About
Encounters with the Imaginary Volume 2
$21,095
296
Woohoo! We did it! We hit our 4th stretch goal! We will be able adding silver foil lettering to the cover - and - a beautiful vellum dust jacket! The dust jacket will feature a custom drawing by Kira Night to compliment her cover painting.
Thank you again, so much everyone! We are honored to be able to see this book created and to share it with you!
Encounters with the Imaginary is an illustration and creative writing anthology inspired by the imaginary—from beloved myths, legends and folktales to new creatures and stories! Each of our 22 artists contributed an original short story or poem and a series of illustrations depicting an imaginary creature of their choice, some artists even doing two complete series! The result is a fantastic body of work from each artist, created specifically for this volume. From fairies and gnomes, to monolithic deities, each artist choose an imaginary creature and let their imagination run!
Each artist was given four 12" x 9" pages (although some contributed even more!) to explore a creature that inspired them, and craft a story surrounding it. Because of this, each artist’s spread contains a whole universe for the reader to explore. Encounters with the Imaginary showcases our artists' love of storytelling!
This second volume of Encounters is filled with even more art than the year before! The book has over 130 pages of creative work: 27 full page illustrations, 5 two-page illustrations, and a plethora of smaller illustrations filling the rest of the pages—making this book a fantastic treasure trove of the Imaginary!
A Look Inside:
Like last year’s Vol. 1, Encounters with the Imaginary Vol. 2 is a 12" x 9" perfect bound soft cover—so the books make a nice matching set! From the beginning, we knew we wanted to create a book that would be a pleasure to read and beautiful to look at—so we have taken care to select good materials and a local printer to ensure this is a book you will love spending time with.
The book is divided into five themed chapters, with 5 artists per chapter. Each chapter begins with a beautifully written introduction and oversized illustration (18" x 9") created specifically for that chapter.
We start the book with the chapter ‘Anima’, an exploration of the unseen world of spirits and those who encounter them. This otherworldly chapter is filled with all manner of intangible beings and their contact with the physical world. From Manuel’s gentle forest guardian, to Evan’s cave dwelling shaman - you will find all manner of elusive encounters here!
In the second chapter, ‘Verdure’, we move into the realm of nature, where everything is full of life and vitality. From the Yeti so zen-fully peaceful, he brings life to the winter wasteland around him, to the gnomes who cultivate the life around them, even to the wild changeling child looking for food, here you will find all manner of creatures that exist in a harmony with the natural order of the world around them; some more peaceful than others…
'Diuturnal' is the third chapter; a chapter full of celestial beings and deities. These unique figures stand apart from the mortal coil of lesser beings and pass through the ages. From the solitary shadow of Anubis, to monolithic AI’s, to quiet Rabbit who brings medicine from the moon, these beings live lives beyond the edges of our imagining!
Our fourth chapter, ‘Ecotone’, explores the edges between two worlds, where the most unexpected happenings can be found. Here is where creatures and people cross from one realm to another and are confronted with the alien. Whether it is an intentional journey, like Garrett’s daring heroine, or the sudden intrusion of larger than life salamanders on a quiet day by the pool, or the quiet second look of being surrounded by creatures not quite human on a train - these moments are the encounters with the new and strange!
We conclude the book, with the final chapter, ‘Crux’, full of the perilous! These creatures are not to be trifled with. The stakes are high and the motivations passionate. These creatures will fight tooth and claw for their ends! From the griffin zealously guarding his treasure, to the dark unicorn consuming children's lives for her power, or even the bold heroine who confronts her, these pages are filled with the most dangerous sort of encounters!
Your support will help bring this book to life! We have spent months painting, writing, editing and pouring our excitement into crafting this book, and we are so happy to be able to share these rewards with you! We also have a whole selection of add-ons that you can use to customize your order!
Backers at the $150 tier can get an original drawing from an artist of their choice! The artist will create a 9" x 12" drawing and the subject will be a surprise creature chosen by the artist.
We also are excited to announce that one of our artists have contributed an original drawing or painting as a companion to their work in the book! This one-of-a-kind pieces are beautifully imagined and crafted! Backers at the $400 tiers will get every single reward plus a special piece of original art, sized 11" x 14"!
You may customize your pledge by adding items from the Add On menu below! After backing, you can edit your pledge amount by clicking the “manage my pledge” button on the right. For example, if you’re backing at the $35 tier, but would like to add on another book, all you need to do is increase your pledge by $35 (or $50 if you're outside the US), making it $70.
We will send out a survey when the campaign is finished to confirm your add-on choices and collect any other information we may need.
We've unlocked 4 stretch goals! Every backer who pledges for a physical reward now gets a 3" vinyl sticker with their book and 3 metallic mini-prints!! Also, every backer at the $65 tier and up will also receive a hard-enamel Boneshaker pin.
We also will be adding stamped lettering in silver foil - and - we will be adding a beautiful vellum dust jacket! The dust jacket will feature a custom drawing by Kira Night to compliment her cover painting.
This year we have expanded our roster to include even more artists, hailing from all over the world! Each of our 22 artists has their own unique style and vision—you can be sure that every contribution has a personality all its own! Allow us to briefly introduce the creative people who have helped create and fill this book with wonderful work!
Contributing Artists:
Listed from left to right: Dominick Angelo, Manuel Aquino, Juan Francisco Bautista, Sebastian Becker, Maxwell Crabill, Nyra Drakae, Matthew Thomas Gilson, Casey LaRae Gustafson, Antoine Dupont Issalys, Ryan James, Nick Jizba, Jeszika Le Vye, Cassandra Mazur, Garrett McGill, Magali Mebsout, Kira Night, Katherine Rasmussen, Sarah Ricketts, Ian Rosenthaler, Karlen Tam, Cesar Vergara, Evan Winston
First and foremost, the money raised in this Kickstarter will be used to pay for the printing of the book and of course, the inevitable shipping costs associated with sending rewards to backers. Secondly, we will distribute a set percentage of the money raised to compensate each artist that participated in the book. All of the artists contributed a ton of time and created a large body of work for the book, and we hope to raise enough to pay each artist as much as we possibly can for their participation.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for your support!! Creating this book has been a joy and it means the world to us to be able to see it printed and shared with those who love art, stories and the imaginary! If you like the work, please consider sharing our Kickstarter, so others can enjoy it as well!
Risks and challenges
Because the work has already been created, the risks are minimal! Each artist has already created all of their art and writing, the book layout is designed and all that remains are a few introductions and editing of the text. Also, this is the second time we've printed a book (and run a Kickstarter!) We have learned a lot from last year’s campaign and we can put all that knowledge into this one!
Of course we cannot foresee every possible bump in the road, but from this point, it looks to be pretty smooth waters ahead! We are a group of 22 passionate and motivated artists who have dedicated months of work to this already and we can’t wait to share the book with you!!
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Funding period
- (30 days)