No, no, NO! Do not EVER commission another artist to draw my characters. You are giving money to someone not affiliated with Ship in a Bottle to draw my characters! You do not go skulking around to some other fucking artist, commission my designs, and THEN tell them to ask me if it’s ok AFTER the goddamned work is done! You come to ME, and ONLY me. You don’t go to Glance, you don’t go to Tea, you don’t go to PrettÃo, and you CERTAINLY do not go to another artist I do not know and ask them to draw Ship, or any other Ship in a Bottle character. You come to ME, and ONLY me. And I will gladly tell you that you can draw all the fucking free fan art you want, but DO NOT BUY IT FROM SOMEONE ELSE. EVER. No EXCEPTIONS.
Paladino FUCKING OUT.
~Mace
That’s me. I’m the guilty party here (for both commissions), and I am deeply sorry. I’ve commissioned fanart of other characters before, owned by other creators, and there have never been problems. My intention was to increase promotion and visibility through more Ship in a Bottle images and I swear I had absolutely no idea that there would be objections. There are no other artists that I’ve approached, waiting to appear later on. This was very disrespectful, something I didn’t see at the time, and I don’t know what to do next. Again, I’m very sorry.
I’ve had some time to sleep on it and cool down. I appreciate the gesture. I really do. If you have already paid the artist, I will allow it this time. The money is an issue, that is for sure. But I think I was more upset about the idea of perceived betrayal by our fanbase. In spite of my angry rant here, as with any “rules” there’s always flexibility. But the one thing I am utterly inflexible on is this: Permission First, Before You Commission(tm). I am thrilled that people (especially you, dude) are interested in promoting us. And I also have to say that my commentary now is more for the fans at large watching this drama unfold, because I can clearly see you understand what is going on. So, for everyone reading at this point, PLEASE: ask ME first. I’m very approachable online. I may say a lot of pretentious nonsense from time-to-time, or couch my insecurities in joviality. But I am one of those creators who WANTS to share. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here, Online. Just please understand that Ship in a Bottle, Peppermint Saga, even my “legit” series like The Lavenders and Starship Moonhawk are part of my livelihood. So I am very protective of it all.
Anyway, sorry for the TL;DR. On a related note, PrettÃo and I are both open for personal commissions, and anything you hire us to do is typically kosher to post as promotional, especially if it is our OC’s. Plus, I believe I speak for both of us when I say it’s ok to repost in your gallery with credit, etc. I’ll probably say something else more coherent later when I’m not on the road.
I would understand people doing something like this, if this was a huge popular manga or anime, or we earned a lot of money from this and we were so overwhelmed with work that we couldn’t offer people any more stuff. But doing something like this, while we’re struggling everymonth to reach the minimun goal at Patreon (for example)… isn’t it more reasonable that if that person likes so much this comic and characters that he’s willing to pay more to have a commission, ask you directly and help us all to continue working on it?
Right. And as I just responded to UncolaMan, that was precisely how I felt about it. But I think we all understand now. So, I am going to let the topic die down.
People can be so mindless…
Then again it’s not a surprise considering how egotistical people are these days.
Might want to make a link to this blog post in your nav menu though, to make sure that it stays within easy reach so people in the future don’t have to dig through the blog archive to find it and so they can easily be pointed to info on the subject.
Yeah. I’ll figure it out after I get back from A-Kon. And I’m not going to link people to the offending artists (of which there are now TWO that I am aware of). At least they did me the courtesy of telling me I got ripped off. But it still makes me angry that the commissioners seem to think that simply telling the artist to let me know is Jake. no, they need to ASK me BEFORE they go to the damned artist. It’s not just about credit here. It’s about the fact that Prettio and I make a living doing this. If enough theft happens, why bother reading us at all?
It’s precisely because you actually make money off of it that it matters, even more so because you’re making a living off of it.
At least the artists have actually told you instead of trying to keep it secret that you got ripped off like this!
And I acknowledge that, for sure. I did, however, think it was a little backward to do the commission and THEN ask me about it. I’d like to hear about things first, not secondhand from the artist. Honestly, that is probably what triggered me rage even more. And in the history of this little “franchise”, it’s the second time it has happened. Maybe I should just be flattered…? But PrettÃo and I both have a stack of bills to choke a pig. Oh well. I guess my anarchist streak is reminding me that if the shoe were on the other foot, and I were some rich corporation, I’d probably be saying “yo ho, yo-ho, a pirate’s life for meeeee” to all this. Anywho. lol