3 Rivers Comicon 2018 and How It Went

3 rivers comicon artist alley table 2018

This year’s 3 Rivers Comicon was a mixed bag. But to explain why, I need to split this into 3 parts.

PART 1: THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES DRAMA

Full disclosure: right now, when I’m not making comics, I work part-time at my local comic shop. It so happens that my local comic shop is a branch of New Dimension Comics, the same company that runs 3 Rivers Comicon. Because of that, I could talk for like an hour about some behind-the-scenes stuff regarding how gaming tables were pilfered at the last minute for use at the convention, but I’m not going to get into that.

I could also tell a funny anecdote about a behind-the-scenes debate concerning what food to provide convention guests (pb & j sandwiches or pizza??), but I’m not going to get into that either.

Instead, I’m going to call out the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fandom because it is a massive piece of shit. Continue reading “3 Rivers Comicon 2018 and How It Went”

“I Am The Land,” An Art Piece

i am the land american gods art illustration by kelci crawford

If you’re a fan of Neil Gaiman’s book, American Gods, like I am, then you know why this piece is called “I Am The Land.” If you haven’t read the book (or read the comic, or seen the TV show) yet, you should fix that. Like, ASAP.

American Gods is one of those books that shook me when I first read it. Every time I re-read it, I discover something new about it. It’s dream-like and jarring yet also grounded (in the sense that the god characters act like people and not like high-concept “I am above petty emotions” personalities. Zack Snyder should learn a thing or two from this book).

One of the recurring characters in American Gods is a man with a buffalo head. He doesn’t outright murder anyone in the book. However, when I got the idea for this piece of art, I finished a section of the comic book adaptation of the novel – specifically, the section about Vikings landing in Canada and killing a Native American, and then the Natives killing every Viking in retaliation. Yes, the account is fiction, but there’s an element of truth to it, to the idea that America is a land stained in blood.

That’s why I made this piece.

This was drawn with my trusty mechanical pencil and Pentel Brush Sign Pen, with colors by my Copic markers. The background color was done with a Kuretake Zig Clean Color FB brush pen. It’s dying out a little though, so I’ll need to replace it soon.

Soon this will be a print measuring 11×17 inches. When it’s in the shop, I’ll announce it on the email newsletter first. It’s going to be a limited print run, though, so because of that, it’ll be a little more than just $10.

Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

Black Friday Warm-Up Sketch

owl deity warm up sketch art

It’s Black Friday, but I have no special announcements to make. So instead here’s a warm-up sketch I did this morning.

She doesn’t have a name yet. Feel free to suggest one in the comments.

I Have Been Published in The Magnolia Review

two ladies copic marker illustration

The Magnolia Review is an arts and literature magazine that publishes short stories, poems, art, photography, comics, and reviews. This time, their latest issue includes two illustration pieces I’ve done – “Two Ladies” and “The Star Sage.”

You can download it, for free, at this link.

Right now issues are only available online, but the editors are working to get the magazine to print.

I hope you enjoy the magazine and the art I made for it!

New Art Coming to the Website Soon

I’ve been updating the galleries on this site, starting with the Commissioned Works gallery. I FINALLY found a plugin that’ll work on the site that’ll show the art and not look like garbage.

The Illustrations section will be split into subsections so I can feature The Women Warriors, Subversive Girls, and a few other series’ of illustrations.

A gallery of Sketches is also slated to reappear…somehow…in some way…