Showing posts with label Drawing Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drawing Life. Show all posts

Sunday, December 12, 2021

Drawing Life with George Booth: The Kickstarter Animation Art Reward

Now that the short documentary "Drawing Life with George Booth" (2021) has been released, the filmmakers have gotten around to shipping the last of the rewards promised in their Kickstarter campaign. You may recall that in April of 2019 I became a supporter of the film, pledging $150. I was rewarded with the promise of an original piece of animation artwork from the production with an estimated delivery date of August 2019. 

The reward was further described as an "original drawing" and illustrated with a promotional photograph showing a hand-drawn cat in the manner of New Yorker cartoonist George Booth, presumably created by animator Emily Collins, nicely matted and framed.



On Instagram and Twitter, the filmmakers thanked their backers graciously, posting their gratitude for each successive wave of support:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwXLvdgBPhI/?utm_content=bufferc8158&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Later, with only ten hours remaining in the campaign, the filmmakers thanked their many supporters en masse:
https://twitter.com/DrawingLifeDoc/status/1119438636838207489/photo/1


As I noted here at the time, the promised animation art failed to arrive in August of 2019. As I further noted a year later, it did not arrive by August of 2020 either. Ditto for August 2021. In fact, it arrived in the mailbox just yesterday.

The first sign that something was wrong was the flimsiness of the mailing envelope. Never mind that the art was unframed and therefore not quite as advertised; the mailer contained little more than a thin sheet of paper without even the benefit of cardboard backing! I have never seen a single sheet of artwork sent through the mail in this cavalier way and I take it as a sign either of the filmmakers' carelessness or of their lack of regard for the art they created and its intended recipients. The only thing protecting the delicate enclosure was the directive "do not bend" taped to the outside. Not surprisingly, the envelope had been creased at some point in transit; it would have been miraculous if it had been otherwise.

Inside was a printed or photocopied thank-you note.


Finally, the envelope held the Kickstarter reward, the promised "original drawing" with an original estimated delivery of August 2019, unframed, we now know, and already slightly creased. But what of the animation art? The artwork, I believe, speaks for itself:








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Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Drawing Life with George Booth Kickstarter Reward, Continued



In April of 2019 I became a supporter of the Kickstarter project to fund Drawing Life with George Booth. The documentary film, still in production, is the work of Nathan Fitch with animation by producer Emily Collins. George Booth's cartoons have been gracing the pages of The New Yorker for fifty-one years now. My pledge of $150 comes with the reward of an animation drawing from the production, nicely framed if the photo is any indication. The presumptive delivery date for all the rewards was to be in August 2019. That deadline was missed, as I noted a year ago, and the year since hasn't exactly been ideal for meeting commitments of any sort.

Thus it was no surprise that Mr. Fitch's most recent Kickstarter update, or check-in as he now calls it during the pandemic, reports only limited progress on the film and on the rewards. Here's a brief excerpt, dated August 14, 2020:



I see little reason to doubt that this project will be completed eventually and completed well. There is every reason to expect that the film will be outstanding, especially given its subject. And while I am not yet ready to pronounce judgment on the animation art reward, that is one fine-looking tote bag.


Note:  This Kickstarter project for Drawing Life with George Booth may be found here. The August 14 check-in to which I refer may be read in full here.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

George Booth

Animation Drawings

Attempted Bloggery's Cinematic Index


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Saturday, August 31, 2019

Drawing Life with George Booth Kickstarter Reward Soft Deadline

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1738241852/drawing-life-with-george-booth/description

I fancied myself quite the patron of the arts back in April when I supported the Kickstarter project to fund Drawing Life with George Booth. The film, currently in the late stages of production, is a documentary by Nathan Fitch with animation by Emily Collins, who is also a producer. George Booth is of course a national treasure who has been contributing cartoons to the New Yorker for fifty years. I joined thirty-two others in giving a pledge of $150. This level of giving comes with a reward of an animation drawing, presumably by Ms. Collins after George Booth. The reward had a predicted delivery date of August 2019 so, ever the optimist, I set aside today's blog post to celebrate the occasion. To date, though, I don't think the filmmakers even have asked for my shipping address. Ah well....



The latest Kickstarter update from Mr. Fitch dated August 2 assures supporters the filmmakers are hard at work on all aspects of the project. He ends with:

And that's where we stand.


Note:  This Kickstarter project for Drawing Life with George Booth may be found here.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery 
Archives:


George Booth

Animation Drawings

Attempted Bloggery's Lifelike Index


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Saturday, April 13, 2019

George Booth: From Cats to Kickstarter

It isn't every day that original New Yorker cartoon art by the incomparable George Booth sells for a mere pittance on eBay. A pair of cat ladies living next door to each other are the subjects—at least the human subjects—of the drawing and they are prepared to engage in some horse trading, so to speak. The artwork, framed as a promotional gift by the New Yorker and ready to hang, attracted the attention of only one bidder in 2017 and the piece sold for the opening bid price of $300. The art has some condition issues to be sure, notably considerable fading and some matte burn (shame on the New Yorker for not going acid-free), but still…$300? To be sure, the sale could have been better handled by the Knoxville seller. A nice sharp photo of the art might have made all the difference.


"Let's swap some cats today."
George Booth
Framed original art
The New Yorker, October 3, 1988, page 31

"Let's swap some cats today."
George Booth
Original art
The New Yorker, October 3, 1988, page 31

Matted caption



Detail



George Booth
eBay Listing Ended August 5, 2017

George Booth
eBay Item Description

George Booth
eBay Bid History
One shrewd bidder



"Let's swap some cats today."
George Booth
Framed original art
The New Yorker, October 3, 1988, page 31
https://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1988-10-03#folio=030

* * *

George Booth and friend

Wouldn't it be great to see more of George Booth? Of course it would. Well, there are only seven days remaining in the Kickstarter campaign to fund "Drawing Life," the partially-animated documentary about legendary New Yorker cartoonist George Booth. At this writing, the campaign is about $2,300 shy of reaching its $35,000 funding goal. I am personally supporting this campaign and I encourage interested readers to help bring this important project to fruition. Remember, it's all or nothing. The funding must all be in place by April 20. Support the film project here.






Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:


George Booth


Cats

Original New Yorker Cartoon Art


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