Becoming more awesome through play

We all know how difficult it can be to motivate ourselves to practice art in the way we need to to get better, whether that be practicing anatomy, studying new techniques, or just doing any art at all. I struggle with this daily with my own art. I know what to do, I have the time to do it, but I just can't get myself to sit down and practice my art.

I've been talking to many artists both online and in person and it turns out this is a common struggle for many of us creatives, especially those of us with ADHD. I want to solve this problem not just for myself but for others.

My vision is to evolve PaperDemon into an app that gamifies learning art to help us motivate each other so that we can all become more awesome while having fun.

Introducing Experience Points

I'm introducing a new feature, an XP (experience) bar, which appears starting today in the new art gallery UI. As you comment on artwork from other members, you'll gain XP. Gain enough points and you'll gain a level!

For now, commenting on art is the only way to gain XP and is limited to 10 per day. This is to help us encourage one another with our artwork. When we see comments from our fellow artists this helps motivate us to create more art. And it's also a great way to give each other feedback to know what ways we can improve. More ways to gain XP will be introduced later this year.

What do the points mean?

Well it's a lot like Who's Line is it Anyway. The points don't matter… yet, anyway. In the coming months I'll be introducing more game mechanics where gaining levels will afford your character various in-game benefits. Today's feature announcement is one small step toward a grander vision.

Coming soon

A couple of years ago we introduced a similar feature called ranks to encourage commenting on PaperDemon. The ranks are still visible in our old UI but it will soon be replaced by XP. But don't worry, your hard work to date won't go to waste! Your rank points are safe and all of your rank points that you've accumulated will get converted to XP points within the next month or so.

Later in the year I'll be introducing things like community events, quests, and art challenges which will give you more opportunities to earn XP.

I've also got additional game play mechanics that I'm still working out to make learning and practicing art even more fun.

This is all rather experimental so also expect changes along the way. Features we introduce might end up changing or being removed if they are getting in the way.

Want more?

There's a bunch more coming.

Imagine going on "quests" with other members of the community to help you improve your drawing or painting skills! Join the product launch email list to hear about all the goodies coming first before anyone else. The nicer game features will require paying for a subscription but we plan to offer these at a huge discount to our early adopters. Join the list so you can get notified first when we offer these early bird specials.

Thank you all for being part of this community and offering your feedback and thoughts. It means a lot to me to see everyone being positive and cheering one another on with their art. This community is so different from the more toxic ones out there and it wouldn't be possible without all of you lovely folks making it so fantastic.

Let's continue helping each other to become more awesome and now let's have even more fun doing it. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

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