Membership fees for Forum access

[Daniel Arredondo]

There are a lot of good artists on the Forum that provide very good information. It is a give and take situation. I would think the artists with the most experience and information would not want to pay since they have so much to offer. Consequently, you may loose some of the best artists on the Forum because they are the ones that should be paid instead of having to pay.

[Cynthia Daniel]

Kimberly,

I do wish we had more big-names here - with more range of styles. Certianly still in the realistic venue, but just more variety. I know there isn't anyway to control that.

There are some excellent artists who have registered but are not participating. I suggested elsewhere that members are welcome to go through the member list and invite some of the members who have not been active to come on.


Marta and David,

Thank you for your appreciation and kind words.

[Linda Brandon]

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Frankly, I'm not all that familiar with what the artists would even like to see offered.

All you have to do is ask any cranky, opinionated working artist for his "Favorites" list. I have at least 30 on mine. Personally, I would love to see sites relating to easel manufacturers, paint producers, panel and canvas manufacturers; all these small "boutique" places that are mentioned from time to time on the Forum but can be tough to track down unless you read every post.

You could send an email to each website and ask if they would be interested in paying a fee for a spot on your Forum.

I didn't mean to sound perjorative when I used the term "in your face". If I were an advertiser, I would want to be "in your face". The Dick Blick ad gets lost the moment you scroll down. The ads on the left stay on a long time (especially if one takes a long time posting a response). That's where I'd want to be if I had anything to sell to other artists.

I also think it's worth a shot to ask for donations from Forum participants.

As far as getting people to respond to posts, how about this idea: requiring that every poster must respond to another post in, say, a 1 to 3 ratio - for every image you post you must drop three responses (critique or encouragement) to another. (I suppose this is the Karma theory of posting.)

Part of the problem here seems to be the vast amount of time the Board spends on things like deciding who can be a Member. (Some of you may not know that not all Moderators are on the Board; I'm not, for example.)I admit I have never taken part in these decisions, but I suggest making it easy on yourselves by allowing, say, only 5 people per month, first come, first served, with no quality reviews. If an artist doesn't post within a certain time period, well, time's up

[Cynthia Daniel]

Daniel,

There are a lot of good artists on the Forum that provide very good information. It is a give and take situation. I would think the artists with the most experience and information would not want to pay since they have so much to offer. Consequently, you may loose some of the best artists on the Forum because they are the ones that should be paid instead of having to pay.

This has been addressed earlier. Of course we want to tempt and keep the best artists, so concessions would be made for them. I certainly wouldn't charge a fee to Bill Whitaker or Morgan Weistling, for example. When they come on, they are doing all of us a favor.

[Cynthia Daniel]

By the way, Ann Kullberg, who is a published author and very well known in the field of colored pencil portraits has a successful fee-based educational site. She charges $25 for a 12 issue subscription and $15 for a 6 issue subscription and has over 600 subscribers.

[Cynthia Daniel]

All suggestions will be considered. However, what I can do is limited by the capabilities of the membership software that I would have to purchase. Such things as charging for individual critique requests are not covered, for example.

[Marvin Mattelson]

There are a lot of good artists on the Forum that provide very good information. It is a give and take situation. I would think the artists with the most experience and information would not want to pay since they have so much to offer. Consequently, you may loose some of the best artists on the Forum because they are the ones that should be paid instead of having to pay.

I'll take a shot here and go on the slight possibility that I may be considered to be one of those "best artists."

As a dues paying member of the main SOG sight I would be exempt from additional membership fees since I already pay to be linked to the mother ship.

I became active on the forum, at Cynthia's suggestion, when I asked her about listing my SVA classes on the SOG bulletin board. She said I could also list them here, on the forum, as well. The rest, as they say, is history.

I really enjoy participating here and have made many great friends. I have posted what I believe to be a lot of valuable information. Check my profile and set a spell. I have on numerous occasions be told that my words have been printed out, scoured and devoured

Some here have responded very well to me and at there bequest I have led a few workshops outside of NYC. This has always happened serendipitously and the results have been in varying degrees of worthwhile according to those that chose to participate.

Once someone has requested I lead a workshop they choose to organize, I have publicized it here figuring that there are others here that would be interested as well. I do this because I want to insure that the workshop takes place to best serve the interests of my sponsors, teaching them a better way to paint.

So I offer a good deal of insightful info on the forum and I sometimes follow it with an obligatory commercial promoting myself as a teacher. I have been told that there are some participants here that may object to this, thinking I should merely just serve up free advice, critiques and reveal all of the knowledge I have labored so diligently to amass because that's a nice unselfish artist thing to do. How horrible of me to consider my best interests and not the best interests of others who would like to compete in the same marketplace as I do!

Since we're debating the issue of ponying up money here I figured I'd throw in my two cents worth. There are basically three groups of people here on the forum. Those that provide and those that take and those who do a little of both.

Cynthia who is running this site wants to be reimbursed for her expenses so that the site is less of a financial burden to her. I think this is totally justified. The question this raises for me is if people are paying money here why shouldn't those who contribute content be compensated as well?

What about the moderators? Why should they donate untold hours editing and policing each and every thread for free? In particular I would think that Steven Sweeney should be paid in the six figures for the yeoman's job he does. How many hours per day does he selflessly offer critique advice? Can we arrive at a fair price per word compensation fee?

What about me? Can I get a free banner ad over there on the left hand side hawking my May workshop in the Raleigh/Durhan North Carolina area? That way I can keep my posts
free of my self promotional references which some may possibly object to.

Since I am a provider of significant content here maybe I could be reimbursed for my expenses: my valuable time, the wear and tear on my old Mac and my electric bills not to mention the snack I'm contemplating while I peck away.?

My contributions here are quite noteworthy. Why, if not for me everyone would be using cadmium colors in the flesh, cleaning their brushes with solvents and using only one light source in their reference photography. Those of you directly benefiting by my suggestions might consider sending money, jewelry, stocks and bonds directly to my estate in Tahiti. Fortunately I don't charge extra for the humor, dry with a twist.

The bottom line is that there are many things involved here and that sometimes when Pandora's box is opened we don't know what may appear.

Just one man's opinion.

[Mary Sparrow]

Wow there are alot of opinions on this!
I bet you didn't expect this to get this long did you Cynthia?

Just putting my 2 cents in , again. I agree with Linda on the advertising, her "boutique" idea. For example Sharon Knettle gave some wonderful links for supplies that I would never have known about, places like that would be of great service in my opinion. So If you could find a way to get those types to advertise, charge the artists that are advertising to the forum for their books,tapes,classes and workshops (which I think is very logical) and begin charging maybe a one time joining fee after a trial run to these new people, and there are apparently many. That way, you are getting revenue from here on out. Perhaps you should let existing,participating members slide on that one time joining fee since it is they who have ultimately made this forum a great success (with of course your help) and put an option for donations.

[Steven Sweeney]

Thanks a lot Marvin. After you suggested that I be paid by the word, there was a break-in at my house and this morning I find all my dictionaries defiled, pencils snapped in two, felt-tip nibs left to air-dry, duct tape wrapped around my keyboard (quite an excessive amount, I must say), and a cryptic note about the bones in my hands.

That, however, influences in no way my personal approach here, that this is for me pro bono. In the business of painting and selling paintings, I gleefully cash checks and count pennies (the proper denomination for metaphors about my earnings from painting), but if someone tried to pay me for this, I'd resign. Otherwise, I'd have other people pulling my strings, and that makes me cranky.

P.S. I do think, however, that Cynthia should be "paid", if only to help cover her expenses for hosting this show.

[Patti Del Checcolo]

I come here everyday, sometimes several times. I always find something of huge benefit to me as a newbie to the art world. I have to omit I