Ideas Of Exercises To Help With Your Practical Art Skills, As Well As Things To Keep In Mind While Making

Internet users won’t be fooled by fake net neutrality legislation pushed by telecom shills in Congress

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 7, 2019 Contact: Evan Greer, press@fightforthefuture.org, 508-474-5248

Politicians who backed Ajit Pai’s repeal have introduced deceptive bills intended to confuse the public and derail real open Internet legislation

Today the House Energy and Commerce Committee held its first hearing of the year on the subject of net neutrality. As was rumored, some lawmakers on the committee who backed Ajit Pai’s repeal––and who have received enormous campaign contributions from big telecom––are pushing for deceptive legislation that fails to restore strong open Internet protections needed to prevent abuse by companies like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T.

These lawmakers think they are very clever, by modeling the bills they are pushing after legislation that has previously been supported by Democrats, or after state level bills, which are not applicable to the Federal level. But net neutrality is not a partisan issue, and tech policy experts see right through the smoke and mirrors here.

Fight for the Future, a leading digital rights group with more than 2 million supporters, issued the following statement, which can be attributed to Deputy Director Evan Greer (pronouns she/her):

“This is just more of the same BS from Big Cable funded politicians. They’re intentionally trying to confuse the public and derail real efforts to restore net neutrality by pushing weaksauce legislation that would undermine the open Internet while claiming to save it. All three of the lawmakers behind these bills essentially rubber stamped Ajit Pai’s repeal of net neutrality; that should tell you everything you need to know about their true intentions.

Unfortunately for them, Internet users aren’t as easily fooled as they think. We’ve been tracking these bad faith efforts to push legislation backed by telecom lobbyists for years, and there’s no way people are going to fall for it. We need strong legislation that reinstates the FCC rules that never should have been repealed, and doesn’t leave loopholes for Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T to scam us and control what we see online.”

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OAC Day 3: Quar the Devil! 😊😈👹🎃 Swipe ➡️ to see previous drawings of the character. 🔹 https://www.instagram.com/p/CGVphk8jeT6/?igshid=1a130qscj8c4j

As 2019 peeks around the corner, here is my Christmas gift to all illustration freelancers, webcomic artists and comic artists. An invoice and accounting management tool in Google Sheets. Open the link then click File > Make a Copy to save your own copy to work with.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1amiimlkqXpEA6niD9XLW3lZIOP9iCaY17drAUIegUlg/edit?usp=sharing

So, I use this myself because I find programs like Quickbooks don’t really work as well for Freelancers/International artists (in part because Paypal refuses to work with it properly). This is very easy to use, the key is just to enter things in it regularly. The key to managing your money properly is to know where it is, and inputting things daily means short bursts of work where you can clearly see where your money goes instead of pure panic at the end of the year.

In this Sheet you have a monthly breakdown for all your expenses and income sources. Each month has a “month” grid where you can enter and view your expenses per week, and a “details” grid. In the “details” grid you basically enter everything with Descriptions and Categories, which allow you isolate deductible amounts. What can be deductible varies on your type of freelance work and location, but I, as a comic artists working from home in Canada, can deduct part of my rent, electricity, and all comic purchases.

The Categories have an integrated pre-build drop down that you can just copy over when you add a new line. Every day you receive an income or spend money, you should enter stuff IMMEDIATELY. Small daily work = less work at the end of the month.

At the end of each week, compile your totals from the “Details” tab in the monthly grid. Then, at the end of the month, compile those in your Annual tabs. Then, at the end of the year, you can literally just hand this to an accountant along side your other paperwork, it’s ready!

Right after the Annual Income & Expenses tabs I included a little invoice management tab so you can keep tabs on commissions and clients!

! hope you all find this useful, be sure to check with an accountant tied to your location for what qualifies as proper deductibles!

This item is free to use - but if you want to grace me with a donation for it, my Paypal is secondline@gmail.com (also that would be filed under the “gift” category).

✊ Today is an Internet-wide day of action for net neutrality ✊

There’s been a major development over the past 24 hours: another member of Congress just came out in support of the House Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s net neutrality repeal.

This is a big deal and could help push other lawmakers do the same, but we have to act fast because the deadline is just over a week away.

Today is a massive day of action to show lawmakers that people still care about net neutrality so we’re asking everyone to click here and tell Congress not to let their chance to save net neutrality slip away. 

Join us at DeadlineForNetNeutrality.com

We’ve been fighting for months without seeing any movement in Congress, watching the clock ticking down to the deadline. But Rep Joe Morelle (NY-25) his support for the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution could change that.

If we act fast, we can leverage this new momentum to unleash a small landslide of other representatives coming out for net neutrality before the December 10th deadline, which will make a huge difference in the battles ahead.

Today we’re asking the entire Internet to sign this open letter to Congress telling them to do the right thing and support net neutrality before it’s too late.

Your voice matters. As part of today’s Internet-wide day of action, thousands of others are speaking out, along with celebrities, musicians, and platforms like Tumblr, Postmates and Etsy.

You can join them and show your support for net neutrality by submitting an ‘I support net neutrality’ photo. We will be flooding lawmakers’ social media feeds with pictures, so if they decide to vote against the open Internet we will make them look us in the eye as they do it.

Click here to sign our open letter and then submit your ‘I support net neutrality’ photo into our gallery:

We can’t let this deadline come and go without making Congress remember that the whole Internet is watching. We’re still fighting for net neutrality. And we won’t forget if they betray us.

Tell everyone you know to take action at DeadlineForNetNeutrality.com and spread the word any way you can. Click here to find ideas on how you can use your slice of the Internet – whether that’s your Tumblr blog, a website you run, or any of your social media accounts – to help get the word out. We’re counting on you!

I’m finally sharing my new self-portrait with y’all. This is the first artwork I’ve created in Procreate on my new iPad. It took me a while to get used to the program but I’m pretty happy with it. It’s been a while since my last post so I want to say thank you and welcome to all of my new followers! I appreciate ya! 😊⁠ 🔹⁠ Buy me a coffee here: www.ko-fi.com/crystalcurie⁠ I appreciate all your support~ ☕️❤️⁠ 🔹 ⁠ #art #arts #commissionsopen #DailyArt #ArtoftheDay #draw #drawing #doodle #sketch #dailysketch #sketchbook #illustrator #artwork #digitalart #selfportrait #character #selfie #pencil #pencildrawing #pencilsketch #instaart #traditionalart #originalartwork #instaartist #instadraw #artistsoninstagram #artistsofinstagram #artist #artists #crystalcurie https://www.instagram.com/p/CWwwyZOFv_Y/?utm_medium=tumblr

Happy belated Valentine's Day and happy Singles Awareness Day (which if you didn't know is Feb 15). Here's a throwback to some art I did in 2014 and 2013 for Valentine's Day. Regardless of whether you have a significant other or not, I hope you all have a wonderful day and know that you are loved by the one that matters. The one above. 😊☝🏼 🔹 #throwbackthursday #throwback #valentinesday #webstagram #valentine #tbt #tb #heart #hearts #red #art #arts #arty #artsy #instaart #DailyArt #ArtoftheDay #instaartist #artistsofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #artist #CrystaltheCC

BlizzCon protesters announce online day of action October 29, calling on Game Developers & BlizzCon Sponsors to voice their support for political and human rights speech in advance of major rally

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 24, 2019 Contact: Dayton Young, press@fightforthefuture.org, (508) 368-3026

Before gamers descend on Activision-Blizzard’s annual conference, BlizzCon, to protest their censorship of political speech and free expression, they are planning an online day of action. On October 29, activists & gamers will launch an all-out campaign to demand game developers & BlizzCon sponsors take a stand and state that they will not participate in authoritarian censorship. It’s a way for everyone to protest, even if they can’t show up outside BlizzCon.

Info about the online day of action is here: https://www.gamersforfreedom.com/#online

GamersForFreedom.com includes a scorecard to keep track of which companies have publicly pledged to not censor players the way Blizzard did, and which companies may already be caving to pressure from authoritarian governments. Companies including Epic Games and Immutable have made statements confirming they support free expression. In a statement to The Verge, an Epic spokesperson said that “Epic supports everyone’s right to express their views on politics and human rights. We wouldn’t ban or punish a Fortnite player or content creator for speaking on these topics.”

Three days before the BlizzCon protests, gamers will storm the internet to demand the same courage from others in the industry, using the #GamersForFreedom hashtag. 

“Many people have reached out saying they want to do more, but cannot make it to the protests in Anaheim. Now, they can. We’re calling on every gamer to tweet and email their favorite developers, pros, and event sponsors. We’re calling on artists to send us art of their favorite characters supporting the protest. We’re calling on sponsors to pull out. And most of all, we’re calling on game developers to speak out in solidarity,” said Dayton Young, Product Director at Fight for the Future, (pronouns he/him). “Game developers have been mysteriously silent, despite the blowback from BlizzCon’s censorship being the talk of the industry. Silence is complicity, and they need to see that this isn’t just going to go away.”

Meanwhile, with their social media overrun by #FreeHongKong comments, Blizzard broke 19 days of silence to announced their schedule Tuesday, with a significant portion of panel programming marked as “Coming Soon!” only days from the event. Current sponsors of the event include Facebook, T-Mobile, Coca Cola, Intel, Nvidia, Samsung, Cisco, HyperX, Corsair, MSI, & ESPN.

Protest organizing has only intensified after Blizzard issued a statement where it attempted to quell backlash by reducing its punishment of Hong Kong-based professional gamer Blitzchung, but doubled down on it’s absurd policy that bans all forms of political speech and free expression. 

Fight for the Future is calling for the protests to be nonviolent and creative, encouraging participants to show up with umbrellas, in relevant costumes, and with signs and banners focused on free expression for all. The group is crowdfunding to support the protests.

“Decisions about how to moderate online speech are some of the most important decisions of our generation, and have profound implications for the future of humanity. Companies should not be making these decisions under pressure from ANY government, whether it’s China, the US, or the UK,” said Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future (pronouns: she/her), “Blizzard’s attempt to quell this controversy is cowardly and it’s only going to backfire. This is not just about Blitzchung or Hong Kong –– they need to make a clear commitment to not act as the speech police on behalf of governments in general. A blanket ban on all political speech is inherently at odds with basic free expression. It’s taking sides with the status quo, and those who wish to suppress free speech. How you determine what is “political” is a political decision in and of itself.”

“Blizzard, and other companies who are engaging in censorship on behalf of an authoritarian government, are not going to get away with it,” she added. “They have no idea what kind of Internet shitstorm they’ve unleashed. We’re going to make an example out of them to make sure that all companies know that throwing human rights and free expression under the bus to make some extra money will not be tolerated.”

Fight for the Future is coordinating with gamers and activists in a Discord channel and across social media, where game fans from around the world have been voicing their outrage at Blizzard and planning their own creative protests for BlizzCon. More updates to come.

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I finished up painting my birdhouse yesterday for the upcoming BirdUP! Art Show this Saturday. I had been working on it for a while now... I wasn’t sure what I was going for, but I stopped when I thought it was enough. I guess that’s how abstract work goes? Either way, I hope you enjoy. 😊 Be sure to come on out and see our work! The art show is the 12th from 4pm to 9pm at the C.A.C.t.T.U.S. art gallery in Downtown Long Beach. Feel free to message me if you need help finding its location.

Late night sketching, trying to get in all the details before I start inking it tomorrow. 🔷 I’m thinking of posting more WIPs like this so you guys can see my progress/art process. But what do you guys think? Would you be interested in seeing more sketches, inkings, and behind-the-scenes stuff?

I spent waaaaay too much time on the background on this one. Who knew that drawing bookcases in perspective was going to be so much work? 😣 Hopefully it'll pay off when I ink it.