CliodnaConnoree

In other news my less-than-stellarly started exchange-student status seems to be looking up. I got greenlit to start making conceppt-art of a hypothetical estonia-folkloric videogame (or choose-your-own-adventure story if I can figure it out better) for my "Fine art and games" course, so hopefully there'll be more stuff to post soon. I don't have a whiff of plot or gameplay ideas but who cares when you've got dogheaded men and golems made of farmhouse instruments to draw.

I think I need some help from people in the business though. I might open up commissions before this year is over. I have no idea how to price myself though, the idea makes me feel uncomfortable. Asking myself "How much would I pay for my own art?" doesn't really help because the answer is "I'm cheap and wouldn't buy it".
Could anyone please offer how much I should ask for, say:
- a sepia portrait
- flat-colored portrait
-fully rendered digital image
-chibii's or chibii animals
Basically, what's the market value for such stuff?
Any other tips on how to avoid being scammed or how to get the ball rolling would also be appreciated...
  

This is shocking to you, I know, a rare journal post by me and lo and behold, it's not someone elses raffle advertisement!
Essay stress is getting to me but I wish to write as there's something that I've been pondering about for a while. Namely my artist alias.

This will not be a short and concise post, merely my attempt to get some thoughts out and perhaps earn feedback if possible.

I took the name "Cliotna" upon joining dA merely because "Cliodna" was already taken but it's not what I usually use. Nowadays I've been thinking of changing my username to something else. "CliodnaConnoree" seems like the most obvious choice but as fond of it as I am...is it truly a good choice for an artist name? Perhaps I should do some backtracking and try to alter it while it's not too late yet?

I've never done a lot of commercial artwork, nor given any thought about advertising myself or creating a public image. I must start working on fixing that in the near future - I'm nearly half-way through with college and after that I'm on my own, after all. I don't like going to art exhibitions or doing smalltalk, so that leaves online communication.

First I feel like I should provide some background.  I've gone by the name of "Cliodna" online for over 12 years by now, coining it first for a Harry Potter fanforum and then rolling with it. So of course I've grown fond of the title. It's pretty much a part of my being, to the point where even my boyfriend calls me Clio because we met online.
The "surname" of my internet alias - "Connoree" had it's beginnings in preteen ignorance. I was 12 and making a roleplay character based on myself. As I was vaguely aware of Cliodna's irish connotations by that time I asked my parents to tell me some good irish surnames. I liked "O'Connor" but wanted it to be more "unique", so turned it to "Connoree" in order to show off my newly learnt knowledge that "ee" makes a [i] sounds in english. Then I started using it on websites that required one's full name upon registration and it grew on me.

The pros are my emotional attachment to the name, as well as it's uniqueness - there's no-one else with the same handle and if you google it you only get hits regarding me...which is true for my real name as well but in the latter case the thought is kinda creepy.

Cons however...it's somewhat long and although it seems alright whilst written sounds odd whilst pronounced. The "ee" feels forced. Besides it's an awful pronouncial chimaera. I've always gone full estonian and said cli-oh-dnah, rather than the original cleev-nah, in fact being left utterly bewildered when I heard an irish person call my name for the first time. Furthermore, the surname might cause confusion to estonians who might be tempted to mispronounce the "ee".

Also, I have no connection to Ireland. I've never been there, I have no relatives there and when I originally coined the name I was young enough to believe that Ireland was just "england with more celts and leprechauns". If I plan to do commissioned work in my own country as well, then shouldn't I try to come up with a handle that reflects my roots? Or just do said commissions under my real name, in which case what's the point of an artist name if I'm not using it for anything?

I see two trends in artist names. Firstly, some people wanting themselves to be taken more seriously change their usernames to their real names in order to be more easily found. As examples I'd cite PeteMohrbacher, MichaelBrack, JessicaDouglas etc etc. all of whom started out being called something else.
The other type is, well, people with short, catchy handles, often based on nicknames. It's true online as well, but you notice it more in art college and during exhibitions. "Kata" and "Maru" are the two that most prominently come to mind from people I know of in real life.

Cliodna Connoree is neither, really. I suppose changing your "artist name" isn't good for developing your public image either. But basically yeah, I can't really imagine how important or non-important a good name could be for me in the future. Does anyone have thoughts on whether Cliodna Connoree is alright or if not then if there's anything I could do?

Time for my twice-yearly journal post. XD
has another art raffle. Everyone's free to participate, extra raffle ticket for those who reblog.

So is holding another art raffle. Anyone can participate.

[CLOSED]4400+ watchers Art Raffle
...actually I was going to make one at 5k watchers, but I am not sure I'll have time then, so let's do it a little earlier ^^'
How to enter:
1) Be a watcher (new watchers welcome!)
2) Fav this journal entry
3) Comment with the character you want me to draw - may be your OC, fanart, etc and I'll give you your number.
4) You can only comment once
5) Don't ask whether you can participate - you can :>


How to get an additional number:
1) Repost this journal entry. Repost should be new and separate, so please no updates of the old entries in your journal or bunch reposts with several contests/raffles
2) include the link to your repost in your comment
Rules:
I'll choose the winner using the random number generator.
The amount of winners depends on the amount of participants: at first there is just one prize if there is more than 100 participants I'll add the