Giclee Prints + New

[Speedster]

Hi all;

Well, after 45 years designing and prototyping medical devices, I've finally decided to wind down the design studio (mainly by limiting new clients) and focus on my own passion, Industrial Archeology and stuff from the History of Science and Technology.  I've shared many here over the years.

I've been working toward this goal for several years by creating multiple income paths all based on my SolidWorks CAD models, and now with KeyShot 7 It's finally reached the quality level I wanted.  I sell blackline drawings for modelers, have most of my models on Turbosquid as a Diamond Level artist, create book and magazine covers, as well as illustrations for books, magazines and technical publications.  Individually not a biggie, but taken together it provides a steady monthly revenue stream.

Now I'm adding fine art prints to the mix, and am selling them in two galleries and in museum gift shops. Working on a new dedicated website, not yet live, that will feature only artwork by myself and my wife Geri, who's a noted painter and sculptor.

So to introduce the Fine Art prints I've chosen my SW model of the 1904 Steam Yacht Medea, one of my favorites!  Below are the final cut...  Modeled in SolidWorks, and rendered of course in KeyShot 7 Pro.  The primary prints (I may not offer the raw KeyShots) were then treated to a lot of love in Dynamic Auto Painter, AKA DAP5.  An astounding program!  They also went through some FilterForge passes, and then final post in Photoshop CS5.  The sepia shot was created in FilterForge.  The master prints were rendered at 5700 x 3900, using the Interior Mode ((due to the large number of IES lights), and baked for 1 1/2 hours on 30 cores.  Product Mode did not achieve the color density and quality I wanted.

I print in-house on a choice of large format printers, including an Epson Artisan 1430, the Epson 4880 "beast", or my new and exceptional Epson P800.  Ink costs about $800 for a set of cartridges on the 4880, and about $450 for the P800.  But they both print a lot of prints!  My primary media is 13 x 19 MOAB Exhibition Luster or MOAB Lasal Exhibition Matte 235, both 100% acid-free archival media. A few prints are on 17 x 22 stock. I may switch over to Epson media to avoid the profile setup hassles.

All prints are shipped flat, with a 1/8" foamboard backing and a crystal clear sleeve, usually shipped bulk at 6x or 12x in a heavy flat cardboard shipper.  They retail for $165 US each.

I have a lot of work yet ahead of me as I bring other projects online, but it's an exciting and welcome change!

Bill G

[mattjgerard]

This gives me hope that someday I (And others)  will be able to do the same. Until I started at my current job just over a year ago, I never thought of retirement being a thing, you just worked until people didn't hire you anymore. But now, I actually have a retirement account and am working towards that. To retire and be able to do things I love, just like you have. Congratulations!

And I can't underestimate the power that you set up with multiple income streams. So important. We diversify everything from investing to what is in our refrigerator, but rarely do people diversify their income. Very smart and well earned!

[Josh3D]

Congrats Bill. Here's to many years ahead. Look forward to seeing what you create!

[Will Gibbons]

That's a big deal! Nice to take a moment and review what you've been able to create over the years. It's been great having you contribute to the KeyShot forum. Thanks for being a part of the community and nice work! Congrats on the accomplishment, and may you enjoy retirement.

[Speedster]

may you enjoy retirement

Actually, I'm not retiring at all, simply transitioning to another business model. To me, retirement is another spelling of the four-letter word "dead"!  I really love my work, but I'm tired of the stress of product development and design, for clients that are increasingly under qualified and underfunded. Medical Device design is high stress to say the least!

When you are "self-employed", you are essentially in a state of perpetual unemployment, interspersed with periods of short-term employment.  You aren't working for yourself, but for your client. It's so important to understand that! Thirty years ago if you told someone that you were a "Consultant", they then asked who you worked for and who fired you.  If you couldn't find a job you printed up business cards that said Consultant... Today of course a large percentage of guys and gals are self-employed, and there's no stigma attached.

Those of us in the design and CG world are exceptionally fortunate in that we will always be in demand, assuming our resume supports it. And it's a constantly moving target, wherein you keep learning and developing mastery. One of my favorite quotes is by Michelangelo- "If people knew how hard I had to work for my mastery, they would not think it so wonderful".  I've advised several Forum members who are hanging out their shingles, and all are now quite successful, and I'm very proud of them!

So oddly enough (not really) I'm now actually busier than usual, but at my own pace, the return is highly personal and fulfilling in that folks are really interested in what I have to offer, and I truly enjoy offering it to them. 

Bill G

[mattjgerard]

Having straddled both sides of the fence, working for others interspersed with bouts of freelancing interspersed, I can't agree more with your assessment. Everyone that hears that you own your own biz or are freelancing for some reason think that you get to run your own schedule, work when and where you want to, wake up at 9, roll out of bed into your work chair and kick off for lunch early and hit happy hour every night.  This might be true if you are independently wealthy or have a spouse with  a large income, and I know plenty of both. For myself, with a single income 6 person family it wasn't as pretty as all that. I've never worked as hard as when I was freelance. I only chose to do it once, the other 2 times the company I was working for shuttered its doors, one due to embezzlement and one due to just crap management.  Freelance was a stop-gap for me in between solid gigs.

Now, I do hope that some day I will be able to work the jobs I want to,  not the ones I have to. BIll has put forth probably the best advice for anyone in the creative field that wants to secure their future, find a way to create hands-off revenue streams. Not easy, and takes work, but can be done.

I think this has kicked me in the rear to get started on a couple of ideas for diversifying my income that I haven't put into practice yet.

[Speedster]

find a way to create hands-off revenue streams

Absolutely!  I worked many years in the theatre and movie business as a stage manager and in set/lighting design.  They called it "mailbox money", where you walk down to the mailbox everyday and gather the residual checks for work you did a long time ago.
Bill G

[Will Gibbons]

When you are "self-employed", you are essentially in a state of perpetual unemployment, interspersed with periods of short-term employment.

I love this quote. I've experienced it myself. Completely agree. Glad that you're rewarding yourself with an enhanced business model.

[Speedster]

Here's the final print in the Medea series...
Bill G