Leveraged an inventory of established fictional character and setting elements to generate a disruptive custom-curated narrative entertainment asset.
I worked in HR, handling applications and interviews, and if someone turned in that string of techno babble nonsense, I would have rejected them out of hand.
A resume doesn’t need to sound fancy or overly technical, it needs to tell us why we should hire you.
“Independent novelist/writer” is more than sufficient here. If you want to express the skills that fan fiction taught you, something like, “creative writing, editing, and publication,” will get you a lot further than… Whatever that just was.
A resume should be tailored to the position, if you can afford the time and energy for that. But if not, then just think about what writing got fandom taught you. How to respond to criticism, how to present a professional pubic face, how to correct punished mistakes, creative thinking, project planning, persuasion via emotional leverage, html formatting, office suite fluency.
There are a lot of actual, marketable skills that go into fan fiction.
How to put “I was in a zine” on your resume
Writer:
Published short fiction stories for anthology collection
Able to write short fiction within a designated word count for layout purposes (900-1500 words, 1500-2000, 3000-5000)
Wrote short articles for independent publication
Assisted with editing short stories for publication
Able to reduce or expand written content based on layout needs
Able to check for basic spelling, grammar and syntax
Familiar with Microsoft Office and Google docs
Artist:
Produced full-colour digital illustration for independent magazine
Able to produce digital illustrations optimized for both online and print display
Produced full-colour 2-page spread for art anthology
Published 4-page short comic in anthology collection for charity
Able to transfer traditional art to digital illustration
Illustrated the cover (always brag if you’re on the cover) of an independent art publication
Familiar with professional illustration tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Clip Studio Paint and stylus tablet
Merch artist / graphic designer:
Designed 2″ clear decorative double-sided keychain charm as bonus sale item
Designed 5″ x 6″ sheet of graphic stickers included in art anthology
Able to design bold graphics that are measured for laser cutting production
Designed layouts for 65-page art and writing magazine, focusing on (art placement, text layout, etc)
Able to keep layout design simple and in accordance with the project director’s chosen theme
Created promotional art, icons and banners tailored for social media sites like Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, etc
Familiar with professional layout and design software such as Adobe Illustrator and InDesign
Running a zine
Produced an independent art and writing collection for sale / for charity
Managed (10, 20, 30) independent artists and writers out of over 500 applicants to create a short-run independent magazine
Worked in online sales and social media promotion selling an independent comics anthology
If it’s really spectacular you can brag about specific numbers
Our book raised over $4,000 for charity in under six months of production
We sold over 750 copies in two weeks of online sales
Produced a digital PDF and printed version of anthology, mailing to recipients all over the world
Communicated with printers and manufacturers of plastic accessories and paper goods, assembling professional packages of our merchandise for mailing.
Built a custom digital storefront and navigated professional market and payment systems including Paypal and Tictail / Bigcartel / Wix etc
Created promotional events to boost sales, including raffles and giveaways over social media
Organized participants through mass emails and use of social media posts on tumblr and twitter
Familiar with organizational software such as Microsoft Excel, Google spreadsheets and Trello
For those of you that like everything neatly organised, here’s links to EVERY ONE of my first 150how to THINK when you draw TUTORIALS, in ALPHABETICAL ORDER for#SkillUpSunday!Enjoy, link, pin, share! Cheers!
Woke up at 2am and couldn’t fall back asleep so I made a tutorial on the Photoshop techniques I use most frequently. Starting with the sketch:
adjustment layers: specifically the hue/saturation slider in this case, allows you to color correct quickly
lasso tool: for sharp edges!
alpha lock: useful for painting within a pre-defined area (especially useful when painting characters)
x (hotkey) : toggle between foreground + background colors- let’s you easily blend between 2 colors
ctrl/cmd click : quickly change current active layer. Especially useful if you’re burdened with too many layers (or just very disorganized)
clipping mask: similar to alpha lock, but can add details without changing/ painting directly on the previous layer. I often use them to test out + apply gradients.
layer styles: I didn’t use any in this image, but the possibilities for layer styles endless, from simply adding a quick outline (useful for die cut demarcations when making stickers!) to creating more seemingly complex appearances. Here’s a gif of Nick Carver using layer styles (a combo of drop shadows + inner shadows) to quickly make the illusion of snow but with simple strokes.
ending on this:
Awesome
hi there! I been watching your whole dog facial differences discussion (if that makes any sense lol) but i was wondering if you have tips for drawing dog like faces from a front view. I have a hard time figuring out how to draw creatures with muzzles in forward facing position, so any advice you may have would be great!
Sure: it’s the same process! Start with a reference picture.
Here’s a wolf I found on Google Images. Now, here’s a study I did of that wolf – bear in mind that I did NOT trace; I observed and drew what I could see.
Then, caricature.
Then, caricature again.
Lather, rinse, and repeat until you’ve got a result you like.
If it helps, try not to focus on the fact that there’s a muzzle – instead, look at how the shapes of key features (eyes, nose, mouth, etc.) appear from the front-on view. A muzzle pushes the nose and mouth much lower down on the face… but you don’t really see the edges of the muzzle itself.
I did a bit more, to elaborate my point further. Some folks were asking about how one could distinguish between a maned wolf and a fox, so I did that… and then I did a hyena, too, for good measure.
(I am now aware that a hyena is technically not a dog, but because it bears similar physical characteristics to canines, it gets to be included too! :D)
I shared an art tip yesterday. Got some good, positive responses on it.
I also got a lot of surprisingly negative, antagonistic feedback on it, too. Lots of people who claimed that what I was saying was “dumb,” and that I should let people draw “however they want.”
Never did I claim to STOP people from drawing what they want.
What I did was to share an art tip. A very valid one, at that. It was not a personal attack on anyone, and it was not offensive or demanding in any way. (Red text and an exclamation mark do not count as antagonistic, guys.)
I’ve had people saying, “but it was unsolicited! You’re a professional artist so you should expect critique; many of these folks online aren’t looking for critique and are just drawing for fun!” While that’s true, I submit to you: what if it had been solicited? What if somebody had specifically asked for advice on the do’s and don’t’s of character design? Should I then not post the advice because of the thousands of other people who might see it who weren’t the person who asked for it? Should I restrict how I respond because of them?
I make art. Folks who follow me know that. By and large, many of them are artists themselves, and frequently ask about my process and for other advice on this blog. Art advice is not unheard of on this blog (or on my personal); in fact it is very common. It’s not suddenly NOT OKAY for me to post advice on my blog just because it’s unprompted. It’s my blog and my art – if folks don’t care for it, they’re not required to follow me, and they’re not required to pay attention to my posts that they don’t like. (Just like with anything else online – if you don’t like it, you’re not required to engage with it.)
If you’re not looking to improve your art (I did get a few responses saying so), then art tips are very clearly not aimed at you. Art tips are aimed at people looking to improve their art.
They are not specifically engineered to make you feel bad. If you feel attacked, perhaps because the advice hits too close to home, then I’m sorry to hear that. But I did not attack you, and you really have no grounds on which to take issue with me personally.
I’m going to keep sharing art tips whenever I feel like it. Whether or not specific people heed them or know how to handle them isn’t my problem.
Something that I see a lot of in artists online who tend towards “furry” characters is this general cartoony caricature of a dog-person… but every one of them looks the same, whether a dog, wolf, fox, whatever. So I did a very (very) quick sketch illustrating how this “generic human-dog” face could be improved to clarify what the devil your audience is looking at!
Not all dogs look the same… and very, VERY few, if ANY, have a muzzle that bulges out after the forehead before tapering to the nose. The muzzle is a gentle taper from the slope and small (SMALL!!) bump of the forehead to the tip of the little black gumdrop. The exact shape of this muzzle depends on what kind of dog you’re drawing!
And by God, please – not every dog has satellite dishes for ears.
Study the original animal you’re referencing, and try to figure out what the key recognizeable features of that animal are, BEFORE trying to caricature them!
Hey, how about letting furry artists draw their fursonas the way they want
It’s art tips coming from a professional artist, fam. Not a personal attack. You can choose to ignore it if you want, but that doesn’t change that what I’ve said here are valid tips.
Hey, op, I get they’re pro tips, but some people like cartoon and unrealistic wolves. As an artist, doing strictly one type of realistic or caricature would suck; much less having everyone else do it to. I honestly enjoy some of the originality of cartoonistic animals like that. Plus, some artists aren’t at level you are in drawing. Cut some slack, dude. Just saying
Here’s another example, then.
These are all uber-cartoonified, uber-exaggerated animals. And yet, there is no question what animal each one of them is, unless you simply haven’t seen the original animals before.
I don’t know all these characters’ names; I haven’t yet watched the show. But we’ve got two dog characters as examples right here: a hyena and a red fox. You can tell exactly which one is which just by a glance.
Exaggeration and cartoonification doesn’t mean ignoring the source material. If I were to further cartoonify my examples above:
And to give a more “anthro” example, which I shared in another post:
Both dogs are still easily distinguishable for what they are, even with their features as exaggerated as this.
Like, I’m an animator and character designer by trade. I’m not unfamiliar with cartooning. Regardless of drawing style, whether realistic or cartoony, the same principles apply: if you’re trying to make a character resemble something, you have to figure out what about that thing is recognizable and use it to your advantage. Show, don’t tell.
I’m not trying to start fights. I’m just trying to share some insight that might help people improve their character designing skills. I know not everybody is on the same level – that’s the whole point of me and other artists making art tips like this, so that other people can learn.
I feel like a lot of the backlash towards that furry post kinda reminds of the classic 'style' problem. How sometimes people will draw something that is incorrect and say "It's just my art style!" But there's a difference between choosing a style and not being as skilled. The later you don't quite know the rules and as a result it looks wrong. Just as if a character doesn't convey what you want (a wolf furry from a fox furry) then it doesn't matter what your 'style' is you still have a problem.
Some people are countering my advice by positing, “well what if it’s a made-up critter? Then it doesn’t matter if it’s based on real animal anatomy!”
Actually, it does. Even moreso, arguably. If your creature is made-up, then you have to invent how it moves, how it’s built… how that all functions on a living, breathing creature. There is no better reference for that than observation of real creatures that share traits with the thing you’re inventing.
This creature I’ve drawn here is nonexistent. It’s some kind of cute fluffy thing which you’d never see in real life. But its anatomy is based on real creatures. I referenced the anatomy of a rabbit, a fennec fox, and a pomeranian to create this creature – the result is an animal that you could imagine moving believably, just by looking at a still image of it.
If you don’t reference real animals’ anatomy, you run the risk of making something that just doesn’t make any physical sense. And your audience can pick up on that – don’t assume they won’t notice. Audiences are far more perceptive than creators give them credit for.
So really, there’s no excuse – put the extra effort in. Do your research. Do your studying. THEN get to designing.
in regards to your furry post. while I agree you should know what you're drawing and to reference the animals you're basing characters off of the examples of doing it better that you gave are very "feral" (for lack of a better term) and not anthro at all like your original complaint was. so while I see what you're getting at, I don't think that your example advice is quite matching with what you're trying to get across since you specified it as an issue with furry art and not just animals
So I didn’t make the examples “furry” enough? Okay.
The principle still applies.
The point I was making is that the general animalistic features still should be based on the original animals. It’s up to you to then push them towards more humanoid proportions as you see fit, but you should still keep in mind the base animal.
I spat this anthro duo of a wolf and fox out in, like, twenty seconds, since I had the springboard of my original animal studies to base them on. Again – these are just examples. I’m by no means claiming my style of drawing is the be-all, end-all. But my point is, at the end of the day, people should be able to tell what your character is based on. You wouldn’t look at wolf-man here and think he’s anything but a wolf (or perhaps an Alaskan Malamute, since we’re getting farther and thicker from wolf proportions with this caricature), and you wouldn’t look at that foxy lady and think she’s anything but a fox.
I based their animalistic features on the specific features of a wolf and fox respectively – I didn’t just slap ears and snouts on them and call it a day.
