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Character Design Concept Sketch for Hermes

This is by no means the final design for Hermes. In fact, this doodle initially began as a challenge to draw a genderbent Hermes (since one of my best friends was curious to see how he hot he'd be as a girl asdfghjkl).

I ended up liking the design so much that I just decided to make it my Epic the Musical design for Hermes as well. The androgynous vibes are pretty cool, if I do say so myself. They oddly suit him somehow.

I didn't have space to add a pouch/purse, but I'll definitely add it next time I draw him. His caduceus and iconic winged sandals are there of course. I'm still figuring out how much I want to mix historical accuracy and creative liberty with his petasos (hat used for travelling), so I just stuck with what felt right for now.

Also, I'm not sure how short and free flowing his outfit should be. I tried combining bits and pieces from actual statues and depictions of him in ancient art to make it work. I'll keep trying to find the designs that click with me the most.

I was inspired by TROY's (his VA) hair and how wonderfully curly it is, so I gave that to my design as well. I opted against the facial hair, however, since my research indicates that Hermes was either bearded or clean shaven. I went with the latter since I wanted to show a more youthful look to the god.

Instead of keeping Hermes's face half hidden (as most Epic character designs of him have his eyes shrouded in mystery), I chose to show off how uncannily beautiful his eyes are. The dual colored eyes were actually an accident at first, but I liked the idea so much that I even accentuated the contrast between them by coloring his eyebrows differently as well.

Lastly, I gave him extra wings to frame his head because why not? It adds a certain ethereal quality to his design, and it elevates his speedy movements (along with the wind lines I drew at the bottom).

Extra note: I did my best to make Hermes have a dynamic pose in the air, but I may or may not have messed up the proportions during the process. Apologies for that. I'll attempt to improve that outcome in future artworks of him.

Artists, let’s talk about Instagram commission scammers

There’s been a huge rise in commission scammers recently, mostly on Instagram. A lot of new artists don’t know what to look out for, so I figured this might help people.

How they begin

Usually the scammer will write to you asking about a commission. Something deceptively cute - mostly I encounter asks about pet portraits, with one or two photos sent. They’ll probably try to sell you a sweet little story, like “It’s for my son’s birthday”. They will insist that they love your artwork and style, even though they don’t follow you or never liked a single piece of your art.

What to look out for:

Their profiles will either be private, empty, or filled with very generic stuff, dating at most a few years back.

Their language will be very simple, rushed or downright bad. They might use weird emojis that nobody ever uses. They will probably send impatient “??” when you don’t answer immediately. They’re in a crunch - lots of people to scam, you know. 

They’ll give you absolutely no guidelines. No hints on style, contents aside from (usually) the pet and often a name written on the artwork, no theme. Anything you draw will be perfect. Full artistic freedom. In reality they don’t really care for this part.

They’ll offer you a ridiculous amount of money. Usually 100 or 300 USD (EDIT: I know it might not be a lot for some work. What I mean here - way higher than your asking price, 100 and 300 are standard rates they give). They’ll often put in a phrase like “I am willing to compensate you financially” and “I want the best you can draw”, peppered with vague praise. It will most likely sound way too good to be true. That’s because it is.

Where the scam actually happens

If you agree, they will ask you for a payment method. They’ll try to get to this part as soon as possible. 

Usually, they’ll insist on PayPal. And not just any PayPal. They’ll always insist on sending you a transfer immediately. None of that PayPal Invoice stuff (although some do have methods for that, too). They’ll really, REALLY want to get your PayPal email address and name for the transfer - that’s what they’re after. If you insist on any other method, they’ll just circle back to the transfer “for easiest method”. If you do provide them with the info, most likely you’ll soon get a scam email. It most likely be a message with a link that will ultimately lead to bleeding you dry. Never, and I mean NEVER click on any emails or links you get from them. It’s like with any other scam emails you can ever get.

A few things can happen here:

They overpay you and ask for the difference to be wired back. Usually it will go to a different account and you’ll never see that money again. 

They’ll overpay you “for shipping costs” and ask you to forward the difference to their shipping company. Just like before, you’ll never see that money again.

The actual owner of the account (yes, they most likely use stolen accounts to wire from) will realize there’s been something sketchy going on and request a refund via official channels. Your account will be charged with fees and/or you get in trouble for fraudulent transactions. 

You will transfer the money from your PayPal credit to your bank account and they will make a shitstorm when they want their money back, making your life a living hell. They will call you a scammer, a thief, make wild claims, wearing you down and forcing you into wiring money “back” - aka to their final destination account. 

Never, EVER wire money to anyone. This is not how it’s supposed to go. Use PayPal Invoice for secure exchanges where the client needs to provide you with their email, not the other way around.

You can find more info on that method HERE.

What to do when you encounter a scammer:

Ask the right questions: inquire about the style, which artwork of yours they like, as much details as you can. They won’t supply you with any good answers.

Don’t let the rush of the exchange, their praise and the promise of insanely good money to get to you. That’s how they operate, that’s how they make you lose vigilance. 

Don’t engage them. As soon as you realize it might be a scam, block them. The sense of urgency they create with their rushed exchange, and pressure they put on you will sooner or later get to you and you might do something that you’ll regret later.

Never wire money to anyone. Never give out your personal data. Never provide your email, name, address or credit card info. 

Don’t be deceived by receiving a payment, if you somehow agree to go along with it. Just because it’s there now doesn’t mean it can’t be withdrawn. 

Here is a very standard example of such an exchange. I realized it’s a scam pretty fast and went along with it, because I wanted good screenshots for you guys, so I tried going very “by the book” with it. 

Please share this post, make it reach as many artists as possible. Let young or inexperienced artists know that this is going on. So many people have no idea that this is a thing. Let’s help each other out. If you think I missed any relevant info, do add it as an rb!

Also, if you know other scam methods that you think should be shared, consider rb-ing this post with them below. Having a master post of scam protection would AWESOME to have in the art community.

cha-ching!

CHA-CHING ‼️‼️‼️

OH MY GOD?!?

Thank you for all of the support! I truly mean it from the bottom of my heart. I really love sharing my work on here, and you all are so lovely!

Thank you all. <333

(And extra thank you to @novamation12, whos been my #1 supporter always <33)

Finally,, After a bit of time... HERE ARE MY DESIGNS OF THE GODDESS OF WISDOM, ATHENA AND THE GODDESS OF BEAUTY AND LOVE, APHRODIITEEE!!

I’m very proud of the designs!!! They turned out so muhc better than i expected! Next ones to design are Hermes and Apollo! ^^

HERE HE IS!! THE ONE AND ONLY, THE DWARF CHEF IN ALL OF HIS SPLENDOR....

SENSHI!!!

finally finished drawing the silly dwarf man!! I really struggled with the first sketch, it looked a w f u l. But i'm proud of the final results nonetheless!!

Izutsumi is next :)

FELLAS I'M VERY CLOSE TO GETTING SOMETHING WITH THESE TWO!!! I still need to refine some details and work on Hermes's color palette BUT I HAVE SOMETHING

i've been in a pretty terrible mood lately so i sketched out Kinger (cuz he my comfort character and i love him) to help myself feel better.

Did it work? Not.... Really. But it was nice drawing him though. And i hope by sharing this, my doodles of Kinger would cheer up someone else on this app. Remember that you are and will be loved people who care for you and that no matter how hard life punches you in the sad feels, you're strong and can punch life right in its face with positivity, strenght and love 🫶

Oh boy oh boy, just stumbled a few posts of theirs AND THE MUSICAL SEEMS SO INTERESTING!!! I NEED TO CHECK IT OUT

The Underworld gang CANON DESIGNS by the insanely talented @anniflamma 💕

(Judges initial design by TheeArteest)

You guys reread your own work?

Reblog if you're a writer who re-reads their own work for funsies.