http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:xadrian-xray-dan&section=today deviantART RSS for by:xadrian-xray-dan en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:33:30 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/20855541/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/20855541/ Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:03:34 PDT
Not to steal from the fine community here, but I've also started a message board for contributors (or anyone) to come and discuss anything you'd like, network with people, post your art and that like.

[link]

Help me keep the project rolling by participating. It only works if we have dedicated contributors, and you can be that.

Thanks all.

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/20143941/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/20143941/ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 07:44:08 PDT
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. The word limit is set to 3,500, that's ROUGHLY 10 pages depending on your format. It'll be printed as a perfect bound paperback.

All the details about submissions and such are on the site, please stop by.

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.

[link]

Cheers!

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/19934717/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/19934717/ Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:06:05 PDT
[link]

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.

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/18317577/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/18317577/ Wed, 14 May 2008 08:52:06 PDT
http://drawn.ca/2008/05/13/oppose-the-orphan-works-act-of-2008


Currently, copyright is granted the moment a work is created. This new Orphan Works legislation proposes a change in U.S. copyright that would (indirectly) require artists, illustrators, photographers, and any creative individual to actively maintain and defend their copyright by registering each and every work with privatized registrars. Failure to do so would leave everything you’ve ever created as an artist up for grabs by anyone who wanted to copy, reproduce, create derivative works of, or flat out steal your work since the act defines an “orphan work” as any work where the author is unidentifiable or unlocatable, and applies to both published and unpublished works, U.S. and foreign, regardless of age.



More information in the post including ways to contact your reps, an interview with Brad Holland about the issue as well as some other links. Please read, act and pass this information along.

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/17596971/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/17596971/ Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:36:17 PDT
[link]

Please spread the word. 100% of proceeds go toward the CBLDF and HERO.

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/16823274/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/16823274/ Sun, 10 Feb 2008 19:29:08 PST 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.

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/16660184/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/16660184/ Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:28:14 PST
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.

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/16533975/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/16533975/ Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:15:49 PST
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.

That's all for now, thanks everyone.

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/16378115/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/16378115/ Sat, 12 Jan 2008 20:01:39 PST
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.

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/16312227/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/16312227/ Tue, 08 Jan 2008 07:46:26 PST
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.

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/16237580/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/16237580/ Thu, 03 Jan 2008 09:53:08 PST
1. Will you be looking for a new job?
Just freelance work, I'm gainfully employed.

2. Will you be looking for a new relationship?
No, just meaningless flings.

3. New house?
No, renting for the next 10 years. Screw houses.

4. What will you do different in 08?
Change eating habits, draw every day. Mope less.

5. New Years resolution?
No, it's a recipe for failure, just making changes that needed to be made anyway.

6. What will you NOT be doing in 08?
Making first contact with people. If they want to find me, they know where I am.

7. Any trips planned?
Maybe NY and CO.

8. Wedding plans?
HA! Awesome. No, '07 saw the end of one, I don't want another.

9. Major thing on your calendar?
Federal holidays.

10. What can't you wait for?
Retirement.

11. What would you like to see happen differently?
Not be broke every freakin' day.

12. What about yourself will you be changing?
My hair might get longer, I may buy more t-shirts.

13. What happened in 07 that you didn't think would ever happen?
Marriage ended. Starcraft II announced. Got a Wii.

14. Will you be nicer to the people you care about?
I'm already the nicest person most of my people know, it's time the pendulum swung back.

15. Will you dress differently this year than you did in 07?
No, everything will just be a smaller size.

17. Will you better your relationship with your family?
Can't see how I'd do that.

18. Will you do charity work?
Perhaps.

19. Will you go to bars?
Yes, lots.

20. Will you be nice to people you dont know?
I always am.

21. Do you expect '08 to be a good year for you?
In the same way the Miami Dolphins expect it to be.

22. How much did you change from this time last year til now?
I was actually paid a few times to draw in 07, that's something that didn't happen previously.

23. Do you plan on having a child?
No, already have two, plus I've been fixed.

24. Will you still be friends with the same people you are friends with now?
More than likely.

25. Major lifestyle changes?
Probably, what I've been doing so far hasn't made me terribly happy.

27. What will you make sure doesn't happen in 08 that happened in 07?
Living paycheck to paycheck.

28. What are your New Years Eve plans?
I spent the night with my kids.

29. Will you have someone to kiss at midnight?
My little boy and girl

30. One wish for 2008?
That it doesn't hurt.

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/15900110/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/15900110/ Wed, 12 Dec 2007 07:48:07 PST
My big concern is when the collected work goes up for auction, it doesn't get the views it deserves. When you figure most people would charge between $50 and $100 for what they've sent in, and there are 100 pieces, you can imagine what kind of pressure the project is under to pull in some good money to go to the chosen charities.

What this means is I need help promoting the auction when it goes live. I haven't nailed down the presentation yet (whether to keep all the art in a portfolio binder or have it all bound together like a single sketchbook) but when I do, I need as many people as possible to help get the word out that it's going on. The more people see it, the more will bid on it and HOPEFULLY the right people will see it and raise the bids up a bit.

But don't worry, digital reprints will be done for those who just want to enjoy the work. I figure no more than $20 and you could get a copy for your own coffee table.

Thanks for reading, please do keep an eye on the blog as the news will be coming faster and more frequently as the project wraps up.

[link]

Cheers!
-ben

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/15330838/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/15330838/ Fri, 02 Nov 2007 12:34:10 PDT
Thanks to the relentless input by soon to be contributor Chris Tinkler, I've thrown together a promotional flier people can print off and take to their local comic shops.

[link]

(The artwork on the flier is care of Rodrigo Laiz, Eric Schock and David Montoro, chosen at random.)

Please, print a few out. Take them to book stores, comic shops, record stores, coffee shops, any place the would support art.

I'll also be blitzing a few more sites today to spread the word. I expect we'll be done soon with the Single Mailer so I want to make sure folks know about the artwork soon to be available and the cause.

Carry on.

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/15098011/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/15098011/ Wed, 17 Oct 2007 07:14:02 PDT
However, we still have 20 to go so if you want to get your piece in the first book, you'll have to do it soon. Don't wait, visit the site, get the info and send in some work. If you've been siting on the fence or putting it off thinking you have time, now's the time to do it.

Big thanks to all those people who've sent work in, you've shown real moxy getting involved in a project like this and I applaud you.

Carry on.

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/14868746/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/14868746/ Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:32:07 PDT
The second part is a single sketchbook that's mailed around to everyone who's sent in a piece of art. When it's done the same process is applied.

As of this writing we're above 70 pieces of art for the Single and the Big Mailer has been sent to 12 people.

I've also just created a Zazzle gallery of products you can purchase with the project's logo.

[link]

If you haven't seen the project, please stop by.

[link]

Thanks for looking.

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/14784604/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/14784604/ Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:28:30 PDT
If you don't know what the 700 Hoboes list is, here's a background.

In 2005, John Hodgman released a book called "The Areas of My Expertise." If you need further explanation of who John Hodgman is, go to YouTube and look up PC vs. Mac or watch the Daily Show.

In AoME is a list of 700 hobo names, along with other startling facts of which Mr. Hodgman is an expert. Shortly after the book's release, Mark Frauenfelder from Boing Boing suggested that cartoonists each pick a name and render it. Shortly after that a Flickr group was started and several key members (Adam Koford, Len Peralta, Mike Peterson, Eric Vespoor and myself) began adding almost daily drawings to the group. Dan Coulter was able to use his immense knowledge and skills and create e-hobo.com; a site built on the open Flickr API wrapper he'd developed.

To date on the Flickr group, there are 360 members and 1761 illustrations. Adam Koford has since finished all 800 (JH released a paperback with 100 extra names) hoboes and is now in the midst of his own phenomenon, the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats.

The core members also branched out to create the 700 Things group. In this group is a list of 700 things, each thing is a list of 700 names. For instance, there is a 700 Robots list (a list I'm trying to complete) a 700 Bunnies, 700 Dragons, 700 Unicorns, 700 Clowns. There are literally 700x700 names possible if all the lists were filled out. If ever you need inspiration on something to draw, check it out.

[link]

Perhaps one day we can start a similar group here.

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/14783386/ http://xadrian-xray-dan.deviantart.com/journal/14783386/ Tue, 25 Sep 2007 08:17:11 PDT
After that I'll spend time poking around at other users and groups, find out where I can be either a nice friend and fellow member or a giant pain in the ass. After all, progress isn't made by those who sit around agreeing on everything.

]]> ~xadrian-xray-dan