CAKE Chicago 2024 this Saturday!

On Saturday, August 24th, I’m invited to exhibit my comics at the 2024 Chicago Alternative Comics Expo at their First Slice table!

The First Slice is an opportunity to highlight for creators, like me, who are new to CAKE and show off their comics.

I’m debuting my new art book zines, The Black Cat Sketchbook and The Good Dog Sketchbook! I’ll be table sharing with a second newbie artist so come and see me and other local artists there!

Some of my book is art I’ve posted, and others I haven’t, so if you have a weekend free come stop by the Zhou B Art Center!

Knife Foxes

The Knife Foxes are Nad Greentail’s pirate crew of miscreants. Many are deserters, drifters, and drudges from seedy corners of the world seeking easy fortune.

When not arguing with their self-appointed Tanuki Captain, they bumble around, hoping to catch victims unaware with their knives.

In this blog post, I talk about the long process drawing these knife fox bandits from paper to digital screen!

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Four New Social Media Accounts I post to as an Artist.

In wake of dumb bullshit happening on multiple social media sites, I again hear of newer ones that claim to be better and artist friendly. Promoting on social media doesn’t make a difference my sales online or offline at cons and art shows. Most of this hoop jumpin to social media accounts remind me that I’m being desperate. If I’m a nobody on my current pages, what makes me think I wouldn’t be a nobody on a new page?

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Olivia the Dragon Knight

This is a short process article about how I draw my Dragon Knight Copic Marker illustration in five hours at Sablecon back in October 2023!

This a throwback to an older Copic Marker style that I rarely use but I can give you insight into the five hour process I spend drawing between sales and conversations with guests

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This Indie Author talks about her experience as a vendor at CODCON 2023

As prolific as I am with this conventions, most of my knowledge is from the school of hard knocks. If you want a break-down of the arduous task of tabling at these conventions, take some time to listen to Alice the Author as she goes through her hour-to-hour break down of selling books at CODCon!

Most of this stuff I learned in the School of hard knocks myself, so Alice’s vid has fantastic insights on selling work at conventions.

A current new thing I’m doing with my setups for smaller conventions is to take a smaller amount of inventory with me. I don’t go more than a dozen of each of my large stickers, and I don’t bring every print or book I have with me on my trips. Library shows are a smaller one day showing, so even if I sell out, It’s not a big problem.

This system has also been a good way to not just manage my sale but analyze the rate my items sell. If demand is low for an item, I stop printing more and keep my table setups lean.

As I go around Artist Alley’s at conventions and hear about them, I write them down in a Spreadsheet on Google Docs. The majority of this list consist of events in my home state of Illinois. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start for any other artists seeking to do more conventions.

Convention Spreadsheet

I have a full year packed with cool conventions and events! Take a look through my Convention Schedule to see where I’ll be next!

Mia the Cat Dancer Illustration

Mia Copperbelle is a singer and dancer of a traveling cat band, spreading joy all over the land through their music.

Mia and the rest her merry bards are frequently harassed by the despotic Lion Kingdom. The Lions take no pleasure in the peace and love themes of the small cat band, and disperse any of their gatherings by lethal force. Despite the present danger posed by her father, Mia presses forward on her passion to be the greatest dancer of them all!

I had this Cat Dancer piece on the back burner for three years. Drawn traditionally in Brush, Ink and Paper and Later Digitally colored in Procreate and Clip Studio Paint. You can get a 9×12 Print for sale on my Etsy Store!

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Simple Art Practice on the Go

To help people out with their New Year’s Resolutions of learning to draw, I thought I’d drop in my two cents on getting started or getting into it.

Mini Sketchbook Pile B

A concern I find is the lack of time to draw. When I’m always on the go and away from my drawing desk at my day job, having a small sketchbook helps me jot down ideas!

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