Admin Post: Community Check-In for October 2018

[goss]

So, it's been a couple days since October (and Inktober) ended. My apologies for the delay in our monthly chat post. How have things been with you this past month?

Did you sign up for or take part in any fandom activities in October, or have you been working on any personal art projects? Are you currently trying to meet a deadline? Feel free to share upcoming challenges that have got you excited, any frustrations you've been experiencing, possible goals for November and the coming months ahead, and so on.

Comments

[olivermoss]

I was a terrible Inktoberer. I tried to make a few high quality pieces rather than daily things. And I got a bit burnt out when my most complicated piece when over like a lead balloon within the relevant fandom. I did draw nearly every day at least.

I have a few projects I am looking to for December:
* Fandom Stockings! I will be very happy when that is starting to ramp up again. I usually do about a dozen fills for it. I volunteer to do stuff for low-fill stockings and that's often half of my fills. Last year's info post is here if you want to get an idea of what the event is like.

* Ironstrange Advent: Winter Edition. I was not able to do the Halloween advent because I had too much on my plate. I will be doing stuff (possibly writing tho) for the winter one. Announcement post

* I really, really want to make two designs using this tutorial to make journals for holiday presents. I don't know if I am going to be able to manage it, esp as I don't have photoshop or a decent tablet.

* I've picked what my next fan art will be, and hopefully it will have broader appeal that stuff I did in October. Both drawing and writing I did stuff that was really, really niche. Stuff that might get more of a reception would be a great energy boost right now.

* Partially to motivate myself, I made this progress post over at my own journal.


I may comment again with more upcoming challenges if you are making a list and checking it twice. There are likely a lot of MCU holiday things coming up.

[mekare]

And I got a bit burnt out when my most complicated piece when over like a lead balloon within the relevant fandom.

Awww no, that's terrible! I think, especially during Inktober, stuff just gets buried because so many people are just posting so much stuff or are busy creating! I know I really wanted to read the other challenge participants works of my various bangs but I didn't get to it at all. I hope some more people find your piece!

At least you have some fun things to look forward to!

[olivermoss]

That is definitely a pitfall of Inktober. I think if you can do it daily and them have a solid sketchbook tour at the end, that interests people, but that is really hard!

[mekare]

Well yes that is really hard but I don‘t think people are only interested if they can see a book full of drawings. People seeing your stuff depends on so many factors (time zones are one that I regularly forget) and I think the size of the fandom has something to do with it too.

Just, don‘t let this keep you from arting. I know it‘s disappointing, especially after you‘ve put a lot of work in. Some of my pieces are almost completely ignored (on AO3 or Tumblr) and I often don‘t know why. You just have to keep going.

To quote Neil Gaiman incorrectly, just make art, no matter what happens around you