
Don’t you see the pattern with the mice? the :3 mouth? The large googly eyes? It’s so anime! 😛
Actually, I had gotten my opportunity to get my art on the cover quite a while before I knew you, I believe. It was part of a contest I won. I can’t remember if I blogged about it or not, but there will be some more things to cover in regards to that once the game is out. I don’t want to jump the gun on it. I can tell that you’re really excited about it. Sorry I didn’t let you know earlier! :3
Ah, right – do a search on the blog for “BlazBlue” and you’ll land some hits.
Oh, and I do plan to do a Rachel fan art SOME day. 😉
It probably won’t make any cover, but I’ll definitely draw one because you’re such a big fan of her. 😀
I know what it is to have to deal with irresponsible people. Had a couple of similar misadventures in the music’s world with my band… Now, when we include a deposit payment in our contracts, to avoid this kind of trouble, and be sure of the client’s seriousness. Sad but mandatory.
So, switched from FFXIII to RoF? so do I! haha ^^
Love this game. Reminds me lot of Valkyrie Profile too, from the graphics character’s style, and somehow Valkyria Chronicles from the battle system. Really enjoyable, with a real challenge.
But it keeps me a “bit” away from blogging and other stuffs… ^^;;;
I agree. I’ve been so hooked on RoF, but still haven’t gotten very far. The game’s HARD. And you’re right, it does remind me of VP and VC! I wish the story was better though. It seems so… lacking.
Congrats on the box-art thing!
You got ripped off? I’m real sorry that happened to you. It’s sad that every time something like that happens there is a little less trust in the world. BUT better for there to be a little less trust then getting ripped off over and over! Also I may have to try out Resonance of Fate, FF13 is what has me now but…I’ll have to consider this game now too.
yes, BUY IT! ROF! ROF!
Before it disappears like Valkyria Chronicles did!
I snagged Valkyria Chronicles when Gamestop had that awesome sale on it.
It’s such a good game! I’d STILL be willing to pay full price for it!
Sorry to hear about what has happened.
Maybe next time you can do a 101 tips on commencing freelance work on your blog =D
As usual nice sketch =)
thanks Jun. I think the comments in here are sufficient for a good 101. Everyone’s provided some great suggestions!
It’s shameless how people don’t keep promises, even worse when they are business related. At least you can learn from this for the future when you probably do more huge and expensive projects.
How about using watermarks and low res until they pay you?
That’s a good idea – watermarking it with a SAMPLE pattern all across the image. I think I’ll do that. Thanks for the suggestion!
I was just about to suggest that! I recalled when I did some commissions before, I placed watermarks all over the preview image, like no way were they going to be able to clean it up in PS, and once they paid me then they would get the clean version.
The small deposit is also a good idea, because then you know that this person has a means to pay with at least, and you have their Paypal account information, where you can possibly make a complaint to Paypal as well. Maybe even also demand from the smaller unknown clients that they must have a confirmed Paypal account, with a phone number or something so you have a way to track them down that way.
Sucks to not get paid for your hard work… </3
Heh you know it! ^_^; Well I suppose we can discuss about the nuances of proper freelancing through MSN. Not like we’re working very hard right now anyway! 😛
Sorry to hear what has happened. Sometimes we just have to remember that here in the Internet, not everybody can be trusting. A bit of a random example here, you can’t be 100% be sure that the person who is writing this particular comment on your post is the same “Q” that has been commenting on your other posts all along. This is the Internet I suppose.
It must have been a pretty hard lesson there for you (and something for us as readers to take in as well). Sounds like it’s better to take up more precautions for future comission works. I like the idea of paying 50% (or a small percentage) first before anywork is shown, and that way random swindlers or whatnot won’t randomly come and get your stuff for free.
Looking forward to see your boxart for BlazBlue to come out in the UK. And btw seeing your comission work there it’s quite a feat there to do what the person has asked for from that relatively simple and obscure drawing that he has provided you 😮
Thanks for the reply, Q. You’re totally right, you could be anybody. I could be a dog! Reminds me of this image: http://www.planetcotton.com/Images/New%20Yorker%20Cartoons/Large%20Jpegs/Internet%20Dog.jpg
The biggest fear is mostly working with small unknown clients. It seems fine with larger businesses, as they use them for commercial reasons, and are basically bound by law.
Yeesh… Some cheapass people out there these days. I know sometimes I encounter these kinds of people in my workplace who just wants us to do work for them and then give it to another company to use to be published. They do that to other companies too, vice versa. It’s really annoying this way, but unfortunately some a**holes stay a**holes for the rest of their lives.
I haven’t done any commission since I can’t draw anyway, but I know I’d be po’d too if this happens.
Wow. I thought that companies would be beyond this kind of thing. Actually, they are held by laws and agreements to make sure things like this don’t happen.
Hey Radiant, nice work. About the thief who took your work from the YouTube Vid, you’d be surprised that this happens in industries you expect to be more professional. Like the Aerospace industry. An airplane gets fixed, the client takes the plane and doesn’t pay up. And this is between companies.
Or a plane needs maintenance after so many Flight Hours. Owner delays the check up and puts the passengers lives at risk. It happens.
Hi Ragnablade.
Hearing you say that is definitely disheartening. I guess I am being a bit naive to think that companies bound by law are willing to take such a risk to “make off with some goods” and basically tarnish their reputation. Unless you’re talking about fly-by-night companies, in which case their full intention was to simply take advantage of someone in the first place. I suppose that’s no different than what happened here.
What a world we live in… 🙁