Check Out My New Avatar!
Have you ever seen anything so adorable? It’s Mania with her crocoslime!
I just love the expression on the slime’s … face. And Mania winking — it’s just perfect.
And how did I get such an amazing, adorable avatar? Pike made it for me!
A week or so ago, Pike from Aspect of the Hare announced that she is now taking commissions for custom avatar art.
Basically, you send her some screenshots of you (with or without a pet) and some notes on what you want in terms of expression and background, and she creates a very special 100×100 pixel avatar for you in her own illimitable style. The price? A measly $10.
Now I know not everyone has $10 to spend on a custom WoW avatar, but I did … and so I did. And I am very happy that I did.
I’ve plugged it into Gravatar and everything, so it should start showing up as my avatar when I comment on blogs and our forum here soon.
I’m planning on getting a couple more, too, so that I can rotate avatars whenever I feel like it. Or maybe I’ll get one for each major character I play so I can use them in the post when I’m talking about a specific character.
I wish my husband played WoW — I’d love to get him one of these as a gift! But it would be sort of silly when he doesn’t play.
(Although my father once bought my mother a table saw for Mother’s Day. And I suppose that might have been fine if he’d let her use it …)
Anyway, if you are interested in getting your own custom Pike avatar, check out Pike’s Art Commissions page!
52 Comments
That’s freaking awesome! Love the crocoslime’s face! XD
That is awesome! I’d love to get one…if college tuition didn’t just wipe me out D=
I love Pike’s style, it’s so cute n’ catchy!
I love it!! I’ve been keen to get one, but I was a bit worried that Pike would be over-inundated when she first launched it and thought it would be sad if she got burnt out (though I know just one person holding back wouldn’t help!).
But… ooh…. *so tempted*
@ Mazil – my work actually has been steady but not at all overwhelming so don’t be afraid to jump in! ^_^
And thanks a bunch for the shoutout Mania! And I’m so glad you liked it!
thats pretty cool. ive always wanted to dabble in doing stuff like that, but just dont have the time, heh.
It’s funny but that “Pike” is stupid to want money for this. Sooo greedy, i would never want money for something like this.
@ Volcan – you’d be surprised how many people do! ;P I didn’t want people to pay originally, but so many people wanted one and they each take me an hour or so to make so… >.>
How do you make an avatar for this forum? does it require you having your own website?
Spoken like someone who has had no interaction with Pike whatsoever. Pike’s avatars have been an unfathomably precious commodity to date – I feel BLESSED that I have one, and with my recent gear upgrades, I’m very heavily considering commissioning her for a replacement.
Why? Several reasons – firstly, she puts her heart into her work. Secondly, my own lack of artistic talent. Thirdly, it’s just unrealistically cute, and she managed to make the Sapphire Hive Queen, of all things, adorable and cuddly.
She is a sorceress of pixels. And you are an uninformed dolt.
Nice! And nice plug. ;-)
anyone else notice yer paying someone $10 for 5mins of work?
I understand, these avatars are cute and everything, i’m sorry if i insulted you. But why does everybody need money for everything lately? :(
@Vilebite It takes Pike an hour or so (as she said) not 5 minutes. Even at my part-time job I make $9/hr. I think $10 for her time and talent is more than fair.
@Volcan Because nothing is free. She has given them away before but now it’s a way for her to make a little extra money for things like, oh, rent… food…
I think you are deluding yourself about the five minutes thing. Perhaps a very fast worker could get a larger picture done in 10 minutes, but a small picture is a different animal. Each pixel shows up, if something is off its noticeable. Not only that, but 5 minutes is not a long time.
I challenge you to draw something, anything, in five minutes and post it as your gravatar and post in response.
I know what pixel art is about and i know it takes a long time. And i am not saying anything about the talent and work invested, i know it’s not easy.
Nice avatar. :)
And, to change the subject, I just started using Safari 4 – after using Camino for a few years – and I was surprised to see your background art under the comments & other text.
Nice to see what I’ve been missing. ;)
Why is it that some people always feel the need to belittle some one else’s work? I think it happens more when the person in question has no idea of what actually goes into it.
Volcan: Please keep in mind that comments here need to be respectful. It’s okay to say you don’t think the avatar is worth the money, but please don’t call anyone stupid or greedy again. Thanks. :>
And the same goes for anyone who wants to rant about Volcan — please don’t get personal. :>
Rottingham: Nope, you don’t need a website. This blog — and a lot of others — use Gravatar, which is basically just an avatar linked to an e-mail address. When you post under that address, the blog looks up the associated picture. (And your address is not published, so it’s no different than posting now.) Check out Gravatar.com if you’re interested.
yseraboy: Heh! That’s funny. I know it doesn’t show on IE6 or before — they don’t handle the transparency well — but I admit that I don’t test with Camino.
Mania, you just wanted a chance to post with your new avatar! *Laughs* And I wasn’t to harsh! Though to be honest I had to retype what I had originally written in that post.
@ Vilebite – As others have said each avatar takes me an hour or more to make. I have made over twenty of them by now and they are not getting any quicker to make; if you do come up with a method to make them faster please let me know ;) <3
@ Volcan – in response to “why does everyone need money for everything these days”… believe me, I wish I didn’t. But between rent, power, food, etc., and a failing economy that is cutting my work hours, I’d love to see if I can make a little cash doing something I enjoy doing. Wouldn’t you? :) I do regularly hold contests and the like for free ones, but unfortunately the world doesn’t work the way it would like so I can’t make them all for free, I am afraid.
Pike and her avatars are the absolute bestest. I’ve lusted after them ever since I first laid eyes on the windserpent-plus-letter one. If I manage to get $10 extra then I will certainly be comissioning one.
And honestly, why the hate on the artists? It’s *real work* people, it should be worth *real money*.
I just wanted to drop a comment and say, excellent work! I would commission an avatar myself, but I wouldn’t know which character to get one made of.
Well I wouldn’t pay 10 bucks for it, but I’m not gonna make fun of the people that do. It’s kinda like Teefury or whatever. This really cute and funny Giraffe shirt came up today but thanks to my dad, wasn’t able to get one and it’s retired pretty much :D
/sigh
Anyways it’s no different than wanting to buy a shirt.
Tho still I wouldn’t charge people for my work if it was internetz stuff.
And god I just restarted this computer three times and it’s already lagging again blah. Freezing three times while writing a reply is irritating.
Edit: Wait, wait I just remembered about WarcraftPets, I would link but I don’t want the post to be messed up/hidden so;
‘Based on my observations, I figured that selling original artwork was considered “fair use.” I concluded that my logo was original and that artwork inspired by vanity pets would be safe too, so long as it was original. I even requested ideas for shirts from the WarcraftPets community and when I did, I stressed how I couldn’t reproduce actual images of pets, but silhouettes and illustrations would be safe. I was wrong.’
You might want to be careful and make sure you’re not breaking ToS with selling avatars Pike, wouldn’t want to see a fellow hunter get into serious trouble.
Honestly, I think pike’s work is one of the most notable things you’ll find when browsing around Hunter blogs and WoW communities. Paying money for it isn’t “greedy” and as Pike herself pointed out, well, getting a little bit of cash for something you like to do is always nice, and in this economy, it’s nice to have a backup income ;)
I would absolutely love to get an avatar, but unfortunately my money all has to go elsewhere *ish sad*
But Pike, you keep doin’ it! I love seeing people and their avatars <3
Pike
I’m also an artist and I think your work is great when i get an extra 10$ and learn to use an avatar wisely I would be very happy to get one from you keep up the great and fun work
Sorry then.
Cute, not my style but cute and very nicely stylized :)
I think Pike’s avatars are great, but Ryai does have a point, I think that selling representations or Blizzards property is against the ToS…but I wont tell if you don’t lol
And to the people whining about $10 for it: If you think that its so simple to do..then do it!
Anyways, happy hunting.
You should let me make you an avatar Mania =]
I made mine
Its cute :) If i used forum i would deff order one :)
Making small art with a limited pix count it harder than it looks; it may look nasty on a large scale but at its intended viewing size it is much better than a reduced high res. Getting a bespoke design of your toon and thier pet is worth a fee; its not how much time it takes them to make its how much skill is invested plus the time it saves you, judge it by how much your time is worth ;P.
The style of the little avatars is adorable. Its cartoony and cute, I bet anything I made would be cartoony but scary. I may have to order one if I can figure out how to send payment without involving credit card numbers, hehe.
But it isnt really against copyright violations is it? I’ve made wowthemed t-shirts for my dad’s birthdays before assuming that was perfectly legal. Hm.. my favorite one featured druids in waterform, cheetah form, and NE on a bike, and was ‘azeroth physical education and triathlon training” >.>
If I seriously go back to playing WoW I may consider this. I’m……taking it easy right now. Made a free account and a little orc hunter to see how it felt. It’s fun so far, but I want to see if this is just a phase. If not, then I may get an Illi and Lucretia avatar done.
forgot to mention:p the avatar i linked was drew by a guildie of mine before wotlk, love it and its not my avatar on every forum possible!
Scarce: We’d love to see your avatar, but the link you gave went to a private page. Do you have another link?
Very cute avatar, Mania and Pike. :)
THAT took you an hour? Bloody hell…15 minutes max. Charging for something that small is absurd. Seriously, not meaning to be rude, but come on.
Closer to an hour and a half actually Ank. And I have had several people by now tell me I am actually undercharging. >.>
I dunno about other people, but I have a hell of a time drawing anything on a computer, despite being able to draw fairly well by hand. Even small things take ages to do if you’re a perfectionist about it. I can definitely see these taking a fair while to do.
Besides the work put into it, you’re buying a bit of Pikestaff Charm – the avatars are instantly recognisable, extremely cute, and as they are cropping up quite a lot now, they are a great way to immediately tell who someone is in comments/twitter without squinting at a dark, in game picture.
If you think she’s overcharging, you’re under no obligation to buy one.
Awesome custom avatar! Pike is an awesome artist!! There’s been such a huge demand and I’m glad that she’s finally found a way to provide them to people that want one!
WTG MANIA!! WTG PIKE! :D
Pike has a unique style and a pleasant way of seeing things. Her avatars are also unique and pleasant, and I think it’s perfectly fair and reasonable for her to receive payment for her work.
Children or adolescents who are not yet in the real working world couldn’t possibly understand the desire the working force has to feel that they’ve accomplished something, and that they’ve earned wages for doing something they actually love. I go to work every day for a job I’m not fond of, which doesn’t challenge me and doesn’t excite me. When I get paid for that, not only do I feel dirty, but I also feel cheated. I feel that because it’s a job I dislike, because I have abilities I’d rather put to the test but must spend time doing what I dislike, I should be getting more than I earn now. There are not many things more difficult in our society than sucking it up every morning at 5:00am until 7:00pm just to earn the food on your plate.
Those of you claiming she doesn’t deserve a single penny for her unique art – you will grow up soon. And when you do, you’ll realize why an extra ten dollars for doing something you love is worth more than the 100 dollars you make in a day of doign something you hate.
I had a nice long comment queued up, but it’s pretty much what Nass said so I’ll let her say it.
Meanwhile, I love the avatars, Pike, and Mania, grats on getting one. :)
Amen Nass
http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php I’ma try to get the new patch notes stuck so Mania see’s them.
And well spoken, Nass.
Well, I happen to live in the ‘real working world’ and I know that extra money is always welcome. I’m also speaking as an artist myself, in the ‘real world’…and yes, it’s tough to hold a standard, keep up with demand and better yourself to keep yourself afloat. But then again…if people want to blow x amount of cash on a simple, poor quality avatar then money can’t be all that valuable, right? Fair play to you though, Pike, for doing it. No disrespect. Maybe some people will grow up when they realise that there are better things to spend money on than WoW avatars.
Ank – to be perfectly frank with you I do not consider Mania’s avatar to be one of my stronger pieces. I spent a lot of time tweaking it and wound up not particularly happy with it overall, I am very glad Mania liked it though.
Ank, I apologize in advance if I am touchy on this subject. Really I do. Making cartoons is something I very much enjoy doing. And it is the one thing that I have been knocked down for, again and again and again, ever since school. And it is the one thing that I keep trying to come back and do, over and over for the pure love of it. Are the avatars “poor quality”? Perhaps, because I craft them via mouse in the GIMP. That is the point of them. They aren’t supposed to be “high quality”. They are supposed to be somewhat pixelly. They come off much better with a background (which Mania opted out of having).
Perhaps you are right, Ank, and I really am just deluding myself with all this artist stuff. Perhaps all those people who knock me down over and over and have for years, telling me I’m not a real artist, are right.
But ya know what?
So long as I have people telling me they like my stuff and are willing to pay for it then I can cling to my silly little dream.
Please… please just let me do that, Ank. Haven’t you ever had a dream…? =/
(Note: Mania, if you want to delete my huge ramble just there, feel free to do so. I don’t want to dirty up your lovely blog. It really is a touchy subject for me though annnnnd yeah >.>)
Ankhychan, everyone’s a supermodel CIA agent when they’re anonymous. :/
I’m sorry to see that you feel like trying to make other people feel bad about themselves is the best way you can think of to spend your time. I hope you pass through that phase quickly and without hurting too many people in the process.
Whoa…looks like we have a case of nerdrage right here. I’m just making a point. Do and say as you will, I’m not here to dictate good sirs.
And Chris, I didn’t try. Pike did that all on her/his own.
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