KickstarterForum.org

Hello! I'm browsing through this website looking for the first step. I have an idea I want to make real, but I don't have the funds for it. It's a webcomic, I don't expect any funds to come back except what is already given to me (for example, if I host the comic on LINE! Webtoons, I don't expect instant, or almost, any return.)

Each comic will be funded by the crowd. My project target goal is page by page, and I'm currently searching for a good artist to make this happen. I'm looking for an artist with a unique, beautiful artistic design, and am willing to pay big bucks, if I can afford it with my kickstarter. However, for now, I will start with someone smaller to kick off the project/comic idea.

I am not an artist, I am a writer and character designer (I write the info about the character's appearances, but I'm still learning how to make interesting characters)

I have specifics for how the characters act, look, and feel. And I am in love with these characters; I will not sell them to any company (Even if a company threatens me). If the offer is big, and I can cut a deal, I will cut a deal to work with an established studio to put them on the screen or paper in the way I intended it to look, no way else (Tho, reality check, that's not usually how it works, which is why I'm going independent)

First things first, where to start? I am reading dozens of articles, but I have yet to find a solid, sure-fire way to get my kickstarter successful (And, another reality check, many kickstarters fail, because of bad research or not enough exposure and interest)

Here's the delimma I'm facing:

I need a product to show, a demo, to allow people to see what my idea is all about
For that, I need to make it myself or hire someone to make it
I can't make it myself because I am not an artist.
I tried many, if not all avenues to learn myself, but I can't grasp the concept, due to some unknown barrier.
I've invested so much money into learning, I left myself with almost nothing to invest in another artist.
I need an artist to digitalize the concepts and help me establish something to show.
I have no money to fund an artist.

So, yeah, no money to actually create something. I also need to write the story, but it's so hard to write a catching story.

I have autism, so I would think that would help with my hyper focus and brilliant mind, but it seems my autism is actually doing the opposite. I seem to lose focus, want to do something else after 5 minutes, and I have fogginess, like I can't formulate good ideas. I have writer's block all the time

The only solid stuff I have is what I've drawn, but no one wants to look at crappy "Light Art" of the same characters.

I can formulate the appearance if I see them, but I am a heavy copier, and most of my work is based off of other people's, I find myself often taking another person's ideas and making them my own.

In fact, out of the 6 characters I created, only 2 of them are 100% original.

So, yeah, I'll need to figure out how to make these characters original.

My process is like this:
1. Draw the character (But I am terrible drawer, I have perspective and anatomy issues)
2. Take the drawn character and write the drawn details based off what I see.
3. Pay an artist to digitalize the character.
4. Done.

But because of my brain fogginess, it's hard for me to visualize an original character and even keep it steady in my brain long enough to draw it. And when I attempt to draw it, it comes out very wrong.

So yeah, the best I can do is take a reference online and try to make something new out of it. Which is okay I would assume, as long as it doesn't steal "the heart of the art" (I still don't know what that means)

So, 2 of my characters are 100% original. I intend to focus on them first as individual stores, and worry about the others later.

For the first character, everything is already complete... in my head. All that's left is to find time to write it on paper.

I already know this is the first step.

But after this is the actual question I have

As I said before, I have to pay an artist to make the concept in it's intended form. Then, I have to pay the artist to design the environment, additional story characters, etc.

But I do not have the money to fund. Nor do I have friends (hardly any) and family (again, hardly any existing) that will help me fund the project.

So, who do I turn to? Myself? I am already working. I am paying off a plush right now, 5 more weeks left, and then I'm turning to my current artist to finish a project. After that, I should be free, but that still leaves only 100 a week to throw at this project. That's roughly 1 - 2 concepts a week to make, and, if I were to do a demo comic, 1 comic every 1 - 2 weeks. At this rate, I calculate that my success story will happen after I die, if ever.

I don't want that to happen, you guys don't want to see that happen, let's try to figure out a way to make it happen within 5 years or less (preferrably, 1 year or less). The sooner the better, they say!

A little update, I've taken the time to explain to my current artist the situation and that I need new character designs.

The design process includes many revisions, including: 5 sketches per character, 3 rough drafts per character, and 1 final render per character (5 > pick 3 of 5 > pick 1 of 3)

I've explained, for the stolen characters designs, a base description of what the character's overall design should look like, and let the artist make what he envisions the character should appear on sketch, rough, and final, based on these brief descriptions.

So, I have made a bit of progress, just to let you know. I will be working on the story of the first character now.

Waiting to hear back from my current artist (he's locked into the end of my last project, and right now, I am unable to pay for any further projects at the moment, but I will be able to in the future again, just very slowly.)