#Colour_Collective has returned to Twitter and the Fears are here for it! This week the colour is Boto Pink and conveniently, this week’s Scribblers Cove theme is flowers. Two birds with one doodle right there!
Art Prints
My art prints will return to the site this coming week and just look at that paper! My word is that canvas texture sexy. Something I haven’t sold for a long time. The prints are sized UK A4 and will cost £12 each (£3 shipping to the USA). I’ll have a shop page finished this weekend. If there’s an item you’ve seen doodled before or that’s on my Threadless store and you want to buy the canvas print version, please do let me know. I’ll make it a priority for the shop. Also. LOOK AT THAT TEXTURE!
Mmmmm, forbidden texture… Drools
Movigos
We’re back again this week, and Alex has chosen Spooky, a film on YouTube for us to watch. Expect cheap monsters and silliness. Come join us on Twitter for some fun, 9 pm UK time Saturday as we watch and tweet it. Hit me with an @ if you want to be added to the conversation.
Did ya see her? Blue Bugly was given away to my patrons this week. Something I have been meaning to do for ages. Monthly monsters, given out to paying patrons. Interested in receiving monsters monthly and helping to pay for Hydras feed bill? Head over to our page and support the Little Fears for as little as $1 a month.
Quite like sharing my doodle pages, this may become a regular thing. A weekly page share. With some separated and digitized Fears to show where some of my doodles go.
Digitized Doodles
A bit rough, let’s digitize them. I’ve been wondering what I can offer Patreons recently. I could offer monthly postcards from the world in-between. More in keeping with the daily doodles on photos than art prints, but printed on a top-notch 220gsm card stock, post-card size. I could also offer the digitized monsters to Patreons to download. Patreon subscribers could vote on which they want out of a months worth of selection. I’d then send them a link to download the creature and do what they want with them. Non-commercial of course.
Thorny
Have you ever heard of a Tarasque? I think I had. Maybe from 80s Dungeons and Dragons. Yep, ya knew I was gonna be a D&D player right in my yoof right? Anywho, I think that’s where I had the mental image of this gal. Nobody mention the size of her bottom…
Wasp
A reappearance of Screeches head, but this time with a wasp’s stingy tail. If #Colour_Collective have a yellow theme again, I can fill in her segments yellow and she can go full stingy-stingy grr grr.
Terror-Dactyl
Speaking of #Colour_Collective, this week it’s white. While I was digitizing TD here, I tried inverting her colours. White body and red eyes. That’ll be this week’s portrait then.
I couldn’t help but google Terror-Dactyl. Turns out there’s an awful looking horror movie of the same name. Terrible special effect. Woeful plot. Made for TV I imagine… That’ll be a future film to suggest to Layne and Alex for a Saturday Twitter movie then…
The lady looks good on a Tee too. Maybe the next addition to my Threadless store. I have a lack of tees that would look good in black.
Pens & Paper
Switched over to the Kuretake Zig this week for the black. I do love my Posca’s but I can’t wait to be reunited with my supplies drawer. Six pots of Tipp-Ex await. Scruffy, messy and the mini cheese wedge brush. That’s my white that is!
A super short post, with some handy courses and links below. A comment to Mr Bongdoogle about Threadless the other day.
Ahh, OK. The service has been great. The quality took a drop about May this year on the Tees, however, it’s still the best out there along with Society 6.I can’t stand Zazzle and CafePress who use paper thin, Fruit of the Loom and Gildan. My sales are about 95% tees and 5% prints. I don’t know why the prints don’t sell from Threadless. I think I need to make a return to Etsy for the art prints and keep the Threadless store as tees. My store shows I have never had a returned item to Threadless.
Between Threadless, Redbubble and Society 6, there’s not much difference. I’m going to stick with my Threadless store as I still feel the Tee quality is good and I get regular sales from it. I get between $3-$5 per sale, Threadless get the rest.
For my art prints, they will return to my Etsy store. I do have some sexy as feck canvas effect 220gsm art print card. It looks awesome and everybody at markets loves them. If anyone has any requests, let me know in comments. Also, Layne, I haven’t forgotten about Cloud and Barn!
If you want to visit my Threadless store, click here.
If you want to visit my Etsy store, it’ll be back in a few days, link pending.
Below are a couple of courses from Jeff Staple. A creative entrepreneur who’s dabbled in t-shirt design.
Between his global streetwear brand Staple Design and renowned retail store Reed Space, jeffstaple has designed and sorted through thousands of t-shirts over the past two decades.
In this class, he celebrates the power of the “tee” by providing insights on how to concept, design, and manufacture a shirt that can form the foundation of your business.
This class is perfect for aspiring fashion entrepreneurs, designers, and everyone looking to spread a message in one of the most effective ways: a t-shirt. Learn everything you need to know about the types of tees available and what to expect when you dive in to making them.
As an added bonus, students who submit their actual t-shirt creations in the class have the opportunity to get purchased and placed in jeff’s store, Reed Space.
In this non-traditional class, you’ll gain access to a series of interviews that cover essential topics for the creative entrepreneur like marketing, design, and branding. These interviews were originally part of an initiative called The Board, which is a group of 100 creators that are working together to redefine the K-Swiss brand.
Blogger Natalie Suarez sits down with some top creative entrepreneurs to go through their experience building their businesses. You’ll learn from:
Sharmadean Reid, founder of WAH Nails over in London, will provide some pointers on developing your business plan.
Scott Sasso, founder of 10Deep here in New York, will speak on brand positioning, which will allow your consumers to distinguish your brand/business from everybody else.
Tyler Gage and Dan Mccombie – founders of Runa Tea, a tea company supporting indigenous farmers in the Amazon. They’ll give some tips on building community and conscience into your business.
The Fat Jewish, everyone’s favorite instagrammer, who gives some insight on social media strategy and how you can leverage today’s platforms to build your brand.
Rachel Wang, fashion director of Allure Magazine, speaks on the importance of your lookbook and Brand Imagery as a product company.
Jeff Staple provides tips on telling a story through your products.
K-Swiss is committed to outfitting and inspiring this generation of entrepreneurs. For additional creative inspiration and product updates, make sure to follow the brand on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
The lead Fear of this weeks update. Awwww, the littlest of little fears. A teensy fear for this weeks #Colour_Collective.
Walker
The creature I showed off earlier this week. She’s now on a tee over on my Threadless store and she’s available from $12.95.
Semi-related, I’ll be sharing my experience selling tees on Threadless for Monday’s process blog post. If you have any questions about Threadless, let me know, and I’ll get them on the Monday blog.
Head on over to Patreon and pledge $10 or more a month and not only will you help with Hydra’s feed bill, but you will also get that weekly shout out with a link back to your site. https://www.patreon.com/littlefears
Ah, an old character I doodled but hasn’t been in a single published tale yet. A quick re-doodle and she’s in this weeks #Colour_Collective.
Threadless – Sale
Last chance to get free shipping on our Threadless store orders. Good Christmas presents, just saying! Use the promotional code CHEER7cca8e at checkout. Offer ends December 15th.
Alex, Layne and I will be watching Land of the Dead and having a laugh on Twatter this weekend. We’ll be hitting play at 9 pm GMT or 4 pm EST for our American friends, and tweeting like zombie splatter fangirls. You can find our Twitter handles at @Chew_On_Glass, @SynBoomstick and @TheLittleFears. Watch along with us if ya fancy.
Have you noticed my weekly update posts have had links to my new patrons? Well, not for the last couple weeks… Do you want a shout out at the bottom of my weekly update posts? Head on over to Patreon and pledge $10 or more a month and not only will you help with Hydra’s feed bill, but you will also get that weekly shout out with a link back to your site. Hit me up on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/littlefears
Ahhh, look at him. A lovely fella. Road Walker for this weeks #Colour_Collective on Twitter. His image has appeared in two stories, but he’s never been named. Always represented as an incredibly tall and in both images has been seen on the road to the afterlife. Has anyone got a groovy name for him?
Yuffie & Hydra
I adore Yuffie and Hydra. They now have their own Tee on the Little Fears Threadless store.
Their relationship will be explored a touch over the next month and have a focus in my next book, Seeking Hydra.
Seeking Hydra
Speaking of, that looks like a book cover to me. My fourth book in the Little Fears Presents series. It’s coming! Want to check out my first three books? Click the links below.
Hey, there’s a thing. My first proper Little Fears collaboration. This week I shall be collaborating in a series of tales about Yuffie. Writing stories with me will be Mel Gutier from Fiction in my Head, Anthony Renfo from One Writer Ranting and Layne from Chewing on Glass. We hope to post this Wednesday, have a nosey at their blogs, give them a follow and keep an eye out!
Patreon
Have you noticed my weekly update posts have had links to my new patrons? Do you want a shout out at the bottom of my weekly update posts? Head on over to Patreon and pledge $10 or more a month and not only will you help with Hydra’s feed bill, but you will also get that weekly shout out with a link back to your site. Hit me up on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/littlefears
Well hello! Welcome to another Little Fears; big update! In this weeks post…
Umber
Hydra in Autumn
Inktober
Capricorn
Patreon
Umber
The fine young lady as doodled for this weeks #Colour_Collective on Twatter. Pretty darned sexy if you ask me! I had in mind she was the Little Fears chief rat catcher, who isn’t very good at catching rats. That’s good because Yuffie would be peeved if Umber ate her friend Ratty!
Hydra in Autumn
Still very fears, but a slight departure in colour and style for this weeks new Threadless image. Hydra going for an Autumnal walk. Might make a good book cover for the next Little Fears book titled Seeking Hydra.
A quicky for Inktober, just wanted to show how my characters start out compared to how they end. This is, of course, Umber from the top of the post.
Capricorn
I keep getting told on social media this week I should write a book! Well, I have, three of them in fact. They are all available in print and digital from Amazon.com, with January and Spiders being funny tales and Capricorn a collection of my horror stories.
Do you want a shout out at the bottom of my weekly update posts? Head on over to Patreon and pledge $10 or more a month and not only will you help with Hydra’s feed bill, but you will also get that weekly shout out with a link back to your site. Hit me up on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/littlefears
Whoosh, another busy week has whizzed by! But check it out, we have new things!
Pewter Fear for Colour Collective
Fuen & Lucy on Threadless
Events, TellyTube & Socialization
Social Media for Creatives (free course)
Pewter Fear
Pewter was originally doodled for a post-apocalyptic story (3 books away in the future, ack!). All the characters are named after different metals. Alas, Pewter didn’t make the cut. But this week’s Colour Collectives is Pewter Blue. Can’t think of a more appropriate character to use. I do think she looks like H.R. Giger’s Alien. Oops!
Lucy & Fuen on Threadless
Lucy has joined the ranks on Threadless on a new art print. She’s the devilish creature who appeared in Terminal and Balcony, two stories in the Little Fears horror anthology, Capricorn.
Fuen makes another return. This is my all-time best-selling tee. Had to get the model mocks done and didn’t get everything perfect enough in time for the Threadless store relaunch last week.
Lucy’s art print prices start at $12 and Fuen is available in tee form from $12.95.
In the coming months, I shall be joining in NaNoWriMo, Inktober and reprising my daily moustached funnies for Movember. If I continue to post everything on my WordPress blog, I am going to swamp it with up to five posts a day. That’s too much, obviously. But it’s not too much for social media. My Twitter, Instagram, Ello, Tumblr and Medium will take most of it.
I am also approaching a starting point in the current Fears tales where a plotline develops. It will make no sense later on if some of the characters meet. So I have stopped posting the old tales on the blog. The blog will start running as one continuous story five days a week for the Hydra storyline with odd unrelated Capricorn horror tales twice a week. I will still put up odd January and Spiders videos on YouTube and slot them into playlists.
You can follow me on social media and YouTube by clicking a link below or the wee icons at the top and bottom of my website.
While talking about social media, a Skillshare find I thought I’d share. Social media for creatives by Chelsea Matthews. It’s about an hour and a half long and gives a pretty good overview of how to use the main platforms for marketing as a creative. It’s 100% free. If you want a few tips on social media, just sign up to Skillshare, skip anything that asks you to pay, and give this course a watch through. Linky: http://skl.sh/2fa2eyo
Stone the crows, been a busy week! Here are some things that appear in this update that should be three or four posts.
Moss Fear for Colour Collective
Threadless art prints & tees
Fears for hire
Moss Fear for Colour Collective
Dem green eyes though! This week’s Colour Collective shade was Vert Pre. Bright green to most of us aye? I knew I wanted to use Moss for the image. I was debating green streaks or splodges. Accidentally filled the eyes vert pre and yup, I reckon that nailed it by mistake. I need to get Moss into some of the fears stories. In my postcards from the in-between series I had him towering over Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh. He was blue back then because, Scotland.
Threadless art prints & tees
The long awaited and advertised overhaul has happened! Have a gander at the Little Fears new shop front.
New product photography, a smattering of new designs, and yes the tee with Fuen bang in the middle will be returning. I need to get the imagery done for it first. Art prints are available from $12, so that works out better for our American friends who had a starting price of £12 ordering from my Etsy store. A quick preview? Sure, why not!
Fears for hire
My lease extension just came through. Ten months of cock-up, three years too late. Thanks, Land Registry and E&M! Twits… So I can get my house sold (finally), and I now have oceans of free time until a buyer is forthcoming. Do you have any work for a freelance illustrator, writer, PR gremlin, computer repair guy who’s a legend at sourcing weird and wonderful things? Drop me an email to fears@gmx.co.uk, and we can talk!
There’s been a lot of blog posts on this usual non-bloggy website recently right? I certainly hope there’s not too many of them. If you feel your getting spammed by me, let me know in comments. Useful feedback is always appreciated.
This post goes back to the stuff I said I would post here four months ago and never did. As I have said in previous posts, I write six stories, draw six tiles and doodle one asset every working day. How many do you see? Barely a fraction makes it online. Mostly because I produce a lot of chaff (don’t we all), so I discard the worst. Some I save for a rainy day. Some I intend to give away to Patreons, both digital and physical copies. Some are for saleable artworks (see below).
I’ll confess, that’s just an excuse to show off some banging new product photography that’ll be arriving on my Threadless store soon.
Some of the pictures I doodle are intended to be drawn just for the sake of drawing them. Because I enjoy doodling them and would like to share them. Vulture is one such creature. I originally drew him in black and red. Then I saw Colour Collective were having a Timberwolf grey theme this week and DMStrachan’s Flickr group, Scribblers Cove, had a Second Life exhibition featuring whimsical art. A quick modification, decorate it a lil digitally and it would be rude not to join in right?
And hey, don’t be hating on him cause he looks a bit mean. Vultures provide a necessary environmental function. It’s not their fault there were at the back of the line when Creation was handing out good looks…
Some links for if you want to join in or nobble some of my wares.
Little Fears 