Category Archives: Words and Things

2017 Convention Line-up!

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Finally sat down and wrote down the comic conventions I’ll be attending this year and thought I would share the good news.

If you’re curious about a con or are thinking of attending, just click the convention name and it’ll link you right to their site (it’ll pop up a new window). The Bolded cons are all paid for and ready to go, while the italicized ones either haven’t opened registration, have not yet gotten back to me on whether I passed the jury, or I haven’t had the funds to get them paid for. Enjoy!

Visioncon (February 24th thru 26th)
Little Apple Comic Expo (March 18th)
StealthCon (March 25th thru 26th)
Wizard World STL (April 7th thru 9th)
Planet Comicon (April 28th thru 30th)
Conquest48 (May 26th thru 28th)
Sausomecon (June 30th thru July 2nd)
Kansas City Comic Con (TBA)
Dodeca Con-5 (September 15th thru 16th)
Air Capitol Comic Con (November 11th thru 12th)

What a busy year I have ahead of me, huh? My plan was to keep this year localized, see what sized conventions seem to work for me and my work. November and December will most likely bring other non-comic con events along, which I’ll post about when that time of year wanders along.

If you have any questions, if people want to place orders to be picked up at a specific convention, please reach out! I’m super okay with that option. 🙂

Hopefully I’ll be seeing some familiar faces as I drive around the midwest this spring and summer!

Who needs “New Years” Goals?

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Not me, obviously! Oh well.

I can’t believe how quickly January came and went! Goodness gracious, so much to do and time is just flying right on by!

There have been some exciting new avenues I’ve taken a turn down with my art the last month and a half, and I’m just as excited to share them with you! Y’know, and anyone else that’ll listen.

I’ve started Live-Streaming!

That’s right, folks– I joined the 21st century and have created a Twitch.tv stream account on their Creative side of things. If you’re into watching people do art real-time, I suggest you click here and follow my channel! At this point in time, I’m publishing weekly schedules on Sundays that’ll cover the days, times in Central Time and projects to be worked on that week! For example, this week (February 12th thru 18th) I streamed Monday at 1, and will be streaming Tuesday at 1:30 (Comic Book Bears) and Saturday at 1:00 (Continuing with my Fantastic Beasts piece). I’ll also continue archiving my full length streams on Twitch, though I’ll warn you right now that I talk a lot and don’t always remember to repeat questions asked during the chat. Hey! I’m still learning!

If you’re like me and don’t always have time to watch a 2 hour stream, I’ve also started a Youtube Channel! I’m very particular with videos, so they do take time for me to finish, but I’ll have some (NOT ALL) of my streamed videos available on my youtube.

“But, Kitt? Why don’t I just watch in on Twitch then?”

Because, silly! The videos I’ll be posting on Youtube will all be time-lapsed as soon as I figure out how to do it the right way. If you’re interested in being a part of that insanity, please find and follow my Youtube! (You can just click here since Youtube doesn’t believe in easy url’s.)

So, there you have it! Exciting things! I’m working on updating my website since it’s in need of new news before I overlap the last time the site was updated. I’ll also be posting up a convention schedule, I’ve got several new pieces to share around, and an etsy shop that needs updating! Busy, busy, busy.

Planet ComiCon COMPLETE!

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Yep! I did that. It was awesome? Didn’t come anywhere near breaking even, but it was a wonderful time!

Met a lot of fantastic people, and got a whole crap ton of awesome stuff! I’ll put a picture up later 🙂 Lots of posters, and we had some fantastic neighbors. THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE!!

Okay, so, Pro’s towards doing Planet next year:

  1. Tons of people attend (literally tens of thousands) and the possibility of being seen and making some of those wonderful one-on-one connections is high.
  2. Lots of other great talent to learn from and meet.
  3. I might get to catch an eye-boggling glimpse of someone as scruffy-handsome as Tom Felton again.
  4. Because there were so many people, I mostly stayed at the booth (this is a pro because I can sell stuff if I’m at the booth, yes?)
  5. Shared table meant there was always someone there to watch when I had to hit the head or go meet Jason David Frank *fans self* oh dear…
  6. Handed out a gajillion business cards and actually saw an increase on various social media outlets.

Cons against Planet next year. Buckle up, they’re extensive…

  1. Load in and Load out, especially if you’re an artist, was an absolute MESS. I walked all our stuff out to the car in the line because there was absolutely no way everyone was getting their car inside EVER to load back up– it took 3 days for everyone to set up!
  2. Expensive. I get it, it’s a gigantic convention (over 3000 tables/booths and almost an entire city block crammed full) and it deserves what money it can make, but goodness! And I don’t just mean the table space– food, celebrity meetings and/or photos, parking.
  3. PARKING. They said originally the public garage next door would be available, and they were wrong. In fact, people weren’t allowed to park in that garage  the entire weekend, and just like everyone else who lives in a large city, the idea of parking on the street or in an unguarded lot is nerve-wracking.

Things that don’t get to be equated in anywhere:

  1. This was my first convention. I knew going in that this would be a learning venture more than a profitable one. And, really, I almost covered my table fee. That’s not so bad when you aren’t selling expensive things.
  2. I split my booth, and I think I’m right in thinking that may have affected my sales. But, hey! Live and learn. I’d love to do a con with my best friend again– Preferably with out own tables side by side, so we can both have room to show off out wears– because we both deserve to get seen.
  3. Wrong audience for my coloring book (featuring MEDIEVAL GNOMES). I knew that going in, too.
  4. My Table Spot. This is a big one that I don’t get to fuss about– yes, my table was in a really terrible location. Right at the end, dead center of the isle, right next to the celebrities. Sounds great, right? Wrong. We had a small set up, easily passed over in the middle because we’re new. By the time people walked aaaaaall the way back to aisle 2800, they were tired and just wanted to get their autograph– not to mention broke and shopped out. Why doesn’t this count? Because it’s preventable. We were pulled in off the waiting list, last minute. We expected exactly what we got, and we stayed positive about it. If I try my luck at this convention again next year, I’ll pay attention and make a decision much earlier than last minute.

Over all, for having had four weeks to pull a table together and figure some shit out, I think we did very well. Best of all, I left with ideas for the next con (Kansas City Comic Con in August), with tons of great advice, and completely inspired. I think the very best little nugget of advice I was given from the amazingly talented Devin Kraft (You can see his work here)– who, btw, was a totally awesome neighbor– when I asked his opinions of what we could do better as newbies trying to break into this competitive and nerdy field. He told me that while financially, splitting a table at a conventions sounds like a good idea, it severely limits your time with each prospective client. You go from a 6 foot table, to just 3 feet, which takes between one and two seconds to pass by. See the flaw? You go from several seconds to be seen, to one, which makes every sale and every connection you make a lucky one. Congrats, you won the “See Me!” lotto for one of the 20 people passing by. It was a brilliant way to explain it (his version was better phrased, of coarse) and it was very helpful. It was also really nice to be complimented on my lack of fear of engaging people.

All in all? It was fun, and I enjoyed myself. The verdict is still out on whether I’m going to pursue this means of extra income– I’m holding off my decision until after KCCC in a few months. If it does really well, maybe I need to take a look at smaller conventions like it. If I don’t do well? Well, I tried, and I may still give 2017 a shot.

I’ll post some pictures up later, folks. 🙂

6 Months Without Posting…

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Wow, that is a long time… But, it’s time to start doing better 🙂 For anyone wondering what’s been going on lately, it’s a lot of shenanigans, but also a little bit of art. Since graduating school I haven’t done much, but I am trying. I’ll get there eventually! My (secretly kept) comic is still up and running, you can visit it and join the adventures of the mischievous twins, Tirnen and Trenton, if you’re into that sort of thing. It’s been taking up a lot of my “arting” time, but I have gotten a few pieces up and in the making.

The big announcement I get to make soon is that I’ll (hopefully) have a shop selling prints of my creative little cuties and hope everyone will pass it around at that point in time. 🙂

This is just a quick note, but I’ll post up some things I’ve got going in the next few days.

Yes, folks– Kitt is still alive! Thanks for hanging around.