Thats very kind of you. Im a terrible salesperson and dont value my work since it is very amateur and experimental. Would be very happy to add a favorite of yours to the list of potential future projects if youd like, no telling what it might be or when it might be done but no harm in having more inspiration.
7 Likes
Please open a etsy store. Im being dead serious. The work you make is amazing and I’m sure you can get a lot of interested buyers.
4 Likes
We are always our worst critics. You have an enormous amount of talent - most folks can’t just create palatable art on their first or second shot. It takes years of dedication to the craft, and even then, sometimes things don’t work out. You clearly get a lot out of the time that you put into crafts, which in my opinion, is a sign of genuine artistic talent.
I think you would be wildly successful with commissions. Your main roadblock might be time management, as it sounds like sometimes these crafts don’t go the way that you expect and therefore take an extra amount of time to course-correct or start over. Nothing wrong with that when it’s done for fun, but it could cause some irritation for customers in a formal setting. These are little fixes, though. With enough time and dedication, I could see you refining all of these processes and truly mastering the craft.
I particularly like your stained glass project and your most recent punch needle project. Both of these would do wonders on an Etsy store. At first, I might suggest creating popular Pokemon like Charizard, Mew, Gengar, Umbreon, Eevee, Pikachu, etc. that could be duplicated and scalable, but you could also accept commissions for specific Pokemon or designs.
Finally, I’ll note that making art for money may change how you view that art. Sometimes that’s a good thing because you might need the money, but other times it can ruin your genuine love for the craft. Just something worth considering!
10 Likes
@Vertemes, Im full of faults in many ways (punctuality is a large one, organization another) but i’m happy 95% of the time and dont really like to sacrifice that by making things about money. The reality is almost exactly as @dyl said, that a shop is a lot of work for pushing something that looks back at me as incomplete. Its fine if im on my own timetable but as a business, i cant easily explain that the vibe was bad so i made something different instead. Besides, im minimally interested in making money while being maximally interested in helping things be better for people. If a piece of “art” that i can struggle through makes that happen, then the effort is well spent.
Actual retail price for the hours of time, effort, and material that goes into something like this custom punch needle is like $100. Stained glass was like $500+. Tokens are like $4-5ea. Im not comfortable in asking that much for something like that because I was already payed in experience and as silly as it is when someone looks at a craft i trust it makes them feel good. I’d rather people pay, instead of with money, with good intentions. Make life better for someone, even if just for a day, thats the core of what my art means.
Dont get me wrong, im not daft enough to give away everything for nothing, if people want to pay for the end product then let them pay, but Art is about the experience for me and if I can share my experience with others maybe itll help someone in the future. I can choose to give freely if people are there to receive or decide the opposite and not be tied down. I love the pokemon community in general because of its creativity and in my own way try to make my small corner of the hobby better by trying to bring more enjoyment to those I interact with.
As far as commissions, I’m always open for a message but I cant give any guarantees of timelines. Too many of my own self projects that unless inspiration (or fat stacks of cash) happens, it probably wont happen quickly.
So even with their wonderfully thoughtful response, @dyl refuses to be more than a calming presense on the forum and ignores my offer of a custom craft again while deflecting with wisdom.
10 Likes
Trying a punch needle project in the style of The Great Wave (Hokusai, 1832) would be incredible! Articuno would probably look best.
9 Likes
What exactly do you mean in that style? Remember, punch needle doesnt do great with exact details. How much artistic liberty is able to be taken?
6 Likes
I’ll keep it in mind. Thanks for sharing the idea.
7 Likes
For me, it’s the exact opposite: I find the little skeins (another jargon-y term 
) of floss super cheap. Probably because you’re using the full six threads/full thickness for the punch needling, while I almost always use either one, two, or three threads out of the six for my works, so I can get a ton of mileage out of a ~$0.70 bundle of thread.
Glad to see your work is getting the recognition it deserves!
7 Likes
@lyleberr the propaganda look on your work is incredible, i’ve posed for similar propaganda poster and the vintage feel on them is just unique, combine that with pokemon and it can’t get much better. Those crafting skills and mentality of thinking others is a beautiful combination (same applies to bbobrob, we are spoiled to have you two here) so i hope if we are lucky we see more of your work at some point in future
Also Dyl, articuno isn’t the best option
22 Likes
I got some of my illustrations printed on sleeves!
I enjoy playing the TCG at times too and have always wanted to make something like this, so I’m happy about the design. These Chien Pao ones are made through YourPlaymat, the original art was inked traditionally and I had some prints.
I also got some holo ones of a Rika illustration I did!
Such a fun personalized TCG accessory I love!
22 Likes
Those chien pao sleeves are amazing!
11 Likes
It looks great! The mood is so happy feeling!
7 Likes
Thank you so much!! Castform is just a cheery little guy
8 Likes
@citriina
The mix of standard color shading with halftone shading isn’t something I think I’ve ever seen before. I’d like to see if you do that and maybe crank up the amount of halftone dots. Its hard to notice, but up close it looks really neat. What would happen if you played with that more in different ways? I think there are some fun possibilites to use different layer blend modes, even just that could provide interesting changes!
Wow two very different styles. I’d never guess it was by the same person. I see you have some other things in the background there. But I wanted to ask where you got the sleeves made. Because I know dragonshield does really crap ones where they have an ugly registration mark in the middle bottom of the sleeve. And being able to do a holographic sleeve has caught my attention.
Good stuff. And appreciation for ground types is always good. Very underrated. Almost all the S/V characters to me feel so uninspired, but I like what you did with Rika’s hair to make it feel actiony and swooshy. Subtle but energy filled pose.
@joponnes https://efour.b-cdn.net/uploads/default/original/3X/1/5/15425ce1747234fa5f8459178da3dae89184634b.png
this is actually really cool. Its pretty simple, but it works so well. Thank you for sharing.
10 Likes
Yeah, the screen tones are a signature feature of my work- I’m an illustrator by profession, haha. I prefer keeping them subtle for the most part, since larger screens can be a little distracting and I want everything to mesh together nicely, but I do like varying sizing to be a little more dynamic occasionally, like in the background on this one. These are also already on an overlay, adding a little more interest and subtle color variation.
11 Likes
This a really fun piece! I can see how you got caught up in it.
7 Likes
This is awesome work @citriina . I really enjoy the cheery vibe of this artwork. Really well done. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Cheers!
10 Likes
