An Explanation

For those coming in late, I'm going to try to explain what's going on as efficiently as possible. It may be there are too many sites and too much cross over to really grasp the idea.

This is a volunteer project. People send in art. I in turn auction or sell it and turn over the proceeds to different charities that support artists or the arts. Depending on what project you contribute to, that's where the money will go. For instance, if you participate in the 100AP Youth, when the project is done, the money raised will go to the International Child Art Foundation. (The list of projects and organizations can be seen here.)

The project started off with people sending in artwork and when we got 100 pieces, I scanned them, put them together in a book with some interviews of the artists and sold them online. Then the originals went up for auction. The money from this went to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and The Hero Initiative.

Once those people sent in work, that got them on a list to have a sketchbook sent to them. That book is currently going around to those artists and we're about 30 people in so far. If you are reading this and you have either sent me something or drawn something in a sketchbook, you're good. If you haven't drawn in a sketchbook, it's coming to you, I promise. It may take a while though.

Back in August of 2008, I opened up the idea again for more projects supporting more funds. (See that link above again.) One of them is also a sketchbook that will be mailed around. BUT it may be that between the old and new lists, I have just enough people to fill it up so I may combine those. However, the mail in portion still has almost all 100 openings to fill before we can publish or auction again; that's a long way to go.

I'll admit to having a lot of sites available for information about what the project does, where to read about it, how to participate, etc. In all honesty it's the only way I know how to get enough eyes on the project. I've Twittered about it, set up Facebook and MySpace sites. There's a Flickr pool and at one point I made a Ning page. While confusing, these sites allow me to direct people back to the main page and at the same time, hopefully they'll tell other people as well.

Maybe one day we'll be big enough that we won't need a social networking site just to get visits.

Luckily a few people from the first run have come back to help. I've also had a friend jump aboard to drum up support locally and help keep things updated. There was a gap when nothing was being done, but frankly there wasn't any art being sent in either.

So, if you have ideas on how to improve, let us know. If you have suggestions on how to promote the project, let us know. I've emailed and called every fund, a lot of publishers and most every online art organization I can find. It's not that we need more people seeing the project, it's that we need more ARTISTS seeing the project and actually sending in work. Also, if you have any QUESTIONS or something is confusing, please tell us.

That way I can write blog posts about interesting things like interviews and art showings instead of talking about how little is going on.

Again, any help is appreciated. Thank you.

You out there artists?

Award
Originally uploaded by xadrian

I'm wondering what happened to the 30+ people who signed up to do artwork for the project. It's been months, nearly half a year and only a couple have come in.

Plus the sign ups have dwindled to one a week and I'm fairly sure those people are signing up for a newsletter.

So, if you have signed up, please get that artwork in. The project lives and dies on the volunteerism of the artists. If there is no art, there are no auctions or books to make. No auctions or books, no sales. No sales, no money to the charities we're supporting. I realize each and every piece of work created is time, labor and love intensive. I also know that I can't do this alone. My partner and I can't draw 100 pictures, write 25 short stories and mail a sketchbook to ourselves 100 times in order to get the project done. It's up to you.

Even if you have already done the work, you can still help by telling people about it. And I don't mean putting a link on your blog (though that does help) but really telling people about it. Tell your Design 102 class, tell your art history professor, tell your parents or kids. I'm proud of this project and I would hope you all are too. Enough that you are more than happy to let other people know it's going on.

So we're still here waiting for those drawings. We can't do it without you.

100AP Artists posted on Neatorama

Melissa Sue Stanley featured on Neatorama!

http://www.neatorama.com/2009/04/01/plush-toothy-monster-by-melissa-sue-stanley/

Melissa was one of the original 100 artists for the collected mail in pieces that were auctioned a year ago. Her drawing had the distinction of being the only one that had stitch work. Her skill seems to be crafting, sewing and creating cute and creepy critters.

Make sure to stop by her Etsy shop and check out all her clever creations.

Distance Traveled

I just thought I'd share this with you guys.

This is how far the initial sketchbook has traveled. It's been to 32 different artists, so far two countries. It's been to 23 states and get this...

...it's traveled 29,657 miles!

Actually, it's likely traveled more than that. I've only added the direct line distance between points on the map. If you were to account for driving routes and the way flight plans bend or even land in different cities and then ship elsewhere, the number is likely to go up.

But, by way of comparison, the Earth at the equator is 24,902 miles. So our little sketchbook has traveled around the Earth once already and it's only a third complete. And we've just started sending to some international folks.

I'll start another map for the new sketchbook and maybe the moleskine as well. If someone has suggestions on better routing maps that fit what we need for this project, please let me know. Otherwise I'll keep manually making lines on a map.

Thanks, all. And keep up the good work.

Plug

This is from a friend of a friend/100AP contributor.

I am calling out, looking for an artist who loves fantasy line art in the
late '70s, early '80s style. There is no money involved, but as a portfolio
builder for the artist, I am seeking to populate fantasy game modules I am
writing in a retro-clone fashion that delivers an appeal and inspiration
similar to that of the original TSR modules for the dungeons & dragons game
as written by E. Gary Gygax.

There is a new "old school" movement in gaming, and the OSRIC 2.0 system is
free for use. It clones the original game. As such, this year I will be
writing modules with an eye toward selling them. But adventure modules need
compelling art. Are you, or do you know any fantasy pen and ink/line artist
who might be interested in building their portfolio while helping me start
this business?

The art style can be found in the new retro-clone document, downloadable
here, entitled OSRIC 2.0. (sorry, I am unable to email a file that large
from work). Thanks for considering.

Thank you,
Tom Grzep

You can get in touch with tom here.

Clarification

If you've stumbled onto the 100AP thanks to an email or a link from a web site or from seeing the various groups around the net, it may seem confusing. I admit that the whole endeavor is a bit loose and having 217 sites trying to drum up interest may not help. Different sites only allow for certain ways of disseminating information and sometimes the facts are overlooked.

Here's how it all started.

At first there was interest in doing the project, but only from a handful of people I knew from a message board. I couldn't decide on which cause to help (Hero or CBLDF) and thought it would be easy to split proceeds. It was and there wasn't a problem.

It was apparent I was limiting the project by only having people send in artwork. Quite a few people thought a traveling sketchbook was a great idea. But, I knew that would take forever and might get lost. So to ensure we did SOMETHING, I had everyone who wanted to participate, mail in a piece of art. This was the way to sign up: You send in something, you get on the list for the sketchbook.

We got 100 pieces and published them all and also auctioned off all the original art. But the sketchbook is still traveling (actually, I have it and will be mailing it this weekend.) Technically it's still going to all the original people who signed up by mailing something in.

The trouble is, it's been a few years now and a lot of these people have moved on and don't want to participate any more, have blocked my email address, are too popular and busy or aren't into art any more, so out of the 100 original artists maybe 50 will still get the sketchbook. This might mean that everyone who signed up on the "round two" push will be in line for that sketchbook as well which may take a LONG time in getting to them. It's either that or get a SECOND sketchbook and start mailing that right away.

So Round Two starts up and it gets a few people signing up but very little art sent in. The project dies off for a few months. Now it's back in business and I'm sure all the people who "signed up" have forgotten about it. Out of 25 people signed up, three have sent in art. The percentage is the same across the other projects. No Youth project art, 2 digital pieces, four stories. I'm worried whoever gets the moleskine or sketchbook will just never work on it. I recently emailed nearly 100 people who'd filled out the sign up form saying we're still working on it and to get your work in and we got two responses.

Is it because the project is confusing? I hope not. As of now we still need as many people actually contributing as possible. I'll be contacting people and asking if they still want to receive the sketchbook and get that rolling again, as well as the moleskine, but if you've signed up for something to mail in, please do so. And please tell people about the project.

But if it is confusing, please contact me. I've had a second pair of eyes looking at it and we'll make some changes. (For instance, the 100AP Youth project is for under 18, not 18 and under.) But if you're not sure what to do, what we're doing or where to find the information, please don't hesitate to ask by emailing, commenting here or on any of the networking sites we have set up.

100artists@gmail.com

Facebook

Remember, it's all volunteer so signing up doesn't mean you're legally required to do anything. But if you like the project, the only way it will succeed is if its volunteers are able to contribute. I'm doing my best with it, now it's your turn.

Thanks!

Writing Teaser

Reader suggested we do some writing samples to get interest going. I'm also testing to see if our Facebook page picks this up or if I have to do more finagling.

Reminder, the 100AP does have a writing project.

• 100 Artists Writers - 20 writers. Up to 3,500 word short stories supporting The Office of Letters and Light. 2,500 words at roughly 250 a page would be 10 pages. Formatting may alter that. Please don't go over 2,500. Feel free, however to remain well under that. Any type of short story is ok but it'd be especially cool to have some good science fiction, horror, or mystery. Oh yes, please stick to fiction. I won't necessarily turned down quantum physics papers or poetry but I'd rather get some good speculative fiction.

So here's one of the first submissions. It's just a few paragraphs, for the rest you'll have to eventually buy a copy of the book. :) It's by Trey Wickwire, someone I should have more contact with. He's a fellow Texan and we've sadly spoken only a handful of times, but he seems like a good fellow.

DNR
By Trey Wickwire

Today. Would today be the day? The day that it all ended. The thoughts ran through the knight’s mind as they had everyday for as long as he could remember. The pale dawn light filtered through the trees and he pulled his dark cloak tighter around his shoulders. It did little to keep the chill from his bones. Sir Thomas suspected the fires of hell couldn’t warm his bones.

Standing, Sir Thomas reached out for the large rock he had sheltered behind during the night. Sitting in the lee of the stone had kept most of the wind off of him and the thick wool of his cloak had kept him, if not pleasant, then at least comfortable enough to sleep. Groaning, he stretched the kinks out of his joints. Sleeping sitting up next to a rock in full armor wasn’t the most relaxing of things, still, it was necessary.

The knight’s head whipped around at the sound of a twig snapping, instantly alert. The sound had come from the far side of the boulder. Quickly, Sir Thomas threw his cloak over his shoulder, revealing the gleaming silver armor underneath and freeing the sword at his side for easy retrieval. With a whisper the heavy blade was out of its sheath and ready in the knight’s strong hand.

Sir Thomas carefully examined the gleaming blade. In the dull light of dawn it still shined with the reflected light from the rising sun, but reflection was all it was. The tell tale glow that signaled danger was nowhere to be seen. Slowly, he peeked over the stone. A fox was peering back, unhappy with the human interruption of its morning foraging.

Another snap of a twig sent the fox bounding away. Sir Thomas dropped to one knee and swung the now brightly glowing sword. The bright metal sliced through the rotting flesh of the zombie creeping up behind the knight. Dry husks spilled out of the body cavity like the winter dead leaves of ancient oaks.

Taking the sword in two hands, Sir Thomas struck again, upward from on bended knee. The blade struck the long dead man in the arm pit and slide upward, meeting little resistance. The head and one shoulder fell off the creature, landing in the soft grass as quietly as the zombie had crept up on the knight.

Who Is It?

So I'm trying to find who sent in a piece of work. All I have is the return address and the signature. The person's name on the envelope is...

B ! L L

...and the city and state is Weirton, WV. I'll put the piece up once it's scanned, but if you are this person, could you please contact us and let us know who you are and a good email to keep in contact with you? There was nothing in the recent emails that matched the address so someone must have just sent in the artwork.

Thank you.

Cause Page - Project Revving Up

I've got some assistance for the 100AP and they'll be doing a lot of PR work. To start, we now have a Cause page on Facebook.

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/235738?m=362bcdf2

I don't know how these Cause pages work, but make sure to check it out and if you have any information, let me know.

Cheers.

Who's Ready?

It's time to kick this thing in the ass again.

Ok People

Sending out sketchbooks this week. For all you guys who signed up for the Mail In for CBLDF, let's see some artwork already. In almost three months I've received one piece of artwork. We're not going to get it done that way.

Also of note, is anyone still out there?

What to do?

Hey folks. Real quick, I know I've been lax on my end and haven't been pushing the project. I'm still here, I still plan on doing this so I'm just waiting for all those dozens of people who signed up to come through. The more work that comes in the more I can talk about it. I can update Flickr with images and start doing interviews with participants.

I'm also going to send a few sketchbooks out, keep those rolling. And since I've received a few stories, would you guys like to see snippets from those? Little bit of a preview or means to inspire?

That's all for now, not a lot going on but wanted to post anyway.

Cheers.

Tell People!

I know I ask this a lot, and I'm making another push to find ways to promote the project, but in the end word of mouth is what's going to get it done. At some point that word will leave someone's mouth and hit someone's ear. And that ear will sit on the head of someone with a lot of clout. That clout will create a buzz and before you know it, the 100AP will have more people involved than can be handled and I'll have to hire a team of highly trained lemurs just to answer all the emails.

But until that happens, and before my permit to carry a lemur arrives in the mail, you should feel free to do anything in your power to let other artists know what's going on here. There's a store with shirts you can wear to parties, there are banners and buttons on the site you can use on your blogs, there's a pdf you can print and take to your local shops or art galleries or art meetups. AND if you have more ideas, please please PLEASE drop me a line. I appreciate any and all work you folks do, and to all those who have don their share of shameless promotion I offer my sincere gratitude.

Just want to keep the project going. Cheers.

Forums

Check out the forums!

http://100artists.proboards.com

Stop by, sign up, network, ask questions, post artwork, have fun.

Cheers!

Testing Ping.fm

Traffic for 100 Artists Project has been low so I thought I'd take some time to play a bit a find a way to update all the networks the 100AP is a part of. If this works it should update most of them. For the rest I'll be hiring lemurs.

Sign Up Update

Hey folks, just a quick update to let you all know where the sign up tally stands for all the projects.

100 Mail in for CBLDF - 14/100

Sketchbook for HERO - 10/100

Digital art for CAPE - 8/50

Short stories for The OLL - 10/20

Moleskine for CCCSF - 3/200? (depending on the Moleskine I get.)

Youth art for CAF - 2/25

So, as you can see, there are plenty of spots left open.  Surprisingly, the writing project filled up the fastest.  I'd love to see some of this art start coming in.  I've already received three stories so I know we're on the right path.

Thanks to everyone who has offered help with promotion and organization so far.  Let's keep it rolling.

100 (Artists) Writers

I know it's confusing, but someone mentioned I should post something for the wordsmiths.

The 100AP, hopefully you know by now, is running again and with a few new projects. One of those is the writing project. As of now I've set it up to be 20 writers and up to 10 pages maximum - all prose, no scripts. Time to get your sci-fi, horror, western, drama hats on and do some short stories.

Same as with the others, the book will be printed and sold through a POD, (likely Lulu or Blurb, I may do both.) The charity this time is the Office of Letters and Light. It's a small charity encouraging creative writing in children. I like that they're small because whatever we can do to help will mean a lot to them. They support larger groups as well.

Sign up page is ready to handle the new project, so feel free to get going and if you have any questions let me know. And yes you can submit something you've already written.
Also, if you know other writers either not here or on most comic boards, please let them know. May not take long to get 20 writers, but you never know.

www.100artistsproject.com

Cheers!

100 Writers?

Hey guys, I had an idea about adding writing to the projects. Something like 100 total pages, 10 writers doing 10 page short stories (or there abouts.) It seems small, but if I did 100 writers and they did 5 pages, that's a very thick 500 pages. But I'm open to suggestion.

Also, I wasn't quickly able to find a good literary charity besides something to do with Walden.

Ideas?

Round Two Underway!

After many months of promises and false starts, the second round of the 100AP is underway. Please visit the main site for all the details.

What's New?

I've broken up the original projects and have added a few more. The mail in 100 now ties in to the CBLDF and the sketchbook goes to Hero. The new ones are the 25 piece youth project supporting the International Child Art Foundation, the 50 piece digital art supporting the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education and the Moleskine book supporting the Center for Cartoon Studies.

The sign up page is active and I'll be sending out emails to the charities as well as some studios to drum up interest. If you're part of this community already, you've probably submitted work for volume one and all I ask is that you help talk up the relaunch anywhere you can.

Thanks for your continued support.

Relaunch

So I saw this over on CBR and it made me simultaneously want to give up and keep going on the 100AP. In all honesty, I've got nothing else taking up my time, and this is at least worth while.

Here are some things needing to be done for the project to keep moving.

* Parental Waiver - In order for me to technically accept artwork from artists under 18, I need to create and publish a form that said artists will have to get their parents to look over, possibly sign and either mail, fax or email to me. There's no profit in what I'm doing and I don't plan on using anyone's artwork for anything but the project, but I also want to cover my butt in case something happens.

* TOS - I have a basic Terms of Service that I need to put on the web site.

* Form rework - The sign up form needs to have a new option to select which project you want to join. The site also needs the new projects' descriptions.

* Open up the projects - I need to make a list of places to announce that the second part of the project is now open for people to sign up.

* Vol. 1 reprint - Ka-Blam kinda dropped the ball for me. They took way too long, they messed up a percentage of orders that given a larger actual number would have been a death knell for the project. I need to put another print out through Lulu and let people know about it at the same time as the project "reignition."

* Sketchbook - I need to find out where the sketchbook is and keep it moving.

I think that's it.

Someone recommended going through Image comics for one of the projects, see if we could get a few artists who've done Image books to contribute and if Image got behind it, we could do Image characters. I think maybe volume 3 I'll do that. I want to see if this model is sustainable. I constantly feel I've maxed out my contacts and fewer and fewer artists will contribute. If we can do another couple smaller books the idea will be more marketable.

Also, if you've got this blog on your feed reader, please head over to the Ning site. I'm going to try and organize the project better and to that end I'll be eliminating a lot of the cross posting.

Carry on.