I’m still working hard at fulfilling rewards for backers of my Dodo Phoenix Indiegogo Project. Here is a portrait I painted for an especially generous backer.
There are still 4 days left to contribute to my project. A portrait like this can be yours for a $250 contribution.
Congratulations to Ed Rogers for winning the May Caption Contest. A free t-shirt will be heading his way. For the June Caption Contest, I figured a Father’s Day illustration was in order. My father found this one to be somewhat off-putting when I first gave it to him 13 years ago, and I can understand why…
OK, everyone, this should be another drawing where the caption practically writes itself. Dig in! Remember to get your friends to “Like” your caption, because the caption with the most “likes” by the end of the month will win a free Donkeyshines T-shirt. While they’re at it, make sure your friends “like” the Donkeyshine Facebook Page as well. Best of luck to all the caption contest participants. I look forward to reading the crazy shit you come up with.
There are still 9 days left for the Dodo Phoenix Indiegogo project, but I’m beginning to work on some of the more ambitious and time-consuming backer perks. Here is a portrait of a backer’s dog I did in acrylic paint on an 11″ x 14″ board for a $250 contribution:
Given that many of the perks I’m offering for the Dodo Phoenix Indiegogo project are pieces of original art, I have decided to start working on them now instead of waiting until the project ends. I thought it might be fun to share these here on the Donkeyblog as they are completed. This is what a $5 contribution earned one anonymous donor:
These drawings are 8.5″ x 11″ and are shipped flat in a manilla envelope so they arrive to you in pristine condition, ready for matting and/or framing. Or refrigerator display.
Congrats to Mathew Biondolillo for winning the April caption contest with “And that’s when Jake realized that Sally was not only the bustiest, but also the most violent six year old he’d ever stolen cake from.” Nice caption-writing, Mat. For May’s contest, I thought it would be appropriate to use an illustration that was originally a Mother’s Day Card. In case you were wondering, yes I actually did give this card to my own mother. And no, nobody ever bought one of these back when I was selling them.
I know this isn’t my best work, technically speaking, but come on! There’s a kid shitting in a fish tank! OK, folks, let’s see some captions. This one should be easy…
As usual, the caption with the most “likes” by the last day of the month wins a free Donkeyshines T-Shirt. Spread the word, vote, get your friends to vote for your caption.
Today, I received a letter from my 3-yr-old nephew in San Jose. He asked if I could please make him a drawing of a blue marker with a blue cap. I think I did a pretty good job:
I hadn’t done a watercolor painting in a while, so this was pretty fun. I need to get back in painting shape, since I’m offering watercolor portraits as one of the perks for contributions to my Dodo Phoenix Indiegogo project.
So I’ve finally launched my Dodo Phoenix Indiegogo fundraising project. Here’s my introductory video:
If you like this design and want to see it on a t-shirt, consider contributing to the project. There are some fun perks for those who donate, including original art and Donkeyshines merch. For a donation as small as $5, you’ll get a one-of-a-kind drawing. For $15, you’ll get the Dodo Phoenix shirt, which is a good deal since it will eventually retail at $19.99. Go to the project page to see more perks, and other such details. If your flat-broke and don’t think you can kick in any dough, don’t fret. You can still help these shirts see the light of day by spreading the word. Share this post, share the direct link to the project, share, share share! And tweet! And all that other good social media stuff! Maybe write a letter to the mayor? Couldn’t hurt.
Thanks for your support!
For years now, I have been wanting to make a t-shirt featuring a dodo bird. Finally, I came up with a design that I’m pretty excited about it.
Dodos are usually thought of as dopy, stupid birds which became extinct due to how dopy and stupid they were. I always thought this was unfair, and I wanted to come up with a way to give them some dignity. Since the phoenix typically symbolizes rebirth , I thought it would be a fitting form in which to resurrect the dodo.
This is the first 3-color design I will ever have screen printed, and it is going to cost a bit more to produce. Especially since I plan to print it on Next Level Apparel tri-blend blanks. To pay for it, I am once again turning to crowd funding. My previous experience with Kickstarter was successful when I printed my Poison Dart Frog shirts, but there were some limitations with the process that have made me consider an alternative. Indiegogo was suggested to me by a friend, and it looks like there are some advantages with their system. For one thing, Kickstarter requires backers to pay through an Amazon sellers account. Setting this up was just annoying enough to deter my own parents from backing my project! Indiegogo allows backers to pay with either a credit card or Paypal, which is much easier. They also offer the option of partial project funding. This comes in handy if you end up just a few bucks short of your goal, but want to go ahead with the project anyway. Idealistically, I like some other things about Indiegogo as well. There is no application process and they allow pretty much any type of project. This seems more “starving artist-friendly”. I am somewhat hesitant to abandon Kickstarter, however, as many of my friends are already a part of that community and are therefore more likely to back projects here. I’m leaning towards trying Indiegogo, but I haven’t quite made up my mind. If anyone has any thoughts on the matter, please comment here. Especially if you have had experiences with Indiegogo you’d like to share. I am looking to launch my project as early as next Friday.
It’s a little late, but I’m finally posting the birthday card my wife made for me this year. It features our cat Leela cooking up something in the kitchen, only to find my wife’s gorilla Koko playing the the batter.
Some of you might recognize this composition. That is because it is a parody of the Valentine’s Day Card I made a few months ago:
If you want you can see details of this earlier post Anyway, as you can see, my wife cleverly reversed the roles of the animals in her version. Nicely done, I say. As always.
