Painter Richard Thomas Scott came up with another way to spark collector interest and spur inspiration and productivity. He launched a Kickstarter campaign in which donors can choose his subject matter.
The Connecticut painter allows people who donate “the price of a cappuccino” — $5 — to pitch ideas to him on what he should paint. Scott vowed to make 30 paintings in 30 days based on the suggestions.
A pledge of $150 or more entitles the donor to one of the 8″ x 10″ paintings he’ll execute during the program. If someone pledges $500 or more, he or she will receive an expanded, 12″ x 16″ version of one of the more intriguing ideas. Scott also points out that for $3,500, one can commission a 20″ x 24″ painting of any subject. The Kickstarter campaign will run through December 25.
“House by River Lethe,” by Richard Thomas Scott
“All of us wrestle with doubt,” says Scott. “I think if you don’t first doubt, you can never find true confidence. Before this project, I was really questioning my abilities, the value of my work, and my choices. This project is about taking a leap of faith, jumping into the murky waters of the unknown, and trusting that not only can I swim across the channel blind, but that people will care enough to shout out and guide me in the direction I need to go. And the immediate response has been so overwhelming, so gratifying … it far exceeds the collaboration I had envisioned. It reminds me why I began painting in the first place, it reminds me why the creative act is meaningful … not because it could someday bring acclaim or money, but because it profoundly changes the lives of people.”
The Kickstarter campaign’s goal was $5,000, and at press time, Scott had garnered more than $7,000 in pledges. Good thing — Scott points out on the Kickstarter page that in the worst case scenario, the pledges wouldn’t have come in and he will have worked for a month on various ideas for nothing.
The leap of faith was rewarded and his skills and value to the collector’s market was confirmed. Scott estimates that up to 30 percent of the pieces painted will be done en plein air.
