Join the Trial by Comics Discord channel, and other contest news!

Hey, Steemit! I’ve been socializing with Steemians all afternoon. @vermillionfox and I met @kellyjanderson and his husband Peter for coffee at @caffetto, just before their departure from the Twin Cities. Over the next few hours, @guthrie, @iamredbar, @lovejoy, @tarotbyfergus and @kellifury showed up. Just a handful of the entire @caffetto incubator alumni, but great conversation with crypto-centric artist friends. One day, @caffetto is going to be a historical Steemit destination, I’m sure of it! :P

During a conversation with @lovejoy, we talked about expanding Steemit community initiatives and personal endeavors. One that has been on my mind lately is expanding the foundation of Trial by Comics, and by that, I mean the comics community. I’m currently a member of @steem, a great resource for use as a forum built on the STEEM blockchain. I do find myself wanting to discuss topics, ask questions, or have direct conversation with the amazing people that enter Trial by Comics each week, and with that in mind, I created a Trial by Comics Discord channel.

It’s live now and you can join at Trial by Comics Discord. Here, we can chat with one another, suggest new themes, share work, have private conversations, and do it all without bogging down the Trial by Comics thread. Many times, I’ve wanted to just talk one on one with regular artists such as @beekart, @justmousepixels @artwatch @steemitadventure @katari @offbeatbroad and others. Hopefully, this’ll give us the chance to have those conversations between Trail by Comics themes. If you want to join, head over and join Trial by Comics Diescord channel!

I wanted to mention the topic of artist authenticity, briefly. Over the last month or so, there have been occasional instances of plagiarism. @steemcleaners and other members of the Trial by Comics participating alumni have helped identify those entering work that is not your own. Just don’t do it. You’ll get flagged, banned from the contest and it’s just bad karma. What most people would consider the obvious “best” entries won’t always win. Much of my decision on winners […when I’m judging] is based on how an entry to the contest makes me feel, not necessarily how good it looks. I know I’m talking to almost no one in even bringing this up, but for the one or two it pertains to, please do not, under any circumstances, try entering work that is not your own. Progress photos or videos, or speed paintings accompanying your Trial by Comics entries go a long way and drastically improve odds of who will be considering for winners.

Some sponsorship news, @iamredbar is going to be sponsoring his own pick for the merit prize this week. You still have six days to come up with something for “Stranger Things”. One artist, beyond our usual first, second and third place winners, will receive 10.000 SBD’s courtesy of @iamredbar.  Thank you @iamredbar! Everyone should give him a follow. He’s a fellow artist, MTG player […has beaten me many times with his awful dragons deck] and part of the @caffetto family. He’s made a big impact on Steemit in a short amount of time.

Comics has been on my mind a lot as of late. I have a lot of irons in the fire, currently. As I’ve mentioned, “Dark Pinup” with @wcpublishing is in the throes of it’s heaviest production phase. With the recent uptick in the crypto-market […a few tokens that I’m holding beyond STEEM], I do feel there’s some breathing room to pay bills and still make time to draw/write comics. My conversations with @lovejoy and @mada always motivate me to get these pages done. Even this afternoon, had a long conversation with my friend @allangraves in London about buying Bitcoin […the comic I’ve been sharing pages of is based on @allangraves and his girlfriend, running for witness in a near future, mass adopted crypto-world].

BOOM! And there it is. That’s your Trial by Comics mid-week update. I’m adding a few penciled pages I’ve done for flavor. All using the iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and Procreate app. Keep grinding away on the “Stranger Things” comics, and join the Trial by Comics Discord channel if you’d like to suggest next week’s theme or get in touch with me about sponsoring the award pool! Follow me here @kommienezuspadt for more comics, illustration, art and photography!