Wondercon Day 2 – Sunday
I hoped to finish this post last night - but the whole experience of Wondercon was more tiring than expected. So, a day later, but still relevant - I present to you what I did: talk with artists. And there were so many! I met those I follow on tumblr, Facebook, and other reaches of the internet, as well as some that amazed me and I felt a twinge of shame for not knowing about them earlier. First, I present the artists that really blew my socks of; new finds that made me a new fan:Katherine Brannock, and Sho Morase.
Katherine Brannock was sitting demurely at her booth, drawing in her sketchbook. At first I wasn't aware of the black and white camouflage of her art fortress. But as soon as my eyes could focus on the detailed lines, glossy from repeated ballpoint pen strokes, stark against a clean white page - it was love. She is already well known and appreciated by a large fanbase - and her work is stunning.
If you are like me, and didn't know about her, check out more of her art at her website and facebook.
Sho Murase had a small booth, and a few banners, but was like a magnet from across the convention hall. This poster is for a joint show and you can see why I stood in line for a while until I could get a photo. That fox with the woman-face-mask - I still think about that image. Haunting...cute...magical.
She is having the joint show in Santa Monica which I plan on attending. I hope you will consider it!
Check out her website and her facebook.
I met William Stout. Yeah, THE William Stout. He was kind, personable, and actually invited me to some drawing workshops! Hopefully I will have some drawings from those posted soon
And now for some great artist who happened to be quite excellent conversation as well:
Minefield Wonderland with Tony Chavira, Allison Reimold, and Axel Ortiz! A great group who had live painting, drawing, sketching right there at Wondercon. A personable, chatty, and inspiring trio.
Ben Soto with Black Sheep Comics, and fellow Otis Alumn Jerrell Conner
Toonehole with Chris Allison was a hilarious group with a business card that actually made me chuckle. Check 'em out for some laughs! And Lazy Bones Studios who has an Anne Frankenstein chick who kills Nazis and has a Facebook account. Yeah, you read that right.
Evan Dahm with his online comics and Lonnie Millsap and his humour.
Yes. Mike Mignola.
And SteamCrow's booth was glorious and colorful!
The League Of S.T.E.A.M., in the flesh!
And finally, the contents of my bag last night...with all the cards I got to go through to make sure I spelled everyone's name right.
In conclusion: I had a great time. Hopefully I will have a booth next year, and maybe I will get to see some of these artists I managed to meet in person. There is really something satisfying about meeting the artists I follow digitally. It brings them into the real world and off my monitor.
The only artist I saw in person that still retained a mystical and aloof distance, covered in magic sparkles and lit up like an angel was when I saw Hayao Miyazaki at a Ponyo screening a few years back at the El Capitan in Hollywood. I was actually kind of mad. How can he be so magical?? I guess I have to meet him a few more times to bring him in from deity to human. Here's hoping. I digress. WONDERCON: you rock.
First Day Ever At Wondercon
My first day. EVER! And I am still in a dreamy haze. I will be going tomorrow as well, but I simply had to post the highlights.Wondercon: the annual comic book, science fiction, and motion picture convention. It is usually in San Francisco, but this year its being held in Anaheim, next to Disney Land - just a few hours drive from where I live and work. And drive we did! Despite the crazy wind, rain, and hydroplaning drivers, we got there safe.
Wondercon is for aspiring and established writers, artists, publishers - its an amazing collection of talent with a much more mellow and respectful-of-my-small-stature crowd than Comicon. I would be thrilled to score a booth at Wondercon, and try I will! Who knows what next year will bring.
And the best, best part was going to the Womanthology panel, then buying the Womanthology book hot off the press, in all its glorious enormity, then getting it signed by those same artists and writers who were ON the panel, and then bringing home that intense, heavy Womanthology graphic novel collection and realizing that it went beyond women collaborating to make great stories...it has articles about making your own comics from scratch, drawing tips, and interviews with established and successful female comic artists and writers. I have quite a bit of reading to do.
Archaia Publishing had a sale - got some oldies I have had my eye on for some time:
Got to meet "Cheeks" Sean Galloway with my friend Timothy Beard!
And now for some choice photos: (to see them all, they are in my events flickr stream)
Goodnight. Looking forward to tomorrow.
SNOWBIRD: a graphic novel by Erin Wilson
I love stories.Sometimes, only 5 pages of one makes me tear up at work...I hate tearing up. Yet I wanted to know more about what was happening past the 5 pages of this graphic novel, so I consider this share-worthy. Its an overwhelming thing: to see art that looks as therapeutic to the artist as it does for the viewer. I also consider this brave of the artist to share art that feels so personal. I encourage you to check out, and support, SNOWBIRD, a graphic novel by Erin Wilson. Adorable, touching. Charm and beauty in the face of fear and pain is very special.
This is her Kickstarter page, where you can pledge to support her as she completes this graphic novel.
This is her Website
And this is where she answered Kickstarter's question with a comic.
Skydoll by Barbucci & Canepa Just Arrived
Skydoll Vol.1 by Barbucci & Canepa just arrived and I am so excited to read it! Just flipping through it, the colors and faces are beautiful. The panels are stunning. I plan on tracing a lot from this. "Tracing! Krisztianna, isn't that cheating?" HA! NOPE! Only if you claim it as your own. I LOVE tracing beautiful drawings - its actually quite a wonderful exercise. <dances with tracing paper>
Now, a funny thing....in this American reprint I have received...the nipples were removed from the cover. I wonder what that room is like, where they make these decisions. On the outside, the group is all "hmmm, America will not like this unless we remove the nipples, despite it being an adult novel, and despite our hypersexualization of tons of other things for the youth- the REST OF THE WORLD can handle it - but us Americans, NO TO NIPPLES!" Its just odd to me. If they hadn't removed them, I wouldn't have brought it up - but now that they asked someone to Photoshop those nipples out, here I am talking about them. The very act of hiding them has brought it into conversation. <shakes head>
Anyhow! I'm excited for some tea, some pajamas, some tracing paper, and some kitties sitting on my hand as I try to draw and read.
Here's the french one - the original I assume:
Digital Comic Share
A special thanks goes to Carlos, who sent me these links - consider me addicted. I hope you enjoy these as well, especially on a Friday! Though these are in my inspiration section I think just sharing them is enough. So, these are digital comics - in other words, someone makes a story, makes the art for it, and puts it up for people to enjoy FOR FREE as they work on it. If that isn't reason enough to adore the internet, then I don't know what is. There are many others that are paid subscriptions as well, but I am the worst kind of fan: short attention span. These, however, have my full attention.
The Abominable Charles Christopher, by Kerschl, seems to be about an adorable yeti with a pacifier, and the smart-alecky creatures of the forest. This also won an Eisner Award for ‘Best Digital Comic’. Its got the stunning array of humor, drama, and beautiful storytelling.
And now for the beautiful and enchanting Kukuburi by Ramón Peréz. A delivery girl walks through a white picket gate and is confronted with an incredible world as well as her old nightmares. I am still reading and enjoying, so that's all I can say - other than the colors, line quality, and character expressions are just a treasure.
Levin And Albright
Its surprising when someone I knew as a friendly acquaintance becomes an artistic ally with a question like: "you published a graphic novel?"
This was the question posed by a a friendly coworker, Mr. Albright, to which I stammered some combination of, "Only self published...not much...personal project....sketches...dreamworld...plans for more...no big deal..." then I let him borrow a copy. I inquired, "Why the interest?" He stammered an equally self-deprecating answer about a graphic novel he is working on and will be pitching to a few publishing houses.
I then stalked his website. Turns out he and a friend of his are skilled writers with an affection for the comic form. They have a wonderful blog about the subject which I encourage anyone who loves stories to read. The entries are informative, enjoyable, and unveil the pleasures of the processes involved.
Thank you, Mr. Albright, for filling the world with well written content.
While you are there, make sure to look at the first few panels of their comic book "CADAVER", and stay tuned for when it gets picked up.
“Creatures Of Legend” Proof Arrived!!
Please excuse the bad quality of photos, but I have excellent news. My "Creatures Of Legend" coloring book proof from CreateSpace has arrived!! It is satisfying to see my art in a finished format, glossy cover and all. The pages also appear to be quite colorable!
I know a few of you have been waiting a long time for this. I was hoping to launch the iPad application and the book at the same time, but it takes a while for two people who work full-time to work together on creating a quality interactive product. The iPad app wont be ready for a while, but I would still like to share this coloring book with the world, so I can move on to the next one: MERMAIDS!
I have several revisions I will be making to this one, so its still not ready..but oh so close!
And A Happy Friday To You All!
Hello hello! Apparently going full force, non-stop, even if I eat well, exercise and stay happy, positive, fulfilled and full of joy, I can still get sick if I don't rest. Bollocks. So, I got me a head cold that landed me in bed sleeping for two days. As a consequence of my immune system deciding my fate, this weekend will be spent making up for time lost and working over the weekend. This will delay any art posts for a few more days. I thank you that took such good care of me while I lay in my own ick and uselessness, and still gave me hugs. You are wonderful. Unlike Mewshen. |
| From Daily Sketches |
The Birth Of Density
Finished! This is a visual quilt of 25 panels. Once I get this scanned and have prints made, I will cut up the original for the 25 special edition books of "Sleepless". I will post on my site, blog, facebook, and twitter when all aspects of this art piece are available. Watercolor, graphite, and india ink. I have also submitted this piece to Art Takes London. Here's hoping!
Sleepless Volume 1 Special Edition Peek!
I hope you all had a good weekend. Mine was spent trying to finish my 25 panel painting. I am almost done - all I have left is the inking. These 25 panels are being created together as one. Then I will hound Paper Tiger as my first choice for reproduction in prints. After that, it will be cut into its 25 pieces which will make the "Sleepless, Volume 1" special edition.''
I don't want to show the whole piece until its finished, but I would like to show you a sneak peek of what it looks like before the final inking.
