A real tree or would an artificial one do? Personally I like the artificial trees better, particularly for those of us perpetually crunched for time, since they come pre-lit.

artificial is fine. . . I'm worried if it's one of the tiny ones, though, my dog will be able to get a hold of it an carry it around. It'd need to be heavy enough that he could use it as a toy ;)

I will be on the lookout then. If nothing else, I can certainly find one for you by Furry Fiesta (so for next year).
I share a house with a miniature poodle who is more Terrier than most Terriers and a cat that can literally fly so I know what you are talking about.

I mean COULDN'T use it as a toy! gah!

I have a mini artificial tree that uses batteries to light up... :3

It's only like.. A few inches high, but it's still a Christmas tree regardless.

my doggie would eat a tree that size, I just KNOW it. We'd wake up one morning and he'd have it in his mouth, ornaments strewn across the living room

Haha, it doesn't need ornaments. It's a fiber-optic tree and you can just put it somewhere high. If you want, I can take a picture of it and send it to you so you see how it looks.

'emme see!

http://tinypic.com/r/2udw29t/7

I'm sorry it's not a very clear picture, but that tree is good in a safe spot that your dog cannot reach. It runs on 2 AA batteries that I've just checked right now. My husband and I will include the batteries with the shipment if you'd want it.

it's adorable! I could put it on my desk ;)

When you say bristol sketch book do you mean the 20 sheet tablets from Strathmore or some other brand?

I am NOT picky

Obi-kabi!

how much are trees?

I. . . honestly have no idea. I've not had to buy one in five years. I would guess, with the stand, or if it's an artificial one that comes WITH a stand, around $50-$75 or so? Or am I being too optimistic?

i see most for $150, the fake one about 6 feet tall... depends on where you shop though!

It seems like everybody wants bristol.

That's what I always use, it doesn't seem like a big deal to me!

I just want a friend :(

It's not impossible to lower gas prices. Extremely difficult, but not impossible. 'Specially during this time of year when people are "motivated" to do almost anything.

8 I can do. 9, probably can happen.

you know i have a singing douglas fur tree u could have if you wanted. around this time of year, i feel ya on the tree thing, but my dad just recently started inviting me over for x-mas again, so i don't have time to decorate. but i do have the little motion sensored douglas fur if u can't find anything else. lol i think he's cute if anything, :) hope all your wishes come true!

heh, thanks, but if it sings, my dog will DEFINITELY eat it ;)

lol my dog is total oppisite. she won't come near anything that sings to her lmao!

Aw ;w; I'm the first wish on your Christmas list? *sniffles* That would mean so much to me! I'm terrible at asking for help, but you guys, I would be forever grateful!

And it feels nice to know that I have managed to be your best roommate... thus far ^^ Thank you! <3

5 is easy. My dad is a plumber and he recommends the industrial grade CLR (calcium, lime, rust remover) and 8 is done.

This. *nod* Stuff works - Trust.

yeah, but you can get a watered down version unless you get it at the hardware store or a plumbing store, and yes it has worked wonders on many places I have lived and helped my dad refresh thier bathroom.

Seconded. CLR is magic.

I'm seeing if I can help with point #1 on your list.

That is really sad not having a Christmas tree for such a long time. I would gladly give up anything at christmas just as long as i can have my tree.

I might be able to assist with #1. *nod*

As for #3, I do have a suggestion! Shop at Price Chopper for groceries and such and sign up for their fuel Advant-Edge program. Over time you build up points and when you fuel up at Sunoco you use the card and it'll knock the price of gas down. Not by a ton...but it helps, especially since you're getting the discount by doing something you'd buy anyway!

Here's a link with Price Chopper store locations:
http://www.pricechopper.com/StoreLo.....or/Store_S.las
And info on the gas card thing:
http://www2.pricechopper.com/fueladvantedge/

Enjoy your lower gas prices. ^^

I can help with (4).

Every furcon art show is different. Some times sell better at some conventions than others. It all has to do with the core clientele.

One unpleasant thing you have to recognize right away is that not everyone who goes through the art show is a potential customer. Perhaps 10% of a convention's attendees make 95% (or more!) of art show purposes. We can go on and on about "unfair", but that's the way it is, especially for artists whose work is of a quality that warrants three-figure bids (or more! again). You need to cater to the high end buyer if you want high end bids.

What, specifically, does Further Confusion's art show patronage want?

1. Completed colored works. As wonderful as your pencils are, they are not going to catch the eye. Again, "unfair" has no weight. Unless you do the most spectacular pencil piece ever, it's not going to be the one that Glen Wooten (one of the regular auctioneers) saves for last in the voice auction.

2. Originals done by hand. Large-format prints of digital works may sell well as posters in the dealer's room (at poster prices), but not in the art show. The moment someone sees "print", even if it's "1 of 1", lop a zero off the end (if it sells at all). The FC attendees view digital works as print-material... nothing wrong with that, but set your own expectations correctly.

3. Presentation. This is critical. If you want your work to sell well, you have to present it well. By this I mean a generously-sized matte job, framed, under glass. Large pieces sell better than small, and a good matte-and-frame job makes a piece more striking. Also, this saves the buyer the task of having to have it framed themselves. It means more up-front expense, but it pays off. And avoid the cheap plastic frames from Target, etc. This also means you're going to have to get serious about how you ship your work; you'll have to build or buy a shipping-box, or drive. Nobody said being a high-end artist was easy! And these days there are quite a few excellent artists working the high end; the ones who present well will overshadow those who do not.

You can learn to do your own matte and frame work; this will save you HUGE amounts of money. If you standardize on a target size, you can get pre-cut glass in bulk relatively inexpensively. You'll need to do it well, use the right materials (archival tape NOT masking tape, the adhesives in ordinary tape fail after a few years and are chemically acidic, which will seep into your work and stain it).

Select a couple of types of framing-stock and get it in bulk. Select three or four standard sizes which you can get precut glass for. Frame everything in a similar manner. If you do this, your panels will have a strong, unified look to them, and will also make your buyers very happy; if everything is framed similarly, it looks like a collection, and they will be more likely to buy your work to extend that collection.

High end buyers are savvy about framing. You need to be equally savvy.

4. Subject matter. Avoid politics at FC; you will find the full spectrum of political views at FC, and you don't want to get to be known as THAT artist (I've seen highly skilled artists lose most of their clientele by assuming that everyone around them shared their politics, getting vocal about it, offending people, then whining about how come this year they didn't make a quarter of that they did last year). Adult stuff is just fine at FC; so is general audience work. Gay and straight both do well. FC does have some subject matter policies, and they stick to them. I've never seen you do anything that would be outside of those policies, though.

5. A few large pieces are much better than a large number of small pieces. If you get a dramatic piece that's 24x36 in matted form, framed well, into voice auction it's a four-figure day. The highest-bid works tend to be general audience, either dramatic or romantic (simple portraits aren't quite the thing), and are painted works (typically acrylics for the potential for detail).

6. Schmooze a little. Swing by your panels once in a while and chat with the folks who are lingering in front of your work. That kind of personal touch DOES matter. If a buyer can connect a person to the art, they will be more likely to want to give you a big payday.

7. Aim for the voice auction. This is risky, buy nothing ventured nothing gained. If you think a piece is likely to go for 500 dollars and you place a minimum bid of 300 on it, it's less likely to go to voice auction. If you price at 100, you're chancing it will get away for 200, but if it goes to voice auction you could get 1000 or more. All it takes are two people who really want it going back and forth. Once into voice auction, emotions run high and so do prices. There have been years when some high end artists have taken home 5-figure paychecks, and they did it in the voice auction.

This may seem a little overwhelming, and in some ways it is. It's what the folks who make their livings at the artshow do, though. And it can be fun!

In answer to a few of your things. . . .

I almost always frame originals, as WELL as matting them. And I pick nice frames, and often hand-make the mattes. So. . . presentation is usually pretty darned good. The problem with this is, even with colored work, I often lose my investment by putting so much into the framing and presentation. I had a fully hand-colored piece at MFF that went for $65, and it had a wonderful frame and matte, made from materials I got while I was in Germany. Altogether, after the price of the frame and the matting, I made less than $30 on the piece, which is about. . . $3/hour for the work involved. So I'm actually becoming afraid to frame any more. I never make the money back enough for it to be worth it.

I always aim for the voice auction, by setting my starting bids low. This is partially why my pieces sell so low. Sometimes it pays off, but more and more recently, people haven't been ATTENDING voice auctions. The ONLY good voice auction I've been to this YEAR was at EF. The voice auction at MFF, I'm told, had about fifteen people in it. I had two pieces that went, and NO ONE bid on them. . . they both went to the auction sheet.

Color pieces versus pencil pieces are a painful subject for me, because ORIGINAL media color pieces take me SO long, and they NEVER sell well. At least not for me. I have NEVER made more than $200 on a piece, after taxes and the convention's cut, and I've submitted colored pieces that took me 25+ hours. Like, for instance, the cover of Cruelty.

I think ultimately what it's come down to is. . . there are about three or four BIG artist names that are usually at furry convention art shows, and ALL the top bids go to them. I just don't have the name to risk bringing very time-consuming work to cons. I've done it a few times in the past, and ALWAYS regretted it. Recently I've focused on bringing smaller, more affordable artwork to cons, knowing the smaller bidders will want something affordable, and it works, but. . . it's not overwhelmingly profitable. I'll try to bring more attention to my panels at art shows in the future, but I think until I'm well enough known in the furry community, and I'll be honest. . . produce better work. . . I'm gonna be trapped in this 'low sell' bracket.

Do you have a mat cutter yet? If not, I'd be happy to send you one.

I think you definitely have what it takes to break into the top tier. It will take time and effort, but you've shown the work ethic and the basic skill, and I think it will happen.

As for voice auctions... at Further Confusion, it's one of the main events. People attend just for the entertainment and seeing the pieces for one last time. It's one of the ways in which FC is a little different from other conventions; they are less dealers-room-centric than, say, Anthrocon.

I do, but I think I lost a piece of it in the move :/

I have a 30cm silver tree that i got for cheap today that you could have :3

someone's sending me a small one already, but thank you ;) Enjoy it for yourself!

hmm... *makes note to try and send x-mas gifts for the amazing people he met at MFF*

I'll try and take a shot at #1... and if all else fails, #9 seems a good fallback option...

It's rather refreshing to see someone with wishes that are extremely selfless and i tip my hat off to you good madam *tips hat, with an extravagant flourish*

hopefully i'll be catching you at AC next year, and, if nothing else, best of luck on both the comic and your other art projects.

i wish i had the shirt i ordered from you back in july.

if you've sent a PM or some form of note to that effect, I'll dig through my PMs to find it. . . otherwise, re-send your shipping info, and I'll try to re-send the order. . . but those went out ages ago, provided all the info was correct. I'm sorry if yours went awry. . . all I can do is try to send it again

Sep 12th, 2010, 11:48 AM was the last pm sent. it has been resent as of 8am mst

Hmm...sometimes there are artificial tree sales around this area. Shipping might be a pain, but I'll be on the lookout if I see something for you Rukis.

someone already covered that one :) I'm so excited!

For #9? Your wish shall be granted, at least from me. :) Becaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuusssssse..... I have four pages left to do. Only FOUR pages, and then this is finished. :D

so did you get the tree?

I shall, soon!

Ok. A few years ago i lucked into a bunch of 6 foot trees for 2 bucks a piece and bought a forest

Thanks for adding me to your list there! =D I added you too, hopefully you can get some of your wishes granted this year. ^^ Happy holidays Rukis!

you too!

BRISTOL VELLUM!!!! it's awesome.

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1902746/

and you've been noted <3

Man, if I were ever rich, this would be my favorite time of year. So many opportunities to make people grin...

As is, I'll try to work in some fanart for your babies. :)


...Oh, and here's my list: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1907583/

I'm with TaoDog on this one, There is so much I want to give!

My list: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1907874/

I'm gonna write a fan fic about some of your characters. not sure which ones yet but i'll figure it out.