I hope you know that literally nobody is going to be able to live up to the standard you, V*v, and Glitch have set and your arrogance and exploitation of your fanbase and connections has screwed millions of creatives out of their dreams because Hollywood is a joke that isn't worth telling and wealthy e-celebs like yourself have claimed the indie scene all to yourselves and moved the goalposts into the stratosphere.

Nope. This isn't a zero sum game. There is not some limited, prescribed number of indie trophy slots that a few studios greedily filled up, blocking everyone else out. That is not how it works. Nothing any other creator is doing - short of personally sending hired goons to your doorstep or stealing your credit cards - is taking anything away from you or preventing your success. In fact if an indie creator can manage to demonstrate that they've got something viable going, it may help to map out a pathway for others.

I think I'm not going to bother trying to address whether or not cartoons in return for support from fans - an entirely voluntary exchange - constitutes exploitation. And I'm living in the Midwest driving a 2007 economy car with 200k+ miles on it, but let's just skip past the assumptions that I'm wealthy and connected too.

Instead, let's get to the weirdly myopic notion that the indie scene is held captive by three studios. Maybe YouTube algorithms or Twitter bubbles are somewhat to blame, but in actuality there are so, so many individual people, friend groups, and small production houses out there making independent animation, I cannot possibly name them all.

Here are some anyway:

Far-Fetched Worthikids Satina | Scumhouse Noodle and Bun Punch Punch Forever Ramshackle Noodle Papajoolia | Pipi Angel Hare | The East Patch Jonni Peppers Salad Fingers Monkey Wrench Studio Heartbreak Felix Colgrave JelloApocalypse Odd1sout (started indie, got picked up by Netflix) Allie Mehner JaidenAnimations Lumi and the Great Big Galaxy Cloudrise | The Worlds Divide Telepurte RubberRoss James Lee ENA Godspeed | Olan Rogers Ollie and Scoops Meat Canyon Port by the Sea Kekeflipnote Boxtown Kevin Temmer Weebl Joel Haver CircleToons Long Gone Gulch Atlas and the Stars Animist Skibidi Toilet A Fox in Space Alex Henderson Talon Toniko Pantoja Sr. Pelo Hullabaloo Kane Pixels (started indie, picked up by A24) Homestar Runner Fennah Gods' School Alan Becker Dungeon Flippers JazLyte Psychicpebbles (started indie, Smiling Friends picked up by AS) Piemations vewn Metal Family Dead Sound chluaid Jacknjellify Betsy Lee | No Evil

By no means a full list. That's just YouTube, and mostly just English language stuff, and I didn't even get to the multitudes of Warrior Cats animation collabs.

The point is, the indie landscape is vast and populated by creators new and old, making all kinds of animated media from skits, to shows, to ARGs, to films. Audience sizes vary as much as the content, stylistic approaches, subject matter, and budgets do. There are no compliance standards, no gateways to entry, no goalposts. There's not even any preset definition of success except what you decide for yourself.

Anyway, instead of nurturing your resentments, consider making something. I assure you, it's a far more rewarding use of your time and energy, and pretty much no one can stop you. ------------- EDIT- Made some additions to the list based on comments. Thanks!

So, I usually wouldn't give sad, strange little anons like this the time of day, but I really need to say my peace.

What the fuck does Lackadaisy have to to with Hazbin Hotel (and, yes, it's painfully obvious that's what this sad strange little person is alluding to), aside from the fact that they're indie-driven animated projects? I get that HH is divisive, and tends to delve into unnecessary 'edgy humor' at times, but by GUM, what I like to call 'anti-stan culture' has really gotten ridiculous; A bandwagon of either you HAVE to like this or you HAVE to hate this or you're A BAD PERSON!!!

Not how it works. If you cloister yourself like this, you will never be able to discover all the wonder and creativity that indie animation has to offer. Now, are there creators out there that have screwed over their fans and employees/collaborators? Absolutely! It's the nature of the game, and you can and SHOULD fight back if need be (strikes exist for a reason). But that does not give you carte blanche to be a complete and total asshat! There is a difference!

TL;DR: Next time, anon, instead of bitching at these content creators for clout, use your platform to SUPPORT THE ARTISTS you're so gung-ho for (Oh, and go the fuck outside. The vitamin D is good for you)!

PS: Here's @lackadaisycats reply, which actually goes to the effort of SUPPORTING INDIE ARTISTS! Check it out if you want more awesome animated content.

Blood Over Water

Hey, kids! Here's a bright, shiny new fanart for ya!

Over the holiday break, I decided to do some healing of my inner child...I'm a millennial, so Yu-Gi-Oh was my jam in my tween years, so this lead to amalgamating old, OLD OCs and playing around with them.

Here we have the four Ishtar sibling, including my OC, Zahra.  She is Marik's twin sister, fostered by an American family after escaping the darkness of the tomb.  She harbors a lot of trauma from her formative years, which manifests itself through a mask of teenage ennui. When a classmate goes missing, she finds herself confronting her past through the tournament...I'm still working out the kinks.

Yu-Gi-Oh! and all properties © Kazuki Takahashi/Shonen Jump/Studio Gallop

Hellsing: Tanzen

Rip and Gréte, enjoying a moment of repose in the chaos of war.

I also wanted to practice a lithograph/print style, and I think it turned out nicely.

Reference Pose

I cannot believe this thing is 15 years old!

So, 2008 was a particularly noteworthy year for me: I graduated high school, started what would be an 11-year journey to obtain my associates degree, and the beginnings of my artistic shift shift from primarily anime-inspired to my personal style. Igor was a primary influence on said shift, as well as on my love affair with all things Frankenstein (Granted, I’ve always had a thing for gothic horror, but this is where it really took off).

Thank you, Igor! Keep being the weird little cult classic you deserve to be!

Happy 15th anniversary to the movie Igor (2008)! The film was released on this day today, September 19th.💜🖤

🤦‍���️

I swear…in the year of our Lord 2023…

I’ve had a pixie cut since my late teens. It has nothing to do with my gender identity. It’s because I have sensory issues and anything longer than Mia Farrow length drives me absolutely nuts!

Who gives a good golly-gosh CRAP about her hair length?! Let the girl play!

(Also stop shaming gender nonconformity; it’s really not classy).

Super fucked up! wtf is wrong with these people?  #IamWithMili!

What is every little girl supposed to have long hair in a ponytail? So happy to see all of the support going her way.

"My tía Pepa / Her mood affects the weather "When she's unhappy / well, the temperature get weird"

I'm back, back, back again (Apologies for the delay; things are really picking up for me career-wise).

I combined colors/days for some of the pieces, to speed the process and to test out skills...and this is one of them.

Paloma Reyes - Art Nouveau

A year in the making, people! This piece was a friggin' YEAR in the MAKING!!!!  But, I think it was worth it!

So much trial and error figuring out her look, but I settled on an Art Nouveau look, as it best conveys the sweetness and creativity of Paloma's character.

---

Reference Pose Rose Lace Pattern

Encanto and All Properties © Walt Disney Animation Paloma Marquez © Me

Happy birthday, my dearest Luisa! 💪

Drew this little doodle as part of a larger art piece at Exceptional Minds’ 10-year celebration (held at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank…a real dream come true for me!)

Huevember Day 3: My Primo Camilo

(Today’s is a little more sketchy than the others)!

Good old Milo! He’s basically every 15-year-old theatre kid I’ve encountered (I have/had 15-y/o male cousins AND did musicals in high school).

Hue-Vember 2022 Day 2: Door

Mirabel may not have a gift, but she can at least have a door...I know a common fan theory is that she is the next keeper of the candle and its magic, but I wanted to portray what it would look like if she had her own room around the end of the film.

Huevember Day 1: Mariposa

In honor of the one-year anniversary of Encanto, as well as the fact that I was unable to participate in Encan-tober, I am dedicating this year's Hue-vember challenge to all things Encanto (including both canon and OCs). Today, the mariposa symbol (as depicted on the candle).  I did it traditionally, but for whatever reason, my scanner crapped out on me and gave me an explosion of color instead of the bright yellow I wanted.  Therefore, I did a little Photoshop magic and here we are!

Hello, everyone!

From the same group that brought you Milk Day, the next fandom event is #encantober!

Encantober is inspired by the concept of Inktober, except the prompts for each day are inspired by the movie and is open to art and writing (fanart, fan comics, fanfiction, drabbles, oneshots, etc…)!! Do one, do them all; just don’t combine multiple prompts on the same day 😉 For more information, Q&A, and the link to the fic collection on A03, go HERE.

Why a month early? So you have time to prepare! Coming up with ideas takes time and effort and we want this to be ✨fun✨!

So start thinking, start sketching, or start writing and please share with others under the #encantober tag 💛 We can’t wait to see what you come up with starting October 1st!

Here is the list in text format!

2022 Traditional Mixed Media (Marker, Colored Pencil, Pen) Behold, my long, LONG gestating Encanto OC, Paloma Elizondo: A "Manic-Pixie-Dream-Girl" without the manic...in fact, she's a bit of a space cadet (about the same energy as Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter movies/books). She and her fraternal twin brother Gabriel live with their abuelo Arturo in their hacienda. Her cielo is Luisa (yup...hopping on that simp bandwagon ), who shares her passions for mythology and art...and she loves the latter's hugs! Her design here is based on early Encanto Concept Art, as well as silent film star Theda Bara and Lottie LaBouff from The Princess and the Frog. ---- OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER: Encanto and all properties © Walt Disney Animation Studios

“Everything is way too loud / The roar of voices in every crowd

“I’m sick of all the noise right now / can someone please just Turn It Down”

UPDATED FOR 2023!!!

Trans women are women, pass it on.

Trans women are women pass it on

"I'm so sick of pretty / I want something true / Don't you?"

This was part of a much bigger piece of artwork, but I much prefer the way the head came out than the rest of her, so now it's a simple headshot.  We love us some post-movie, feeling her oats Isa, don't we?