More Artwork Of My Characters, Featuring Crystal, That Was Made For Me By My Friend @jewelsart7 About

Completed Theme 6 yesterday! I've been busy with school as this semester is wrapping up. 🔹 I haven't drawn this character in a while so she got a bit of a makeover. I'm also experimenting with adding highlights, and using only alcohol-based markers. I like that they give my drawings a nice smooth look. 🙂 I hope you enjoy~

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).

Finished up the inking yesterday. I experimented with adding hatching! This is something that I’ve been wanting to try, but I wasn’t sure about how it would turn out. I got out of my comfort zone and just did it anyway. Hope you like it!

Pressure mounts on hold-out Democrats with one day left to support net neutrality

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 20, 2018 Contact: Evan Greer, 978-852-6457, press@fightforthefuture.org

Reps Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) and Brenda Jones (D-MI) are the latest to sign on to CRA discharge petition ahead of Friday deadline

Pressure is reaching a boiling point as Internet users continue sounding the alarm ahead of the deadline for members of Congress to show they support real net neutrality protections by signing on to the discharge petition for the CRA resolution to reverse the FCC’s repeal.

Representative Brenda Jones, who won a special election to succeed John Conyers in Michigan, just became the latest House rep to sign on. Her name appears next to Rep Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), who has now officially signed on to the discharge petition after facing a flurry of angry phone calls and messages from constituents when she put out a video last week saying she wouldn’t sign.

Internet activist group Fight for the Future has been using the page DemsAgainstThe.Net to highlight the handful of remaining Democrats who are the only members of their party who have not signed on to the CRA. And online actions surrounding the open letter at DeadlineForNetNeutrality.com have been amplified by celebrities like Tom Morello, Evangeline Lilly, and Bassnectar, along with companies like Tumblr, Etsy, Postmates, and Reddit. The group also deployed a mobile billboard in Washington, DC that cycled through the faces of every member of Congress who has not signed the CRA. 

“The fight for net neutrality is far from over, but time is running out for members of Congress to make decision: do they want to go down in history as the corrupt politicians who rubber stamped the repeal of net neutrality? Or will they sign on to the CRA discharge petition and show that they’re willing to put their constituents’ basic rights ahead of their corporate donors,” said Evan Greer, Deputy Director of Fight for the Future (pronouns: she/her).

Last week, on the one year anniversary of the FCC repeal, the group issued a blog post explaining the path ahead for net neutrality beyond the CRA resolution. Fight for the Future will continue to push in Congress, in the states, and in the courts, until net neutrality is restored.

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I started my next school semester recently, and my first assignment for my Illustration class was to make a self-portrait collage. I finished it the other day. I originally thought I would have to shred up the images more, but my prof was satisfied with this layout. I like how it came out. 😊

Finally finished Theme #2 School! Again, I ended up taking more time than I wanted to in order to finish this. I'm going to continue trying to make more time to work on these Themes so schoolwork doesn't eat up my time. 🔹 I don't have much to say about this scene, other than my OC Helyna (pictured here) loves reading books, so I thought this scene would be most fitting for her. One thing that kind of bugs me about this scene is that it's too orange. I would've liked a better color balance, so that's something for me to keep in mind for future Themes. 🔹 I wish school were this peaceful. 😣 Lately, it feels like I've been in a whirlwind of busyness. I'm not sure what else to do other than to keep moving forward and constantly trying to utilize my time better. 🔹 Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy! And to my fellow college students, best of luck on your studies! 😊✏️📚

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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Here’s a video on why I only use a pen to sketch ✅ Hope you try it out, it has helped me tremendously to streamline my process and improve faster ☺️💕

10 Ways to BBQ on an Alien World

There are over 3,700 planets in our galaxy. Many of them orbit stars outside our solar system, these are known as exoplanets. Spend a summer weekend barbecuing it up on any of these alien worlds.

(WARNING: Don’t try any of this on Earth—except the last one.)

1. Lava World

Janssen aka 55 Cancri e

Hang your steak on a fishing pole and dangle your meat over the boiling pools of lava on this possible magma world. Try two to three minutes on each side to get an ashy feast of deliciousness.

2. Hot Jupiter

Dimidium aka 51 Pegasi b

Set your grill to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit (982 degrees Celsius) or hop onto the first exoplanet discovered and get a perfect char on your hot dogs. By the time your dogs are done, it’ll be New Year’s Eve, because a year on this planet is only four days long.

3. Super Earth

HD 40307 g

Super air fry your duck on this Super Earth, as you skydive in the intense gravity of a planet twice as massive as Earth. Why are you air frying a duck? We don’t know. Why are you skydiving on an exoplanet? We’re not judging.

4. Lightning Neptune

HAT-P-11b

I’ve got steaks, they’re multiplying/and I’m looooosing control. Cause the power this planet is supplying/is electrifying!

Sear your tuna to perfection in the lightning strikes that could flash across the stormy skies of this Neptune-like planet named HAT-P-11b.

5. Red Earth

Kepler-186f

Tired of all that meat? Try a multi-colored salad with the vibrant plants that could grow under the red sun of this Earth-sized planet. But it could also be a lifeless rock, so BYOB (bring your own barbecue).

6. Inferno World

Kepler-70b

Don’t take too long to prep your vegetables for the grill! The hottest planet on record will flash-incinerate your veggies in seconds!

7. Egg-shaped

WASP-12b

Picture this: You are pressure cooking your chicken on a hot gas giant in the shape of an egg. And you’re under pressure to cook fast, because this gas giant is being pulled apart by its nearby star.

8. Two suns

Kepler-16b

Evenly cook your ribs in a dual convection oven under the dual stars of this “Tatooine.” Kick back and watch your two shadows grow in the fading light of a double sunset.

9. Takeout

Venus

Order in for a staycation in our own solar system. The smell of rotten eggs rising from the clouds of sulfuric acid and choking carbon dioxide will put you off cooking, so get that meal to go.

10. Take a Breath

Earth

Sometimes the best vacations are the ones you take at home. Flip your burgers on the only planet where you can breathe the atmosphere.

Grill us on Twitter and tell us how bad our jokes are.

Read the full version of this week’s ‘Solar System: 10 Things to Know’ Article HERE.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.  

How to Paint the Ocean by artezaofficial