Alright shitstains listen up because I just found god in a bottle.
If you’re a nerd like me your body’s probably riddled with a few nerd tattoos yeah? Some of ‘em in some pretty obvious places? Maybe you work in a professional environment that frowns upon body ink? Maybe you’re a cosplayer and you have some revealing outfits that you need to cover up for, yeah? Tattoos that you can’t afford that $30 Kat Von D Tattoo cover up because you’re a cheap broke shit?
Story of my life bud.
Now I have a pretty obvious Squad 11 tattoo, because I’m a Bleach nerd and Zaraki Kenpachi is my husband, and honestly it’s difficult to hide it in some of my cosplays because it’s bright and black and right smack dab on my shoulder. Poor planning on my part but hey, squad represent.
You see that glorious miracle up there? That’s Mehron Tattoo Cover. You see those pictures underneath it? Tattoo? What fucking tattoo?! It’s gone!!!! Vamoosed!!! Like I never got the ink in the first place!!!!
This shit is durable, and I mean durable. It’s completely waterproof and that first picture of my tattoo is actually what it looked like after scrubbing at it with two makeup wipes. TWO. It’s not going anywhere
And the best part?
IT COMES IN DIFFERENT SKINTONES. BAM. WHAT.
I mean it’s not phenomenal but hey at least it’s not just “pale as fuck”.
Yeah. $12. Not $30. Because $12 is much more reasonable than $30.
As for size reference, that’s how big it is in that third picture right there. It’s honestly the best investment I could have made and everybody should know about it.
Go forth and conquer with your newfound knowledge. You’re all welcome.
As someone who used to chair a stage makeup department, Mehron and Ben Nye are going to be cheaper and better than whatever concealer/orange eye shadow/green lipstick whatever weird tutorial you found or expensive-ass luxury concealer.
Why you ask?
Because Mehron and Ben Nye are stage makeup. They’re meant to give thick, full coverage in one layer that can stand up to cameras and stage lights. Blend it out, powder it, and you’ll never look back. Plus it’s cheap enough that you can buy 2 and mix the perfect shade.
This will work on scars, too.
Just an FYI for folks I know who may want to cover for cosplays, work, or personal reasons.
Honestly this would be a life saver for people with tats stuck looking for jobs in places that frown on them.
I’ve watched people not get jobs at places I work even though their personalities and experience levels were exactly what we were looking for purely because of personal adornment (tattoos, piercings, etc.). So to anyone who might need a product like this, I hope you see this post.
Reblogging in case anyone wants to know how to hide scars specifically.
So @dreriart made a post about commission pricing and I thought since it is doin’ the rounds I’d copy-paste this thing I wrote on DA over to Tumblr because for some reason I … never … did that … before??
So one recurring thing I see a lot in the art community in many
different formats is ‘how much should I charge for my commissions?’
What
normally follows is a lot of bad advice. Terrible advice. So I’m here
to give you some good advice and tell you all about how to value your
skillset and price accordingly. This guide has been written with the
intended audience of folk who are just starting out with commissions,
but I hope it will encourage other artists to give themselves a fair
wage and, of course, a lot of this can be transposed over to other
creative professions as well.
So let’s answer the question of ‘how much should I be charging people for work?’
The answer to this is deceptively simple. Here are the questions you need to ask yourself to form an appropriate response:
Where do you live?
How old are you?
For obvious reasons I cannot assist you with these. But once you have these you go to Google and you type in the following:
‘minimum wage per hour in <location name>’
Which is more than likely going to bring up an official government page for your area. Here is the one for the UK since that is where I live.Now
what? Well. How old are you? Because some locations have different
rates for those in different age brackets. But essentially all you need
to do is get the following info:
How much is the minimum wage per hour for my age in my area?
Now
that you have this, how long does a piece take you? You do not need to
be exact. A rough guesstimation will do. This will form your base price
of:
Minimum Wage x Estimated Hours
Therefore if I take five hours to paint a portrait and my min wage is £7.83 then my base price for a painted portrait is £39.15.
That is the absolute minimum you should be charging for your work.
And please take into considerations the following:
Working outside your comfort zone will up times taken on a piece.
If you’re working with traditional materials, how much for paper/canvas/paint/pens/etc?
Minimum wage is quite often garbage anyway.
Whenever
I say this though, I often get a variety of responses in the negatory
for this method. I have answers for each of them. So, let’s run a
sort-of-FAQ on this method shall we?
I’m not good enough to price that high.
Yes you are. Who says? Your government, for starters. Also me. Here’s the thing. No matter the quality of your art, you deserve a fair living wage for your work.
There
are lots of people out there with no understanding of the time, effort
and tears that go into honing artistic skills. Digital art, making
comics, mastering musical composition, sculpting, or whatever it is all
takes time to learn and we are constantly growing and improving. And if
someone wants to hand you money for what you are producing guess what?
You ARE good enough. That is the proof right there. Another human being
wants to give you cold hard cash for something that only you can make.
If
it puts a different perspective on things for you, think of job roles
that would be traditionally minimum wage. Probably the one most people
will go to is ‘burger flipping at McDonalds’ as an example of a low
skill occupation that is stereotypically easy and for those who failed
in life etc. etc. (spoiler alert: it isn’t, but that’s a journal entry
for another day). Why should this theoretical failure of humanity earn
more than you doing a job that ‘anyone can do’? Because art is
absolutely more difficult than cleaning out a McFlurry machine (that’s a
legit fact by the way: I’ve cleaned one of those and art is way
harder).
Also, art is a luxury product my friend. No one needs to
be buying commissions of their MMO character. They want it? They can
play by our rules. And they will.
My family member/friend/random internet guy said that’s too expensive and I should lower my prices.
Your
family member/friend/random internet berk is a fucking idiot at best,
or intentionally trying to get you to undersell at worst. Firstly, I’d
be willing to bet that the person who said this to you is not an
artist. If so, what makes them more qualified than another actual artist
to tell YOU how to price yourself? Because you trust their opinion?
Yeah, but what if their opinion is formed on a factually incorrect
assumption of how much art costs/the time it takes to produce because
that is a HUGE deal in our community right now. And what if they just
want you to stay cheap because it threatens them? Or, as a consumer,
want you to stay cheaper for their own selfish purchasing habits? What
then? Tell them to fuck off.
But there is someone better than me charging less! Why should a client pick me over them?
Spoiler
alert: there will always be someone better than you charging less.
There are thousands of mega quality artists out there. I’m considered
expensive for what I produce, especially as I live in a country with a
currency that translates highly to other currencies. Yet people
constantly ask me for commission work. So what gives? Here are some
reasons why a prospective client might chose you over someone else:
You are nicer than they are.
You are faster than they are.
You’re working in a niche sector.
They know you personally.
They like your art style better.
You have lots of good feedback.
A friend recommended you.
They aren’t even open for commissions right now.
They had a bad experience with that artist in the past.
You’re easier to purchase from.
You have a larger following and purchasing from you exposes that audience to them by proxy.
There
are lots of other reasons but price isn’t necessarily often the
deciding factor for a lot of clients. Don’t spend your life being
concerned with how other people are better than you or you’ll never be
happy.
I’m nervous about pricing so highly! What if no one wants my art?If
a client doesn’t want to pay you a fair living wage for their luxury
item purchase then that’s a client you can probably do without to be
honest with you.Someone complained about my prices being so high! What do I do?
Refer them to this:
Something worth noting is that minimum wage is normally used for people who are employed (not self employed). So people who work contracted 16, 24, 37 or 40+ hours per week for an employer.
Anyone who is not guaranteed work for a set amount of hours per week is absolutely within their right to charge well over the minimum wage, to cover those hours that they are not guaranteed.
Ever wonder why the plumber is so expensive? Or the electrician? The pc repair guy (£60 to transfer my data? Really? All you do is plug it in and leave it for a few hours..)
That’s why. Because most traders/self employed people don’t have work lined up 9-5 mon-fri (though it’s great news if you do!). If my lovely pc repair tech only charged me £20 to transfer my data, or £5 labour (half an hour) +
>insert price of laptop screen here< to repair my screen, he’s never going to make enough money to stay open, because he doesn’t have people coming and going in his shop all day every day.
If you’re considering being a part or full time artist, then perhaps consider not just how many hours it takes you per piece, but how much of your time you want to spend on commissions. If you plan on spending 20 hours per week on it (not just the art itself, but consider things like liasing with customers and promoting yourself as well) then calculate the hours with the minimum wage (in the above instance, it would be 20 x £7.83 = £156.60). Then you figure in that week you can hopefully (and realistically) complete let’s say, 3 commissions. That would be £52.20 each. Already that’s more than the base price stated above (which I am not saying is wrong at all). But you’ve covered yourself for the additional work and downtime hours, and given yourself a real expectation that of what income you’ll be earning per week.
Hi! I have decided to make this masterpost, putting in one place everything that I have found ADHD – related!
For some links, I have listed some of the things you can find there, choosing those that I thought were the most useful, but check the whole site because everything is great!
Social networks! Use facebook to find support groups and pages, use Tumblr to connect with others like you and use Twitter to find out about new articles and resources with the tag #adhd!
Thats it! Hope you have found this mp useful, feel free to add things!
no, listen, when I say I want to integrate more specific solarpunk stuff in my life, i don’t mean to ask for yet again new “aesthetic” clothes that now you have to buy or make to show your support of the movement (screw that i’m consuming enough as it is), or more posts about impossible house goals, or whatever, I’m asking you what my options to build a portable and eco friendly phone charger are, im asking you viable tiny-appartment edible plants growing tricks on a budget, im asking tips to slow down when my mind and society tell me im not fast enough, i don’t need more rich art nouveau amateurs aesthetics or pristine but cold venus project, okay, i know i should joins associations where I am tho i’m constantly on the move, thanks for that, just, you know, can we get a bit more practical ??? how do I hack my temporary flat into going off the grid for the time i’m here
Hello! ☀️ Here are a few practical suggestions for stuff you can do:
Would any if you peeps be interested in if I made a little post about spray paint? Like I want to show some people how I do it and maybe if y’all feel like it y’all can try it
Nobody said yes but
TO BAD
let’s
Do this
Step one
Get some supplies obviously, all you will need is
Spray paint (doesn’t even have to be much, you can do this with 3-4 colors or 1000)
Glossy paper. Photo paper also works, you can figure it out
Anything round to make the planet with that can cover it up
Determination
Also a snack.
Step two
Cover yo thang
You’re just gonna spray enough so that you’ll be able to make out the shape, you don’t need much at all and it’s even better if you don’t use much.
Look at that nice circle
Step three
color, this part is so fun and you can do anything you want with it, i made mine the pansexual flag
I know it looks crazy but trust me, you’re gonna have to cover it up with a few colors.
Think about where you want the light to come from, the black is the shadow farthest from the light, the white is where the light is shining on it and the yellow in the middle is so that it’s not so bland. For the color in the middle put whatever was underneath right there (or not I’m not your mom)
STEP FOURRR
You’re gonna ball up some paper and lay it over it, will the paper to get some if the paint up and lift
I wasn’t to happy so I did it again, you can do this as much or as little as you want.
This looks better to me.
Step whatever
More shadows, this is optional but I prefer it. Black in the bottom and white on the top as before but this time not as much so the color comes through
STEP TO THE LEFT NOW YALL
Okay cover it up againnnn
Paint that while thing black. The entire thing, completely. This is always fun
The bright side (light)
Okay this is optional but I love it, I’m gonna add light… Just look
sooo start with blue in the corner where it’s coming from and a bit in the other side behind the planet, stay with me on this.
White to brighten it up…..
Now another fun part
Stars
You can do this anyway you want, I just put on a glove and spray some on two of my fingers and flick it on but there’s loads of ways, check it.
Maybe none of these peeked your interest-maybe you’ve been wanting to create an o.c, but never really knew how to start-or you just enjoy making O.C’s….
This masterlist is to help you in making your own OCs….it can also apply to developing RP characters i suppose!(´ヮ`)!
i never stop talking about some of these so i might as well banish them to a single post! you might know about a lot of them already, but feel free to look anyway
freeware can be a great opportunity to get a feel for something and learn a new skill. and in some cases, the free versions are almost as powerful, so you might find that you saved a lot of money but made work that was just about equal to what you might have done with paid software!
I was definitely a profit killer when I worked in a pharmacy (which honestly was my favorite job in the entire world, but it was short-lived and nowadays you can’t work at a pharmacy like that, it’s all tied in with corporate retail and no one should ever trust me with a cash register ever). It was not, however, actually a profit killer for the pharmacy, just for the drug companies, so no one cared. These days I do medical billing, which means I actually bill OUT from hospitals so I’m mostly spending my professional time taking money away from insurance companies.
I will now impart all of my profit killing resources onto you, in case you don’t know them. I think most of you know them, now. But just in case you don’t.
THIS IS US-CENTRIC. I’M SORRY.
1. GoodRx – this thing has an app now, so you can look up the best places to get your expensive medicines at the lowest possible prices without insurance on the go, and you no longer have to print coupons because you can just hand over your phone or tablet. Times have changed for the better with GoodRx. Definitely use it before trying to fill your scrip, because it will tell you the best place to go. (You can do that on the website, too.)
2. NeedyMeds– Needymeds is basically the clearinghouse of drug payment assistance. They have their own discount cards, but also connections to many patient assistance programs run by drug companies themselves. They are good assistance programs, too.
3. Ask your county – This is not a link. This is a pro tip. Most county social services will have pharmacy discount programs for people with no and/or shitty pharmaceutical coverage. You can often just find them hanging around at social services offices; you can just pick one up and walk off with it.
4. Ordering online – There are a few safe online pharmacies. I keep a little database in a text file on my computer. Most of them are courtesy of CFS forums, my mother or voidbat, so a lot of that is a hat tip to other people, but if you’re in need of a place to get a drug without a prescription … first I’ll make sure you 100% know what you’re doing for safety reasons and then I’m happy to turn over a link.
5. Healthfinder– A government resource that helps find patient assistance programs in your area. This might also point out the convenient county card thing. RxHope is something a lot of people get pointed to via Healthfinder that’s a good program.
6. Mental Health America – Keeps a list of their best PAPs for psychiatric medications, which can be some of the most expensive and a lot of pharmacy plans don’t cover them at all.
This is so important ppl.
Signal boost the shit out of it!
Booooooooooooooooooost
Good Rx Saved my family a hundred dollars a month while I was getting signed up for CHIP seriously it’s a life savor especially for ridiculously expensive drugs like abilify
Useful info, friends! 😉
Since many of our followers are on medications, I feel like this would be an important resource. -Luna
Also! Some drug companies have patient assistance programs where they send you the drug for FREE if you are uninsured, or if your insurance doesn’t cover that drug.
Do a Google search for “patient assistant programs” + (your med), or search the manufacturers website. Sometimes the info is online; other times you have to call.
Even some of the big name pharma companies have this. It’s certainly not all companies, or all meds, but it is worth a shot.
Before Obamacare, I lost insurance and couldn’t pay for my mood stabilizers (kiiiiinda important to have those when you’re bipolar.) I was on generic Lamictal, but I went to the official Lamictal website, filled out a form with a valid prescription, and they mailed my meds to me every month for free.
If you know anything about bipolar disease, you know that that was a literal life saver. Patient assistance programs ftw!
This is so important given the recent vote to repeal Obamacare. And the cartoon above is so on point They’re literally voting to kill people. Literally.
Some of my meds are no longer going to be partially covered by my ridiculously expensive private insurance. I just used the GoodRX website to look it up, and I can either spend $40 at Target to pay for one of them out of pocket–per month–, or I can get it at Sams Club for $4. No that is not a typo. The drug I need to take every single day to keep my allergies from spiraling out of control (yay auto-immune bullshit) is literally ten times cheaper at Sams Club. Holy shit.
I'm a defeatist but I don't have to be 