More Aether Dancer news!

[jadedeath.livejournal.com]

Thanks to posting here, I seem to have gotten the funds up to 1% of our total, still a long way to go, but it's certainly a great deal more than I had before.

Which is why we're starting up a new contest!

Hello one and all!

As you know, the Aether Dancer staff have been quietly rounding up some of the finest actors and crew for our pilot episode. We are hoping to shoot with them in early October for about two weeks.

We have a few roles left to fill, but most are under negotiation. The one role which remains is the male role of Lord Darvin Phelps. Read the description below, does it sound like a role that was made just for you?

“Lord Phelps is a bold, spoiled foppish young man aboard the Aether Dancer strictly for adventure. Though this landed Lord of The Central Empire lives in an illusion of wealth, his family has little more than the rundown manor house they live in. His father has arranged an undesirable marriage with a wealthy landowner’s daughter and allowed Phelps one year of carousing and adventure before settling down. Cap’n Mac was paid a tidy sum for bringing Phelps aboard but often regrets it. Phelps adds to the problem by baiting and flirting with the Captain at every turn. Phelps is a well dressed dandy with a devil may care attitude and completely selfish nature.”

If you’d like a chance to be in this role, read on!

We are looking for male actors to submit a link to a 1 minute long YouTube video where they talk about themselves, along with an acting CV and links to any work they have done. We will be closing this portion of the screening at noon, EST on Tuesday July 26th.

From there, we will choose 5 equally worthy candidates, and then the fun begins! As you all know, unless we meet our funding goal, we will not be able to film a full pilot episode. While we will be putting in as much of our own money as we can into the project, the big ticket items we’ve listed on IndieGoGo are substantial. So the 5 candidates for the role of Lord Phelps will be helping us out by spreading the word about our project! Each time someone donates money on IndieGoGo for this project and mentions a candidate’s name, those funds are put towards the candidate’s total. If we meet our funding goal at the end of the next 30 days, the candidate whose supporters have raised the most money will be awarded the role! The remaining 4 candidates will be given small roles later on in the first season if the show is picked up by the networks.

Let us be clear… we are not selling a role on the show. We are not about to choose an unqualified actor simply to raise funds. We are looking for serious actors who believe in this project as much as we do. If we get funding, everyone wins, and all actors will get paid.

So send us your submissions! Email your YouTube Link, CV (in PDF format), and links to other work you have done to steven.lambert@jadelensproductions.com

Thank you!

Moonvoice on the Business of Art

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Moonvoice describes some important steps for turning your art into a business.  If you mix art and money, or want to, you need to read this.  Much of it has relevance for other creative business endeavors too. 

meeksp tipped me to this post, but I follow Moonvoice pretty avidly.  I haven't bought anything from her, largely because I'm broke, but I'm a serious fan.  I echo links for a great many of her posts.  I admire her technical skill and speed; I've seen her post a sketch one day, ink the next, and finished painting the third.  (Other projects take forever because she'll do something like render a desk-sized picture in tiny dots.)  She has an amazing ability to make colors go together, when normally such a combination would only work for God in a sunset.  That ties into the numinous side of her work; she specializes in totem pictures, and the animal spirits tend to specify the colors and certain other details.  If you haven't seen her work, go look.  It is absolutely worth the trip.

Sketch Fest #16 - starts soon!

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

What is Sketch Fest?

Sketch Fest involves artists from all over the world, working on a pool of audience-generated prompts and ideas for up to - but no more than! - one hour an any given sketch. For 24 hours, we creatively jam, share our results with each other, and sell our work. Artists can work in any media, for any part of the 24 hours, on any of the prompts, and are welcome to sell or crowdfund their work themselves off-site, or sell them through the Sketch Fest site.


The Crowdfunding Aspect of Sketch Fest

One of the bummers of micro-funding things is that so much gets lost in the transfer - the ones really making out are services like Paypal, who take a big cut from small payments. I've set it up so that artists get a percentage of their sale back in credits (up to 90%, they set their own rate), and they can use those credits to buy other available sketches, as well as have the option to buy things ...or they can simply cash out their credits. I plan to add the tools to let people use the credits to tip writers and artists at EMG-Zine or Torn World, or the critics at Fantastic Portfolios, as well... without watching it decrease in value as it passes through hands. (They can do this manually now, just by asking me.)

What about the donation portion? These, and straight donations through the site, go to pay me to program improvements onto the webpage, which has been entirely crowdfunded. You can see a complete accounting of the improvements made for each fest here. Requested improvements are usually added to the site before the next Sketch Fest, so users get fairly immediate rewards for their donations! I choose which improvements to focus on based on direct user feedback, sometimes running a poll, sometimes asking for input, and sometimes simply distilling the emails and comments I get.

Sketches available for purchase are cleared a few hours before each Sketch Fest, so artists don't have to remember to remove them if they lose their sketch, accidentally finish it, or simply no longer want to sell it. These will clear in just an hour or so, to make room for the work that will become available as Sketch Fest #16 moves into motion!


A Brief History

Sketch Fest sprouted from Torn World's Muse Fusions, which were inspired by ysabetwordsmith's Poetry Fishbowls, which were spawned by Harlan Ellison's Stories Under Glass.

Our first event was hosted at livejournal, on March 26th, 2010. 20 people left prompts, between 1 and about dozen apiece, 19 artists participated with sketches. It ran for 12 hours, and about 75 sketches were posted. I say 'about' because it was spread out over 239 comments, and very chaotic, indeed.

We've had nearly monthly Sketch Fests since that time (barring major surgery on my part and NaNoWriMo, which delayed the November fest to a second one in January), and each month the site has some shiny new improvements.

On average, about 50 artists participate, producing between 175 and 250 sketches, and they take home several hundred dollars in total, while funding another 3-5 hours of work on the site. We've got 2,459 total sketches on the site, and 284 pieces have been finished from sketches started during Sketch Fests.


Where are we going?

Most of the improvements I wanted to add back at the one year mark have been accomplished, but there are many things left to do... I want to add more options for artists when uploading their work (including being able to flag ACEOs, and add keywords, and add a link to buy off-site), which will lead to better ways to browse the sketches. I'd like to make better integration with the other EMG sites, so that it's easier to spend and share credits. I'd like to develop the karma (non-monetary units) system so that people are rewarded for commenting, participating and leaving prompts (this system is in its infancy - the barest of frameworks is in place). We're going to need paginated browsing on some pages in the not-so-far future, I suspect. I'd also like to discuss opening the project to other forms of art, such as writing (still bound by the one-hour limit!). It would be fun to add a meter, too, to show how many hours of improvements the Sketch Fest has earned...

I've worked on ambitious projects a lot over the years (a LOT *shakes cane*), and often find that I come out at the end with things that are close to what I had in mind, but that won't pay off for years and years (if they ever do!). Sketch Fest is vastly different in that it was entirely front-funded - and has exceeded my vision. I was paid professional programming rates at every step of the way to create exactly what was needed and requested in direct response to the users. The project itself makes me wildly happy because it's getting people to do art, and love doing it again - and even make money at it!

I've gotten a lot of feedback from people who have rediscovered their muses through Sketch Fest, and that's the very best part of the project. I want to keep doing that.


Come Get involved!

Come and play at Sketch Fest #16 (Sweet 16!) today and tomorrow, July 22-23, noon to noon Alaska time. (In about 2 1/2 hours!) I've got some suggestions from last month about how to get ready for a Sketch Fest.

Participants may play along without registering, but there are lots of extra tools if you do register, including a look at a wall of pieces you've inspired as a prompter, the ability to edit your pieces and upload finished versions as an artist, as well as buy artwork instantly with credits! It also allows you to leave comments after the Sketch Fest has closed. (Note that registration is ONLY available when Sketch Fest is open, due to constant battles with spam-joins. Better spam filtering is an option for a future improvement, and then registration could be generally open!)

You don't have to be an amazing artist - or consider yourself an artist at all! - to sketch along and have fun. You may be amazed by what you can do if you put your mind to it, and the one hour time limit actually takes some of the pressure off; no one is expecting you to create a masterpiece in one hour or less, and we're all posting work in various awkward stages. Many people do 10 or 15 minute sketches - you don't even have to commit to a whole hour! Sketch Fest teaches you to observe your own work habits and improve your speed and creativity, as well as try subjects you might otherwise never tackle. Feedback and interaction is lively throughout the weekend, and our community of artists is very warm and welcoming. We're available on chat, and I check my email between my own sketches so I can solve problems, retrieve passwords and help out.

I welcome your input, ideas, and suggestions! If you've already been involved, what's your favorite part of Sketch Fest? Are there any future features you are particularly looking forward to? Do you have a favorite sketch or finished piece at the site? If you're new to Sketch Fest, can I answer any questions for you? Is anything about the site confusing or overwhelming?

Warning! Sketch Fest is highly addictive!

Story Sketches: crowdfunded illustration for writers and their fans

[meeksp.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm Meeks. If you started following us earlier this week, you've probably seen me mentioned a disproportionate number of times for someone who's actually rather new to this whole crowdfunding thing :P I launched Story Sketches just this past April, and I really appreciate all the attention it's gotten since then!

the project
Story Sketches is a crowdfunded illustration project in which writers are invited to request art based on scenes they have written. I post rough sketches for free, and do more work on them when my audience expresses enough interest by leaving feedback comments, sending monetary tips, and linking to the image.

the reason
I studied illustration in art school, but a lot has changed since then.
The internet has empowered authors to connect directly with readers, so the big publishers who traditionally assigned stories to be illustrated are now an option rather than a necessity. Illustration and writing have always gone hand-in-hand, so I couldn't help wondering what the rise of crowdfunded weblit might mean for me as an artist. With more and more writers choosing to publish their work on the web, it seemed natural to me that illustration should follow.

What I realized is that there is unprecedented opportunity for direct collaboration between artists and writers. My strength lies not in creativity, but in my craft; I work best when other people provide the ideas. Others (most notably djinni) were already offering icons based on audience requests, and those can be a lot of fun to do…but, fresh from my first experience as a storybook illustrator, I wanted a bigger canvas to work on. If icons can be thought of as the digital equivalent of spot illustrations, my Story Sketches are more like full-page or cover art. Most self-published writers have neither the budget, nor the need for the same usage rights that publishing companies typically license for this type of artwork, and one of my goals is to make it more accessible to them.

the benefits
Most authors, in my experience, are delighted to see their characters take visual form, so I think the *SQUEE!* factor is a big part of my project's appeal, and has probably motivated at least a few of my prompters ;) A good illustration can also capture readers' interest, and I've had more than one person comment that a sketch of mine drove them to check out the story. So, writers link their fans to my sketches, and my sketches attract new readers to their work. Readers (including me!) can find new stuff to read. Everybody wins!

the process
When an author requests a sketch, I read the story I've been asked to illustrate, and do a rough sketch, which I post here on LJ. I've divided the work needed to go from rough sketch to finished illustration into several distinct stages, and set contribution targets for each. There's a tip button at the bottom of every sketch post, and supporters can use it to fund specific revisions or help move a sketch toward the next stage. I know that a lack of money is not equivalent to a lack of enthusiasm, and I do appreciate different types of involvement, so some additional work can also be prompted by comments or linkbacks.

I try to encourage participation by soliciting feedback and incorporating suggestions from commenters when I refine a sketch. There's a weekly draw for a free custom icon to reward thoughtful critique, and I also make an effort to answer questions and take part in discussions that develop.

So far, I've been extremely fortunate in that my project seems to be attracting an audience of very talented people, many of whom have a good eye for art. Not only do they help me by pointing out what is and isn't working in my pictures, their comments will often call attention to aspects of my own art that I hadn't consciously thought about. Best of all, when creative people gather to share their thoughts, inspiration becomes infectious, and new ideas start popping up even when we don't expect them.

If you'd like to participate in the Story Sketches project, please check out my call for prompts, and feel free to browse the art I've done for others!

Sketch Fest Today

[ysabetwordsmith]

Visit the Sketch Fest to leave prompts or gain artistic inspiration. Registration is free and gets you access to extra features, such as a user page where you can see what you've inspired. Donation gets you other features, like being able to leave more prompts.

This is a project where I participate as a fan, leaving prompts, because I don't do sketching.  It's fun to fling ideas into the void and see who catches them.

Discussion: Where do you find crowdfunded projects?

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

So far there is no central hub for all kinds of crowdfunded projects.  What we have are a few general communities like this one, some dedicated fundraising sites, and a bunch of sites dedicated to one specific format.  Plus word-of-mouth advertising and actual ads, of course. 

I usually find out about new crowdfunded projects from posts here or on Crowdfunding at Dreamwidth, occasionally freestuffday.  Sometimes I hear about them from friends.

Where do you find crowdfunded projects?

One card draw

[stonetalker.livejournal.com]

There is currently a one card draw happening here.

Donor Info and Poll

[aldersprig]

I've just posted three things on my blog:

A prototype donor page with information on how to support the arts in the specific of Lyn, that is to say, me,

A list of written stories available for sponsorship,

and, since I have a bit of money in the common pool right now,

a poll on where it should be spent.

I am $28 towards my $300 giraffey goal!

Donor Info and Poll!

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

I've just posted three things on my blog:

A prototype donor page with information on how to support the arts in the specific of Lyn, that is to say, me,

A list of written stories available for sponsorship,

and, since I have a bit of money in the common pool right now,

a poll on where it should be spent.

I am $28 towards my $300 giraffey goal!