Making Plans: More thoughts on #illustration and #crowdfunding
Sunday, April 3rd, 2011 04:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meeks(This is a follow-up to my previous post.)
I've been reading![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
haikujaguar 's excellent blog posts on business practices for artists, which have been both informative and encouraging as I continue to study my options. My answers to the questions from this post in particular lead me to believe that I'm on the right track with my idea to solicit contributions from writers:
1. Do I like working with other people? Do I like getting out and chatting with them, or do I prefer to spend most of my time by myself?
I find it stressful and overwhelming to get out and meet people in person, but I can deal with them in chatrooms, discussion forums, and e-mail, and I love working with people whose creativity complements my craft.
2. Do I like experimenting with other people's ideas or do I prefer to work on my own ideas?
The second example from the above-linked article is me, exactly. Clearly, collaborative illustration work is the way to go.
3. Do I work better with deadlines? If so, do I respond to deadlines I set for myself, or only those by other people?
I think having a flexible, self-imposed timeline for reaching certain milestones works better for me than trying to meet strict deadlines, which can be more stressful than motivating. This could be a point in favour of working with self-published writers; I would be less likely to be faced with the often tight schedules of high-volume printers.
4. How good am I at keeping to a schedule? If I set a schedule, can I keep to it?
I'm not too bad at setting and keeping a schedule for myself...what I struggle with is recovering from disruptions to it; unexpected changes, even minor ones, can set me off for days.
5. How quickly do I coast to a stop without something prodding me (other people, external motivators like praise or money, etc)?
I have occasional episodes of almost hypomanic productivity, but inertia usually sets in after a few days at most if there's nothing pushing me to continue.
6. What kind of things keep me going and where do those things come from?
New ideas, tools, or techniques are usually good for short term energy bursts. Learning as I work is important to me; constructive feedback and collaborative dialogue keep me engaged. For Lorelei, the desire to see the individual illustrations assembled into a book was another strong source of motivation.
7. What kind of art do I like to do, and who do I think it appeals to?
Illustrations of stories and characters! My style tends to be rather cute and kid-friendly, but not really 'cartoony'...I think it appeals most strongly to about the same audience as Disney animation.
8. Do I need a steady, predictable income or can I handle irregular sums at irregular intervals?
I can deal with an irregular income, and I don't feel the need to make a lot of money. I would like the chance to earn a bit more frequently than is possible with children's books alone, and that means taking on smaller projects that can be shared faster.
9. What kind of art do I like to produce? You can tell this by seeing what things make you happiest to make and what kind of things you make most frequently.
Digital paintings in ArtRage Studio Pro. I do like working with physical media, but I find it a hassle to photograph or scan the things that I make, and transporting originals is a pain. ArtRage does a pretty good job of simulating natural media, and makes it a lot easier to post my art online.
Of the Three Micahs (Three Mikas?) my Inner Artist, of course, is the easiest to find. The Business Manager uses a lot of the same thought processes I already need to track things like sensory input, sleep patterns, and energy levels, so I know she's in here somewhere. The Marketer, on the other hand is likely to be a tricky one to develop; "thinking about, interacting with or guessing at what other people want" is pretty clearly in the range of Things the Autistic Brain is Not Good At. :P
So, how to deal with this?
I can address part of the problem by keeping my interaction online and text-based. Sharing a beer/meeting at a party type networking is a definite no-no, but I've made a lot of friends in discussion forums and chatrooms. I do particularly well in small-to-medium-sized communities built around fandoms of things I like, where the regular members have a chance to get to know one another. I can work with that. Fan Art isn't something I can usually accept money for, but it may be useful as a promotional tool.
Blindly guessing at what others might want won't get me anywhere, so I'll have to ask questions, and pay attention to comments to find out what they like. Some polling may be in order.
I am also most definitely not a salesperson. Thinking in terms of collaboration and patronage, rather than selling to customers is probably the best approach for me. That will allow me to build relationships based on the work being produced instead of focusing on the financial transaction. I can be a lot more productive if I use the skills that I do have to make art that people will want to pay for, instead of trying to fake skills that I don't have in an attempt to make people want to pay for my art.
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?
I've been reading
haikujaguar 's excellent blog posts on business practices for artists, which have been both informative and encouraging as I continue to study my options. My answers to the questions from this post in particular lead me to believe that I'm on the right track with my idea to solicit contributions from writers:
1. Do I like working with other people? Do I like getting out and chatting with them, or do I prefer to spend most of my time by myself?
I find it stressful and overwhelming to get out and meet people in person, but I can deal with them in chatrooms, discussion forums, and e-mail, and I love working with people whose creativity complements my craft.
2. Do I like experimenting with other people's ideas or do I prefer to work on my own ideas?
The second example from the above-linked article is me, exactly. Clearly, collaborative illustration work is the way to go.
3. Do I work better with deadlines? If so, do I respond to deadlines I set for myself, or only those by other people?
I think having a flexible, self-imposed timeline for reaching certain milestones works better for me than trying to meet strict deadlines, which can be more stressful than motivating. This could be a point in favour of working with self-published writers; I would be less likely to be faced with the often tight schedules of high-volume printers.
4. How good am I at keeping to a schedule? If I set a schedule, can I keep to it?
I'm not too bad at setting and keeping a schedule for myself...what I struggle with is recovering from disruptions to it; unexpected changes, even minor ones, can set me off for days.
5. How quickly do I coast to a stop without something prodding me (other people, external motivators like praise or money, etc)?
I have occasional episodes of almost hypomanic productivity, but inertia usually sets in after a few days at most if there's nothing pushing me to continue.
6. What kind of things keep me going and where do those things come from?
New ideas, tools, or techniques are usually good for short term energy bursts. Learning as I work is important to me; constructive feedback and collaborative dialogue keep me engaged. For Lorelei, the desire to see the individual illustrations assembled into a book was another strong source of motivation.
7. What kind of art do I like to do, and who do I think it appeals to?
Illustrations of stories and characters! My style tends to be rather cute and kid-friendly, but not really 'cartoony'...I think it appeals most strongly to about the same audience as Disney animation.
8. Do I need a steady, predictable income or can I handle irregular sums at irregular intervals?
I can deal with an irregular income, and I don't feel the need to make a lot of money. I would like the chance to earn a bit more frequently than is possible with children's books alone, and that means taking on smaller projects that can be shared faster.
9. What kind of art do I like to produce? You can tell this by seeing what things make you happiest to make and what kind of things you make most frequently.
Digital paintings in ArtRage Studio Pro. I do like working with physical media, but I find it a hassle to photograph or scan the things that I make, and transporting originals is a pain. ArtRage does a pretty good job of simulating natural media, and makes it a lot easier to post my art online.
Of the Three Micahs (Three Mikas?) my Inner Artist, of course, is the easiest to find. The Business Manager uses a lot of the same thought processes I already need to track things like sensory input, sleep patterns, and energy levels, so I know she's in here somewhere. The Marketer, on the other hand is likely to be a tricky one to develop; "thinking about, interacting with or guessing at what other people want" is pretty clearly in the range of Things the Autistic Brain is Not Good At. :P
So, how to deal with this?
I can address part of the problem by keeping my interaction online and text-based. Sharing a beer/meeting at a party type networking is a definite no-no, but I've made a lot of friends in discussion forums and chatrooms. I do particularly well in small-to-medium-sized communities built around fandoms of things I like, where the regular members have a chance to get to know one another. I can work with that. Fan Art isn't something I can usually accept money for, but it may be useful as a promotional tool.
Blindly guessing at what others might want won't get me anywhere, so I'll have to ask questions, and pay attention to comments to find out what they like. Some polling may be in order.
I am also most definitely not a salesperson. Thinking in terms of collaboration and patronage, rather than selling to customers is probably the best approach for me. That will allow me to build relationships based on the work being produced instead of focusing on the financial transaction. I can be a lot more productive if I use the skills that I do have to make art that people will want to pay for, instead of trying to fake skills that I don't have in an attempt to make people want to pay for my art.
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?
Hmm...
Date: 2011-04-04 04:17 am (UTC)New ideas, tools, or techniques are usually good for short term energy bursts.<<
That sounds like you need a couple of different motivation streams: One should be relatively regular, that will meet your need for a consistent schedule and help avoid the problem of running out of steam. The other should be something you can grab whenever you need a quick boost of inspiration.
>> "thinking about, interacting with or guessing at what other people want" is pretty clearly in the range of Things the Autistic Brain is Not Good At.<<
The beauty of crowdfunding is that you don't have to keep guessing what people want. For most areas, you can gather information or examples and make an educated estimate to start with. Then later, ask people what they want, or just skim requests and ideas out of the comments. Even though you may have a lot of lurkers in the audience, there will usually be at least a handful of enthusiasts who will give you feedback and ideas.
>> I do particularly well in small-to-medium-sized communities built around fandoms of things I like, where the regular members have a chance to get to know one another.<<
You know, there's another huge advantage to this. If you start doing illustrations of cool weblit and putting them in a gallery, you will very quickly become a hub where people can find new weblit by looking at illustrations they like and then backtracking to that author's site. If the authors complete the circuit by putting a link to your site somewhere in theirs, then you can pipe audience members back and forth.
Re: Hmm...
Date: 2011-04-06 08:40 pm (UTC)-
I figured that asking questions and reading comments would get me better results than just guessing. It's encouraging to see that someone with your experience agrees!
-
Ooh...I hadn't thought of that, but you make a very good point! I'll keep that in mind as I upload new work...it'll probably work best if people can see all the weblit-inspired artwork in one place. Thanks!
Re: Hmm...
Date: 2011-04-07 12:18 am (UTC)Right, that should address the issue of interest. From personal experience, I can say that it's a lot of fun when other folks kick the wheel as soon as it starts to slow down. My most popular poetry series are like that. Yesterday I wrote a new Origami Mage poem and a new Monster House poem -- those are two of the current favorites.
>> I figured that asking questions and reading comments would get me better results than just guessing. It's encouraging to see that someone with your experience agrees! <<
The field of cyberfunded creativity is new and developing, so there is little hard data as yet. But a few consistent patterns are starting to emerge. One of them is that if your audience is any good at all, they will tell you what they want and there will be at least some good ideas in the suggestions. The most successful projects tend to have high audience interaction, and the creators will say that this or that cool feature was proposed by one of their fans. So that's one of the more reliable pieces of information thus far.
>> I'll keep that in mind as I upload new work...it'll probably work best if people can see all the weblit-inspired artwork in one place. Thanks! <<
It looks like you do at least some sorting of your work by gallery, so I'd say go with that and make a "Weblit Illustrations" gallery. If you really want to stroke your supporters, make a page that describes the weblit projects of people who put money into illustrations of their writing. Say, put a thumbnail picture leading to the gallery with a link to the weblit project and about a paragraph telling why it's cool. Start with the gallery, then add the descriptive page after you have 4-5 projects illustrated.
Oh, and you might want to network with