Just to continue spreading the word:

Firstly: We’ve shown more artwork as a preview up on the Art for Japan blog— I hope you take a look and enjoy the work! There’s even more on the way, but we have some really amazing pieces from contributors.

Secondly: we’ve listed more new amazing art from artists like Dustin Harbin, Andrea Kalfas, Carly Monardo and many more! Comics pages, art prints, fan art, even a fan and a perpetual calendar! Please check out all the auctions here, and keep your eyes peeled for the next auctions to be listed. We’ve already raised close to $200 for relief efforts but we’d love to raise a lot more, so please bid and spread the word the ways you know how— we could use your help!

A derail from your usual programming here at Show & Tell; but please don’t tune out. My sister and I wanted to put together something in light of the recent earthquakes and tsunami that’ve affected Japan, so here goes:

On March 11, 2011, Japan was devastated by one of the worst earthquakes in recorded history. At the current writing, the death toll stands at over 1000 people, with many thousands more still unaccounted for. Worse than the loss of life is the loss of infrastructure; entire villages have been obliterated, and hundreds of thousands are currently unable to return to their homes. Which is to say nothing of the nuclear meltdown that may or may not occur!
 
Basically, Japan is in a very bad way, and it’s up to us to help them.
 
Japan has given those of us of a nerdly sort a lot over the years: sushi, angry dogs with curly tails, unsettling pornography, feminine dudes with huge swords, painstakingly thorough RPGs, and SO MUCH MORE. It’s only right and fitting that we repay them, so we’ve decided to put together Art for Japan. Basically, we will be holding an eBay auction of cool goodies in the upcoming weeks and donating the proceeds to Japanese earthquake relief; it’s not rocket science, but like NASA, it DOES depend on you. We need you to donate whatever you can—art, books, whatever—from your creative endeavors in order to make this a roaring success. All proceeds will go to help the Japanese people dig out from under this pile of calamities, and you’ll get the warm and fuzzy feeling that comes from doing something nice for people in a whole mess of trouble.
 
So! If you’re a cartoonist, illustrator, designer, animator, crafter, fine artist, etc and would like to help, please contact artforjapan2011@gmail.com! If you can send along details of what you’ll be able to contribute and when you might be able to send it to us, that’d be wonderful. If you can’t contribute, please spread the word and keep an eye out—we’re going to try and put together a quick site if we have time (if any volunteers are willing to help us out, that’d be amazing), but updates will definitely be mentioned both here and on our Twitter accounts.

FAQ:
 
1.    What charity are you going to donate to?
 All funds raised through this campaign will be donated to AmeriCares and tagged for Japan relief. AmeriCares, a nonpartisan and nondenominational organization, uses 99% of its revenue on its charitable programs and is rated four stars on CharityNavigator.org, so we feel that it will be able to make excellent use of the money.

2.    What kind of goods can I contribute to the auction?
Merchandise, prints, books, posters, original art, whatever you can spare! If you want to do an original piece for the auction, that would be great. Basically, whatever you think people would like to buy.
 
3.    Can I do fanart?
Given that so many of us are fans of shows, movies, comics, and games that came from Japan, I think that would be entirely appropriate. But Godzilla would probably be in poor taste.
 
4.    Does it have to be Japan-themed?
…no? But it can be. But it doesn’t have to be! Whatever you have to give is fine, just fine.

5.    When is the deadline to contribute?
We’d like to hold the auctions in early April, so we would need to receive your donation by March 31, 2011.
 
6.    I STILL HAVE QUESTIONS!
Then please email us at artforjapan2011@gmail.com!