Really starting to light up the city now plus I added a haze layer between the background and the city to give a sense of depth. I will play with that more when I have all the lighting in. There will also be a layer between the alien and the city to paint in some glow when I get to that point. I have it in mind to add some traffic lighting and maybe air traffic lights as well. We will see.
Yes blog followers, I have officially started a Kickstarter project to fund a 300 print run of my digital painting “Quiet Strength – Silent Vulnerability” (Quiet Strength Kickstarter Project). Please pass the word along to anyone you think might be interested. Also, consider getting a print for yourself or as a present for someone. All the details can be found at the site along with some history about me and the project.
The hardest part about trying to fund the prints is making sure people get a reward. Most of the methods allow for random donation amounts, which I don’t like because I need a specific amount per print to make this cost effective for me to share the reward. In addition, I would feel bad getting funding from someone that I could not afford to give a reward to. I would like to be able to say that I need 300 people to pledge $25 or $30 each to make the print run happen, nothing in between or ambiguous. The only thing I can think to do is give people that decide to donate, but at a lower amount, would be a digital copy of the image or maybe the coloring page I created. Do you guys think that is a fair compromise? I want to fund this very badly but I don’t want to rip people off either. That is just my nature.
Now it is just getting fun.
Here is where I am now. As you can see, I have been working on cleaning up the basic tower painting (towers on right are still rough) and experimenting with lighting the buildings (second section on the far left tower). Cleaning up the towers takes a while because I have to shift between 25% and 200% magnification to check overall image and work on the small areas. The background will eventually be black but it is easier to work on tower detail with the orange.
I need your help to figure out how to best raise funds for making a print run of my painting “Quiet Strength – Silent Vulnerability”. I want to make a run of 300 that would be a reward for those that fund the print run. I intend to sign each print along with the sheet explaining the motivation and facts behind the making of this print. I thought I could do it as a per post/project reward on a Patreon page but I think I would have to make an order each time a pledge is made, which would negate the bulk discount from my printer that would make it possible to sell the reward cheaper. I pretty much have everything lined up as far as cost and suppliers go, all I have to do is find the best way to fund the print. I wish I could just order them and sell them but I am not in financial shape to do so. So, can any of you suggest a way to fund this and future prints? Kickstarter? Go Fund Me? Other?
Here is what I wrote for this week’s reward from my Patreon page:
“Jason and the crew of the Pillar of the Sky face a danger from the depths of the sand ocean. A danger that could end their voyage. Unfortunately, the wizard Saimath has been injured and the fate of the ship and crew are left in Jason’s unreliable hands. His solution leaves many shocked and breathless. Join Jason as he struggles on through his quest to fulfill prophecy in a place he shouldn’t be.”
Sorry I have been a little quiet. My copilot decided he needed to bring fleas into the house to liven the place up so I have been doing a lot of cleaning, including my copilot who was not very happy about that. In addition, I have been working to get another job and on setting up a print project account on Patreon. Any spare time has been spent working on the Termanicz project. So, flea problem is getting better but not gone. I have been offered a position and the print project is close to completion (have some issues to think about though); Termanicz is moving along.
I recently watched a behind the scenes video on Youtube for the original Star Wars trilogy that I had not seen before and I learned a trick to use on the Termanicz painting. When they were trying to differentiate the larger from the smaller ships, one of the tricks they uses was to give the bigger ships more lights to look like windows. The regular star destroyer models had around a hundred thousand fiber optic windows. In Empire Strikes Back, to make Darth Vader’s star destroyer look bigger they made about a million lighted windows. However, because a hundred thousand fiber optic windows pushed the limit of what they could get into a model, they had to come up with a different solution. They decided to etch the openings for the lights and light them from a single source. My plan is to do something similar to give the buildings in the background more mass and distance from the main character. Watch for more updates.
Here it is, I finally found some music I liked and decided to finish this video off even though the quality is not as good as I would like. However, it is much better at explaining the site than the old one was. This shows the art that is at the core of my Patreon page. The music is a creative commons track from the Free Music Archive under soundtracks Borrtex __-__5 Sky.
Here is my new introduction on my Patreon page.
“Breath. That is what creating is for me, breath. It is the only thing that gives meaning to my life and is the impetus behind what you see here. From an early age I was a creator, whether in clay, Legos, or sticks and stones.
I spent hours building creatures, houses, towns, and worlds. Then I saw something my mother drew and was hooked. Drawing allowed my ideas to branch out and take on new shapes, becoming more substantial with each year. However, the path has not been easy for me to follow, disappearing several times in my life but always coming back. For decades I followed the artistic path only. I was focused on drawing and painting with sculpture sparkling through on occasion.
Then after a rough period of family issues, I found I needed another outlet for my ideas and feelings. At this time I found SFFworld.com where I interacted with kind and open people that were willing to listen to my thoughts. I lurked for a time, watching the discussions and writing contests until I finally decided to try my hand at story telling. Several years on, I am still at it, nearing the completion of my first collection of short stories.
This is where you come in. I need help to continue this journey. As I have said, this has been a hard journey for me with little support and large hurdles. I had a job that, while unsatisfying, was paying most of the bills. However, it was taking a toll on me creatively and leaving me more and more in debt. In an attempt to change this course, I decided to make this Patreon page to share my art and stories with people willing to support their creation by becoming patrons.
For a small monthly fee you will gain access to downloadable versions of my stories and artwork. I also hope to eventually create physical copies that will be available for sale. Your patronage will help me to continue creating the unique artwork displayed on this page, as well as, the fantastical stories that bubble out of my mind. Please consider joining me on this wild and crazy ride that propels me ever forward toward the stars and beyond.”
