Awesome Storm Justice 26

Several 100AP artists are members of the webcomic Awesome Storm Justice 41. I've done a few episodes' penciling and some coloring and mostly lettering. I'm writing a script for an origin series for them that will probably show up in about 6 months.

Anyway, here's the latest episode.


Episode 26

www.awesomestormjustice.com

Writing: Amadarwin
Pencils: masked_ramen
Colors: Lawrence Basso
Letters: Ben Rollman
Editor: Richard Nelson

Please stop by and take a peak at what the ASJ guys are doing. It's a good project, another collaborative effort.

Also, I'll be trying to display some projects from contributing artists for a while. Aside from links on the side and interviews, I'll do write ups about individuals and their creative endeavors. If you'd like your comic or Etsy shop or commission artwork page highlighted, just let me know.

Interview - Chris Tinkler

Chris Tinkler is a 28 year old webcomic creator, artist and award winning writer based in Peoria, AZ. He's been quite helpful to the project and lately has worked tirelessly on promotion.

Chris, thanks for taking the time to talk to me today.

Do you run the webcomics I saw in the Yahoo group or are you just a contributor?

Well, for awhile a friend of mine and I ran a Yahoo! group for a small-press community we attempted to put together called "Synergy Comics", which had a tiny bit of success. I haven't really revisited it in quite some time though.

Do you have any other projects?

My main project, since I was a little kid is "Ace of Spades Comics". Which to date has only seen about 6 pages published, hehe. I work on it every so often, but it's always "there".

Other than that, I've been contributing reviews and columns on several comic oriented sites and magazines. I guess the old saying of "Those who can... do, those who can't... review" holds a little bit of water with me, hehe

You're primarily an artists, but you've done reviews as well. Do you write the comic you work on?

Oh, yes... I enjoy writing a whole lot.

More than drawing?

Hehe, depends on the day.

Sometimes the words are there, sometimes they just ain't.

Tell me about Ace of Spades.

Ace of Spades Comics is a coming of age story for a group of friends, who somehow find themselves almost within reach of everything they could ever want. However, they may have to do some rather unsavory things first. It's a mishmash of stories I've been telling myself and friends for the past twenty years... and I actually feel there may be a decent story somewhere in there, if only I could get off my butt and draw the thing.

What's keeping you from working on it more?

Laziness and self-doubt, mostly. A lot of very un-artisty things.

So what made you decided to do a webcomic instead of trying for a job penciling another property or pitching your stuff to independent publishers?

Well, the web-comic was kind of an accident, actually. I was working for an independent publisher, who was publishing some anthologies and the like... and they began to fret about costs of printing... so, I formatted the pages so they could be posted online if necessary.

The book was finally printed (Ace of Spades was the back-up feature of Suddenly LandMark v.2 #1). I also drew the feature story "The Dancing Hand of Death" that the publisher - LandMark Comics - had written for the same issue.

Do you do any more work with them or the folks from the Synergy Comics group or is everything pretty solo for you now?

I'm thinking I'll try to go the solo route for a bit, as I'm afraid I'd become quite creatively codependent in the time I was part of the Groups. I'd definitely help out any groups that are trying to start up, as I think I might have a little experience to offer...

Speaking of, what kind of background as a writer or artist do you have? Any college or private training?

Unfortunately, I was a complete flake in my late teens and early twenties, so I didn't do the school thing (which I kick myself for hourly... stay in school kids!). Otherwise, just a few published articles to my name, and a spot on the literary journal in High School. I also wrote a novel for last year’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which was one of the Winners.

Congratulations. Is that a cash prize or publishing credits?

Just a certificate. But, it's hanging proudly on my wall. Writing 50,000 words in a month was quite an experience.

Wow, that is quite impressive. How does working in novel form help you with comics?

Ha! I actually had almost "forgotten" how to write in prose from writing in script form for much of the last decade (much to my editor’s frustration. I'm told a lot of my prose is "choppy prose", leading to many rewrites, and expansions.

If you could change something about your writing or art (choppy prose for example) and could do so without any effort, what would you change?

Oh, I'd tighten up my art for sure. It's a whole lot easier to "sell" art than it is words... for starters, everybody's got words... and it's hard to stand out from the crowd. When you see an awesome panel or cover... it's just there... in all it's, err... awesomeness.

Also, I feel if I drew better, I'd draw more often... which is probably a catch-22... if I drew more often, I'd probably GET better.

That's what I hear too, practice practice practice.

I know you've been working full time. What kind of time do you have to devote to your creative endeavors?

I've got a fiancée who's incredibly supportive (and patient) of all my endeavors, so pretty much any time outside of work is okay. Most of my evening is spent online talking to potential collaborators or writing articles. Admittedly, a lot more of that time should be spent at the drawing board.

When you ARE at the drawing board, what's your favorite media to use? Is it the same as the media you're most comfortable using?

I generally do layouts and pencils with a .05 pencil and inks generally with various sized Sharpies, with lettering done thru PhotoShop CS2.

You say you've written reviews for magazines. Anyone you work for regularly?

There's a magazine called Paper Dragon Ink that a couple of reviews on mine will be printed in their March issue. Also a new magazine called Splattered Ink Press will be running an article of mine... also in their March issue.

Do you mainly focus on comics or have you done movies or books too?

Comics are the primary focus... I've done a couple of movie reviews at my blog... but nothing too serious.

Are you an avid reader?

I try to be... read political books mostly (when not reading comics related stuff.)

Who's your favorite non-comic book author?

Probably David Foster Wallace... Infinite Jest, from what I recall, was a very good book. Franz Kafta is also a fun read... I've used some of his themes in my writing.

Back to the art, I know you mentioned earlier you're recently out of work. Are you going to take this time to push yourself artistically or do you see yourself doing something different?

This is kind of where I'm at a crossroads... I want to produce work... but at the same time, I want to produce quality work. I think my writing is pretty sound... but, without the artwork to support it... I don't see much success coming my way. I'm more than likely going to take advantage of some of the local schools and enroll in some art classes. I've probably spent several hundred dollars on "how to draw" books... which were a total waste, in my opinion... school's probably the way to go.

Speed and quality are hard to learn in comics. Have you thought of doing other types of art?

Nah. Comics have been my passion since I was a child. To me, it's almost the only type of art. There are a few exceptions, of course... but, comics are pretty much IT for me.
It seems artists today have more opportunities to get noticed, but do you think it's actually easier to BE an artist than, say, 20-30 years ago?

Oh, no. hehe, there's far too much competition now. I recall being one of "the best" artists in my High School, and with that came a lot of attention. Now, the field is just blown wide open... a lot harder to get noticed unless you've got "it."

Do you have anyone you'd like to work with artistically or otherwise?

I think I have several stories that would fit Terry Moore's art style.

That would be a big pitch to make. Have you sent him any correspondence?

Oh, no. hehe Just food for thought for me... for when I "make it."

Understood. Well that's all I have. Do you have any last words for your fans or fellow artists?

Just practice practice practice... As a borderline perfectionist, it's hard to see a panel or a page come out as anything but perfect... instead of practicing... I usually just give up. It's definitely the wrong way to be. You sometimes need to run laps before you can win a race... and maybe I'll start following my own advice.

Thanks for participating and for all the help you've given.

Thanks for the interview, Ben. It's been a lot of fun!

You can see more of Chris's art and writing at his blog, http://aceofspadescomics.blogspot.com/

New Site?

Volume 1 of the 100AP Single Mailer is off to Ka-Blam. Barring any technical issues, the book should be printed by the end of March. I don't know if it'll be available on Indy Planet before then, but I'll make sure to link to the listing as soon as it's live.

So I spent the night fighting a sinus headache and usually when I can't sleep I think of something organizational; mental lists, deciding what project to do next, page layouts, promotional ideas, etc. Last night's mental exercises included how to rework the project's site and whether or not it needs it. With volume one out of my hands and the Big Mailer years from completion, it's time to get more projects going.

But I want to make it easier on my time and sanity. I want people to be able to sign up for different projects and their contact information be stored in an easily accessible file format. I think the main site as it is now is a decent start, but I also think it's a bit overdone. When people visit it for the first time, are they confused? Turned off? Bored?

I know from site stats that the blog and the main site combined pull in about 20-30 visits a day. It's not much, but I think once the book goes live, more people will come to the site and want to be a part of the project. I just want to give everyone the best experience possible.

To that end, if you're reading this, please feel free to comment and let me know what you think. Even if you're not a first time visitor, take a look at the main site and let me know what you think could improve it. I'm resigned to doing it myself, but I'll do what I can.

Thanks for your time.

Tid Bits

It's a been a few days, so I thought I'd put up something to let everyone know I'm still here.

The print version of volume 1 is slowly coming together and I'd like to send it off for print today or tomorrow. I'm going to request a proof copy be sent back and since this is my first run with Ka-Blam I'm not sure how long the whole thing takes. If I need to fix things once they get it that could add time to it as well. Had I been more ambitious, I could have got books back to take to Staple, but it turns out I'm not going to that anyway.

However, that doesn't mean local shops can't buy a couple copies to sell at their stores. I'll try to get a few at cost and take them to local shops in Austin, but I can't afford more than maybe 5 or 6. We'll see.

Also, the interviews haven't stopped, I just haven't been taken up on my offer to interview people. I've got two that want to but we keep missing each other. Those will hopefully resume soon.

Also resuming, volume two! Actually, it'll be the 100AP Volume Two plus additional smaller runs. I've had offers to help set things up but when I take them up on it they stop answering. It shouldn't be much work to get it done the way I'd like and I'd like to get it rolling again to coincide with the print release.

That's all for now.

Donations Complete

Dear CBLDF and HERO,

Hope this helps your causes. Keep up the fine work.



Yours,
The 100 Artists Project

AUCTION HAS SOLD!

A last minute bidder has won the auction for the 100 Artists Project's 1st collection of work. I had honestly assumed the auction would lapse and I was going to relist it at a later time, probably for less, much to my chagrin. I'm really glad it sold and really happy I'll be able to turn $250 over to the two charities.

What this means is now I really have to get the print version done so everyone can see what great work was submitted and be able to support the causes themselves.

Good news today, good news for the causes.

Carry on!

Update 2/18/08

Just a reminder that there are two days left for the auction. If no bids are made, I'll relist it at a reduced price and run it another 10 days. I believe ebay will give me one relisting without charge. After that I'll just pay for another run.

I did a quick examination on what promotional avenues were effective as well. First, a big thanks to Chris Tinkler for helping with this and getting a mention at CBR and other places. Adam Koford got it run again at Drawn! as well. Handful of other folks either wrote about it on their sites too. Thank you all.

A quick note on that. Chris may be emailing people to get testimonials or quotes about the project. I forwarded him a handful of emails, so if he asks you for a quote, don't feel obligated to be nice, just be honest. Good word of mouth is wonderful, but any press is good press, right?

Here's the last 30 days of visits to the site.


As you can see, the best views for the site came from an unsolicited link on StumbleUpon. It represents the biggest jump in traffic since the project was listed on Drawn! back in August of 2007. Unfortunately it was also a couple weeks before the auction. You'll notice the auction date is the same date as the ad on Fark. Now, the link on Fark was set to go to the auction, not this site, but there were links back. I was a bit shocked to see how little that $40 ad got me. In fact, according to the discussion, not only is $500 too much for the crappy art, but the funds we're supporting are also a joke.

I think Fark was a bad target audience.

And, since I can't get any love on Boing Boing or Newsarama or even the web sites for the funds we're supporting, I'll be trying other avenues. I think I might be able to fund some ads through Project Wonderful. We'll see how that goes. If you have other ideas, run with it. Let me know if I need to do anything to help but at this point I'm making it up as I go.

Of note, one of the contributing artists asked that their piece be removed. They had reasons, none of which a reflection on the project itself and they do want to be included on the next go 'round, so I'll be replacing their piece with one of my own. Notice I didn't have a piece in there, but since I don't have extras laying around I'll pony up a drawing to be a replacement.

The print version is about 50% assembled and I'll be sending it off for completion as soon as I can. If the estimates hold true, I'll be able to charge you fine folks less than $20 and still be able to make it worth the effort, so that's good news.

That's all for now.

Three Days

Three days left on the auction. No bids and a lot of opinions.

Let me clear something up for people who may be coming late to the party and asking why I'm not listing 100 pieces of art individually.

1) This listing cost me $6. If I did 100 of these, it would cost me $600. That's more than the total initial bid of the whole project currently. I don't have that kind of money. I'd have to roll the winnings of one piece into the listings of the rest, which means I'd have to pick what I thought was the best piece first and hope it sold.

2) Some of the work is very good, some isn't as good. It would be unfair to the other artists if 4 or 5 pieces did really well, and the rest didn't. It's about the project, not each individual artist. What's important is that people participated to support a cause. If it's more important to bidders that they have a good piece of art and nothing else, well, there's plenty of art out there.

3) I also don't have the time to list 100 individual pieces of art. If I were to do that, I would have just asked people to do it on their own and then provide details on where to contribute.

So, with three days left, it's looking like $500 for 100 pieces of original art is just too much to even consider, which really upsets me. I'll reiterate the fact that if you wandered around a comic convention artists alley and got 100 sketches, it could very well run you $2,000. And those are just sketches. A lot of this work is well crafted, finished work.

But, the public has spoken and apparently the public doesn't approve of original artwork for charity. It speaks volumes.

So in four days look for the book to be listed at $5 and we'll see just how sad this whole thing becomes.

Call to links!

Hey folks. So, in my promotion of the auction for the 100AP, I must have forgot to turn on the lights or lit the pilot light or put the car in drive. Page views to the site have dropped off dramatically and after a couple days the project has no bids. There are just over 7 days left so I'm not panicking, but I wonder if I did something wrong.

So, I'll ask this of you all, if you haven't yet, please write about the auction. Link to it from your blog, post a bulletin about it here. If you're a contributor to a bigger site, have the ears of large publishers or are otherwise knowledgeable about getting the word out, please do. I've done what I can but I don't think it's enough.

If you have any ideas or concerns also, please let me know. What input I got initially I incorporated so I'm not above making changes.

Thanks!
-ben

Auction Relist

The auction was relisted to include a link back to a Flickr set with the entire 100 pieces of art.


Seen here.

Also, if you're trying to email me, when you send 500 emails, Google shuts down your account for a day. I can receive them but I can't reply. I'll get back to you all tomorrow.

Cheers.

The Auction Is Up!

Hey folks, the official auction is up. Please help spread the word.

If the link doesn't work, it's item #320217069221.

Thanks for help bringing this to a reality. :D

Interviews for volume one

Since roughly August of last year, I've done 11 interviews for the project. A suggestion was made saying one or two of those should be included in the print version of volume one. So I put up a poll, please take time to look it over and if you haven't read the interviews yet, here they are.

Michael Smith
Juan
Israel Turley
Phil Shaw
Steve Downer
Ben O'brien
Adam Koford
Mike Peterson
Jeremy Dale
Len Peralta
Nate Lovett

As always, if you are a contributor to the project, I'd love to spend an hour on chat interviewing you. I think it brings a level of humanity to the pieces of art people will soon be viewing and helps the project grow. You can contact me through the usual channels.

Carry on.

Site Help

I know I've asked this before, but it's worth trying again.

The 100 Artists Project site could use a bit of work. I'm not a web designer and the site was put together by an online acquaintance S.A. Finch. He did a bang up job on the design and theme (the look) but there's functionality I don't have and information I've muddled.

The site runs on Go Daddy and I have access to 1 database. I'd like to use that combined with a form that would allow people to sign up and then that information is stored. Emails are saved and I'm able to send newsletters because honestly people don't read the blogs. I'd at least like to force them to delete an email.

I've been killing myself keeping several different documents in order to keep everyone's shipping address, website and email. I've made too much work for myself and the site has become too nebulous and hard to make out. Even with all the writing and blogging and maps and updates, I have people email me and ask how to get involved and how to participate. I don't mind answering emails and I'm super glad people want to be involved, I'm just sad they couldn't find what they needed.

So, if anyone is good with simple pages that use some kind of data store and can be dynamically updated, I'd love some help. You can either comment here, AIM me at "xadrian calim" or gmail at ben.lifeinaustin@gmail.com.

Thanks for reading, carry on.

Print On Demand

Ok guys, I was just checking with Lulu and Blurb about some Print-on-Demand stuff and here's what I've found.

Books will be $35 bucks if I don't raise the price in order to get anything to go to the charity. That's just the cost to get them done.

That's about $10-15 more than I wanted to offer it but when you get above 20 pages it just costs more. I'm looking at alternatives like a presentation perfect bound book, for some reason that's less, but I'm also considering doing two prints a page in landscape format to reduce page count.

I haven't checked Ka-Blam but I don't think this is something they'd do.

Amazon's Booksurge seems to have a lot of negative remarks about it, and also I don't think it's right for this. I don't want to have to order 1500 copies of anything myself (at something like $12,000) just to be able to get a good bulk rate so that I can then sell them on my own (on a site that has no e-commerce solution yet.)

So...just a word to all the folks here wanting to support the cause by buying a copy of the book, it looks like it'll end up being about $40. If I find a better way to do it, great, if not I hope you'll understand. Having not done this before I'm confident I'm not finding a loophole in the vanity print-on-demand world.

That's all for now.

Art Scanned

David Ottati was awesome enough to get the art scanned for me. So all the art is in pdf and I'm now shopping for a nice portfolio case to put them in.

Here's my current dilemma. Cheap ones aren't expandable. Expandable ones aren't cheap. Since the art is all different sizes, binding was out of the question long ago but I wanted to keep them in a nice portfolio case. Most of us know of the Itoya portfolio binders for 11x17 boards, that's what their in now, but those only allow 96 spots over 2 cases. An expandable screwpost of the same size can be as much as $300. Of course I won't be getting that, but that's what's out there.

I might try something different and get a nice leather scrapbook display binder that's expandable. I saw a really nice one for $60 and the needed additional pages were about $12 a pack and I'd need 3 more packs.

I'm still shopping, I'm sure I can find a better deal. However, if you're new to the project and weren't able to get in for the first volume and would like to help, this would be a good time. There's a Paypal Donate button on the left side, you can use that to contribute any amount you'd like. And that's the last I'll say about it on this post.

But now that the art's back, if I get a display case soon, the auction should go up in days. I've decided to go with the full thing as one auction rather than break it up. It's the weight of the project, not the individual art that should be the impetus to bid.

That's all for now, carry on.

Auction Feedback

Hey folks, gimme some feedback here. What would you think of me listing one piece of art to start, then using the proceeds from that to fund the listing fees for the remaining 99 pieces individually?

Site Redesign

Hey all, I believe I've secured some scanning so that will begin soon. I'll also be planning out the next run of the project so people can continue to contribute if they'd like.

A list of projects will probably look like this.

• 100 Artists Single - 100 pieces supporting the CBLDF and Hero Initiative.
• 100 Artists Big - One sketchbook sent to 100 people, supporting Hero and CBLDF.
  
• 100 Artists Youth - 25 piece auction and book sales supporting the International Child Art Foundation. Must be 18 or under to qualify for this.
• 100 Artists Digital - 50 piece digital art only books supporting maybe the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Educaiton.
• 100 Artists Moleskine - One small moleskine book supporting the Center for Cartoon Studies Scholarship Fund.

Those are the ideas I have, not set in stone. However, what this will require of me other than more organizational chutzpah is a bit of a site revamp. So I'm going to ask again for help if anyone is good with site building. I have a few people I know who are good with this, but I've taxed them beyond the level a friend should when it comes to site design and creation, so I'm looking for new blood. I COULD do it myself, but it'd be messy and probably very poorly designed.

I'm using this blog more and more to disseminate news and updates and such. I'd like to integrate it into the site proper via an RSS script. That's easy. But I'd also like to develop ways for people to pick the project they'd like to do. I suppose a drop down with the lists would be the easiest way. I'd also like a way to track each project better, from current contributions to how much money has been raised when they go for auction/sale.

So if you have any expertise in that area please let me know and we can work something out.

I've also been asking around for sponsorships but I think I'm going to be out of luck until I file to become a 503 (c) non-profit and begin keeping budget records and have some kind of financial plan, which frankly would be a giant headache; I'm no good with my own finances. So I guess if you have any expertise in that kind of thing, I'd love some help there too.

Thanks all, carry on.

100!

It came in the mail yesterday, the 100th piece of art.

For those who haven't read back, the 100 Artists Project started as a small idea about a message board collaborative art project. It's since blossomed into a major endeavor and after only 10 months, 100 different people have sent artwork in to support the project. Some have sent more than one, some have sent something twice.

In that time, a single sketchbook has traveled the country 16 times. Before it's done it will have traveled to most US states as well as a dozen countries.

But for now the first part is done.

I have some reading to do now about which online printer could do this for me, but the next step is to get good scans of all the work and then put it up for auction. I was never able to secure a decent scanner so I'll be going to FedEx/Kinkos to scan them all if they've got something that big. Once that's done, I'll post all 100 pieces on eBay. There will be a link back to this blog and the main site. Then I'll spring for the ad on Fark and maybe a few other places. Then I'll update every message board I can find with the link to the auction.

I'm going to wait a while before putting the art print book up for sale, probably have it go online as soon as the auction is over. I don't want to discourage folks from trying for the original art first. I'm going to list the auction at $500 to start. It sounds like a lot, but that's $5 a piece and I think that's REALLY low.

I'm also going to close the form mailing page for a while as well. I need to retool the project and offer people a choice of which project they'd like to join. I want to reword a lot of the site so it's less confusing and people actually only sign up if they're going to participate rather than signing up to sign up. I also need to research a few other charities. I have some ideas for matching projects so we'll see if it all works.

But the good news is, the first part is officially over. We made it. We're done! I'm very excited. Thanks everyone.

Done? Maybe?

Member of Penciljack has sent his piece off. Once that gets here that will make 100 pieces and the first part of this project is done. Finito. In the can. Which means I'll be spending the next week or so assembling all the art, making sure it's scanned. Printing out some kind of credits page, what have you.

I've also got one person saying they've mailed theirs off as well, they live in Sweden (I think) so they'll be number 101 or #1 for volume 2.

I've also put an ad spot on the right for Project Wonderful. I'll be sure to recoup 10s of cents from the endeavor. Full disclosure, ad revenue will go toward site and project maintenance, not the funds. But I don't expect it to be much of anything.

That's all for now, more news about project wrap up soon.

Again, if you want to be interviewed, let me know. If you'd like to interview me about the project let me know. Word of mouth is our biggest ally right now.

Cheers.

Still Holding

Eight days into 2008 and we're still holding at 99 pieces. The Big Mailer has stalled and I'm no longer getting any hits on the site (which means this won't be read by anyone) and no one is using the form mailer to "sign up."

I've had dozens of people over the past month tell me something is "in the mail" or "sitting on my desk" or "going to be done this weekend." I can appreciate life getting in the way of things, but I'm starting to get a bit down on the project, with only one piece to go no less.

What this doesn't also bode well for is a second run of this project. It took (is taking) 8 months to get the first one half done. The first lady took a month to draw the picture and send it to the next guy who sat on it for three weeks. The current artist was sick (which apparently limits your drawing ability) and the sketchbook hasn't moved in a month. Meanwhile it's been months since I've heard from people who've said they'd send in something, and they haven't.

I've sent out numerous emails asking for interviews and very few have been returned. Those that have been have already been put up. I think folks have just forgotten this is here.

I don't like making a stink about this, but this stinks.

I don't know what else I can do to keep this thing going other than tireless and annoying bumping of forum threads. I don't have the money to advertise and I'd hate to stick AdSense on the site as it wouldn't do any good, what with the 5 hits a day the site gets. (And that's five a day for both the main site AND this blog.)

There's been two donations to support the project, no merchandise sales. I can't get the dang thing listed on Fark or Boing Boing or any major listing sight. And other than the help getting the site designed, all offered help seems to have disappeared.

So consider the project done when and IF the 100th piece ever comes in. I'll still finish it all with the auction and make copies of the books for people to get, but that's probably all I'll do. It's obvious I was one of the few that thought this was a good idea. As for the Big Mailer sketchbook floating around out there, I might just post everyone's emails somewhere and just say, "You guys work it out. When it's done, send it to my grandkids."

I'm bummed on the whole thing, but it's a project of mine and those tend to come up to about 99% and then die.

Carry on.