#RPG #ART – Zelart Scholarship 2018-2019

DONATE, SHARE, ENTER!

Many artists are struggling. The gig economy, the degree of competition, university or college fees, it all adds up to be a massive discouragement to many artists and for those who make their living from their art, life can be extremely precarious. The Zelart Scholarship seeks to redress this for those who have the biggest challenges ahead of them, young or disadvantaged genre artists. For several years we’ve been doing all we can to help.

The Zelart Scholarship

Hi, my name is James ‘Grim’ Desborough. I’m an author and roleplaying game designer from the UK, with my own small press publisher, Postmortem Studios. I run the Zelart Scholarship in memory of my friend and collaborator, ‘Zel’.

Zel was an artist I worked with and helped through his education. We met through friends and formed a strong working relationship together. We made card games together and he provided illustrations for several of my gaming books. I got a great sense of satisfaction from helping a young, budding artist through school and watching his talent blossom.

Sadly, Zel was killed in an accident before I got to see him fully achieve his artistic potential or the success he so richly deserved.

Casting about for something I could do to commemorate him, I remembered how we had met, how the work I gave him had helped him so much and how good it had felt to nurture that talent. The best way to remember Zel, I felt, was to do the same for others.

In my day to day work I do what I can, deliberately seeking out young, marginalised, disabled, unemployed, homeless and other disadvantaged artists to give them a leg up, money and help in getting the attention of the RPG and publishing community to get them into more regular work.

The Zelart scholarship is a natural extension of this. A way to hunt out and promote new talent and to give them a lump sum of cash to smooth their way.

What We Need & What You Get

We sell Zel’s back catalogue of stock art, along with donated artworks and the artwork of past winners to raise funds over the year and supplement that with what we can raise via this fundraiser. This isn’t about selling a product to you, but what you get out of it is more, reasonably priced stock art, a way to nurture new artists and a warm sense of self-satisfaction.

Whatever money we get will go to the scholarship winner, if we raise a great deal over and above our target we may institute second or third tier awards. Whatever we raise will go to artists.

Risks & Challenges

It can be challenging to find people both to sponsor and to enter into this scholarship. Previous years this has proven very challenging. Whatever you can do to spread the word to potential sponsors, donators and entrants is greatly appreciated.

Other Ways You Can Help

Besides a contribution, you can help out in many other ways.

Are you a young artist or an artist suffering from reduced circumstances? Then enter!

Are an artist who is doing OK for themselves and has some spare personal pieces they don’t mind being sold to support this enterprise? You can donate art!

Do you know a young artist or an artist who needs the money due to disability, unemployment or other issues? Tell them about it!

Rules for Entry

Entries to try and win the scholarship award should meet the following requirements:

1. At least A6 at 300 dpi and able to be delivered digitally.
2. It is preferred that you have a Paypal account for ease of payment.
3. You must be either a student, or an artist in reduced circumstances, whatever those might be.
4. Your art must fit into the loose definition of ‘genre art’. That is science fiction, fantasy, horror and similar.
5. Adult art is permitted, but nothing ‘hardcore’. Consider your limit to be that of ‘burlesque’.
6. Contact for further clarifications and entires is grim AT postmort DOT demon DOT co DOT uk.

#RPG – Gor RPG Open Call Writers/Artists

Hello everyone,

Due to the delays in getting the main Gor RPG and resource book out because of the art I am forced to start looking into putting out – or at least commissioning – supporting material in advance of the books being released. I also have to update the game material to account for the latest novel, PLUNDER.

As such I am looking for some artists and – in a rare turn of events – writers, to help me get this supplementary material up and going.

I’m not quite ready to commission yet, but will be in the near future. I want to produce a piece of the material myself to demonstrate what I’m after to people. Still, if you want to pre-register your interest let me know.

Writers

The job will be adventure writing, mostly in a loose, investigative structure, without the statistics for the creatures/people involved. The target will be 6-7k words for which you’ll be paid 0.03 USD per word with a maximum payout of $200.

Familiarity with Gor is necessary, but you don’t have to be au fait with the entire canon.

Background material will be provided.

Since you won’t be writing system material this is less important, but a familiarity with the OpenD6 system will still be helpful.

If you can make available an example of your adventure/scenario writing work for me to peruse, that would be very helpful.

Artists

The job will be producing three to four (or more if willing) quarter A4/Letter illustrations at 600 dpi in black and white. This will usually be 1-2 figures, a figure and monster, an object or similar. Basic rate will be $100 USD for these four illustrations but this is negotiable to an extent and you’ll be given as much creative leeway and other benefits as possible.

You should be willing and able to draw (tasteful) nudity to the point of bare breasts and some illustrations may require a familiarity with a BDSM aesthetic, though most will be more along sword and sorcery or planetary romance lines. Think Frazetta, Royo, Cho etc and you get some idea.

You’ll be provided reference material for descriptions and examples of existing art to work from.

Applications should be made to grim@postmort.demon.co.uk and please do pass this information along.

Artist Needed: @ctiv8 2.0

As a side project I have recently completed a draft of a new version of @ctiv8, a game of modern adventure and activism, updating it to account for the new state of the world and advanced in technology.

I’d like to add to and supplement the original art and am seeking an artist to do so.

Specs:

4xA6, B&W line art, 300dpi+

Pay: $100 basic, make me an offer otherwise, more for the right artist.

Specifics to come if you’re accepted, but a somewhat low key, realistic approach, showing off the subject’s expertise or athleticism, without necessarily resorting to violence and gunplay would be the brief.

Contact via usual social media or email: grim AT postmort DOT demon DOT co DOT uk