My Patreon

Hey Everyone, I wanted to talk a bit about my Patreon.

My Patreon

What... why Patreon?

Patreon is like an ongoing kickstarter in that it allows an audience of supporters to support artists and projects. However, instead of pledging one lump sum for one large project, patreon's pledges are recurring, smaller donations to help your favorite artists continue to bring you the content you enjoy. Your Pledge can be from $1 to however many doll hairs you want and in return I will show my appreciation by giving you rewards! 

By Pledging to my Patreon you will be helping me take my business of making creatures and things to a new level. If this takes off and sufficient pledges are received I can start producing bigger projects such as toy mini series, freeing me up to do work that isn't strictly commission based. Also the Patreon will help me to have a presence at some of the larger art and toy conventions,  start large print releases, original toy and sculpture projects, and potentially kill my student loan debt! Most of all I hope to use Patreon as a means of supplementing my art business and helping it reach the point of viability. Once my business reaches a point of viability my Patreon will turn into a monthly subscription service and means of providing you with more, bad-assier exclusive content.

Rewards
By becoming a patron you are entitled to rewards determined by your monthly pledge. The rewards are a way that I can show you my appreciation for your patronage without breaking the bank or sinking all of my time into them. Rewards  range from access to my exclusive Patreon content not seen anywhere else, monthly signed prints, monthly exclusive Patreon toy variants and producer credits printed on the box art of my major toy or sculpture releases.

What I do
I create these dark, chubby yet lanky creatures that I like to call Shadows along with their buddies, whatever form they might be. I'm starting to make a living of it :) I enjoy sculpting these guys most of all, but I'd like to break new ground and create them in many various ways. I work primarily in ceramic, apoxie resins and pen/ink. I have knowledge in all sorts of other mediums, however I don't have the opportunity to expand on them. My business is starting to take off however it's still a little shaky. Most of the work I do is commissioned based and leaves me with very little time to focus on the other things I enjoy that have the potential to help my art career take off. This is why I started a Patreon, to ask for your help and support!

Beginning sculpts for "Shadows and Ghosts" blind box series

To those of you who have read this, if  you wouldn't mind spreading the news or sharing this with others who might be interested, I'd really appreciate it. I've been struggling to get the word out there by reaching out to toy and art blogs and any of the followers on my social media outlets, however it hasn't been received very well or it has been overlooked. This is a tremendous opportunity for me to turn my work around and put this 7 year fine art degree to good use. The Commissions have been a lot of fun however they don't leave me with much time to do anything else. It's been a battle between limiting commissions to free up time for personal projects, but then having enough commissions to pay the bills and fund the personal projects. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated! If you've passed this info along, please let me know,  I would like to send you a small print as a thank you!

Thank you all for your time!

Beginning Work on "Shadows and Ghosts"

I've begun work on my next mini figure series "Shadows and Ghosts." I'm barely 1 sculpt in and I'm already super excited! The series will consist of 6 figures and 2  chase color variants.  I'm hoping to have a full release before November but there's the possibility I can make it happen sooner. Once I get the first set cast and painted I'll be opening it up to pre-orders. Anyway, I just had to get that out there. More photos coming soon!

Even ghosts get wedgies

First Ever Android Custom

This guy was a bit difficult at first and ended up taking it in a different direction than I had originally intended. I was originally going for some kind of stocky monster with six legs and a wide eyes. A thing about me when I sculpt is that I'm always keeping an open dialogue with whatever it is that I'm doing and I'm always asking it questions, but it's mostly the the same question "What if?" Sometimes I'll even speak to whatever it is I'm working on out loud... a tad crazy, I know. But in doing so I'm trying things and working things out all along the way. this is a really fun process in ceramic because you can always add and subtract quick and easy, However when I'm working in the toys I'm Using epoxy resin so I have to be a little more deliberate so I'm carving into solid resin... which isn't too bad but it can be a little slow going. 

Anyway, once I began the sculpt and started cutting away and cutting into my hand, leaving me with a few stitches,  I started to see a kind of a Sluggish Shadow thing with four nubby little legs and two arms for whatever reason. I also gave him antennae and a toothy grin, gotta have teh toothy grins. One thing I've noticed about me and the toys is that once I've locked onto an aesthetic I'll keep doing it and refining it.  The first new platform tends to involve most of the learning and experimenting and when the second one comes along it's blown the first out of the water. I'll have a post up here in a bit detailing what I mean. If you were to compare the very first shadow to the ones I'm making now you wouldn't believe they were the same artist.  With that In mind I really can't wait to get my hands on another android!

Oh, and another thing, When I'm working off of a platform or someone's design I like to stay true to the original as much as I can. I might hack a piece off here and there and then rearrange it, but when I'm done you'll be able to tell what it was originally without looking too hard. You can Still tell it's an android, right?

Toy Update: Captain America Shadow

 So for that past couple weeks things have been hectic with stuff and junk, so I had to catch up on a bit of work. BUT I'm all caught up now and have some awesome pieces that I'll be showing throughout the month. Let me know what you think, Enjoy!

Also, for those of you interested in supporting one of your favorite asrtists *wink wink* you should take a look at my Patreon. Patreon is like an ongoing kickstarter in that it allows an audience of supporters to fund artists and projects. However, instead of pledging one lump sum for one large project, Patreon's pledges are recurring, smaller donations to help your favorite artists continue to bring you the content you enjoy. Your Pledge can be from $1 to however many doll hairs you want and in return I will show my appreciation by giving you rewards! Any and all help to spread the word of my Patreon would be greatly appreciated, so if you could, please help me spread the word. Thank you for your time :)

It's Been a While...

I feel like a lot of my blog posts start out that way. There's been a lot going on and I'm not not really sure where to start. At the moment I'm looking for help to get my Patreon(more info coming soon) off the ground so I can start funding the large projects you've all been waiting for and I have a new series of toys on the horizon. The series' name is "Shadows and Ghosts" and it will feature at least six 3 inch figures. I got the idea from a random ghost doodle I did.

The inspiration for the upcoming series

  Things that happened: I was part of an amazing sculpture show at the Clutter Gallery,  my grandpa died, I revised some policies in my shop, I went to CCACA, Started putting a fence up around my property, my cat became ill, started cleaning out my old shack in the hopes of turning it into a studio, was in another group show over at Makerbot, got my first stitches, got my moms truck stuck in a flooded wash, Started doing pen and ink drawrings, I found some baby birds, found some toads, found some spiders, and I rearranged my house. I'm sure there is a lot of other things I haven't mentioned that have happened, but whatevs. Here are some photos to help illustrate :)

My decrepit shed/soon to be studio

I got some friends together and we tore down all of the interior walls and dry wall. 

Me in my decrepit shed with a shadow looking over my shoulder

 I didn't have any photos of myself.

One of the shows I was in

I made the Fabulist and the Auditor for this show. It was amazing..., at least from what I could see of the photos.

Baby Birds

 While we were breaking down the inside of the shed we found two bird nests with little baby birds.

Audrey and Binks

 This is Audrey(left) and Binks(right). Binks had some crystals build up in his bladder due to our heavily mineralized well water. I had to take him to the vet to have them removed and leave him over night. It sucked.

A pen and ink with watercolor I did

One of the tarantulas I found

The wash where I where I got my moms truck stuck

 Driving home I hit this wash going a little too fast and water got all up in the engine making it stall. Usually when I take it slow it's traverse-able.

One of the toads I caught

The Fabulist and The Auditor

I made these guys out of ceramic for the Tenebrous Show at Clutter.