cottage house
17 June, 2002
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Between 2000-2006 I ran a website, www.thedrawingroom.biz, where I drew pictures from ideas submitted by the public. It was a fun way to generate the motivation to draw, taking inspiration from a huge variety of visitors. Word of mouth soon led to hundreds of requests per week and after a while I went from drawing every suggestion I received to selecting only a few.
I found some success in selling A4 prints and temporary tattoos of the designs I had created, and eventually began to charge for each request, on the basis that the buyer would receive their choice of product once the drawing had been completed. The site grew larger and larger, holding a massive archive of illustrations, with reliable hosting from Net2. Then Namesco took over the company, bringing with this change a sudden implementation of charges for the high amount of traffic my site was experiencing. Their lack of technical support (relating in particular to suspected bandwidth piracy), coupled with the distraction of pregnancy, led to the decision to cut my losses and cancel my contract.
Now, with my time devoted mostly to my son, I don't want to maintain the same level of commitment to The Drawing Room. However, I do want a record of all that work to remain on the internet, instead of letting it sit forgotten on a back-up disk. So I will grab a few moments here and there to upload the 'best bits', probably working chronologically through the back catalogue. You never know, I may reach the most recent effort and find it in myself to start taking requests again ...