A Short Guide to the Artistic Process

by Ariela

It's been a fairly productive year here at Geek Calligraphy. In addition to the launch of our website, we put out 13 new products this year (number 14 to come out in December). We have noticed that our projects all tend to fall into the same pattern. So, we present to you, The Artistic Process of Geek Calligraphy, A Comedy.

Dramatis Personae:
Chibi Ariela - The Artist, identifiable by her black driver's cap with a copper badge.
Chibi Terri - The Manager, identifiable by her purple everything and green eyes.

Stage 1: The Idea

Most of the time, a project starts out like this:

Image shows Ariela and Terri at their respective computers.* Ariela is saying "I have an idea!" and Terri responds "Great, let's put it on the calendar."

*Terri is a Mac user. For her sins, Ariela has a Surface Pro 2 by attrition.

Sometimes, though, Terri is the instigator:

Image shows Terri and Ariela on the phone. Terri says "Have you ever considered doing something with $_idea?" and Ariela responds, "That's really good. I must go do it Right Now!"

Stage 2: The Honeymoon Phase

Most projects start out with starry-eyed idealism, as I am convinced that this project where everything will be perfect.

Image shows Ariela sketching at her drafting table saying to herself "This is going to be the best thing ever. Having so much fun!" Appallingly, she is humming to herself.

Unfortunately, this stage doesn't last.

Stage 3: Reality Intrudes

Image shows Ariela at her drafting table, brow furrowed, saying, "Hmm maybe not quite as easy as I thought."

As with all plans, they don't tend to ever come off exactly as they are on paper. Or, in this case, they don't make it to paper exactly as they were in my mind.

Stage 3 can last a short time or a long time, but it is invariably followed by...

Stage 4: Despair

Image shows Ariela headdesking at the drafting table, eyes squeezed shut, wailing, "I ruined it forever, it sucks, I suck, why did I ever think I could do this, I need to go throw my drafting table out the window..." Terri, in a speech bubble emanating from Ariela's cell phone, says, "Babe, you're done for the night. Have a cup of tea and stay away from the art for a few days." Terri is knitting a rainbow shawl and has her headset in like a sensible person.

Every project has a stage where you get lost in the weeds for a while. When you hit this point, continuing to work through it is frequently a losing proposition. The best thing to do, if you are not on a looming deadline and have the luxury, is step away and do something completely different until something clears out in your brain and you can resume work without whatever brain lactic acid buildup was putting you in a funk. Many artists have to do this for themselves, but if you are lucky you have supportive colleagues or a Trusty Artist Wrangler (TM) like Terri to take the pen or brush from your clutching fingers, take you gently by the shoulders, and propel you away from the art for a while so you can recharge and return.

Stage 5: Determination

Image shows Ariela, looking unenthused, working at her drafting table saying "I guess I haven't ruined it entirely."

After some time away, it's usually possible to come back and resume work, even if it's not quite so enthusiastic as at first.

Stage 6: Fed Up

Image shows exasperated Ariela working at her drafting table saying, "I just want this to be done. I am sick of it."

By the time I am close to finishing a project, usually I am heartily sick of it. Since most of my art maxes out at 18"x24" and four months' active work, I can't even begin to fathom how writers work on a manuscript for so much longer. Writers, I tip my hat to you.

Stage 7: Finish Up

Image shows a resigned Ariela, holding a paper at arm's length, saying, "*Sigh* I guess this is as good as I can get. Or as good as I can stand to make it. Whatever." She has her headset in. Terri also has her headset in and is saying, "Babe, it's fine. No one will see those nitpicks unless you keep pointing them out. She has made progress on her rainbow shawl.

I had a wonderful mentor in my high school English teacher who told me, "Art isn't finished, it gets abandoned." This was wonderful advice, as it gave me, an obsessive perfectionist, permission to stop. I'm never quite good enough to bring something from my head into the world exactly as I see it. I've gotten much better over the years, but it never happens. At some point I say, "Well, I can't stand to look at this anymore, so it will have to be good enough."

Alternate Creative Process

Sometimes the creative process doesn't follow the above pattern. When it does, it goes like this:

Image shows Ariela and Terri at their computers again, much like in Step 1. Ariela says, "I have a great-" and an exasperated Terri cuts her off saying, "No."

Ariela: I just-
Terri: No.
Ariela: But-
Terri: NO.
Terri now has her arms crossed and a vein throbbing in her forehead.

Image shows very peeved looking Terri saying, "You currently have 3 projects in various stages of production. And you had 2 new ideas already this week. Last I checked, you still had a day job, an apprenticeship, a spouse, and a biological need to sleep and go to the bathroom. When were you planning to do this?:"

Image shows Ariela looking sheepish and somewhat downcast saying "Right." Terri responds "Make a note of it and we'll talk about it when your docket clears a bit."

Alas, not every idea can be executed immediately. This would be the reason why Terri sometimes says that her job description is "Artist wrangler and professional killjoy."

Historical note

The above comedy is a dramatization of real persons and events. Liberties have been taken with dialog, order of events, and even the outfits of the people involved (Terri does sometimes wear things that are not purple).

On a more serious note, I am not actually all id when producing art and Terri is not all superego. There's a lot of give and take in the process. Sometimes I take both parts in the process, because, you know, that's what being an adult and a professional artist is about. But I like to outsource as much of the calendaring and reality-checking to Terri whenever possible. It makes it easier for me to maintain a sense of wonder about the art and keeps me from burning out too frequently. It also frees up my time to spend more on the artistic side of the business.

While I could do this without Terri, I am very, very grateful not to have to. For artists who do not have their own Terri, a network of supportive colleagues is crucial, to help you out when you're stuck in the despair of Stage 4 and to remind you that it really is important to say no to some ideas and opportunities.

Finally, while I speak in generalities about The Artistic Process, nothing here will be true for everyone. Your process may be radically different, doesn't make it any less art. I am not Speaker for the Artists.

And if you are an artist who never experiences the despair of Stage 4, please contact me ASAP to tell me what your secret is.

Turkeys Ate Our Brainz!

Image is of a zombie turkey, courtesy of biomek on DeviantArt.

By Terri

Both Ariela and I are exhausted from Thanksgiving eating and traveling. We hope you enjoyed your time spent with friends and/or family, and that you were not called upon for too much emotional labor.

A regular blog post will go up on Wednesday. After that, back to our usual schedule!

December Shipping Notes

By Terri

Image shows a chibi Ariela under a pile of boxes and cardboard tubes saying "a little help, please..."

Thanksgiving is nearly upon us, which means that the $_WINTERHOLIDAY shopping season will soon begin in earnest.* As such, we wish to make you aware of the purchasing deadlines we will be using to make sure that you (or the recipients) receive your purchases in time for a timely gifting. Unfortunately, we do not possess a time machine, so we are unable to ensure Diwali gifts arrive on time. If someone could hook us up with with the TARDIS Express folks, we'll get right on that.

As per our FAQ, we generally ship USPS First Class. That requires the item be mailed by December 20th to guarantee delivery. In order to give Ariela adequate processing time, we will require the orders to be placed by December 14th to make sure that there is enough time to get things printed, matted and shipped to you.

*Seasonal creep is not a thing here at Geek Calligraphy. Even I, a longtime fan of holiday music, will not begin to listen to it until the Friday after Thanksgiving.

New Product: Aliyah Name Cards

By Terri

Tired of playing broken telephone with the gabbai of your local minyan? Out of town and unexpectedly get called up to the Torah? Keep this card in your siddur and you'll always be addressed by your actual name!

Image shows Ariela's hand holding Terri's name card. Letters are in purple (of course) with gold tagin/crowns.

how it came to be:

When Ariela moved to her current community, she noticed that they kept a box of file cards on the bimah with member's names in order to call them up for aliyot. Of course, since she was only there on Shabbat, she never got a chance to fill one out for herself. So she made one. And then (because she is a very lovely person), she offered to make one for her spouse thinking that he might like one. And then the natural realization that other people might want one followed. The idea for a sleeve to keep it inside the siddur came from the card being used as a bookmark and then falling out all the time.

Image shows a siddur with a name card in a sleeve attached to the cover.

They are available in 5 different colors, with ornamental crowns in either the color of the letters or gold or silver. The cards are laminated so that they are durable. The corners are rounded so that they do not poke you. 

At the moment, if you would like to order more than one, you need to add each card to your shopping cart individually and fill out the personalization form. If you would like to order a large batch, please use our website contact form and request it. We will work with you.

Aliyah name cards are $45 each. We are also selling extra sleeves for $4 each here.

Bonus New Product: משנכנס מרחשון

By Terri

Do you need something on your office wall declaring just how happy you are that Tishrei is over? Get one of these before we run out!

Note that this is a special bonus product for November. We will still be releasing a product on the usual third Wednesday of the month (oddly enough, this Wednesday).

How It Came To Be:

Neither Ariela nor I are huge fans of Tishrei. The sheer number of holidays are exhausting. Ariela tends to be an very visible participant in her ritual community and I tend to live the stereotype of the Jewish mother who cooks way too much food and invites the whole world over.*

Needless to say, we were both pretty relieved to welcome in the next month, called Marcheshvan.** Ariela threw together this quick doodle to put up on our various forms of social media:

Image shows the words "Mishenichnas Marcheshvan Marbin B'Simcha" in green and blue.

It's a riff on the traditional line about the month of Adar, (which has the holiday of Purim in it), where we say that when Adar begins, happiness increases. 

When we put this up, people started asking when it was going to be available for purchase. Clearly we had a niche product on our hands.*** So Ariela redid the art**** and printed out a limited number. The reason for the limited number of prints is that each one will be hand gilded. It's also why they're more expensive for the size. The original is also for sale here.*****

The irony of releasing a product touting the joy of this month is quite painful at the moment. Ariela considered not releasing it after all. Ultimately, we decided to go ahead with it because we want to believe that fear, bigotry, hatred, and violence will not be able to deprive us of all that is good in our lives. When we are no longer able to take pleasure in the things we still have, that is when we are truly defeated. We may give in to despair at times, but we do not want to give up entirely.

So we are sending this art out into the world in hopes that it will bring smiles to people's faces at times when they need it, and in faith that next year, we will once again be able to enjoy the respite we gain when Cheshvan 5778 comes along.

Mishenichnas Marcheshvan measures 8" x 10" (includes a silver mat) and is available for $50.

*My main ritual community doesn't welcome a whole lot of women's participation. It's a sore spot.

**Pronounced mahr-khesh-vahn

***Rather similar to "Rabbis <3 Cheshvan" shirts

****The initial plan was to re-scan the doodle at a better resolution. Unfortunately, this made it look even more like a doodle, and it was faster to do a new original.

*****Unless it's already been bought. Then you're out of luck.

Get Out and Vote

by Ariela

"Vote" written across the Constitution in silver ink

Let's face it. I am not thinking about art today, I am too busy chewing my fingernails off. 

If you are an American citizen and have not yet done your civic duty, please go and vote!

You can probably figure out our political positions based on what we say on this blog, but whether you agree with us or not, we want you to vote and support your right to do so.

So make a plan to vote. (FYI, you cannot vote by text.) Remember that there are local elections and ballot questions up as well as the presidential race. Check out a sample ballot online and do some research on candidates and questions. Learn what to do if your right to vote is challenged. And we will see you on the flip side of the election.

Schedule Note

Image shows a grumpy chibi version of Terri tapping her foot, and staring at calendar largely blocked out by holidays. She is saying "Sensible design, my left foot."

By Terri

Your friendly neighborhood artist/calligrapher and her wrangler will be taking the entire month of October off. That solar month is overly stuffed with the fall Jewish holidays. As both of us are observant of the restrictions that these holidays bring with them, that makes it difficult to keep to our usual blogging and product release schedule, let alone any commissions that might come in.

So while you may see Tweets and the occasional Facebook post when we feel something needs to be shared, this blog is going to be quiet. While we will be taking orders for prints and greeting cards, they may be slower to ship than usual. We probably* will not be taking ketubah orders for the entire month. There will be no new products released in October. We hope you find the month enjoyable.

See y'all in November!

*Obviously emergency ketubah situations do arise and we will make our best effort (with applicable rush charges) to meet your needs in that case.

How to Support Artists (Beyond Buying Stuff)

by Ariela

Original art by Allie Brosh - hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com
Meme generated by Imageflip.com

Welcome back to week three of Artists' Rights Month at Geek Calligraphy. In week one I pointed out a lot of problems created by the Starving Artist trope, and now I want to provide some solutions.

Buy Stuff

This one should come as no surprise, but one of the best ways to support an artist is to buy their work. Helps us keep the lights on, the rent paid, selves (and families/pets) fed, etc. We like all these things.

Buy our stuff and don't attempt to tell us that we should be charging less. We put time and skilled labor into our work, and we set our prices accordingly. Things that go into how we set our prices include, but are not limited to: the difficulty producing the item in question, how many of them we make and whether the process can be made easier if we make more, cost of materials, cost of living while we produce the item in question. We don't set prices arbitrarily high.

For some kinds of artists, commissions are extra super awesome! If you think you won't be able to afford it, contact the artist and ask. Be up front about your budget and say that you know they may not be able to produce something in your price range, but you wanted to check. Make it clear that you like their work and respect their skill and their time. If they say no, accept gracefully.

But we know that you cannot buy everything all the time. So here are some other ways to help.

Take a Moment to Tell Us You Like It

Creating art can be an exhausting process. Knowing that someone likes it, even if they can't buy it at the moment, can be an enormous pick-me-up. It lets us know that someone sees our stuff and likes it enough to take a moment to send us a kind word.

Repost with Attribution

If you see something awesome posted somewhere you should totally re-blog/retweet/Share on Facebook/whatever, but it will help the originator more if you can do it with attribution. This can be hard, because sometimes you see things posted without attribution in the first place. take a moment and hunt the originator down to give them credit. Links back are also helpful, as they boost search rankings.

Don't Use Images (Audio, Text, Etc.) Without Permission

See something awesome and want to use it for your blog/podcast/website? Contact the creator and ask their permission. If they say they want you to pay for it, do so, or don't use it. If they say they don't want you using it even if you offer to pay, respect their wishes. Photographers in particular are frequent victims of this one as Google has made it super easy to search for any image, right click, and stick it somewhere else. I know it's easy, but don't do it. Be a mensch (a good person) and contact the creator before using their work.

Tell Your Friends

Re-posting our stuff is great, but please, by all means, signal boost with a comment about how much you like it. Gush to your friends. Maybe one of them is looking for exactly what we're doing right now. This is particularly helpful if you can reach a different audience than the one that the artist might already have in their personal network.

Change the Narrative

If you hear someone reinforcing the Starving Artist trope, don't let it go unremarked.  Point out that it is both inaccurate and unhelpful. If you hear someone complaining about how much an artist is charging, not in an "I wish I could afford it" way but in a "How dare they!" way, push back; bonus points if you can do this at work. If you are a creator yourself, portray artists in a variety of circumstances.

Honestly, I feel a bit funny about mentioning this one, as it is so much further down on my list of "Problematic Stuff People Say That Should Be Called Out" than say racism, sexism, classism, ableism, xenophobia, etc. But if you have a moment and some spare emotional energy and see the opportunity, go for it.

Mentor Other Creators

If you are a creator yourself, mentor newbies into your field. I am not saying that you should train them for free, but helping them to get a feel for the ropes can help everyone. If they set their prices too low, it can cut the bottom out of the market for everyone. Remind them that their work is worth paying for!

Commissioning Custom Work: A How-To Guide

by Terri

Since we appear to have declared September to be Artist's Rights Month, I wanted to do a example* of the commission process gone right.

Full Disclaimer. I am the one requesting the commission from the artist in question. I have been friends with Ariela as well as a handicrafter myself for long enough that I fully appreciate how much work and effort goes into custom anything. I Get It, and tailor my expectations accordingly. 

I knit a lot, and have fallen fair down the rabbit hole of interchangeable knitting needle sets.** As such, I need a case to hold all the various parts so that they don't get lost all over the house. I outgrew the binder that came with my first set*** about two years ago, though I pushed it to its absolute limit. Knowing that other people had success with worm binders, I purchased one from Bass Pro.**** Once I'd overstuffed it with my needles and cables, I realized that I didn't care for it at all. It would work as an interim piece and I would wait until some room in the budget opened up for something nicer.

I happened to come into a bit of fun money due to a survey, and decided now was the time. I approached Grace Fross, of Graces Cases on Etsy. Thankfully, this is relatively easy to do, although you are stuck in a proprietary messaging system.***** I had seen one of her products that I hoped could be adapted to better suit my needs. I also had seen something else that might have worked, and I could show her pictures of that. Both of these things will be important later.

While I opened the conversation with something relatively short, it referenced an existing product and how it might be adapted:

me:	Would you be interested in making a $_STYLE style case, but with more pages?
Grace Fross:	Both the Standard and deluxe cases have more pages including a page for 2 sets of tips. But if you were thinking of a different layout then we do take custom orders.

Once I knew that a custom piece was a possibility, I was able to further elaborate what I wanted:

me:	I was looking for something that can store enough tips for 4+ sets of needles plus cables. I'm willing to pay custom prices. Something with as many pages as a Deluxe, but with the internal layout of the Tips Too.
Grace Fross:	We do lots of custom orders in a wide variety of layouts. There are a few restrictions though because sewing machines will only go through a certain number of layers. Custom orders have a wait list of around 10 - 12 weeks and there is a 20% surcharge. With custom you can select from fabrics I have on hand or supply your own in addition to a layout designed to fit your needles.
me:	The restrictions and surcharge are reasonable and understandable. So is the waiting list.

Note the bolded text. I agreed up front to whatever Grace wanted to charge me for her work, before she even quoted me her terms. This might not always be the case for someone seeking a commission. If you don't know what the baseline price is, don't commit like I did. But I had an idea of what the general prices were based on the items in her Etsy shop, and was willing to pay up to half again as much for something that worked for me. Knowing what you can and are willing to spend is an important part of any custom commission. Also note that Grace was up front with the waiting list and pricing for custom work. I was able to make a decision about whether or not I could afford the work before anyone had expended time, effort or money. If I hadn't been willing to pay or wait, I would have responded as follows:

That would have been an appropriate way to end the process. Since both of them were fine with me, I figured that I'd be waiting a while, but I'd have exactly what I wanted. Getting exactly what you want is one of the biggest perks of commissioning custom work. I knew I was on a list, and then when my turn came up, I'd be getting a message and would then proceed with making a custom case. But first, I made sure that money would not become a problem in this process:

me:	Thank you for your time. I'm sorry, but I don't think that this is going to fit within my current budget or time constraints.

It is crucial to know what your artist requires as far as upfront money is concerned. Some artists need the deposit as a cushion, others feel awkward about having your money without a product to send you. Communication is key here. 

I was willing to wait as long as Grace needed, but then a message showed up in my inbox:

me:	Do you require a deposit?
Grace Fross:	No deposit needed.

Grace Fross:

If you haven't heard from me by the end of this week, please remind me

That delightful surprise was an important part of an artist's responsibility to communicate clearly. Without that, I would have happily waited, but with it I knew things would be speeding up a little. 

Now I will sing Ms. Fross's praises, as she truly is the Fabric Whisperer. I mentioned that I like purple, and she came up with this gorgeous batik fabric for me: 

Anyone who knows me well knows just how much I jumped up and down when I saw this.

At this point, further snippets of back and forth conversation would just devolve into jargon about what I wanted. Which, again, demonstrates communication. I was able to point Grace to another Etsy listing to demonstrate some particulars of what I wanted. Once she saw that, she was able to let me know that she would try to get it finished soon, but she did have a show that she needed to finish her inventory for. And once again, she checked in with me on the pricing, now that she was able to have precise numbers for me. 

All of these things were laid out BEFORE any work was completed. All told, only a couple of hours in back and forth time were spent (which, had I not gone with this, would have been time not recompensed). And in the end, everyone was happy. I got what I wanted, Grace Fross was paid fairly. And that's a commission gone right.

*I ramble. The post won't be short.

**This was my first set. I have since discovered another company that uses the same manufacturer (cross-compatibility FTW) and am completely powerless in the face of pretty wood.

***Alas, it no longer ships with that binder. Nor do they make that binder any longer. Hence the need for something else.

****Yes, the sort you buy for storing fishing lures. Yes, this means I'll never stop getting Bass Pro catalogs. I've somewhat resigned myself to it.

*****Ms. Fross would like you to know that customers can also approach her via her email address at the GracesCases website.