This week has been all about launching my first Kickstarter project, Wonderbeasts.

 

The start of the week was a whirlwind of video edits, project descriptions and rewards,

Before submitting everything for the official Kickstarter thumbs up

and unleashing it into the world on Thursday.

It’s a tense time.

I’ve put the idea out there, now to see how many bites I get…

I feel pretty exposed…

 

Find out more about Wonderbeasts and how you can be part of the project here. 

 

***

 

Like most people on Twitter, I’ve experienced that crisis of faith where you stare blankly at all those 140 characters and think;

“What the hell is the point?

Surely there’s more to Twitter than telling the world what you had for lunch?”

 

It was this quandary that inspired TwitterPicture in 2011, my interactive drawing project where I drew your tweets.

Turns out there was more to Twitter than lunch.

 

Long story short, this idea of social media co-creation captured imaginations and lead to a handful of rather nice commissions

(The Edinburgh Fringe, Smart Car, Famous Grouse, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art…)

 

Usually I’d have 24 hours to draw the hundreds of suggestions and create the final artwork, all under the watchful eye of a live webcam audience.

It was exciting and challenging, but I was always left a little frustrated at the style (and quite frankly the quality) of the final artwork.

 

For this co-creation project I wanted to focus on the drawing.

Loose the constraints of a 24 hour deadline and the live streaming and instead concentrate on crafting something really beautiful, but still with the interactive element.

 

So that’s what I’ve done.

 

I’ve allowed myself 3 weeks for the creation of this piece.

Yip, 3 weeks.

Not my usual 24 hours with zero sleep, little food and a whole lot of hand cramp,

But 3 full weeks to sketch, amend, ink and tweak.

What a luxury!

 

**

 

Post launch, the remainder of the week has been consumed with tracking the project’s progress.

How many views / tweets / backers / days?

I’m currently in love with Kickstarter Stats, it’s like a whole new world of OCD has opened up to me.

 

Now to juggle promoting Wonderbeasts whilst continuing to create new work for the exhibition.

This could be the distraction to end all distractions…

 

Be part of Wonderbeasts and add to my distractions here.

 

 

Big thanks to Creative Scotland who supported the Sabbatical through a Professional Development Grant.