intervention con Archives - Kelci D Crawford

January 9, 2015January 7, 2015

Conventions and Travelling for 2015

selfie at youmacon with jayne hat — A selfie at Youmacon.

Last year I did a few convention appearances. I appeared at Phoenix Comicon, Free Comic Book Day at the Apache Junction Public Library, Intervention Con, and Youmacon (where I only attended and didn’t sell any work or appear at panels).

This year, since I have moved from Arizona to Ohio, I’m hoping to make more appearances at some Midwest conventions, particularly those in Columbus.

I’ve been approached by one convention, and there’s one I’m hoping to get to down in Savannah, Georgia, because a friend of mine (Chloe Rose, who’s attending school there) wants to go.

However, in between convention planning and making comics, I’ve been writing, particularly in Claire and Tracy’s story.

Well, a lot of the stories I’m writing recently (especially their’s in particular) take place in places I haven’t visited in a long while. Like Chicago. And Pittsburgh. And there are even some that may take place in New Mexico or Tennesee.

So I’m wondering…should I take some time away from conventions…so I can go on research trips?

Another friend of mine, Suzy, did a research trip in lieu of conventions, and that has inspired me to consider doing the same thing.

I have quite the travel bug, and I would love to do more of it so I can see new sights, meet new people, write about new things, and share more of my experiences.

Either way, whether I do more conventions or more research trips, I intend to write about them here on this blog.

Have any suggestions for places to go? Travel tips? just have something you gotta’ say? I would love to read about it in comments.

Thank you for reading and I will see you on Monday.

October 3, 2014January 22, 2015

Favorite Artist Friday: Kelsey Wailes

There are artists who only do illustrations. There are artists who only make toys. And there are artists who only make comics.

It’s like Kelsey Wailes just went, “I want to make ALL OF THE THINGS!” And she set out to do just that.

This woman does comics, illustrations, toys, sculptures… It’s like she rocks any artistic outlet she sets her sights on. Pretty much anything she creates seems like something fresh, from colored pencil portraits to Doctor Whooooo toys.

While a lot of the work she makes falls within the realms of fanart, it’s still great to see such well-executed work in such a wide variety of media.

I had the pleasure of seeing her work first hand at Intervention Con, and I even got to sit in on a panel she ran. The panel was all about how to make vinyl toys like the Doctor Whooo above. She’s a great educator and quite the inspirational speaker.

To be frank, all of that creative energy and all of the outlets she has to express that creativity…make me a little jealous. But in a good way.

It makes me want to experiment and try new creative things, learn new techniques, try new media…

Plus, her comics make me laugh super hard.

You can read her comic Doctor Kawaii online, and you can also find her work on Etsy and Tumblr. Mostly I follow her on Twitter because I’m a weirdo.

So who are some of your favorite artists? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you on Tuesday.

September 2, 2014September 1, 2014

Review Day Tuesday: Bartez

Bartez is a comic I found at Intervention Con, mostly because the author, Ryan, was right across the aisle from me. I never heard of the project before that weekend, so I bought a copy of the book. Once the convention madness died down, I finally sat down to read it.

And you know what? I like it.

Is it life-altering? No. Is it fun? Yes, and delightfully silly to boot.

The story follows Jimmy Barton, an average guy who works in IT, who still hangs out with a lot of his old high school buddies, and lives in the town he’s always grown up in. He’s also a bit of a quitter – he tries new things, but he never sticks to them for very long. Tae Kwon Do? Wrestling? Parkour? Nope, nope, and nope.

That is, until he discovers one of his old friends was murdered by a rogue member of a secret society. And now, Jimmy might be next on the murderer’s hit list! Will he be able to actually stick to something and learn how to save himself?

The book I read is the first volume in a series, but I don’t know how long the series will be. It’s a series I want to read, though! Now let me tell you why.

The art, which seems (very) influenced by the likes of Bryan Lee O’Malley and Vera Brosgol, is sharp, clean, and easy to read. In an art style like this it can be easy to make the characters look alike. Thankfully, the artist (Gale Williams) does a wonderful job creating unique character visuals. I could tell Jimmy apart from his friends, and even the ladies look varied and stylized.

The action scenes are sporadic, but are drawn very well. I look forward to seeing what future action scenes in later volumes will look like!

The writing is, at the start, slow. The writer definitely takes his time developing the characters and scenarios, which isn’t a bad thing. I appreciate the slowness a bit because in too many comics nowadays people are rushing to get to the action. In Bartez you’re supposed to see what life is like before things get crazy. And Ryan Peraro does a great job showing everyday situations.

Once things start getting crazy, Ryan has built up the characters and the scenario enough that you believe what happens in the story. It’s actually pretty brilliant.

And you know what? The art and the writing work fantastically together in this comic. There are two creators on the project but it feels like one unified voice. That, to me, is wonderful.

If you want to read Bartez, they have the comic online and in print. My vote? It’s worth the $10 to get the first volume.

Have you found any comics worth reading? Did you read Bartez? Let me know in the comments!

Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you tomorrow with new artwork.

August 27, 2014August 26, 2014

Intervention Con in Ten Points or Less

From August 22 to the 24, I was at Rockville, MD for Intervention Con!

It was my first time at this particular convention (and my first time in Maryland, really). It was a get-together to celebrate webcomics, gaming, and an awful lot of Doctor Who.

I could overload you with details about the convention, but I’m going to condense everything into ten points or less so I won’t overwhelm you.

1) If you ever find yourself going from Ohio to Maryland, do yourself a favor and take Interstate 79 to Interstate 68, then onto Interstate 270. That way you can avoid Pennsylvania’s ridiculous tolls.

2) Take a hoodie. The air conditioning in the artist alley this year was freezing. I’m grateful I brought mine.

3) When there are no con-goers coming in to spend money (as happened a lot at this particular convention), talk to the other artists and make some new friends. That’s how I met the folks behind Shadowbinders, Bartez, Capes N Babes, and Lost Gamers as well as lovely artists like Magical Tea Time, K.S. Brenowitz, Tico Illustrations, and Kelsey Wailes (OK, gratuitous name dropping is done for now).

4) The Hilton that the convention took place in had the strangest elevators. Here’s a few pictures of the lobby to give you some context.

So you see how there are elevators in the corners? Some of them run only from the third floor to the seventh. Some run from the first floor to the sixth. There are more elevators that will run from other strange floor combinations. You may have noticed there are eight floors in the hotel. Whoever decided these elevators were a good idea must have been H.P. Lovecraft himself.

5) I almost forgot! This was the table I set up with.

I wasn’t listed as a guest because the billing was mostly given to Christian (the writer of Validation) and Tony DiGerolamo (from The Webcomic Factory). But I was the one with the prints and stickers for Validation, so along I went!

And now I have the books, which leads me to…

6) There are some extra copies of the Validation Comic Con Special! You can get them now on my online store. There’s only five copies left, and if you order them, they’ll be signed by Christian and me. Plus, you’ll get a bonus print for your wall from me!

Speaking of prints…

7) I got some new books and art from some awesome folks this past weekend.

I’ll be reading the books and reviewing them in a new blog segment called “Review Day Tuesday.” It’ll appear on (surprise!) Tuesday.

And the prints? Will be on the wall soon.

8) If you’re ever in Rockville, MD, please for the love of all raw fish go and eat at Rolls N Rice sushi bar. The gang I went with and I had lunch there throughout the weekend, and every time we went it was all delicious!

There were other places we went out to eat, as well, but I didn’t catch their names. There was a Mexican restaurant that had the most delicious roasted duck (with olives) I’ve ever had the pleasure to stuff my face with.

The convention itself also provided food for the special guests, which was pretty good if you could get it. The food went really fast though.

9) If you’re ever at this con, find alternative parking places besides the hotel. Hotel parking is $18 a night (yeesh!). There are alternatives out there.

And I almost didn’t add this, but what the hey.

10) Sunday was my birthday! So Intervention Con was the best birthday present ever!

I should add a bonus thing: because I met so many great artists this weekend, I’m bringing back a feature I started a while ago, but neglected.

I’m talking about Favorite Artist Friday!

So come back on Friday, when I talk about one of my new favorite artists. I’m not going to tell you who it is yet, though, because it’s a surprise.