ElfQuest Fan Art
Elfquest => Art and Elfquest => Topic started by: Maggie on February 05, 2019, 01:58:42 PM
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The theme for the 2020 EQ Fan Art Calendar is: OUR FAVOURITES
**You may use characters from the original quest to the final quest but you must do your best not to spoil things for those who have not yet read the most recent installment of the series**
Submissions for the 2020 Calendar are being accepted:
February 5th, 2019 through October 31st, 2019
THEME
Submitted artwork should represent the theme "Our Favourites"
This theme is meant to be easy and enjoyable. Please represent your favourite character(s), moments, the things you love best about Elfquest, etc. Whatever you like (within reason please). Please note, reproductions of scenes already portrayed in the EQ saga will not be accepted. You need to be more creative. Look at the scene from a different angle, or another characters perspective. Carbon copies are a no, no.
Number of submissions required: 11 (I will do the cover and that artwork will also be included in the calendar this year).
DETAILS
• You must first post to the thread that you would like to participate. Don't give any details, just say... "I'm in!" or "I would like to participate this year". I will contact you once I know you want to be a part of the calendar to find out what your concept is.
• Once you have been contacted by me, you will be required to send me a brief description of your concept as well as a list of all the characters you plan to use and which ones are the main focus. Please have an alternate idea in mind, in case someone ahead of you on the list has a similar idea.
Please copy and paste the following into the PM with all fields filled in:
Your Name:
EQFA User Name:
Artist Credit (Real or User only):
Email Address:
Description of Concept:
Character Choice:
• As they come in I will post which characters are being used to the thread (how they are being used and who is using them will be kept secret). Let's try and keep things as varied as possible.
• You will be asked to update Maggie in June with your progress. This will help to determine if we will have enough entries for the calendar. If at any time you feel you cannot continue just send a message, there won’t be any hard feelings.
• Please keep in mind that you have approx. 8 months to get your submission ready, which should be more than enough time. If there is no response to the request for progress I will have to assume you are no longer participating and I will have no choice but to find a replacement artist. Communication is key, so please keep in touch.
• You may submit up to three entries for the calendar but before you contemplate that second or third entry you must first finish and submit one entry to Maggie.
GROUPS
• You may work in groups of two if that makes things easier for you. Please let me know who you will be working with when you sign up.
• How you work in your group is totally up to you. One of you may supply a sketch for the other to ink and colour or you may work together to complete the scene. It doesn’t matter so long as you both agree.
CONTENT
• Entries must be original artwork created specifically for the calendar. The use of photos or "borrowed" art for backgrounds is not allowed.
• Entries must not be available for the general public to view online until the okay is given for general sharing. Before then, any entries found online in any form (thumbnails, crops, etc.) will be disqualified and removed.
• Canon Elfquest characters (of any race) only. No what-if characters (i.e., Worldpool).
• PG-13 or under.
FORMAT
**Please make sure your submissions are the correct size. Any submissions that are not 3300x2550 pixels or 11 x 8.5 inches at 300dpi will not be accepted**
• All entries should be in full color, with some type of a background. No font please.
• Size: 11"x 8.5" (pictures must be landscape oriented - wider than they are tall)
• Resolution: 3300 x 2550 pixels (11" x 8.5" at 300dpi)
• File format: JPEG/PNG format only
HOW TO SUBMIT
• When you are ready please email your full-sized entry to Maggie. Please PM Maggie when you have an entry ready to be submitted.
• Entries must be received by midnight CST, October 31, 2019.
Include the following:
• Your submission as an attachment not embedded into an email.
• Title of your submission. Titles will be included on the calendar.
CREDIT
• The artist credit will be used for credits on the calendar/website.
PUBLISHING
• The eleven winners will be chosen by a panel of judges (if more than 11 entries are submitted).
• The finished calendar will be available for download at elfquestfanart.com. In addition, the calendar may be published and available for purchase.
QUESTIONS
• Any questions about the calendar may be asked and answered on this thread or PM Maggie.
• Don't know what this is all about, check out the current and past Fan Art Calendars here: http://www.elfquestfanart.com/index.php?action=fanartcalendar (http://www.elfquestfanart.com/index.php?action=fanartcalendar)
CHARACTERS
The characters below are spoken for. Please consider one that isn't already listed. Thank you!
• Shuna
• Kimo
• Chot
• Yif
• Skot
• Krim
• Urda
• Vok
• Klagg
• Cutter
• Rayek
• Petalwing
• Strongbow
• Moonshade
• Young Dart
• Jink
• Firstborn Newbreed
• Nightfall
• Redlance
• Joyleaf
• Bearclaw
•Rahnee
•Winnowill
•Lord Voll
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I'd love to join!...
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I am in! :)
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I would like to join! :-)
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I'm in!
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Daring an optimistic outlook towards this year I'd say:
I would like to join.
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I'd also like to join :)
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Anyone up for a collaboration? I'm sure I'll be able to join if someone can take over the colouring part for me. ♥
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@Afke I'll work with you, if no one else feels up to it. ;D
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Ooo, I really like the list of characters people plan to feature so far. It is only February, and I already want to see the images! :-)
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I'd like to join this year.
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I would very much like to join the Calendar fun for 2020. I would be seeking a colorist, so put me down for a collaboration, please.
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I would like to join.
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Just as a bit of a clarification, the theme for 2020 is Our Favourites which means I want you to be able to work with the character(s) you want to work with. That being said, let's still try and keep things as varied as possible. The operative word here is try. Nothing is set in stone and I'm not going to say no you can't. Unless the concept you have is exactly the same as someone else's, then I'll have to ask for you to think of something different.
I want this to be enjoyable (since that was the point of having such an open theme). However, I also want the calendar to be an interesting collection of submissions (if possible). I know there are some serious fan favourites out there but if the months consist of mostly the same characters that might get a little tedious. So do your best to choose someone not on the list but if your hearts desire is already there, so be it. ;D
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I would also love to contribute again!
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I want to give this a go this year. I want in!
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We're getting quite a list of characters, I can't wait to see the submissions. ;D
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I really want to join but I need to get back to you. It's kind of hard for me to pick out favorite scenes and characters. There are so many good ones!
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Take your time to decide, there's no rush. ;)
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There is if you want to do your favorite characters, Chot, my absolute favorite is taken already. ;D
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Well, if you really have you're heart set on him you can use him. I just try to have variety in the calendar but I don't want any broken hearts...haha. There is also the issue of judging if it comes to that. If two submissions feature the same character then chances are only one will make it into the calendar, so keep that in mind.
Still if you're heart is set, I won't stop you. ;D
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I’m in!
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I would like to join this year. :)
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I wanted to join in, but the character I wanted (Cutter) is spoken for.
However, I’m noticing Skywise is not spoken for. I’d love to use him, if possible.
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Maggie, I'm thinking about giving it a try this year. I'm running a bit of a test on myself this week to see if I have the chops to meet the deadline, so I'll confirm on Sunday whether I've got it in me :)
Update:
Newp, I don’t think my pace is going to be fast enough :( I’ll continue to play with the ideas I have, but I’m out of practice and spare time is minimal, so they’ll likely be something I keep pecking on for a future year.
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@Foxeye If you need a bit of an extension let me know, it would be great to have you submit something this year. ;D
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How's it going for everyone? 30 days left! :D As always, I was super slow to get started, but now the ball is rolling and I might just finish before time for once :O
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I'm slow, but sketching! ;D Gotta figure out the poses.
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I'll start coloring today! This time it's going to be 100% digital, so it still takes me longer. But should be done in time.
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Poses are the worst! :lol
Ooo, all digital Treefox? That's exciting! Are you still using Gimp?
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Actually, sadly unfortunate circumstances granted me an iPad, I’ll try to build everything in there. At first I wanted to at least color with Gimp, but my drawing pad and Gimp don’t get along at all anymore, so it looks like I will do it 100% on the iPad after all, using Adobe sketch. Wish me luck! :meditate
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Good luck indeed! I'm sure it'll look wonderful.
If Adobe Sketch doesn't pan out, I've heard really good things about Procreate.
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A good amount of people also likes Krita. Not sure if that has to be ported to the mobile device (or if you just use it as an input device).
https://krita.org/
Please be aware that Adobe is evil and so is Apple. :p A lot of their stuff is just golden chains and SaaS (software as a service, can be terminated from their side with ease).
Anyway I'm looking forward to see all the entries past new year.
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Krita's not availble on an iPad no. I tried Krita (on my desktop) a while back but I couldn't really get the hang of it. I'm just too used to Photoshop, I've been using it for years and years hah. It's a good alternative to Gimp, though it does fewer of the photography related things.
How's your entry going jaRf? Vectors, I asssume?
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Sorry for not checking in before now but my wi-fi has been out all the wires etc. needed to be completely replaced and then a snowstorm hint and knocked the power out. I hope everyone is doing well and can meet the deadline.
I've sent PM's to everyone who signed up (I think). Let me know if you're having issues or think you'll miss the deadline.
Maggie
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Yeah, I know Adobe and Apple are evil... I would never spend money on their products. But it would have been a shame to let that perfectly good iPad go to waste... *sighs*
I am always happy to learn about alternatives to Gimp, though! Thank you, Jarf! *hugs*
Anyway, I still think I'll make it in time. I have to admit I am getting the hang of Adobe Sketch much faster than of Gimp...
*more sighs*
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And wow, Maggie, you have been hit by a snow storm already??? Poor you! Good to have you back!
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Anyway, I still think I'll make it in time. I have to admit I am getting the hang of Adobe Sketch much faster than of Gimp...
*more sighs*
Have you checked out Procreate on your iPad already? I found it to be really quick to learn, and in some ways more intuitive than some PC digital apps :) It's usually available to play around with at most apple stores on their ipads, if you aren't comfortable paying € without knowing if you like it.
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How's your entry going jaRf? Vectors, I asssume?
Oh, well. No vectors. Not participating this year. (*)
;)
(*) lengthy explanation:
situation earlier this year: High workload at current job. Still no certainty about anything there.
Insecure planning for this year, needed to obtain a better job (that is closer to what I am, what I studied and researched on).
(Worked out last week by the way. :D Now I am on more than a month holiday.)
Moreover I wanted to move forward in art terms. Not accomplished, not enough time to do anything, no time to practise, no time to learn new tools and techniques.
Managed a few other EQ related things though, at least. :) And somehow... well, it was art, too.
Next point was: Topic again different from expectations, need acceptable ideas first. Was out of ideas.
No duplicate character entries allow... welcome.
Little me decided to sit it out this year. :P ;)
Looking forward to all your entires, though.
> Adobe, Apple etc.
Okay, since the thread has derailed a little anyway: Of course the Adobe products are said to have fairly good interfaces, after all they make money with these products for years.
Just be careful you all - if you enter that cage with the golden paint. Once they have you hooked up it's often hard to get off their needle. And they love to (vendor-)lock people in. Only on selected operating systems, more and more digital restriction management (hardware assisted DRM), more and more cloud stuff, SaaS. If you stop paying, if there's a mistake, a connection problem, if the USA decide that some state is on a no-fly-list, BAM! They switch of the water supply. Then you won't be using their software any second longer. And if you're unlucky your data is in their cloud and gone. And it is maybe even in a format that other programs can't read, so you can't just seamlessly continue with a different program.
Therefore: Keep an eye out for open standards and never sava anything valuable to a cloud (at least not exclusively there).
I'm also against wasting hardware, but I am more of a hardware liberator. But sometimes enterprises put even more research in how to close and nail down their stuff than everything else. So people can't run alternate software on it, can't repair, can't upgrade, can't audit the firmware, etc.. So you are fully dependent on the good will of [insert enterprise here]. If the company decides "lifetime" is over, then you can litereally throw the device to the trash. Or nearly. This is sad.
Or if battery is worn out due to the charge/discharge cycles, often you cannot exchange it. Then the device is also losing a lot of value.
Once it is bought anyway you can of course put it to good use.
> snowstorms
It seems early, though I had a morning with just 1 °C at work already. But then, it is Canada, isn't it? One would expect Canada, northern Russia, large parts of Scandinavia to have snow fairly early.
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I have a heavy heart this morning...
Tomorrow is the deadline for the 2020 EQFA Calendar and another person has dropped out last minute. Only 4 submissions have made it into my inbox (thank you), with the promise of 3 more by the deadline but even so, that isn't enough to make a 12 month calendar.
I understand being busy, I understand stress and illness. I understand not wanting to and leaving things until the very last minute. But more than that I understand commitment.
I spend New Years Eve sitting at my computer getting the calendar ready so it can launch at midnight. I spend most of my free time during November getting the cover ready and then helping to coordinate the printed version of the fan calendar before I begin the ever tedious task of creating a new grid for the version that is uploaded to the site. I get nervous each year when it's time to contact Richard Pini and ask, is the printed calendar a go? And each time feel relief when he responds that he's up for it, if we're willing to make artwork to fill it. I do one piece of artwork each year, the fan art calendar cover. I made a commitment to the calendar years back and so far, I've kept up my end.
But I also made a promise to myself when I took over the site, as long as the calendar is something the members can get behind, I'll keep things going. That was back in 2012. Now here we are 7 years later and the calendar is clearly not as important. I might go so far as to say it isn't important at all. So why continue?
Maybe I'm wrong but it seems that people just aren't interested in the site anymore. I know a few members who have tried to spark interest more than once but nothing changes.
It's going to break my heart but I can't continue to justify paying money out each year to host the site for a handful of people to upload bits of artwork and have the occasional conversation. If the calendar isn't of interest then I'll have to keep my promise to myself.
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I understand, I'm sorry it has come to this... I too have been seeing this lack of interest around and every time there is a calendar I'm afraid you are burning out from all you have to manage... I love this site, I really do... but somehow it has lost it's heart... I'm sorry I have not been active lately as I have personal things going on... but if you truly do shut this site down, Can I ask if we could have some time to go through the art and what not... I still want to post my Madcoil art here even if it's only for a while...
I'm sorry it has come to this... and thank you for all you have done...
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That is really disheartening to hear, Maggie. I sent my submission this morning, and I was really excited as I was very happy with my piece this year and explored different mediums . I understand how big of a comitment getting a piece out is. Not to mention the work hours needed to keep this place or the calendar running.
But if the interest is so sparse, then I absolutely understand. You've done phenomenal work keeping it alive for so long. Only four pieces in, huh. :( I'd be sad to see this place go. If this site is closing, how long time do we have to get our artwork saved? I ask because I've been a member for a long time and some of the stuff I have on here I don't got on my harddrive or anywhere else.
Either way, I thank you for doing this for so long.
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I would never just close down overnight or anything, so please don't fret.
I have to pay for the domain in December (which I will do) and then in March of next year I would have to renew my hosting. If the site does shut down it would be just before the renewal.
I am open to discussion and won't be making any sudden moves but if this place is to stay in place then we have to commit to something fan art related at least.
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Sad to hear this, but understandable. I haven't been as active here than what I intended. I'm still working on my submission, and plan to send it later today (in Finnish time. :D).
I hope we can figure out a place/way to keep in touch with the active memebers of this site.
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In calendar news nothing in my inbox this morning (with the exception of an update on Berit's second submission). I know you are working away Czarine and so is Wildfire. There is one other image I am expecting sometime today as well.
Berit (as mentioned above) has kindly stepped in and is working on another piece for the calendar. I will commit to the cover and a month and Afke said she may be able to do something after Halloween. That would give us 11 images and I have someone who thinks they can get something done mid November. So it looks like there will be a calendar after all.
As far as the site, there is time to consider and chat about things since the renewal isn't until mid-March 2020.
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I literally try to write a comment since 03:00 AM, but I just can't.
I wanted to apologise that I don't have any idea to this theme and droped out a while ago, and that I have to blame myself for an unfinished calendar and I do. I wanted to offer to draw an entry - as someone give me free characters or an idea what should be theme in the entry - for I lack both of it in this calendar theme. On my schedule it will be done at the latest till Monday after this weekend.
If there's still any need, give me a holler.
Will there be a discussion threat for considering about this side?
I have to confess I don't get this sentence completely. Maggie: "...if this place is to stay in place then we have to commit to something fan art related at least."
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@Yavia, can I let you know if we need more art in a few days? I wouldn't want you to rush to make something if we don't need it. I was looking at your inktober stuff and honestly almost any one of those images could have been a part of this years calendar. The theme was so simple, just draw your favourite characters.
As for the sentence you don't understand, what I'm saying is if the site were to remain open the active members would have to commit to either the calendar or something fan art related that isn't simply adding a bit of artwork to the site every once in awhile.
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It's okay for me, just let me know.
For the theme - I kinda have the problem some others have too, the favourite characters were taken and I did not find a favourite scene with the few that were left. Also I had the problem finding new perspectives for the scenes I like. For example I take the reunion between Cutter and his family in the forbidden grove. It was perfect in the comic for me. How could I change it to make it new. It might sound silly but I have had my problems with that.
I'm afraid you might rip my head off, but I still don't get it. I seem to have difficulties with the phrase "fan art related". Is there a difference between commit fan art related and adding art to the side? What is the difference? Is it uploading more elfquest related content with original characters, not what if characters? Or is it the once in awhile?
I'm really, really sorry for being so stupid, plz don't hate me. :baghead
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@Yavia, You're not stupid. ;)
The calendar was the one thing that most if not all active members participated in each year. Some (like me) don't post a lot of artwork on a regular basis. Most groups have rules that say you must post a certain amount of art each month, or year to keep people coming to the site, to keep things interesting.
I thought that the calendar was something special and for me was enough to keep the site going but if people don't want to work on the calendar and there aren't a lot of art uploads then I don't see the point in keeping the site going.
I hope this makes sense. ;D
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I just submitted! ;D I didn't manage to submit early even though I'd planned on it, but it's done.
I'm sorry to hear about the lack of art. I love this place even if I don't use it terribly much, but it has always been a labour of love tied to the calendar. If interest is dwindling away to other areas of the internet, it might be time to let it go. The Elfquest fandom is still out there, doing the calendar project elsewhere (Tumblr, Deviantart, Reddit, Discord are just a few that comes to mind. Even a Facebook group might do, but Facebook is ill suited for that kind of thing) might be a possibility. It would remove the burden of hosting and maintaining the site and maybe draw in a part of the fanbase that doesn't frequent forums as much as they did 10 years ago.
I've pretty much been committed to the calendar for a solid decade lmao, but committing to something beyond that - I won't be able to do that. I enjoy this niche of the fandom a lot, and I might participate in whatever challenge would come, but I can't promise anything more concrete than that.
That being said, I hugely appreciate that you're not shutting it down overnight. I never imagined that you would, but I never imagined the SoC going down that way either.
@Yavia, I had some trouble with the theme as well, you're not alone! Sometimes broad themes can be difficult ;)
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I submitted mine too! And I'm so tired, I spent the whole day drawing today (I thought I started working on this at least a month ago??!). I've got same feelings as Wildfire, though I might be ready for some not so labor-intensive drawings once in a while. And Maggie, a huge thank you for putting up so much effort all these years! <3
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@Wildfire: Thank you so much for saying that. I feel much better knowing I wasn't alone having difficulties. :-*
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If this site still stays up, Would it help if the Calendar theme would simply be something like "Wolfrider" or "Go-Back" where people could draw whatever characters cannon characters that happened to be of that specific tribe? sure it would mean there was multiple pictures of cutter or Rayek but does it really matter?... or what about theme just about one character? similar to all about Ekuar?... would that make people more active in drawing?...
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I can absolutely understand that there isn't much motivation to keep the site up if can't even get the people to submit 1 drawing per year.... if it's decided to finally let go of this to me still wonderful site, I will be so sad.
But there is indeed no point in investing all the time and money for such little activity here.
Whatever is decided Maggie, I am really, really thankful that you put all this effort in for so many years. This was always and always will be a safe haven for me.
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By the way, I am actually pretty surprised that there wasn't much more interest in the calendar this year. Our last calendar was such a public success and the Pinis themselves promoted it so kindly. Plus, it was sold out! But even that couldn't generate enough interest in the calendar or this site... or if it did, the interest waned fast and didn't last. .. *is sad*
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@Treefox you hit the nail on the head.
Richard Pini sees our calendar artwork each year, he helps judge which pieces go into the printed version and then he takes time out of his schedule (and let's face it, he probably has more going on in a day than any of us) to make the printed version. Sonny Strait has also judged the artwork a few times. And this has been going on for many, many years.
When I joined the calendar for the first time and found out that Richard Pini was involved I was blown away. That's like being a singer and your favourite songwriter hearing something you've written/sung.
Richard being involved isn't why I keep doing the calendar but it is a huge bonus and I'm surprised that doesn't register more for others. That and there are EQ fans that actually buy the calendar with our work inside...to me that's amazing.
@Berit I'm open to whatever suggestions you have for the calendar. I just really wanted to keep it going. For the reasons stated above and because I do enjoy organizing and working on it. Plus it is the only time I do any artwork. If there's no calendar then my artistic endeavors will cease to exist. My biggest issue is last minute dropouts. I think most are aware we are a small group, if someone drops out the day before the deadline then I have to assume they never started in the first place. This isn't always the case but I would rather give someone more time to finish than have them dropout and then expect me to find a replacement. So any ideas or suggestions to make the calendar more fun, easier etc. go ahead and send them my way. ;)
@Czarine As long as we're up to something here I'm happy to continue, I just think it's necessary to have a group project to focus on. I would like to continue the calendar but rules are made to be broken so if you have any ideas on how to make it (or anything else) less labor-intensive let me know. ;D
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Perhaps it's more a question of promoting it? Posting a "signups are open!" post on the Facebook group would generate a lot of attention, as would contacting the various holts. Generally making people aware of the project and what it has to offer throughout the year.
Another thought - maybe losing the locked format would make some people more interested as well. But it wouldn't be possible to have a printed version if there's 12 different aspect ratios of course... Maybe trying a vertical version would mix it up a bit?
It's curious that the weekly calendar from a few years back was hugely successful. The portraits one was really popular as well.
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*sigh*
Well, well, well. Or not so well.
I am certainly surprised. I thought we had a good lot of participants this year, so many characters were claimed.
I had not enlisted this year and written early that I won't be able to do some emergency fallback. For once I did lack inspiration on the topic (or read: certain characters were already claimed), but mostly I had an "elevated" workload this year. I had to get some things in life fixed, which I partially succeeded in. But I knew from the beginning that this would consume time, energy and attention.
I managed to do some other ElfQuest related project, though, but alas, that won't help the EQFA calendar project.
> old calendar sold out
Okay, but allow me a remark / question:
The last calendar print version had a late start (redbubble no longer offering calendar print on demand), it took time to find an alternative.
But how many units were made, anyway?
If we might see 100 units sold, then this is still acceptable for the late start. Guess most people see it as a fan-collector thing, not as a actual calendar to use.
(For me usually it was earliest end of January that I'd receive one from Redbubble, so the first month was already gone and "useless".)
Either way, of 100 units sold let's say roughly 10 are sold to artists who participated. But the question is: Among the 90 remaining people, will some feel this as an invitation to do art? Are they into doing art at all? Or are they just consumers? Or too shy?
Well, on to possible reasons and chances:
I can't really do anything about people dropping out.
I don't really know why the ElfQuest fandom seems to vanish. Or in general, why fewer people (all around the world, all sorts of projects) seem to have less time to engage in spare time projects. (Maybe that's just my perception, but this place is not the only one since I am involved in a lot of things.)
One reason for me still is that the scrolls of colours was closed and that subsequently fans got scattered all over the internet in smaller forums / holts / interest groups on so called "social" media.
Anyway, that's past.
Let's look at things:
We seem to have few (active) artists.
We had that situation in the past years occasionally. I remember having warned before (yeah, I wear Captain-told-you-so's uniform :P ). You always (no matter what project) have 10 to 20% of dropouts. For what reason o'ever. Doesn't matter. Always calculate with 20% dropout. And be happy if it's less in the end. :)
Countermeasures:
You can't really countermeasure dropouts. It's simply impossible.
You could mitigate afterwards by people "stepping up" and doing multi-submissions but that'll not work always and possibly exhaust some of them.
Of course higher numbers of participants would help. How to possibly achieve that?
* leave artistic freedom
* no strange topics that scare off people (yes, might attract some, but we need as much freedom as possible still)
* let character duplicates happen
If something is called "EQ favourites" then you just have to accept that of 100 people 50 will scream "Cutter! Cutter!", Skywise will follow with his fangirls with 25 voices and the rest spreads between other characters. Reduce that to 12 and you'll have like 4 Cutters, 2 Skywises, 2 Leetahs, Winnie & Rayek and Pike and maybe someone with a Go-Back. There won't be that much variation, unless a few people decide to have "obscure" (side) characters as favourites. But usually people have fav. characters that can be seen on more than 2 pages in the whole series. It's just normal.
I know it's not awesome to have less variation, but rather have 5 Cutters (pffft....) in the calendar than no calendar at all.
Well, and maybe people would also have included multiple characters.
And even just with one character alone - as we have seen - there can be a lot of variation.
more solutions:
* start early (better chances to get things done. I love to start early because I KNOW from life experience that usually "stuff" comes in-between)
* actively reaching out:
It's not enough to just announce things here.
Besides, the server acts up and people don't get email notices always.
Do NOT expect people to check by here every now and then.
Some might remember maybe during May, check by and see that character slots are already filled or something.
Reach out:
Post in holts and message boards with ElfQuest-reference.
e.g. father tree holt, some of the RPG holts, are there still fan-groups, fan-sites?
check the art platforms such as
deviantart, artstation, maybe even this pesky tumblr (it's not an arts platform, but people post art there for reasons beyond me)
so called "social" media
eq@FB, twitter, IG, whatsoever
personal and directly addressed emails
and last but not least print media:
print on the calendar's back cover, nah, better before 1st month "if you'd like to participate then check by during November at eqfa.com for the poll" (and re-print that very message on the calendar November page!)
We need these kinds of advertisements especially during November until maybe February (assuming the topic is set in early January)
> site close
Well, the eqfa calendars (weekly planners) 2012 - 2014 were reason for me to get myself started again with art. I did stuff in the past, some analog art (pencil, aquarelle), but not EQ related.
I did participate then, not always (e.g. having PhD troubles in front of me), but most years and dedicated many hours per image, many weekends and clicked myself silly with the vectors, ogled at it, corrected it, looked up photos and references to see how things should look like, how people might do it, experimented.
Well, this year, as I wrote, I knew was going to be a lot of work in many areas, but at least I had a good feeling that a lot of artists had enrolled. I know that I am still slow and won't be able to whip up something from scratch within two weeks.
So I'd kinda miss this site with all it's ElfQuest art, and the place which made me deal with artstuff again.
just my lengthy 2 cents
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Good points on promotion! I too think that people aren't aware of the yearly calendar project. The facebook pages seem active with some creative people too, so I think the fandom is alive, just scattered, like jaRf said.
About the calendar:
- I agree that duplicate characters should be allowed. I was sneaky and added duplicates in my entry this year (though they are in the background). ;)
- Personally, I'd also like to share my calendar-related sketches and character study drawings with the community, but since it's not allowed to post anything related to the calendar before it's been published, all the material has to wait for months. I understand that it ruins the surprise, but I think it would encourage people to draw (and remember to start their entries earlier).
- I've really enjoyed participating in collaborations in the calendars! Maybe that could be somehow encouraged? It might make it possible for some to attend even if they didn't have time for a whole entry. The same goes for unfinished entries; they could be sent to someone else to finish them.
One thing I'd like to address is if we're to keep the calendar and site running, we're going to need more hands on deck. With promoting the site, running it and making the calendar happen there's a lot of stuff for just one person to handle. If the workload was split, it would leave more time for Maggie to make art, eh? :)
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{{hug Maggie}}
:beer You’ve been amazing for a long time. Whatever you decide you gotta do, it’ll be the right thing.
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A few days too late (emailed a few weeks ago that I would not finish on time) but I rushed to finish my entry. Hopefully it's good enough and will it get into the calendar.
Maggie> how many entries do you have by now?
I am more of a reader and admirer of all the beautiful work made on the site. I don't post much but I would miss it if this site were canceled. I would also miss the calendars.
I understand the annual stress and doubt, but so far it has always worked out well. ;) In fact: I, as an artist who contributed to this year's calendar, was too late to get one myself :S
Hopefully this year it will go so well again and with the help of the Pini's it will get attention again.
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@Wildfire I don't have Facebook so I wouldn't be able to promote it there myself but I do send out personal invites to members of this group that aren't always active (but have participated in the calendar in the past) as well as places like DeviantArt. Messaging people here has often worked and I have had a positive response in the past from going around and inviting artists from different sites but ultimately those invited artists have rarely worked out. They say yes, I want to participate and then end up dropping the calendar at the last minute or just not responding to messages after a point. So nowadays I tend to shy away from invitations.
As for the format I think it's always been the way it is now and I can't really go messing with it without consulting Mr. Pini. It would probably be very difficult to get a printed version if everyone handed in a different sized image. The size we use currently makes it easy to go to any print site and make a calendar. As for the planners, they were popular but required even more artwork than the calendar we do now. Not sure that would be a good gamble.
@jaRf I like to keep the calendar varied so I would prefer if people picked different characters but I said that if someone had their heart set on a character that was taken they were still welcome to use that character. I would never say no, if that's the only character that inspires you well too bad. I want the calendar to be varied but I would never be so inflexible as to no allow someone to work with a character that inspires them.
I get what you're saying about letting people use who they want and who cares if there are 5 Cutters, that's better than no calendar at all. But ultimately, if I didn't keep some control over that aspect of the calendar every year we would have the same characters over and over and given that choice I would rather there wasn't a calendar. People tend of gravitate toward the Wolfriders and Rayek. If I had to work to produce a mostly Wolfrider/Rayek calendar year after year it would be pointless and boring. This is a fan art calendar, we're making the fan art but I think we have to also understand that fans of the series will be looking for their favourites among the pages and if all we have to offer is a calendar of the same 6 recycled characters year after year I don't think it would have lasted for 18 years.
Having so many submissions with the same character would also be difficult when it came to judging. If I receive 15 submissions and 5 of them are Cutter then those 5 get judged against each other and in the end it's likely that only one or two of those submissions will get in to the printed version (but that is only after they are judged against the rest of the submissions). This would have nothing to do with artistic ability or how well the theme was interpreted but simply because there are too many entries with the same character, so you have to narrow that down.
As for starting early, I don't think it can get much earlier and truthfully giving everyone so much time is a downfall. Most people are working on their images weeks before the deadline and not 9 months before when the calendar is announced. Sign-ups should be in August and the deadline is the end of October. That way people really know if they have the time or not. What would be even better is to start in January and give everyone until March or April. Then when the dropouts come there will be plenty of time to find alternatives.
@Czarine duplicate characters are allowed, I just ask that we all try to vary things. As for sharing sketches and the like, I didn't make the calendar rules. They were passed down to me but I think the reasoning behind the not posting anywhere rule is getting an advanced look at the artwork does dull the excitement of seeing it finished and for the first time but it also taints judging and may allow someone to usurp an idea and use it themselves. If you want to send private messages and share work behind the scenes please go ahead.
Collaborations are fun and encouraged. We've had a few in past calendars and if that is something that interests people we could do a whole collaboration calendar.
As for splitting the workload, the only thing I can't do is Facebook stuff. If you are a member of a holt or EQ social media group then it would be great of you could mention the calendar to other artists but as I mentioned up top, inviting artists is great and they're usually open to the idea but I've had little luck getting them to actually hand anything in.
@Foxeye Thank you and a hug right back at you!
@AceQuester I think we have things covered. But if I need more artwork I'll holler at the group for help.
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@Wildfire I don't have Facebook so I wouldn't be able to promote it there myself but I do send out personal invites to members of this group that aren't always active (but have participated in the calendar in the past) as well as places like DeviantArt. Messaging people here has often worked and I have had a positive response in the past from going around and inviting artists from different sites but ultimately those invited artists have rarely worked out. They say yes, I want to participate and then end up dropping the calendar at the last minute or just not responding to messages after a point. So nowadays I tend to shy away from invitations.
The dropout rate is discouraging for sure. Especially if they've been invited personally.
Should the calendar continue, I'd be happy to do some promoting on Facebook. I've posted about the calendar a few times and people are always excited about it, so there has to be some untapped interest there. Doing a monthly/bi-monthly promo would (if nothing else) help garner some excitement.
...As for sharing sketches and the like, I didn't make the calendar rules. They were passed down to me but I think the reasoning behind the not posting anywhere rule is getting an advanced look at the artwork does dull the excitement of seeing it finished and for the first time but it also taints judging and may allow someone to usurp an idea and use it themselves. If you want to send private messages and share work behind the scenes please go ahead.
Collaborations are fun and encouraged. We've had a few in past calendars and if that is something that interests people we could do a whole collaboration calendar.
A thought - is it possible to set up a subsection of the forum to be for invited members only? Having a place where people can collaborate openly or ask and receive feedback might be good, both for the calendar and the website. Having somewhere to turn to for help if you get stuck without an idea or need some help with posing or colours. Even just hearing some positivity and a few encouraging words from other members might help people finish their entry. As it is now, it is a fairly lonesome challenge. Treefox has helped me out a ton through the years (:love), but that was through email, and establishing that connection for a new member would be nigh impossible.
Sketchfab (https://forum.sketchfab.com/c/past-challenges/halloween-contest-2015 (https://forum.sketchfab.com/c/past-challenges/halloween-contest-2015)) does monthly challenges where people post WIP works and it's a lot of fun to follow the different processes. Doing something similar might be worth a shot. We might all learn something new.
People stealing ideas is honestly not something I'd worry about with how small of a group we are. Even if they did "steal" (there has been similar ideas in the past), it's still fun to see the difference in execution and style.
starting earlier
Tasks expand to fill the time available. Most years I start properly sketching a few months before the deadline, and I doubt that I'm alone for that. Usually the fandom challenges that I've been a part of has had a runtime of 4-5 months at the absolute maximum. Most run for 2 months for a reason. Interest quickly starts to dwindle and people simply forget that they've signed up for it.
varying the characters
For the "Tribes" year, we were each assigned a tribe. How was that received? If we're no more than 12 people that might be a way to do it unless people hated it.
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The dropout rate is discouraging for sure. Especially if they've been invited personally.
Should the calendar continue, I'd be happy to do some promoting on Facebook. I've posted about the calendar a few times and people are always excited about it, so there has to be some untapped interest there. Doing a monthly/bi-monthly promo would (if nothing else) help garner some excitement.
If you or anyone else is able to promote the calendar via Facebook that would be much appreciated. :)
A thought - is it possible to set up a subsection of the forum to be for invited members only? Having a place where people can collaborate openly or ask and receive feedback might be good, both for the calendar and the website. Having somewhere to turn to for help if you get stuck without an idea or need some help with posing or colours. Even just hearing some positivity and a few encouraging words from other members might help people finish their entry. As it is now, it is a fairly lonesome challenge. Treefox has helped me out a ton through the years (:love), but that was through email, and establishing that connection for a new member would be nigh impossible.
Sketchfab (https://forum.sketchfab.com/c/past-challenges/halloween-contest-2015 (https://forum.sketchfab.com/c/past-challenges/halloween-contest-2015)) does monthly challenges where people post WIP works and it's a lot of fun to follow the different processes. Doing something similar might be worth a shot. We might all learn something new.
People stealing ideas is honestly not something I'd worry about with how small of a group we are. Even if they did "steal" (there has been similar ideas in the past), it's still fun to see the difference in execution and style.
I'm sure we could come up with something like that.
Tasks expand to fill the time available. Most years I start properly sketching a few months before the deadline, and I doubt that I'm alone for that. Usually the fandom challenges that I've been a part of has had a runtime of 4-5 months at the absolute maximum. Most run for 2 months for a reason. Interest quickly starts to dwindle and people simply forget that they've signed up for it.
For the "Tribes" year, we were each assigned a tribe. How was that received? If we're no more than 12 people that might be a way to do it unless people hated it.
I've always felt that too much time was given for the calendar and that people are excited to sign up but then forget and drop out when it gets too close to the deadline and they haven't done anything. One year I started late with the thread about themes, which meant the whole calendar started a bit later than usual and no one was happy about that. It seems that most would prefer more time to less but I feel like that is something that is causing an issue now. I don't start my cover image until all the submissions are handed in, which means I sometimes only have a week or two to get something together. Last year I think I did it in just over a week and that was after I scrapped my original idea for a new one. I would much prefer cutting the time down and seeing if that helps at all.
As for the Tribes calendar I guess we would have to ask if that was a hated theme or not. I would be happy to offer themes like that every so often. Berit suggested doing a just Wolfrider calendar or Go-backs or once again choosing one character and having 12 interpretations.
If there are only a few who want to work on the calendar each year it can still be done it would just be done differently. There would be more of a collaboration and discussion between the small group of participants rather than the whole nominating themes, voting for themes...it would be up to those who have decided to continue to figure that out together. I'm happy to do it with a small group or going ahead and trying to get more people involved. I was even thinking of challenging myself and doing a page a month and just putting the calendar out myself if the interest dwindles much more.
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I submitted mine, totally sorry for being late! I could absolutely submit another one if needed before December. Just let me know! Thanks for all you do Maggie!
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I'd really like the calendar-only subforum! I feel it has been quite difficult to keep drawing while making the calendar entry solo (though I do discuss ideas with Berit, which helps a lot), and a private thread for the calendar participants could offer both help and inspiration.
I too think there's too much time for the calendar. I usually spend about maybe a few days combined making my calendar entry. Usually, I procrastinate until the end of September, when I start sketching, after which I forget about the sketch completely until like a week before the deadline (usually less), and then I finish my piece with burning passion :D. Or that's how it went this year. Last year I spent a lot more time looking for references and sent my entry early (and another). :o So for me, a month or so would be ideal (but that's just me). Maybe we could halve the amount of time?
I like the idea of tribes! It would challenge me to draw different elves and environments. It could also solve the too many Wolfriders -problem. I also enjoyed the Entirely Ekuar theme we had.
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oh my, oh my . . . so many thoughts are racing through my head.
{Calendar} Glad things are working out Maggie *hug* You are appreciated both as an artist and an administrator. {Snow} We got it early in the teeth also and barely got all the broken branches cleaned up before Halloween. House okay - fence lost. So many old trees marred or lost (sob) it looked like a green war zone.
If submission format is needed for the site to remain active; I am in. I will change up my involvement time.
For the calendar I guess I do sorta always need and prefer a collaboration. I know I cannot submit to the calendar without tech-help, and I did exhaust my resources very early in the game; so did not sign up an idea - (and) - I should have fought harder for the honor of being in the calendar; Because I also appreciate a reason to stretch my drawing goals in an Elfquest fandom based environment and love catching up in the Gallery on what is inspiring people, and look forward to the cross-overs and fan characters and random mediums used to create. And hope for a success with an narrative story format that can bring people together and maybe evolve into more.
Anyhoo . . . It seems all the artist are pretty able to "create" within a 8 week period, either in a frenzied fashion or slow and steady wins the race -and- I am thinking about how much my environment and current activities Always effect my art _ and I am going to suggest a Seasonal submission idea: Staring early - Maybe getting submissions every 8 weeks of the year will give people time to offer help or do a collaboration or take inspiration from their own global/personal season." The rules could stay the same - just restart the hands of time a few, or three, times a year. More than one submission date? Or? Early submission acceptance for those who can only draw. (I admit I did not know how to ask for help from the Site and stay within the clandestine calendar requirements.) So Czarine's {ideas} inspires me to say that it really can be done within an 8 week period - and if not -
Wildfire is also right - - you have outlines, ideas, drawings, !early! feedback and exchanges. Take the idea further: Yavia did an amazing sorta ying/yang drawing on one page, of a character, for a past submission (so) Two artists could share a page or an idea/character/theme/insert on the same page. Sometimes half a page seems less scary. I have had so much fun doing the collaborations for the calendar. I do not want to babble. . . but
Coming in late to this discussion I see Ideas and Hope filling this forum - I want to be a part of that - and a part of saving the calendar, even if it is just submitting more to the Gallery all year long.
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@Tah-Marien, Did you mean the "night and day" submission drawn by Treefox 2017? That was in a yin and yang fashion. If not I'm a little puzzled what submission do you mean and how does that fit to your argument but thank you.
I was just watching the calendar "tribes" with the great collaboration work in it. Amazing! Do you mean something like that? Two or more artists draw a completely part (outline and color) of one picture?
Because I have done my drawings only solemnly I would be highly interested in a closed ward place on the forum to meet up with people and share art and ideas. Especially ideas. Quite a few calendars I don't commit because I had no idea for the theme.
As for less time till deadline I'm totally in it. I too have made the experience that more time makes submitter more often drop out. It's been 10 Month till everyone can see their results. Don't see any elfquest often out of this side or facebook and forget about it. Its not so prominent as other things as Marvel or Harry Potter. Many other interesting things hop along. No one can see the WiP during that time. I don't get any resonance all the long time. All reasons I encounter at a writers forum. The last one was the often heard.
Maggie
...which meant the whole calendar started a bit later than usual and no one was happy about that.
That shocked me a little bit. How many time do any of us need to finish a submission? For me I am a fast drawer, I know how long I need for a pic and can calculate the time. And I take the time out of the weekends if I have it not otherwise. I do see it as an commitment. But this year have told me not to say anything in the threat till I do have an idea. Made my pic, but boah I feel ashamed to wanna participate first and then droped out few Month later. Sorry.
If there is a new deadline, I suggest a month length (if there are 4 weekends all is good). Don't pick on me, just saying. I conduct a calendar for the time before Christmas (called Advent here). The first mentioning of this event is July. And all on the side are screaming 'whoa, so soon, have to hurry' and do nothing till December the first. (btw Deadline is November 30Th)
As for those with the winter catastrophe that month limit wouldn't work anyways. I hope all are fine and only fences and trees are broken.
So 8 weeks till deadline it is? If all here agree it's okay.
What seems to be an important part is the character choice. I assume as in the forum posts hinted (and said jaRf) two people droped out later because they don't get their favourite character. If that closed calendar forum is only used to talk to the people who took the favourite character and switch or collaborate that could be a great win. I get the offer to switch character and it was a really good feeling. But I don't took it cause I love more than one and I'm interested in the pic that would come up with Redlance. It don't have to be him. I like the calendar to be variant.
For submitting more often. That was everytime the given promise as things gone south and wasn't kept in forums I was in. Not once. That didn't work ever. Hope it will be differend here but I have low hopes.
I am totally in for promotion more. The fact Richard Pini is involved in the calendar and sees all the submissions is something that is really great. But if I don't have a friend here who told me early on I wouldn't have known till some randomly droped posts maybe years later. This here by Maggie for instance. For me it is awesome. And really something to promote more.
Last, a one person only calendar is in fact a good idea. One tribe also. I do think it must be one more favoured than Ekuar. I wouldn't have submit anything, if there wasn't not enough entrys.
Please don't bite me. English is not my mother tongue and I fear something might sound meaner that it is meant.
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As someone who only discovered and started participating in the calendar last year, I am not sure how useful my input is, but why let that stop me? ;)
I had been thinking about the issue of people signing up early in the year, only to either drop out or not start drawing until the week before the Halloween deadline, and actually was coming up with an idea much like that proposed by @Tah-Marien.
4 Sign-Up & Deadline Sessions Throughout The Year
- "Winter" session: Feb & Mar, Mar 31 deadline
- "Spring" session: Apr & May, May 31 deadline
- "Summer" session: Jun & Jul, Jul 31 deadline
- "Autumn" session: Aug & Sep, Sep 30 deadline
(Maybe plus an invitation-only "Buffer" session in Oct & Nov, in which @Maggie invites artists who have proven reliable to submit, if there are still too few submissions after all four submission sessions.)
Or more spaced out throughout the year, however works best.
Artists still sign up for their preferred characters who have not been used yet. However, if an artist drops out in a session, then the characters that artist claimed in the earlier session would be released and available for anyone to claim in the next session.
So, if someone claims Cutter, Leetah, and Skywise in February, but fails to create the image by March 31, then someone else could claim any or all three characters in April. If the February artist does submit art by March 31, then yay! Since that is the goal! :D
It means more frequent administration, but hopefully more art throughout the year, and less pressure in November to gather those images that should have been submitted earlier.
As for theme ideas... I thought the themes allowed for pretty broad interpretation already, and have been impressed by the submissions I have seen for the past years. But, again, newbie, so maybe I am missing something. (I would totally buy an all-Rayek calendar, though; rowr. ;))
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Wow. Now I feel exceptionally guilty. I had originally thought I'd be able to participate, but life has been insane for over a year for me. The death in my family threw me off and I'm still having issues. Still not over the death, but life is settling a little bit, especially regarding my job and the residence.
To be honest, people dropping off happens no matter where you are or what you're doing. I see the same thing over and over in the fandom holts. I don't know why, but it happens. Putting the word out through other media certainly could help for the calendars. Drumming up interest on this site might help if perhaps something was done in the gallery. Some people don't bother to check the files and some still have issues with their inboxes for messages. It's a thought.
Having vague themes wouldn't really do much. Themes are already rather vague and open to a wide interpretation. As for characters, I think we could try this year allowing for multiple representations of the same characters, but I would definitely prefer to keep the list up so for those that want to avoid replication, can choose someone else. Personally, I like that challenge. Who hasn't been drawn or spoken for? When I did Mardu and Kalil, I didn't even really know who they were. I had to look them up and read about them. So, let's see what happens.
Since life's been rather nasty to me, I actually have a few illos I never managed to finish for previous calendars. I can at least finish one or two of them and submit this coming year. No, really, I promise! I've been eyeing the one with...oops, SPOILERS. I can PM you, Maggie about them and take it from there. And if not, I can post it to the gallery.
I have been trying to post to the gallery, and I've sketched a bunch of members' characters. Almost done with one now with one immediately behind for coloring.
I'd truly hate to see this site close; this is my EQ fix and I try and check on it regularly. I get inspiration to draw from it and from others' work even from the non-EQ folder. I enjoy the community; it has been much friendlier to me than some others I've been involved in over the years. I can understand closing due to lack of time or enthusiasm, but I certainly want to stress how much I love this site. It helps me with depression. It inspires me. It keeps me busy, off the streets, and out of prison (joke, for those that don't know my humor). I'd be proud to volunteer more often if it helps. Can't guarantee amazing work, but I certainly would do more.
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HI Maggie,
Can you give us an update? Did everything worked out fine? Do you have enough entries? Did you and Elfpop go over the entries? Is he willing to help? And when can we place our order? ;)
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@ Tah-Marien - Having collaborations should become more commonplace for the calendar moving forward, especially if people are struggling on their own. As should a discussion forum for participants.
@Yavia - I won't bite you. :) You have suggestions and they are as valid as anyone else's. I wanted to know how you feel and you've expressed that. Thank you.
@Snarkclaw - I was thinking the very same thing. Breaking up the deadlines into sections. I was leaning toward two times but we can chat about that further and see what everyone else thinks. Thanks for your input.
@Amberfox - Please don't feel guilty. If you would like to hand something in for the calendar please do. I was planning to add whatever artwork I do for the cover as one of the months but if you have something then that's great. If not that's ok too.
@AceQuester - I have enough artwork. I would have already been harassing people for more if I didn't...haha. ;D I don't have any info on the printed version at the moment but the reveal doesn't happen until January. Sometimes the printed version comes out slightly before that but not much.
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I'm glad I was on the reserve list and managed to make a picture for the 2020 calendar. I realised I haven't participated in the calendar since 2015, even though I did originally plan to every time. There are a number of reasons for this I guess. But definitely not the themes, they are always great.
My biggest mountain honestly has been the character claiming. I understand why it was set in place, but in my opinion it is done too soon. Look at the long list of claimed characters for this year, and how few actually managed to make their picture in time. When a theme is chosen the way my brain works it looks for an original idea first that makes a great match with that, and it doesn't matter what characters it involves. Then when the idea is there, and the main character is already claimed, I have to restart this process, but in a disappointed mood which kills my inspiration.
Two ways to solve this I think; the discussing of picture ideas with the people who want to be involved so characters will be known to them up front AND definitely drawn, which I've seen mentioned. Or the claiming can't be done until you've shown Maggie at least a decent sketch.
Finding a place just for this (the calendar discussing) would be fine by me. I know you've brought up this same question about the site a couple of years ago, Maggie, and I understand your reasons for keeping it up since then and wanting to take it down now. Perhaps it is time to let it go.
There are so many places we can post our stuff, though the forum and the people here have always had a special place in my heart. But it is very separate, so I have to think about not forgetting to come here, especially since I don't really make that much new EQ related stuff. I am mostly on Instagram nowadays, and I would love to come across more EQ related content there, because I really don't right now.
Like said there are a number of places we can go, but I can understand if people don't want to sign up for some places, like Facebook; though the groups do offer a private setting so you know exactly who can read it. A neutral space that is either free or cheap but offers a locked option so the ideas remain a secret until the calendar reveal is something we might be able to find. I'm on Weebly with all my sites, it offers password protected pages I believe (like if you've made a photo-album you only want to show family members).
On to the promoting part; we can all chip in on that, on whatever platform we are. I'm sure we can come up with a nice text that we can all copy/paste to spread the word. There is indeed not one place you can reach all, everyone has their fave new places to hang out nowadays.
I like the idea of shortening the timeline as well, because it's true; it's a long time to wait to showcase your work online, when you already finish in April. And the spreading out through the entire year will dwindle the interest as we've seen again and again. One month would be too short for me, mainly because the definite deadline will probably remain close to the end of October, and that is my busiest month for crafting and thinking of nothing else. But three months of discussing and working on it sounds fine to me. A short burst for working on the picture works best for me, because my focus tends to be better when I actually finish one project at a time.
The calendar feels like something special to me. We all work on it together, and I look forward to seeing the result each year. I would hate to see it go; I feel it connects us all, the way we might have felt connected to EQ when we were younger (and active in holts and such like I was a decade ago).
So yeah, a secluded place for calendar discussion sounds great to me. It leaves great hope for collaboration, as well as extra theme ideas such as a link of continuation between all months, or a story being told, or some kind of chronology that may be completely random now. And a transparent talk about which characters will be used as the main subject by each, and inspiration by others when you might be stuck on an idea that doesn't quite work yet.
I AM hopeful. :)
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Damn. I just found this. I was thinking about entering something this year. It's been a while.. Maybe next year.
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@Elftanner - There may not be a calendar next year, that's kind of what we're discussing. ;)
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News about the printed calendar!
Richard and Rob who have both been instrumental in making the printed calendar happen over the years are unfortunately just too busy to continue.
However Richard said if I am willing and able to take over that part myself they would love to see the calendars keep coming. He said that the work and the imagination they display are a real treat and to make sure he can order a couple of copies of each edition for the Warp archive! Which I thought was pretty special. ;D
I am more than happy to add this job to my list of calendar duty's but it doesn't make much sense to create a storefront on a site that produces calendars if this is the last one. I can simply get a calendar made and send it to the Pini's as a last memento for the archives.
But I think after what I've been reading in this thread that most seem like they may want to continue the calendar if we can implement some of the ideas we've been tossing around and get a bit more outside interest. Is this a consensus? Or am I reading into things?
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No you are not (reading too much into it)! Would love to see more calendars in the future. 😁
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My biggest mountain honestly has been the character claiming. I understand why it was set in place, but in my opinion it is done too soon. Look at the long list of claimed characters for this year, and how few actually managed to make their picture in time. When a theme is chosen the way my brain works it looks for an original idea first that makes a great match with that, and it doesn't matter what characters it involves. Then when the idea is there, and the main character is already claimed, I have to restart this process, but in a disappointed mood which kills my inspiration.
This.
Sometimes having an idea that is bearable takes a long time.
I don't have a great solution, though.
> Or the claiming can't be done until you've shown Maggie at least a decent sketch.
That sounds good basically, though at least I'd need (depending on workload) quite a lot of time and image development stretches over the year.
> Like said there are a number of places we can go, but I can understand if people don't want to sign up for some places, like Facebook; though the groups do offer a private setting so you know exactly who
> can read it.
It's not the people "hanging out" at FB or other (anti)social media (okay, sometimes it probably is the very people), it's FB/google's business politics, their severe lack of data reduction and data economy. I like this place since it offers a forum and a gallery at the same time. It doesn't come with tons of JavaScript and advertisements.
On the other hand, yes, it needs maintenance and hosting to be paid.
> On to the promoting part; we can all chip in on that, on whatever platform we are. I'm sure we can come up with a nice text that we can all copy/paste to spread the word. There is indeed not one place you
> can reach all, everyone has their fave new places to hang out nowadays.
Ah, back in the days (of glory) there were mailing lists one could subscribe to...
But yes, everyone can try to spread the word. Though it would've been easier with some central spot where people come by occasionally to gather news and information.
> I like the idea of shortening the timeline as well, because it's true; it's a long time to wait to showcase your work online, when you already finish in April.
Did anybody ever finish so soon?
> my focus tends to be better when I actually finish one project at a time.
Luxury! ;)
It would be nice to have a dedicated time for it, but I hardly ever had that yet. Thus I have to spread it over weekends and occasional holidays and some evenings. But there are also other interests or necessities competing for my attention.
I'd definitely want the calendar to continue. It's one fairly steady thing for ... roughly 20 years? It was something that brought me back to do artwork. And it is something that still show some life and connection within the EQ "community".
Richard and Rob who have both been instrumental in making the printed calendar happen over the years are unfortunately just too busy to continue.
However Richard said if I am willing and able to take over that part myself they would love to see the calendars keep coming. He said that the work and the imagination they display are a real treat and to
make sure he can order a couple of copies of each edition for the Warp archive! Which I thought was pretty special.
Well, the pure printing shouldn't be much of a problem. First off things end up in digital form. So someone able to make a CMYK PDF from it could create the very PDF file and that can be printed around the world. In my town you have copy/print shops "every second corner" (okay, that's exaggerated) and several real print services which all offer all sorts of megaposters, banners, textile printing, business cards and whatnot.
The thing is - how to distribute those? Hardly any of them offers this worldwide end-user business connections including a shop and handling communications and shipment + customs declaration. That were the benefits of cafepress, redbubble and the likes.
Do we have any numbers? But I guess it is more than 50 units - and in this range of numbers it's probably too much for a normal person to handle all that in their spare time.
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Luxury! ;)
It would be nice to have a dedicated time for it, but I hardly ever had that yet. Thus I have to spread it over weekends and occasional holidays and some evenings. But there are also other interests or necessities competing for my attention.
There's nothing luxurious about it. It is something I found out about myself after years and years of being surrounded by tons of unfinished projects.
I too only have weekends and vacation days to work on hobbies. I will have to tell myself to only start a new project if I can finish it without starting yet another one somewhere in between. It's hard work, but that's basically what I meant with my focus.
I took all of October for one big project, but it worked, it is done now and I can move on to the next. Sometimes I pick a smaller project which is done in a few days. Sometimes I know this in advance, sometimes I don't. I know now that sticking to one is the only way to get it finished.
Please don't think of it as being easy. It took me at least two decades to get to this point where I finally found a way that works for me. It won't just come.
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@Snarkclaw - I was thinking the very same thing. Breaking up the deadlines into sections. I was leaning toward two times but we can chat about that further and see what everyone else thinks. Thanks for your input.
I think that chat should basically amount to:
Maggie: I am willing and able to run X number of submission sessions throughout the year, each lasting Y long.
Us: Sounds good.
;)
However Richard said if I am willing and able to take over that part myself they would love to see the calendars keep coming. He said that the work and the imagination they display are a real treat and to make sure he can order a couple of copies of each edition for the Warp archive! Which I thought was pretty special. ;D
Agreed! ;D
But I think after what I've been reading in this thread that most seem like they may want to continue the calendar if we can implement some of the ideas we've been tossing around and get a bit more outside interest. Is this a consensus? Or am I reading into things?
This newcomer personally would love to see the calendar continue, and yes, that is my read on people's responses.
But you are the one who will be having to do all the heavy lifting, here.
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@jaRf - I would be opening a store, (like the Pini's had on RedBubble) so anyone would be able to order the printed version and have it sent to them directly.
I wouldn't be producing the calendar myself via a printshop and then shipping it out, that's a lot of work and expense. That's how the calendar was last year and it wasn't the most efficient way of getting it done.
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Of course, I am one of the people who would love to see the calendar continued also in printed form.
Opening a shop for this purpose would be great but it also sounds like a lot of even more work on top of everything you are already doing.
Should this happen it would be more important than ever that there's some actual interest and investment in this calendar. Otherwise all that work would be for nothing.
So, would it be feasible to open a shop? Would we get enough art work for a calendar? Would enough people actually buy the physical calendar?
These are my worries...
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@Treefox - It isn't that much of an effort after the store is set up. Once that's done all I have to do is upload the images and make the calendar each year which will then be for sale via the site. The same as Richard and then Rob did each year on CafePress and then RedBubble. I just upload the images the rest is up to the site, they produce the calendar and ship it etc.
But yes, the main thing is do people want to continue with the calendar. No point in going ahead and creating a storefront if no one wants to do this again next year. I feel like there is an interest but I wanted to make sure I wasn't just reading into things. ;)
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Oh, that sounds good! Wow, I feel optimistic that there is a future for the calendar! That is so great.
Thank you for all the effort you put into this project!
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So the big question now is.. when is it up so we can order it and when can we share our hard work with eachother here on this site? :D So excited :D:D
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@AceQuester - The calendar doesn't go up on the site until January 1st/December 31st at midnight my time (sometimes a bit earlier).
As for the printed version, still waiting on some artwork but I'll do my best to make it available before the end of the month. I can't promise anything though since I've never used the site I am planning to open a store on. There could be some unforeseen issues.
I'll send out a notice as soon as it is available for purchase. ;)
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Do you have enough artwork? or do I have to fart more?
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Haha...there's enough Berit. ;D
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Oookay! Im gonna go back in my busy corner! someone inform me if there is anything urgent!...
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Ah I love it! Thank you Maggie!
Because I was too late to get one from 2019 I just ordered 2 calendars for 2020 (also handy because it starts with my drawing in Januari😉)!
And I placed on the ElfQuestpage on Facebook the following:
First off all: best wishes for everyone!
Second: A new year means a new ElfQuest fan calendar!😁
You can buy one on Zazzle (see link below).
https://www.zazzle.com/store/eq_fan_art_calendars (https://www.zazzle.com/store/eq_fan_art_calendars)
Give a big howl for the creators of the calendar and please support them by buying one so that they can keep continuing making more. And new drawings/artists and input are welcome on: http://www.elfquestfanart.com (http://www.elfquestfanart.com)😁🐺
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If we can pin point the theme I absolutely can participate. I also agree to submit it as soon as I know a theme and not wait until October! 💖 I hope enough people are still interested.
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Zazzle cancelled my order because of copyright infringement.
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Happy new year everyone!
Maggie, thank you a thousand times for putting this together! The calendar is so vibrant! It's gorgeous!
Thank you all for submitting art and helping to continue this awesome project!
I am absolutely thrilled that we'll get the chance to buy a printed version! It looks like there are still some initial bugs to be worked out with Zazzle, but I am sure I'll love the physical calendar once it gets to me.
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Mine was canceled too, which is kind of hilarious considering some of the stuff I've seen on Zazzle. I've sent a message to Zazzle explaining that I have permission from the creators of EQ to make a printed version of the calendar, so we'll see what happens.
Sorry about this, I'll get it sorted as soon as possible.
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Happy new year everyone. May it be a good one and bring reason and wisdom to the world and also creativity and leisure (esp. to us).
(Probably Zazzle uses some nowadays-non-sense-"IP"-violation-detection that just has a false positive. A lot of platforms where users can upload or sell things often use (have to?) mechanisms (algorithms) to check submissions for possible infringements of "intellectual property" because they can't really check every upload with human eyes for problems. Sadly these algorithms often give a false hit.)
I'll go check out the calendar images now.
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I just saw the images for the calendar. I love the scenes that people chose, and the depictions of those scenes! This was a wonderful theme. :)
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You should be able to get the printed calendar now, there is also a new code for 15% off NEWYRBIZ2020 or 2020PLANNING
Fingers crossed there are no more issues. ;)
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So sorry Maggie, I still get the copyright problem message. Is there anything we can do to help you with this?
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Really...ugh...that's so annoying. No, probably not but thank you for the offer.
I was sent a message this morning from Zazzle (the one that they sent in reply to Mr. Pini's letter of consent) stating: We have allowed this product and future products to go on sale for ElfQuest through this store. We are very happy that you have chosen Zazzle as your Marketplace and look forward to producing more merchandise with you in the future!
I was sent a separate email letting me know I could now re-order the calendar with the original promo code (only the code didn't work so I haven't ordered yet). I probably can't order one either but I was waiting to hear back about the code.
The problem for me is I can see the calendar (even when it was waiting to be placed for sale) and I can order a copy even when no one else can (until of course they cancel it). So it's hard for me to know what's what since I can do things as a store owner that a buyer on the site can't do.
Can you see the calendar? Is it available? Because when I'm not logged in to the site and I click on the product link it gives me an error message and the item doesn't show up.
I dunno...but I'll keep working at it. ;) Please keep me posted on any new developments.
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I get a "Something went wrong. 404" error when I go to the "Products" tab on Zazzle.
Calendar looks amazing though, props to everyone for their hard work! :love
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I get the same error as Wildfire. I hope things get sorted out soon!
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Thanks for the updates.
According to the customer service rep I have been speaking with everything should have been sorted out the morning of Jan 4 but I've messaged her again letting her know that the calendar doesn't seem to be available now.
Hopefully we can work to get this resolved sometime today. ;)
UPDATE: The calendar is available for purchase https://www.zazzle.com/elfquest_2020_fan_art_calendar-158196904029440088 (https://www.zazzle.com/elfquest_2020_fan_art_calendar-158196904029440088)
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Looks like I can finally see the calendar as available product. :) No errors this time!
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Looks like I can finally see the calendar as available product. :) No errors this time!
Same here. :)
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Yes, we've sold several copies already...mine has been shipped and is on its way!
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Yes! I received mine today! I am curious about peoples opinions about it.
I love the images and it's good quality paper. Funny that I finally start to recognize peoples style😁 Well done folks!
The only 2 negatives for me are that the size is so small (while we have all made such high quality drawings) that the details are less visible and that it is printed on both sides. Maybe something to keep in mind for next year.
If someone can tell me how to get an attachement in a message in this forum I'll try to upload 2 pics with the calendars on it.😁
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Sorry for not being able to give feedback sooner, but I have also ordered the calendar without any problems! I am so looking forward to seeing all of your wonderful art on my wall!
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@AceQuester - The calendar is 11" by 7" which I thought would be a decent size. There is a larger version of this calendar but it is 17" by 11" which I thought was too big. I also wanted to keep the cost down. Last year I paid about $60 CDN for my calendar and have paid in and around that amount for past calendars. Next year I would probably offer the vertical style as well as the horizontal style to give a variation but I can't really make any kind of proper judgment until I see this years printed version for myself.
I'm not sure why the pages are double sided, that doesn't make a lot of sense and no where on the Zazzle website does it say that is the case. Does that mean the calendar consists of only 8 pages? The front cover, back cover and then the 12 months on only 6 sheets of paper?
As for adding images you'd have to upload the photos to an image hosting site like photobucket then you use the button that looks like a little painting (insert image) in your message then you insert the URL you get off the hosting site in between the brackets and any photos should show up in your message.
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First, I really want to make clear that I don’t want to complain to Maggie, but am super thankful that she made the calendar available in printed form. However, I also have to admit that I am a bit disappointed by the physical thing...
It is really, really small, the artwork is tiny, it is indeed printed on both sides and the hole to hang it on your wall is in the middle of the artwork...
(https://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o161/Matschauge/74D94ACA-77F0-40DC-B8E6-0BB38791F3C9_zpsodrzplpi.jpeg)
(https://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o161/Matschauge/45880FD6-E90F-4F61-9D8B-BB1D0C523585_zpsjbjzdf9w.jpeg)
Nonetheless, the quality of the print is really good and I just love to have all of you guys’s work on my wall agin. :-*
*Edit: as I am not paying for the 10 pics I still have on Photobucket, it won’t let me post pics normally anymore. Until I find a new hosting service maybe the quality is still good enough to see what I am talking about...sorry...
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I was already wondering why the images seemed to show what was intended (so no 404 error), but why they were blurred and watermarked also in other forums. Well... photobucket. So many things went down the drain.
I'll be receiving my own exemplar soon I guess so I can also check from close range.
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I just received my calendar and it is small, smaller than I thought it would be but it does have its charms.
For me it's a good size because I don't use the calendars, I simply archive them. But I can see where others would be disappointed. Please remember Zazzle has a satisfaction guarantee, so if anyone wants to send theirs back for a refund by all means go ahead.
Next year (providing there is a calendar) I would opt for the larger size and would probably go with a landscape style rather than the portrait one. For me as the cover artist portrait is better but overall landscape will showcase the full detail of each artists work. Another thing that would help would be to take away the white border I usually add to the image and the titles (this would make the image larger). I can simply add titles and credits to the back of the calendar.
As for the hole, well you get what you get. This issue has cropped up before and obviously I have no control over that aspect of the calendars production. I wish it didn't land on the artwork but again...what can I do. At least it didn't obstruct anything major. It kind of hits Ember's hair on the September image but otherwise it isn't too obtrusive. No one had a hole in the middle of their forehead...haha.
Now that I know (and you all know) what we're dealing with we can adjust accordingly to make sure the next printed calendar looks its best.
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Yes, that is right. And I really don’t want to complain to you at all. Still very happy to have the printed thing in my hands.
It’s nice to hear that there are options for changing the layout.
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I don't consider it complaining. Going with a new site for the calendar was going to be a bit of trial and error but if no one speaks up then I can't possibly know what's what. ;) I appreciate the feedback.
I'm glad the print quality is decent, the price was not bad and the calendars seemed to get to people quickly enough. Just have to make sure not to offer baby versions of the thing next time. :D
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Got mine yesterday and I also was a little surprised about the size, well, this is especially if you're used to the old ones. This format might fit well for the portrait aspect ratio, but not really for landscape - on the other hand there is also the very calendar part that needs space.
I also use them more to look at (I don't mark anything in them), more as an arts object than a real calendar for daily use.
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I received mine awhile ago. I actually love the size! I don’t mark on them so it’s perfect to be displayed and stored away with the rest of my EQ goodies!
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Mine was waiting for me. I love it! The size means I do not have to share. And March . . . perfect - the Fighter and the Earth/Tree healer - that says it all.