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Armadillo Stock

@armadillostock.bsky.social
319 followers 13 following 164 posts

A community-built free-to-use platform for licensing directly from illustrators, coming soon! armadillostock.com

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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Excited for an AI-free licensing website for illustrators? Sign up to join our waitlist, or volunteer! form.jotform.com/armadillosto...
Illustration of an armadillo on a laptop
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
It was such a wonderful experience talking about Armadillo on the main stage at ICON! The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and we're more motivated than ever to get our beta site launched. Thank you to everyone who attended the talk, and thank you to ICON for hosting another great conference!
Photo of Michele Rosenthal speaking at a podium with her illustration projected behind herPhoto of the Armadillo logo sticker on a table surrounded by artist business cards
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
There's a new update on our Substack, and some exciting news: @michelerosenthal.com will be giving a Kaleidoscope talk about Armadillo at @iconconference.bsky.social, the Illustration Conference, this Friday! armadillostock.substack.com/p/rolling-al....
illustration of an armadillo working at a computer
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Feels good to see our licensing site for illustrators taking shape :) Animation by @xanaroker.bsky.social
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Happy World Juggling Day! It's tough to juggle everything that goes into an illustration career, so we're building Armadillo Stock to make licensing a lot easier.
Illustration of a woman juggling a baseball, an apple, and an armadillo
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
We were asked a good question about how we'll maintain a level of quality on a licensing website that will be open to all illustrators. Here's what we have planned.
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Meet our mascot, Arlo Strawberry Armadillo. Animated by the talented @xanaroker.bsky.social! #animationmeme #ringdingdong
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Armadillo Stock will be a licensing website for illustrators, where we don't allow AI, and we don't take a cut. What is licensing? Glad you asked!
When an artist creates a work of art, the usage rights automatically belong to the artist. If someone else wants to use the art, they can buy permission from the artist. This is called "licensing."When a client commissions an original work of art, a licensing deal is built into the agreement. The artist is agreeing to create the art, while also agreeing the client can use the art in particular ways. In some contacts, the artist gives full ownership rights to the client. In the United States, these are usually called Work For How contacts. In other contacts the artist still owns the art, and only sells some of its usage rights.The usage rights can be whatever both parties agree to. Here's a starting point of what to discuss: HOW can the art be used? For personal use? For educational purposes? Commercially? WHO can use the artwork? Is the license exclusive? Can other people license it at the same time? Is it exclusive in a specific market? Can it be sub-licensed to a third party?WHERE can the art be used? Online? In print? Worldwide? In a specific region? WHEN can the art be used? In perpetuity (forever)? For a set period of time? Is the license royalty-free (a one-time payment) or rights-managed (additional payments every time the art is used)? Whatever you agree to, always put the agreement in writing!
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
The newsletter link on our site is fixed! Thanks for letting us know it was down. You can sign up at armadillostock.substack.com 📰
armadillostock.substack.com
The Armadillo Gazette | Substack
Discussions around illustration licensing, including AI, stock illustration, copyright law, contract negotiation, and more. Click to read The Armadillo Gazette, a Substack publication. Launched 2 year...
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
How our licensing website for illustrators started vs. how it's going!
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
How will we make money if we don't take a cut? In the future, we're looking at premium memberships to keep the website free to use for everyone else.
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
A quick announcement 🧵
In order to support all forms of creativity, the Armadillo team has decided that we will allow AI generated artwork onto our soon-to-launch platform.
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
An update, and a look at some of what we've coded so far!
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Meet some of our team members: @xanaroker.bsky.social, @mintii.bsky.social, Gabriela, and @cassidy.social. Thank you for making our illustration licensing dreams a reality! 👋
Meet the Armadillo Team: Xana Prudencio, Community Manager. What are you working on? I'm editing a video that will give more of a behind-the-scenes look at what we're building. What brings you to the Armadillo team? I believe this project will genuinely help artists in these precarious times.Meet the Armadillo Team: Brittney Braxton, Project Manager, Developer. What are you working on? I’m on the dev team, building our website using Ruby on Rails! What brings you to the Armadillo team? I love the mission of Armadillo, and I want to build a better way for artists to get paid work! Let’s support art by humans!Meet the Armadillo Team: Gabriela Leal, UI Designer. What are you working on? Currently working on improving the UI of our art related pages! What brings you to the Armadillo team? The need to have a trustful website that keeps artists safe from the prying eyes of generative AI.Meet the Armadillo Team: Cassidy Smith, Web Developer. What are you working on? I'm currently building out our account and profile pages. What brings you to the Armadillo team? I'm here because I love the mission and it's a great opportunity to build something to support working artists!
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Oops, we're a day late, but happy belated Pi Day anyway!
illustration of a chef armadillo holding a pie with the pi symbol on it
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Do you need to copyright your artwork? If you live in the United States...maybe. 🎨🎓
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Some useful vocabulary for licensing your art 🎓
Word of the day: Licensor. The person(s) giving or selling a license. Licensee. The person(s) getting or buying a licenseWord of the day: Copyright. The right to make copies of an original creative work. Copyright automatically goes to the artist once the work is given form. But, creative work in
the U.S. needs to be registered in order to protect copyright through litigation.Word of the day: Royalty Free, a license that allows multiple uses of the art without requiring additional payments. Rights Managed, a license that requires a royalty payment or license payment for each additional use.Word of the day: Work for Hire. In the U.S., a “work for hire” contract is when an employer is granted full authorship rights to the employee’s completed work
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Show us your fairy tale art for Tell a Fairy Tale Day! Here's some art from team members @michelerosenthal.com, @kitsnow.bsky.social, and @xanaroker.bsky.social
Colorful illustration of an armadillo reading a book, with the text: Tell a Fairy Tale DayIllustration of Beauty and the BeastIllustration of the Little Mermaid Illustration of a character flying through different worlds
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
What's your favorite licensing story? I'll go first. Let me tell you about the fashion brand that licensed my pattern, and the celebrity who wore it.
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Meet Mariama, one of our dev team members. Mariama has built a lot of our front end, and we're grateful for her enthusiasm and dedication! 👋
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Hello art friends, we're back from our social media break! We have so much in store for 2026, including the official launch of our website in the coming months! 🚀 Read our newsletter for more: armadillostock.substack.com/p/2026-the-y...
armadillostock.substack.com
2026: The Year We Launch
Hello art friends,
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Hi art lovers! Our social media team has been taking a well-deserved break after the success of our Kickstarter, but here's a quick update. Digital rewards are going out, and the site is coming together: armadillostock.substack.com/p/a-quick-up...
armadillostock.substack.com
A Quick Update
Kickstarter rewards are going out, and the site is coming together
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Michele Rosenthal @michelerosenthal.com · 25/09/2025
What a fantastic ending to our Kickstarter. Thank you to everyone who believes in this project as much as I do! And a special thank you to our marketing team, @xanaroker.bsky.social and @kitsnow.bsky.social, for the work and wisdom that made our grassroots campaign such a success!
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Drawmark @drawmark.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Thank you. You did it. With your support the Armadillo Kickstarter is fully funded and then some. This is a solid foundation on which the selfless, volunteer team at @armadillostock.bsky.social can build out a new idea in illustration licensing. Look for more announcements on what comes next. 🙏
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
🎉 THANK YOU! 🎉 Our Kickstarter is complete, and we've raised an incredible 150% of our goal!! Late pledges are open if you still want to support us or get early artist access. We couldn't be more grateful as we prepare for the launch of our beta site later this year. Stay tuned for updates!
Drawing of a happy armadillo and the words "thank you!"
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Kelly B-B @kellykomics.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
I just backed @armadillostock.bsky.social : Licensing for Human Illustrators on Kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/dia...
kickstarter.com
Armadillo: Licensing for Human Illustrators
We're building a free-to-use platform for artists to share their licensable work. We don't allow AI, and we don't take a cut.
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
16 hours left in the Kickstarter! Meet @emblalunae.bsky.social, another member of our wonderful UI/UX team 👋
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
18 hours left in the Kickstarter!
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Only 24 hours to go!!!
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
100 backers and 41 hours remaining! Let's gooo!
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Drawmark @drawmark.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Less than 48 hours to go. Thanks so much to everyone who has backed, posted about, shared or clicked on the Kickstarter link, mentioned it to friends, followed the @armadillostock.bsky.social socials, and just thought about what a game-changing endeavor this can be. THX! Now who will be backer 100?
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
With less than 48 hours left in our Kickstarter, we'd like to take you on a quick tour of our wireframe!
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Only 3 days left in the Kickstarter, and we'd like to introduce you to more of the team! Meet Thom (thomhines.com), a great designer and real sweetheart who joined our UI/UX team a few months back. Thanks for sitting down and talking about the project with us! 👋
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Only 3 days left in the Kickstarter, and we'd like to introduce you to more of the team! Meet Thom (thomhines.com), a great designer and real sweetheart who joined our UI/UX team a few months back. Thanks for sitting down and talking about the project with us! 👋
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
With 6 days left in the Kickstarter, we want to introduce you to some of our team members! Meet @cassidy.social, the newest developer to join the Armadillo Army. With an eye for design and a full-stack set of skills, we're lucky to have her! 👋
Meet the Armadillo Team: Cassidy Smith, Web Developer. What are you working on? I'm currently building out our account and profile pages. What brings you to the Armadillo team? I'm here because I love the mission and it's a great opportunity to build something to support working artists!
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🍁🎃Eski🎃🍁 @eskiworks.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Gonna boost this again to let other independent artists know about this upcoming platform! This is probably one of the most promising licensing websites I've seen, especially because they go all in on protecting artists from AI and not nickel-and-diming us in fees. Please consider supporting them!
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Katie Croonenberghs Art @kamakru.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Definitely keeping an eye on this! I have a huge catalogue of old illustrations that I'd love to license out but not sure how to go about offering them. Having a place to source licensing for those who want to avoid genai would be amazing
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
We've reached our Kickstarter goal with a week remaining! Thank you for supporting our mission to build a licensing website for illustrators. What is licensing? Glad you asked!
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Michele Rosenthal @michelerosenthal.com · 15/09/2025
I'm so proud of the entire Armadillo team, so grateful for the community support, and so ready to build the best licensing website we can build!
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
🎉 We did it! The Armadillo Kickstarter is funded! 🎉 To celebrate, we can finally reveal our mascot's name, as chosen by you. Meet Arlo Strawberry Armadillo, or Arlo for short. This was a true grassroots campaign, and we can't thank you enough. You still have 9 days left if you want to support us!
We're 100% funded! A happy armadillo says, "Thank you!" in a speech bubble. A name tag reads, Hello, my name is Arlo
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
We're so close to our goal!! Help us cross the finish line so we can build an alternative licensing website for illustrators!
Our Kickstarter is 99% funded! $5,940 pledged on $6,000 goal. 76 backers. 9 days to go.
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Drawmark @drawmark.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
The @armadillostock.bsky.social Kickstarter campaign is getting real close to its funding goal. Even a tiny amount helps get this licensing platform by illustrators, for illustrators, off the ground. Let’s blow by the 🤑 goal and do something positive for a change! www.kickstarter.com/projects/dia...
kickstarter.com
Armadillo: Licensing for Human Illustrators
We're building a free-to-use platform for artists to share their licensable work. We don't allow AI, and we don't take a cut.
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Naih Astelle 🍳 | VGen Artist @naihastelle.com · 12/09/2025
Proud to be a @kickstarter.com support of @armadillostock.bsky.social ! They’re so close to their goal! Support the new illustration licensing platform built by illustrators for illustrators! I’m so excited for this market to finally be filled kck.st/45Dqcsl ✿┊【 #kickstarter #noai 】
kck.st
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Drawmark @drawmark.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
An interview with @michelerosenthal.com, founder and driving force behind @armadillostock.bsky.social, the alt licensing platform. Read and support the Armadillo Kickstarter campaign. Big THX to @julienposture.bsky.social. open.substack.com/pub/julienpo...
open.substack.com
Licensing platforms: is there no alternative? (Yes, there is.)
An interview with grassroots licensing platform Armadillo's founder, Michele Rosenthal
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
The Armadillo Ambassadors are the talented group of artists featured on our site who supported us early on. Thank you @paulheaston.bsky.social, Kendyll Hillegas, @breelundberg.com, @sonnyross.bsky.social, @feanne.bsky.social, @alannaflowers.bsky.social, and @michelerosenthal.com! 1/2
Meet our ambassadors: Paul Heaston, linktr.ee/paulheaston
A pen and ink illustration of sketching at a cafe, and a pen and ink illustration of an old truckMeet our ambassadors: Kendyll Hillegas, kendyllhillegas.com
An illustration of circular fruit cross sections in rainbow order, and an illustrated chart depicting different varieties of pieMeet our ambassadors: Bree Lundberg, breelundberg.com
An illustration of a frog in a scarf and coat watching falling leaves in a river, and an illustration of a distressed bunny carrying a latte with the text, "I have a latte going on!"Meet our ambassadors: Sonny Ross, sonnyross.com
An illustration of brick buildings on fire, and an illustration of a camper in a dense forest
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✨ rampaige halsey ✨ @rampaigehalsey.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
I’m so excited for this to be a THING!!
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Drawmark @drawmark.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Oh. Have I mentioned the @kickstarter.com campaign to fund @armadillostock.bsky.social? Well, this new illustration licensing platform built by illustrators for illustrators, needs your support. Follow the link to find out how you can help. THX! www.kickstarter.com/projects/dia...
kickstarter.com
Armadillo: Licensing for Human Illustrators
We're building a free-to-use platform for artists to share their licensable work. We don't allow AI, and we don't take a cut.
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Our Kickstarter has reached over $5k, and our goal is in sight! But we still need your help. What should we name our mascot? We've narrowed it down to Arlo and Strawberry. (Honorable mentions to Dilly, Indy, and Stockton.) Let us know your vote, and we'll announce the winner in our newsletter!
Name our mascot, final round! There are two name tags that say "Arlo" and "Strawberry." At the bottom is a logo of an armadillo holding a pencil
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Drawmark @drawmark.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
THX to all the illustrators, cartoonists, designers who have backed the Kickstarter campaign for @armadillostock.bsky.social. They know Armadillo is a free to use licensing platform for illustrators by illustrators. -NO AI -100% 💰 to artists -Community support www.kickstarter.com/projects/dia...
kickstarter.com
Armadillo: Licensing for Human Illustrators
We're building a free-to-use platform for artists to share their licensable work. We don't allow AI, and we don't take a cut.
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Armadillo Stock @armadillostock.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Here are answers to a few common questions we've gotten. Let us know what else you'd like to learn about the project. And thank you for helping us reach over 3/4 of our goal, let's keep it going!
Cartoon armadillo with the heading FAQ. Q: How will you keep the website AI-free? A: Artist accounts will be invitation-only to start, and we'll ask for a portfolio link of human-made art to approve new accounts. If an image is flagged by the community, we'll work quickly to investigate and take it down.Cartoon armadillo with the heading FAQ. Q: Will you allow artwork that's not safe for work? A: Yes! We welcome mature content that doesn't depict minors or bigotry, as long as it's appropriately taggedCartoon armadillo with the heading FAQ. Q: Can an artist put limitations on how their art is used? A: Since negotiation happens off the website directly between artists and buyers, the usage terms can be anything both parties agree toCartoon armadillo with the heading FAQ. Q: How will the site be funded in the long term? A: In the future, we'll fund the site through premium memberships, offering perks like larger portfolios and higher search rankings for artists, and shareable folders of liked art for buyers
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