THE ART OF... Volumes 10-12

Happy Holidays!
7 days ago – Thu, Dec 19, 2024 at 01:26:08 PM

Halfling Rogue bust painted by Dave Taylor

Happy Holidays, everyone!

I just wanted to drop everyone a message letting you all know everything is on track, and looking good. The physical busts have been produced by BigChild Creatives and are now on their way to our fulfillment hubs. The artcard sets are going to be printed in early January and then sent to the hubs, and the books are also on their way. So, we can all sleep soundly knowing that things are moving well.

Digital Items?

I've had a few questions about the digital items and when they'll be distributed. Great question! The PDFs of THE ART OF... Volumes 10-12, as well as the STLs for the Halfling Rogue bust, will be distributed to the backers that have pledged for those options at the same time as we start the physical fulfillment process (looking like early February at the moment).

Additionally, the tutorial PDFs from Roman, Sam, and Josua will be released just a bit before that, to get you all primed and ready for reading their excellent books.

And then?

Hopefully I'll be able to reveal to you the next three artists joining the team early in the New Year. Very exciting stuff!

Take care, everyone. Have a safe and happy holiday season.

See you all in 2025!

Cheers
Dave

Where is everything at?
24 days ago – Mon, Dec 02, 2024 at 07:53:56 AM

Hello, everyone! I figured with Thanksgiving out of the way and the end of the year fast approaching, it was time for an update.

Roman, Josua, and Sam (pictured above at the Monte San Savino 2024 show. I'm super-jealous) wanted to let you all know they are very grateful for your support of their books, and they are very excited that you should start receiving them in February 2025!

Printed Books

The books and slipcases have been printed, and are now being shipped to their various hubs in the US and the UK. We are racing against the clock to get the American shipment into the US before the next easy coast dockworkers strike currently planned to begin on January 15th. If we can do that, we'll be able to begin fulfillment in February. If something goes wrong, we will be a bit delayed. Cross your fingers, everyone!

Halfling Rogue Busts

The team at Bigchild Creatives are currently working on the production of these pieces, and they should be shipping to the hubs soon.

Artcards

Each of the artists has selected their favorite images for use on the cards, including Josua's most recent work he presented at Monte San Savino. These cards will be off to their printer this week and will arrive at the hubs on time. 

Overall

So, everything is looking great, as long as our luck holds with getting our American books on a boat in the next week or two. I'll keep you all updated should we hit any snags along the way. 

We currently have 50 backers who have not completed their surveys, and if these aren't completed by the end of December, this will delay the dispatch of those packages and may result in additional processing fees. Not something I want to see happen, so please check your emails/spam folders for recent reminders (sent over the weekend). If you've already completed your survey, there's no need to do anything. You are all set.

I'll also be closing up the Pre-order store on December 15, so that we have time to get all the right numbers and addresses etc to our fulfillment hubs. If you have a friend who missed the KS but would still like to get in on the deals, let them know they can check it out at:
 

What's next?

In late January, I'll be launching a Kickstarter campaign in conjunction with the 28 Magazine team to bring a printed collection of their wonderful digital publication to life. 28 Collected with be a 300+ page hardback book with a brand new cover by the master John Blanche, and be full of fantastic articles about the 28 movement. Keep an eye out for more updates on that.

In April/May I'll launch the next THE ART OF... campaign, with three more wonderful artists. Stay tuned for those names soon too :) 

Cheers
Dave

Locking Orders and Charging Cards
2 months ago – Fri, Oct 25, 2024 at 11:41:41 AM

November is fast approaching, so Happy Spooky Season to all who celebrate. 

This quick update is just to let you know that with all of the files off to the printer – and the proofs all approved – we're now ready to lock in everyone's orders and charge your cards (for things like add-ons, pledge level changes, and shipping. 

This will be done next Saturday (November 2nd), so please ensure that the card that BackerKit has on file is up to date and ready to be charged. If there's an issue, BackerKit will email you and let you know the next steps. They'll retry a couple of times, but it's much easier for everyone if it works smoothly the first time. 

Cheers
Dave (and Roman and Sam and Josua)
 

And the files are of to the printers!
2 months ago – Sun, Oct 13, 2024 at 11:17:39 AM

I am very happy to announce that all three books are now edited, laid out, edited again, and approved by their respective authors. This is a huge milestone each year and I'm ecstatic to be at this point. 

In fact, here's a screenshot of my conversation with Sam Lenz in Friday:

Tomorrow, the pre-press team will go over the files and let me know if there are any technical issues or things they recommend adjusting for improved printing, and everything will be able to head to the presses. Assuming things are reasonably alright, this puts us on track with previous years, so we can hope to see books in your hands in March next year!

Once again, each of these books is a unique presentation of the artists, their philosophies, and their approaches. I have no doubt you will enjoy them all!

More updates as and when they become available :) 

Cheers
Dave (and Roman, Sam, and Josua)

Where did the summer go?
4 months ago – Fri, Sep 06, 2024 at 09:45:06 AM

I can't believe it has been two months since our last update! 

My most humble apologies, but this has been a whirlwind summer for me, and I know the team has been busy too. Traveling to conventions, judging painting competitions, family visits, and kids getting summer jobs. It has all been very crazy. 

At the same time, we've been working hard to keep the books moving towards their deadline, and at the same time ensure that they are the best they can be. Work is well underway on all three, with Roman's book the closest to reaching the finish line (the second editing pass should be completed this weekend). 

One of my favorite parts of the process is working with each artist on how we'll present certain aspects of their story. For example, Roman is not only talking about creativity as his focus, but we also have a dozen or so Milestones to present along the way. These Milestones talk about turning points through Roman's career, points where he was perhaps struggling with something and came to a specific realization that helped him move forward. We've decided on presenting these on a green background accompanied by an appropriate photograph or miniature piece (we all know his favorite color is green, right?).

At the moment we have about 100 backers that haven't completed their BackerKit survey. I'll send another reminder today, and it would be great if we could get those squared away soon. (if you don't receive a reminder today, then you are already sorted). :) 

And finally (for this update) the "late pledge/pre-order" store is still open, so if you have any friends who missed the campaign, they can still place their orders to get their books early next year. Here's a link you can share with them: 
https://the-art-of-volumes-10-12.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

Thank you all for your support, and I'll be back with another update soon!

Cheers
Dave (and Roman and Sam and Josua)