Can You Be a Shopkeeper Artist? - [Plus, Your Questions Answered]

[@veggsbacon1891]

New character idea: Brookes the Shopkeeper. 👍🏽

[@sylvanshroom]

This was such a fun month!! I'd love seeing more themed months going forward.

[@trussego]

That little locksmith is so cute!

[@MuffinSeeker]

Can't believe you made a fursona for the LockPickingLawyer lmao I'm sad to see shopkeeper month over but really excited for next month! Perhaps a "bard" month focused on storytelling and different ways to make sequential art would be good although you do already have a lot of good advice on those themes already!

[@DewottEva]

I LOVED the themed month!! I would love to see more of them in the future :)

[@mirthfulArtist]

Approaching a specific community never fails for me, and is WAY more reliable than just posting on an art blog. Post your D&D characters in D&D Facebook groups, or find a fandom forum/group where people are making OCs. You will always find people who want art of their characters in the spaces where they are *using* said characters!

[@thisisaduckindisguise6206]

this month went off without a hitch, the videos were consistently great! shopkeeper month felt really special, great job on everything Brookes!

[@salvidomum5287]

I've been playing with the idea of moving into physical items to sell just because currently it seems I might not be able to handle personalized commissions, but to create own line of products that I'm 100% in control of feels somehow more manageable (it's not I know haha). But I love all this advice, especially about niche vs generic. That definitely helps steer me in a direction that feels like it'll better my art overall as well as give strong motivation to actually complete a task for once

[@Mjumiman]

Thank you so much for answering these questions, they really addressed into what I've been thinking about recently. "Be patient with yourself" was a piece of advice I needed to hear, more than I knew. Now I'm motivated to get my skills in order! Looking forward to future videos, maybe even more themed months if you feel like it

[@trussego]

I’ve loved this themed month, I’d be super happy to see more of them! Thanks for another great video, now comes the slow, painful wait for next weeks. 😔

[@grimmleighsfiends6546]

I really enjoyed this, thank you! I know from experience that getting people to "buy in" on your products can be an uphill battle! I think this is really good advice for people to hear!

[@Xinxax]

This was great and pretty helpful! I do have a lot of clients since I just opened my "shop" a week ago, I'll take the advice and work a happier job as an artist after this~

[@thelostmessenger]

I did mean the for a commission! I was doing a commission for a close fellow artist and wondering what I should charge for it. I will now charge what I do for my colored art. Thanks for the advise!

[@HeroG9000]

Theme months are great. I know you’ve done quite a bit of stuff like this already but a world building month might be cool, like creating clothing design building design and stuff all feel like it goes in the world and tells a story about the world itself

[@ArtichokeAnarchy]

The locksmith could just give you his services if you buy a wacky key from him, so you have a funny key and your house unlocked or something

[@CharacterDesignForge]

Hehe this is definitely a game trope that's come up before

[@CharacterDesignForge]

But once you funnel it through our analogy, that artist is now doing twice the work :D

[@capricornus]

This was such a great theme for the month - thank you SO much! I learned a ton!

[@AleesaTana]

I actually have a question about portfolios - I have done a lot of my best work while working on contracts under NDA. Is there a way to include that work in my portfolio while still respecting the NDA?

[@rutahyena5030]

I'm not sure if you've talked about this already but, I would love some advise and tips on how to add details to a characters body, clothing, and maybe weapons. Sometimes I feel like there could be more detail on my characters themselves, and the objects they carry, like patterns or engravings. Every time I try to think of details to add, my mind always goes to practicality and use. To sum this up, I don't entirely know how or what to add to things in my art just for the aesthetic reasons and I would really appreciate your help. :3

[@SirMasi]

I really loved shopkeeper month! Tons of practical advice on topics that aren't often discussed. Think you could do "Storyteller Month" some time? I know you've done videos on this before, but I suspect you might have more to say about character designs, single illustrations, and sequential art 😁.

[@fmbray_]

I'm the same way with the whole "encouraging people before they're ready" and being allergic to it. I was in one of those situations last month and they wanted a whole lot of money that I couldn't afford in order to ride their "private jet" to success and I just ended up doing it myself for zero dollars (not counting my own materials I already had), since it's more of a learning experience/trial run thing that I wanted to do anyways.

[@ladyseshiiria]

Also good idea for themes on videos.

[@namelessartist880]

This was a very helpful month, I can't wait to use this knowledge I've gained in the future! Thanks for this!

[@lioedevon4275]

Can we talk about how Jacklynn is banned from the keyshop? I kinda wanna know more...

[@feanaro2712]

I really enjoyed the themed month and definitely hope you have more in the future.

[@hannesw.2624]

love ur videos, didnt watch this yet, but it shure will be fun ^^

[@CharacterDesignForge]

Hope you enjoy!

[@hannesw.2624]

@@CharacterDesignForge thx a lot

[@muttrogers6586]

Thanks for your insight! It genuinely helped.

[@Tomensnaben]

A lot of good info to process there.

[@flintartstudio]

I like the lock smith design. The analogy with the vintage keys is a good point when handling business. I had a quick off-topic question: What's your strategy when protecting your artwork online? I'm just gathering different opinions and views on this subject.

[@CharacterDesignForge]

I have yet to have a problem where having an audience hasnt helped in that regard- send a DMCA where you need to, but otherwise I find way too many newer artists are overly concerned with theft

[@flintartstudio]

@@CharacterDesignForge Alright, thanks.

[@godahlrogue8587]

Thank you for the video, Brookes! I guess I was kind of jumping the gun lol--i need to improve pretty bad but its kind of hard for me to see the way; i might go for another critique from you soonish. O_o

[@kitosanimations]

Your channel is so epic :3 Oh and stan locksmith raccoon Wait why is sheep girl (I forgot her name-) crossed out at 2:00

[@CharacterDesignForge]

Lets just say someone with a Master Key and a Locksmith arent very copacetic 😆

[@gordoneggleston1124]

Hmmmmm….. at one point-you made it sound like there has been something that you failed at…for everyone out there, there is no failure- just hard work, and learning from everything that we do! Some a hard lessons, some are are inspiring, but all of them make us better!!

[@miapelkey1504]

Your so insightful!

[@Mammalmage]

Any chance you can do a theme around royalty?

[@godahlrogue8587]

You worked for a race team???

[@gordoneggleston1124]

#hudsonhistorics

[@salvidomum5287]

We stan locksmith raccoon

[@TheZiiFamily]

Ok at the start of the video, whats a comition?

[@CharacterDesignForge]

Commissions are art that you do for someone else in exchange for money.

[@TheZiiFamily]

@@CharacterDesignForge ohhhhh the title makes sense now

[@ladyseshiiria]

Man respect for construction workers!

[@uzumakis2]

❤️❤️❤️

[@Barada73]

When I’m putting my own artwork up for sale, my first question is, “Would I buy this?” If the answer is no, then I don’t put it up for sale. Which is probably why I rarely put anything up for sale. If I do put my work up for sale and it doesn’t sell, then my first assumption is ALWAYS that my art was simply not good enough. I’m not sure why artists would get so offended by just the vague suggestion that their art might not be good enough to sell. Any artist truly interested in improving should already know that their current work isn’t good enough.

[@RosheenQuynh]

I wonder if this entire theme could apply to writers, too 🤔

[@emeraldqueen1994]

A SUGGESTION for pricing your art BARE MINIMUM charge the cost of your supplies PLUS minimum wage for every hour worked on each piece

[@yakuzaslostjudgement8317]

i am a shopkeeper. i sell shops

[@maxbearington7565]

Sheepy got banned.

[@CharacterDesignForge]

Big ol conflict of interest there

[@toadboydude5015]

There's a reason you don't get dislikes.

[@GaasubaMeskhenet]

We're impatient because we have bills to pay

[@CharacterDesignForge]

I get it, ive been there, and i do too! Tried to speak to that sentiment

[@xkallari4765]

Jacqueline is not allowed? thats cute

[@stormy5377]

Haha! I'm your only dislike!

[@CharacterDesignForge]

For the reason of?

[@waapfu]

@@CharacterDesignForge judging by the phrasing and exclamation marks i think it's just "first" logic and not them taking issue w the video

[@stormy5377]

@@waapfu basically. I figure engagement is engagement to youtube lol. In all honesty the channel is great and I'm a regular user.

[@CharacterDesignForge]

@@waapfu but why dislike it at all, specifically- that's them literally taking issue with the video

[@waapfu]

@@CharacterDesignForge i don't have a good answer for that, human brain's just wired to like novelty i guess