With just five days into the Kickstarter campaign, founders Maxwell Bogue, Daniel Cowen and Peter Dilworth got over $1.9 million in pledges and undoubtedly surpassed their goal of only $30,000… (you can see our initial report here).

So, what is the 3Doodler you might ask?

The 3Doodler is a pen which heats up plastic sticks and releases them.  Once the plastic comes out of the pen, it cools really quickly and solidifies into wherever you lead the pen!  This allows you to “draw in 3D”.

Brilliant!

To develop such creative technology, it undeniably takes minds that are programmed to think outside of a box.

So, I got to ask the founders Maxwell, Daniel and Peter exactly how they did it:

What inspired you with the idea to create the 3Doodler pen?  How was it birthed?

The idea came about as we frequently use our own 3D printers for rapid prototyping.  We wanted to see if the process could be sped up and made “freer” by placing the parts of the 3D printer in a pen form.  The first iteration was called the teacup, basically an extruder with a handle.  It worked horribly, but it did work.  The team then added to this, creating a unique cooling mechanism and evolving to the 3Doodler you see today.

Are you developing any new products?  If so, how do you find time to develop them?

Yes, we recently announced some new products at CES.  The first is a holder for the pen, which makes storing the 3Doodler in between doodling easier, while also doubling as a moveable platform to allow you to create larger structures with far less hassle.  3Doodler will also be launching the first in a series of changeable nozzles, allowing users to extrude plastic in different shapes and sizes; as well as DoodleBlocks™; silicon molds that can be easily “filled in” with the ABS or PLA plastic from the pen.  The molds come in various shapes including stars, numbers, and letters, making it effortless to create perfectly shaped objects.

What were your biggest challenges leading up to the launch of the 3Doodler?  And any advice to our readers with product ideas of their own?

Prepare, prepare, prepare.  If you think you have something that could get very big, I’d recommend reaching out to media before the launch.  The idea that you can just throw it up there and see how it does might work for smaller projects, but for something really big, you need to reach out.  Logistics are important as well – you need an idea or a basic plan for how you’re going to deal with the craziness.  If you’re thinking of launching on Kickstarter, talking to a Kickstarter veteran is helpful as well.  I spoke to Joe Schlesinger (of Arcbotics) a lot about the pitfalls he hit with Kickstarter. You’re going to get a ton of emails.  My girlfriend took a few weeks off from work, just to help us answer them.  We had some amazing help to strategize and execute the whole campaign.  In short: it’s really important to prepare completely – have exactly the right hands and brains on deck.  There aren’t really any negative points about our Kickstarter experience – but if we were to give advice for those considering it, we’d say be prepared for the amount of emails and publicity, and try and get back to all enquiries if you can!

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and process with us!  If you would like to purchase your own 3Doodler, check it out here:  www.the3doodler.com

Written by Laura West

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If you’re traveling into New York City or are lucky enough to abide in the area this holiday season, I highly recommend stopping by Forum Gallery to catch a glimpse of leading figurative artist, Steven Assael.

Channeling the grace, technique and voices of Old Masters, their souls are left whispering in the air as they’re brought to life in the drawings created by the delicate hands of Steven Assael.

Steven Assael is known in America as one of the top representational figurative artists who marvelously captures intimate psychological portraits in fine detail. Every piece has its own story to tell as a human image is captured in moments of stillness and muted scenes.

A realist, Assael works from life and is selective in the way he represents a human figure.

Allowing the pencil to drift into essential lines, this organic detail gives a spaciousness and a haunting tonality to his pieces.

It was astounding to witness the individuality he managed to capture in each of his portraits.  The eyes possess a distinct personality, even in the most complex expression.

Assael has fine-tuned an incredible technique that really warrants one to look up close at the technicality.  Using graphite and crayon, he is able to capture exceptionally intricate detail, tasteful space, unique personalities and a mastery in his craft.

This exhibition will not disappoint.  It will leave you breathing in the elegance of Steven Assael’s new drawings and wanting to see more.

Steven Assael: New Drawings will be on exhibit at Forum Gallery from November 21, 2013 to February 1, 2014. Be sure to stop by!

Written by Laura West

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Tonight I’m heading down. . . to Chinatown, for “I Walk The Line.” Painter Mark DeMaio‘s 20-Piece solo show, (his first ever done principally in Black & White) opens at Sacred Gallery tonight (Thursday April 4, 2013 from 8pm to 11pm – facebook event page) and runs until April 30th.

Mark DeMaio, at his studio.

I first met Mark in 2011 when his last big controversial line art solo show “Pop Goes The Bible” had recently opened.  I had been out of town for the actual opening, and I will be sure not to make that mistake again, as his openings are over-the-top.

When he called me in early March, he asked me to swing by his studio to check out his new work.  As my focus has always been line art.  I managed to squeeze a trip over the the West Village at the end of one of the Armory week nights.  After having been on my feet all day for 5 days in a row, it was nice to kick back, drink some wine, and eat some pasta on the couch while Mark pulled out and displayed piece after piece for me.

The lighting was dim, and I don’t want to “give away” the entire show before it is unveiled tonight, so I will just show a few pieces.Large faces and silhouettes composed of tons of little faces, iconography, scenes, clowns, and ink drips.  These are all oil on canvas with some mixed media thrown in on a few of the pieces.

Playing a lot into what I had seen over Armory week where the big image is made up of lots of little images, although, in this case the little images are not uniform, not collage, not multiples.  They are a giant smorgasbord of drawings all on on canvas balancing on one another, mushing together,and piling up to make a larger image.

There are a few drawings mixed in with the paintings, this is a very detailed ink drawing of an ice cream cone.

They do have a little bit of an Underground comics vibe to them.  Like some R.Crumb Zap Comix from the late 60s where all the artists were dropping acid and drawing crazy shit.

These are just the tip of the ice berg.  I hope to see you all tonight at the opening!

Mark DeMaio: I Walk The Line
April 4-April 30, 2013
Opening Reception: April 4, 2013 8PM-11PM

Sacred Gallery
424 Broadway 2nd Floor Rear (Between Canal and Howard)
New York, NY 10013
https://www.sacredgallerynyc.com/

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New York, NY – Friday, March 22, 2013

Making all attempts to beautify the subway with random MTA Arts For Transit projects, we are still constantly hit with gaping eyesores such as the ad above.  Sometimes I feel like I need to talk to major companies who pay good money, not only to hire an artist, but also to print art like this, and pay for subway car ad space   Apparently, according to the illustrator they commissioned to draw this hideous portrait, some old drag queen named Jenny McCarthy has a show, called The Jenny McCarthy Show on VH1.  “STRAIGHT UP…WITH A TWIST” (*the twist is, she has a DICK).

Seriously, when you are using reference for a woman who was Playboy Playmate of the year, you want to at least nail the face, not draw from some gross online gif

Take a tip from Andy Warhol guys, when you are drawing a classic beauty who isn’t 19 anymore, less is more.  This goes for drawing any woman. Like the song, you want to “Accentuate the positive” and “eliminate the negative”.

Emphasize the eyes and lips and blow out rest of the face a bit.  Every line counts when drawing a woman’s face.  Every line indicates years.  This artist went crazy with eye bags, a line under her lip, at least 8 other little cheek and eye lines and a severely hard line on her nose.

Look at the gif compared to the art, she has a straight jaw line in real life, yet for some reason the artist decided she wasn’t plump enough, must round out the jaw, add a little chubby chin on the end of that round jaw as well.  What the hell was he/she thinking?  And who approved this art?  Too many lines can ruin a beautiful woman’s face.

Not only that, they drew her with more roots than she actually has.  The drawing needs a dye job, this is something that in a drawing. . . YOU DON’T HAVE TO DRAW.  Also, if you notice, Jenny McCarthy has very shiny lips. not SOLID BLACK lips with a tiny white oval on the bottom lip.  She has sexy lips, you drew her like she put on lipstick with a black Sharpie.

Jenny McCarthy may have deep eye bags, and under eye wrinkles (in reality) but you wouldn’t know it from her press photos. This is because they are RETOUCHED.  As an artist, or commercial portrait artist to be more specific, you are obligated to do the retouching as you draw.

I understand that Jenny is known for being tongue and cheek while also being sexy, we all remember the famous Rolling Stone cover.

But this misses the mark.  It is less sexy, and more confusing, sad, and desperate.   Next time VH1, give me a call.  I rarely work in this style much anymore, but I have done it for a lot of big companies, and will still pull it out on special occasions.

Written by Cojo “Art Juggernaut”

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