This is Crowdsourcing Mornings! This post takes place every weekday morning and highlights one crowdsourcing project I liked from Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or other crowdsourcing websites.
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Three years ago, the She Series was just a quick scribbled note on a whiteboard full of ideas in my office/studio. That note said, “Some sort of strong woman series.” I had no idea the form it would take but I knew I wanted to do a series of art celebrating strong women and inspiring all of us in our day-to-day lives. The first She Series portrait I did was fictional: Princess Leia. When it comes to strong female characters, she is an icon and one of my all-time favorite characters. I drew her from the side, in profile. I liked that she was looking up and looking determined; she wasn’t looking at the viewer but was focused on what she was doing or thinking. I added a word, an action word: Rebel.
She Rebels.
Instead of using an adjective to describe her, like “fearless” or “strong,” or a noun to state who or what she is, like “princess” or “leader,” I wanted to focus on what she does, her powerful act of rebelling.
I went on to do more portraits: Anne of Green Gables (Imagine), Shuri from Black Panther (Innovate), Moana (Explore), and Agent Scully from X-Files (Question) were some of my favorites. It was a fun project and seeing the portraits all together was powerful. My followers on social media suggested adding real women, non-fictional icons and the She Series became almost like a group project. I’d ask for ideas of whom to draw next and I kept a big spreadsheet of all the requests. I’d do some sketches and post them, asking for verb suggestions. There would be great dialogue on my pages, people debating what verb would work best and why. I have learned about so many amazing women during this process.
When I decided to make a book, I wanted to do the same thing: create a collaboration, a project with lots of different voices and experiences. I started reaching out to writers I knew, both professional and non-professional. I couldn’t believe it when people said yes! I was so thrilled that all of these talented women agreed to lend their skills, insights, and experiences to write alongside my art and my book. Our book. These writers are not only writing about inspirational women, they are inspirational themselves. All of them are taking actions: they write, they inspire, they express, they collaborate, they enlighten.
My hope for this book is to show how important taking action is; that seemingly simple actions can be profound. In addition to this book being an informational biography about strong women, I hope it will also inspire people of all ages to take action in their own lives, even when they are afraid or told they shouldn’t do something. It’s just as brave and important to raise your hand in a classroom or speak up in front of friends as it is to dissent if you disagree with the other members of the Supreme Court.
As of July 16th, this project has raised $142,000 of their $75,000 goal. This project has 26 day left to raise as much as it can. For a pledge of $15, you will get one digital book copy. For a pledge of $28, you will get one physical book. To learn more and to pledge money, go to: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/celara/the-she-series-book?
Categories: Crowdsourcing Mornings Stuff
