Frequently Asked Questions
These are things I get asked in email so much that I was tempted to make a page and just copy and paste answers. But I decided that making that page something you could see would be much more efficient for everyone. So here it is! See if your question is on the list!
Can you draw my fanfic character?
I really would love to be able to do this - it would stretch my design muscles and give me an excuse to draw outside of school and work, but I'm afraid I can't. Reason one being I hate saying no to some people when I've said yes to others, and there's no way I can say yes to everyone, or else I would be illustrating fanfics all day and doing nothing else with my life. Second, I'm not an elitist snob or anything, but I've made a vow to myself not to read any fanfic until I've read all seven Harry Potter books (and at the pace Book 5 is coming out, the Apocalypse might have come and gone by then) and I don't feel right drawing a character I hardly know. So if you're desperate to have your character designed, and feel like you can't draw worth beans, try looking for other HP artists - there are lots of them, and I'm sure at least a couple would love the chance to design someone.
How old are you?
I'm the same age as Betty Schaeffer! (How's that for being vague?) But the majority of the pictures drawn on this site were from when I was 17 or 18, as I hadn't read HP before then and was too busy with school after that. Aside from the pictures clearly marked as "new," of course. My mental age, however, is hovering around a mature 12. I hear that's about average for animators (give or take the "mature") so I'm not too worried. It's a very fun age to think in.
Can I use your pictures on my website/book report/art project/scrapbook/binder/birthday cake/etc?
In most cases, yes. You can use them on your website if you give a little credit to me somewhere, saying "Tealin drew these pictures" or something like that. I just ask that you send me the URL so I know where my pictures are going. UNLESS IT'S A SLASH SITE! Ick! I hate Slash! You are free to use any of them you like for school work as long as – and this is the important part – your teacher knows you got them off the Internet. Got that? We're working on the honour system here, I can't hover over your shoulder and make sure you tell your teacher, but do it for me, will you, please? As for the other stuff, go straight ahead ... scrapbooks, journals, folders, binders, birthday cakes, letters, walls, doors, ceilings ... it's all been done before, I've got no problem with it.
What do you use to colour your pics?
This has turned out to be a surprisingly frequently asked question. Most of the coloured pictures on my site were coloured in Paint Shop Pro 6 (which I happened to have on my computer at the time I drew them), but more recent ones are done using Photoshop, because I happen to have that on my computer now. The Burrow and the compartment on the Hogwarts express were done in pencil crayon.
Where do you live?
Canada. I'll be no more specific than that. And it seems to me that Canadian Harry Potter fans are shockingly underrepresented in the online HP community... where are you guys?
Do you/are you going to work for Disney?
Goodness me, no. The people working at Disney are about 654,376,841 times better than me. And even they are losing their jobs. (Long, aggravating, sad story.) The chances of me getting a job there are next to none too. I have worked on some animated shows, however. If you live in Canada or Denmark you may have seen (or will have the opportunity to see) Silverwing, a series based on the first of Kenneth Oppel's books about bats. I worked on that. A lot. I most recently finished working on a direct-to-video feature called Dragons: Fire and Ice, which will be airing on Teletoon and WB this fall, and will likely hit DVD in time for Christmas. Before that, I worked briefly on What About Mimi for Studio B, which also airs on Teletoon. But Disney is a bit beyond my horizons for the moment.
Well, I hope that answers your question(s), and if it didn't, please, email me! I will be polite and precise and, I hope, prompt.