• Tag Archives art
  • Straight Talk: Stop Stealing Books, Comics, Art or Any Form of Entertainment, Please

    I am writing this statement on behalf of my fellow writers and artists whose livelihoods depend on the honesty of our readers. This statement is going to be perfectly blunt to ensure crystal clarity in the message.

    And the message is this: Please, stop pirating–also known as downloading illegally–our books, comics, movies, music, audio performances or presentations, art, and anything else that does not belong to you.

    When someone takes something that doesn’t belong to them, it is called stealing. This makes a person a thief. That is what someone who steals is. It does not matter whether the item you took cost pennies or hundreds–even thousands–of dollars to create. In the case of movies, these numbers can run into the millions. The value is irrelevant when it comes to the principle of taking something you didn’t buy and/or did not have permission to use.

    There is a sad and, frankly, pathetic mentality out there that everything on the Internet is free and up for grabs to be consumed however anyone wishes.

    This is not true.

    Yes, there are platforms out there where entertainment work is posted for free in various mediums, but that is where this work is to remain. If a creator posted a piece of art or a photograph to the Internet, you cannot assume you can take it and use it how you see fit. There are rules and there are guidelines and there are permissions to be asked.

    Please, stop stealing our work.

    Downloading pirated movies, TV shows, music, books, comics, art, and anything else illegally is just that: illegal. It is a crime and it is wrong.

    It is even worse when someone takes someone else’s intellectual property and uses it for financial gain. You are profiting off theft. This is also illegal. The excessive amount of fan art in the comic community is a good example of this.

    Please, stop stealing our work.

    Most creators–despite what you might read in the news or see on TV–live paycheck to paycheck just like plenty of other people. We cannot afford to have our readers not pay for our work. If you like our work and want to read it, we thank you, but we ask that you do it ethically and compensate us for the lengthy amount of time and effort and sometimes stress put into various projects.

    If some creators flat out say they are fine with their stuff being pirated, then that’s different and that’s on that particular creator that they are acting ethically to ensure all parties involved with the work are okay with them allowing it to be used and/or consumed for free.

    The Internet does not equal free in the purest sense.

    Please, stop stealing our work.

    Sure, it is understood amongst many creators that many of our readers do not have the means to purchase our material. And while, having lived on the street, I can fully emphasize with that, stealing is stealing. End of story.

    When you steal a piece of entertainment, you are stealing not just the compensation for creating that piece of work, you are stealing a person’s time, which is, like I always say, the most valuable thing any living person has because our lives our finite. You are stealing something that is worth more than any treasure or wealth on the planet. Time is more valuable than diamonds.

    Please, stop stealing our work.

    This is a moral issue.

    It is up to you to decide who you want to be: Someone who is fair and respectful, or someone who steals from others.

    Please, stop stealing our work.

    Thank you.

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  • Status Report – 020721

    status report 020721

    Status Report – 020721:

    I’ve been off my sabbatical since the beginning of January. Since then, I’ve done my best to work at a pace that is more health-ful. It’s one thing to go 1000mph, but it’s also important to know when to ease off the gas. I had my foot to the floor for too long and paid the price, which was burn out. It took about five months to recover to the point where I can go a little harder without compromising my health. I still made art during those months but at a much slower pace.

    Since being off sabbatical, I’ve spent most of my time making comics, namely Fredrikus.

    Episodes 18-20 have aired along with the front cover and first page of Issue 2. Go here to check them out.

    Episode 21 to air shortly.

    If you have any questions or comments, feel free to drop me an email by going here.

    This concludes your Status Report for 020721.

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  • Status Report: Final Notes from Sabbatical – 010521

    status report 010521

    Status Report: Final Notes from Sabbatical – 010521:

    It’s time to draw my sabbatical to a close. It lasted about 5 months, all time spent recovering from burn out.

    I’m feeling much better now and my health has improved.

    During my sabbatical I was still making art albeit at a much slower pace. I learned some things about myself and about how to approach my creative career going forward.

    That said, changes are happening over here in terms of how I approach the art biz and work within it. I made some changes during my sabbatical to test the waters of these new methods and I’m pleased to report I learned a thing or two about how to best go about them.

    Thank you for your patience while I got better. I look forward to entertaining you again.

    This concludes Status Report: Final Notes from Sabbatical – 010521.

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  • Available for Freelance Publishing Work

    Pen and keyboard

    Available for Freelance Publishing Work:

    This is just a note to say I’m available for freelance publishing work. I’ve seen 170+ projects through to completion and specialize in the areas of book editing, book cover design, and book formatting. I also do illustration work.

    Here is a link to my rates page.

    Here is a link to my art page.

    Feel free to contact me with any questions by going here.

    Thanks. I look forward to working with you.

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  • Secret Project No. 3 Update

    secret project no. 3

    It’s been decided that I’m dusting off the notebook for Secret Project No. 3. I wrote it a long time ago and now it’s time to turn it into a piece of art for you to enjoy.

    What Secret Project No. 3 is, is my little secret until reveal (however, the details of this project were revealed on the Behind the Scenes tier on Patreon).

    I’m confident you guys are going to dig it when it comes out.

    Onward.

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  • Status Report – 070120

    status report

    Status Report – 070120:

    On this Canada Day, we’re at the desk getting some work done despite having some brain fog. It’s a stat holiday for most folks, but I never take those off because my chosen profession is based on deadlines and each day off further delays those deadlines.

    Which is fine, me working.

    Making art is how I prefer to spend my time anyway. But as for you, if you have today off, go easy, take a breath, and recharge so you’re ready for the remainder of the week.

    This morning, I posted a new chapter of Zomtropolis to Patreon. You can read it–and get caught up–by going here.

    Now back to work.

    This has been your Status Report for 070120.

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  • Status Report – 052820

    status report 052820

    Status Report – 052820:

    A few things –

    1) The Patreon edition of Fredrikus posted today. The non-Patreon edition posts tomorrow. (The Fredrikus Patreon edition posts a day early.)

    2) As per the pic above, my Instagram has become an art channel so please consider following me there for art posts.

    3) This weekend’s edition of The Canister X Transmission is mostly written and will go out Saturday.

    4) Today will mostly be spent making comics as part of our effort to do One Thing at a Time.

    5) I made spring rolls last night.

    This has been your Status Report for 052820.

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  • On Art and Never Arriving

    Prompted by a chat with artist Sean Simmans last night, I got to thinking that it is impossible to ever fully arrive in the arts field.

    You may be doing poorly or extremely well on the scale of subjective success, but wherever you are is only temporary and never stable.

    Any art form is about finding one’s voice, which is different at 30 than it is at 50 than it is at 70. Your style will constantly change, sometimes–and ideally–for the better, but also sometimes not.

    Unfortunately, we have been sold this packaged idea of what success looks like in the art field, genres ripping apart the industry, and marketing madness brainwashing us into what we’re supposed to think art looks like . . . but it’s never accurate.

    Ultimately, art is living and fluid and is like water, always flowing, not a dam in sight.

    Your work might be polished, but even in a polished state, it’s incomplete because there is always that one thing you could have done better or a little bit smarter.

    Art isn’t prefect. It’s not supposed to be. Then it isn’t art. That’s Sean talking and I agree with him.

    Whatever your craft, where you are is where you are. If the art is made, you’re an artist. And, in that context, you have arrived . . . but our work never will.

    It’s all about the journey.

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