Newbie introduction and crowdfunded illustration idea

[meeksp.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm Meeks. I'm not especially good at self-introductions, so I'll just direct you to my website if you really want to know about me.  The short version is that I'm an aspie who loves to make things. I'm trained in illustration, but I had pretty much given up on it as a career until I chanced to get involved in a children's book project last year.

Cyberfunded creativity really appeals to me because it's a way of doing business in a medium I'm comfortable with. Even though I don't have the money to donate nearly as often or as much as I'd like, I love that the option exists. I have been reading stories online for a very long time, and I'm glad there's now a way to support the people who write them. I found this community through a link in alexandraerin 's blog, and I've been lurking for awhile and pondering how I might apply crowdfunding to illustration. 

My idea so far (reposted from my own LJ):

What I'd like to do is invite the storytellers out there to submit short scene descriptions or story excerpts that I can use for quick sketches and experiments. I hope to attract weblit and otherwise self-published authors to this project, but anyone with a story they'd like a picture for is welcome to participate.

Art from this project will be released free for non-commercial sharing under a creative commons license, so payment will be optional for those who are happy to use the rough sketches as-is. Contributing writers can send me tips in exchange for making revisions, or doing any more work on the images. If the author is willing, their fans will also be able to donate toward illustrations of the stories they enjoy. Licensing fees can be negotiated for anyone who wants to use my work commercially, eg. as part of a book they plan to sell.

My personal objectives are to increase my productivity and to grow as an artist by drawing things I wouldn't have considered on my own. Every sketch is an opportunity to practice and learn; feedback is important to me, so I'll post each sketch to LJ for comments, and maybe link to the comment thread when I add the image to my gallery.

A few details still to work out:
Pricing. I like the "pay what you think it's worth, adjusted for what you can afford" pricing model for personal commissions, but I wonder if there should be minimum thresholds for 'finished sketch', 'full painting', etc., especially if several people are sponsoring the same illustration. If this project becomes popular, I won't have time to turn every sketch into a finished painting, so having a way to control the demand might not be a bad idea.

Feedback incentives. I appreciate constructive comments, and I'd like to find a way to reward people who consistently make helpful posts, to let them know their contribution is valued. What would be the best way to approach this?

Anything else I might be missing?

Comments

Welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>Hi, I'm Meeks.<<

Hi! We're glad that you found this community.

>>The short version is that I'm an aspie who loves to make things.<<

Cool. A majority of creators here are doing literature and/or artwork, but there are some crafters, musicians, and other folks in addition to the donors.

Regarding neurodiversity, you might enjoy my poem "Mental Iterations," which is visible in a scrapbooked form here:
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/1453560.html
or plain text here:
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/1227164.html

>> Cyberfunded creativity really appeals to me because it's a way of doing business in a medium I'm comfortable with. <<

That's good to hear!

>> Even though I don't have the money to donate nearly as often or as much as I'd like, I love that the option exists. I have been reading stories online for a very long time, and I'm glad there's now a way to support the people who write them.<<

Donations are wonderful, of course. However, don't underestimate other methods of support, such as giving feedback (which almost all creators love) and echoing links or otherwise helping to promote your favorite projects.

>> What I'd like to do is invite the storytellers out there to submit short scene descriptions or story excerpts that I can use for quick sketches and experiments. <<

This sounds like fun. You might enjoy checking out the torn_world Muse Fusion or ellenmillion's Sketch Fest. Those are interactive projects involving art, prompts, and other creative exchanges.

>>If the author is willing, their fans will also be able to donate toward illustrations of the stories they enjoy.<<

Hm, that's an interesting twist. Good idea!

You might also like an idea that ellenmillion tried recently: posting a rough sketch, and allowing people to sponsor more work on it, in 15-minute increments.

>>My personal objectives are to increase my productivity and to grow as an artist by drawing things I wouldn't have considered on my own.<<

Yes, cyberfunded creativity is awesome for that. I've used it for broadening inspiration in poetry, and for mass practice in fiction.

Re: Welcome!

[meeksp.livejournal.com]

That's a great poem! It reminds me of "This Alien Shore" by C.S. Friedman.

I could probably spend weeks exploring Torn World...not sure I have the time management skills to get involved without getting lost. I will definitely try to participate in the next Sketch Fest, though!

Hmm...I'm not sure a time-based system would work for me. It might feel too much like a deadline, and I'd end up rushing. I do like the idea of sponsoring a specified amount of work though. I might try breaking it up into stages (rough sketch, revisions, clean-up, value study, colour study, final) with target amounts to move to the next stage.

Re: Welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>That's a great poem! It reminds me of "This Alien Shore" by C.S. Friedman.<<

Thank you! I loved that book. I always wanted to see more about that society: specifically, the detailed accommodations for different people's social needs. It's the way I prefer to run a group of friends/family: identifying which things are most crucial to each person and making sure those needs met. *chuckle* Social engineering through poetry, heh heh.

>>I could probably spend weeks exploring Torn World...not sure I have the time management skills to get involved without getting lost.<<

Yeah, that project is flypaper for eyeballs. You can get bite-sized pieces of it by watching this community or my LJ though.

>> I will definitely try to participate in the next Sketch Fest, though!<<

Yay! Networking for the win!

>>Hmm...I'm not sure a time-based system would work for me. It might feel too much like a deadline, and I'd end up rushing.<<

Crowdfunding, like any home business venture, absolutely requires that you know (or learn) what approaches will or won't work for you personally. I can spend 12 hours writing poetry; most people can't. But I am not good at working in a disruptive environment, whereas some people are.

>>I do like the idea of sponsoring a specified amount of work though. I might try breaking it up into stages (rough sketch, revisions, clean-up, value study, colour study, final) with target amounts to move to the next stage.<<

That ought to work. What matters is the idea of breaking a picture down into segments of effort that can be funded incrementally.

Welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>Pricing. I like the "pay what you think it's worth, adjusted for what you can afford" pricing model for personal commissions, but I wonder if there should be minimum thresholds for 'finished sketch', 'full painting', etc., especially if several people are sponsoring the same illustration.<<

Well, first figure out what your time is worth on an hourly basis, and how long it typically takes you to draw/paint enough of an image to be worth showing to people. That will help you set your targets.

Also consider that in crowdfunding, it really helps to start by giving something away for free. It's the perks and the special stuff that people pay extra to get, and if you're good, they will donate. (I looked at your art samples, which are lovely; I suspect you have a good chance at making this work.) So think about what kinds of things you can afford to give away, and what cool stuff you can offer to attract donors.

>> If this project becomes popular, I won't have time to turn every sketch into a finished painting, so having a way to control the demand might not be a bad idea.<<

Scale it. I've just started experimenting with scaled perks in my Poetry Fishbowl, a project that's now several years old. (The next one is Tuesday, April 5 with a theme of "mad science" if you want to come play with me. I accept image prompts as well as written ones.) Basically scaling means you set target thresholds that cause exciting things to happen when donations reach the targets. With lots of sketches, the ones that attract the most donations would get finished. (Note that haikujaguar already uses viewer comments to choose sketches to paint.) You can tweak the amounts as you go along, to avoid overloading yourself with how much you are working.

>>Feedback incentives. I appreciate constructive comments, and I'd like to find a way to reward people who consistently make helpful posts, to let them know their contribution is valued. What would be the best way to approach this?<<

Step 1: Pick something you think is cool and offer it. Some examples:
* Frequent commentors get a free LJ icon of themselves.
* Someone is randomly selected among the current session's commentors to receive a free print or original sketch.
* Everyone who comments, or all the donors, get a small perk such as a postcard or a signed bookmark.

Step 2: Once you have an audience established, ask them for what they want, and also watch them for proposing nifty new ideas. Most of the improvements to my Poetry Fishbowl have either come from my audience, or occasionally other crowdfunders. The stuff I've tweaked myself has mostly been little practical changes to make the workflow smoother. Concentrate on attracting an audience and getting them to interact with you. Then let them steer as much as your artist talent will tolerate. The results tend to be awesome.

Re: Welcome!

[meeksp.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm planning to do post the rough sketches for free, and let people donate if they want any more work done to them. Maybe I could set it so that any image that attracts $x or a certain number of people commenting will get a full value study, $y gets a finished painting, and if total donations reach a certain amount then any image with a minimum number of commenters gets painted, regardless of how much was donated to it. That might be a good way to encourage both donations and comments.

I knew I forgot something! I do all of my work digitally these days and I hadn't given much thought to physical products. Luckily, I *do* work at a high enough resolution that Imagekind prints or Zazzle stuff shouldn't be a problem.

Re: Welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>Maybe I could set it so that any image that attracts $x or a certain number of people commenting will get a full value study, $y gets a finished painting, and if total donations reach a certain amount then any image with a minimum number of commenters gets painted, regardless of how much was donated to it. <<

That sounds like a good plan! You can always start with that and then tweak if needed.

>>I do all of my work digitally these days and I hadn't given much thought to physical products. Luckily, I *do* work at a high enough resolution that Imagekind prints or Zazzle stuff shouldn't be a problem.<<

I think I saw that somewhere, but wasn't sure it if was ALL digital or just mostly. So, yes, Zazzle is an option. Things like coffee cups, bookbags, bookmarks, buttons, etc. are popular. You might also consider purely digital applications such as LJ icons and wallpaper.

[k-writerly.livejournal.com]

Hi, Meeks! I'm Keru and I'm pretty new to this community myself.

It's nice to meet you!

I had a tiny (and probably insignificant) idea about how to "reward" the people who are thoughtful enough to leave you feedback... how about making personalized LJ icons for them to use? Kind like a badge or an award, like "Karen, Queen of the Mighty Red Pen" or something along those lines. Maybe with a personalized sketch for them. It doesn't seem like much, but I know several avid icon collectors and I really think a lot of people consider the icon options here to be "the cherry on top".

Just a thought. (And I'm sorry if Ysabet or someone else already brought this up in an older post/comment.)

Your plan for funding your projects sounds very interesting. Are you on Facebook or Twitter? If so, I'll "like"/"follow" you!

[meeksp.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's nice to meet you too :)

Icons had been suggested as a commenter perk, so I will try to incorporate them. Right now I'm thinking to do a draw for custom icons in which each comment earns one entry.

Don't worry about repeating suggestions, btw, if several people request the same thing, I know it's worth pursuing!

You can follow me on facebook here (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mikaspace/165229633528890) or on twitter here. (http://twitter.com/#!/meeks_p)

Thanks for the comment!