Convention Excitement and New Website Update

Sorry for the radio silence everyone! It's been a mixed bag of bothersome snow, overtime at work, and health issues :< However I am happy to report, if you haven't seen it on my Facebook page yet, that I have secured a booth at Virginia Comicon's 2 day event this November 22nd- 23rd! In what spare time I can manage to grab I've been writing lists, working on the next Alencia book, working on prints as well as button and sticker ideas, and even figuring out how to get my hands my on a standing banner to bring to conventions! I'm SO excited by the possibilities for cons this year. I still won't get to attend as many as I would like due to my full time job but it just makes the ones I can attend that much more special.

I'm also hoping to snag a table for Nekocon this year. I was very impressed with how far Neko's Artist Alley had come since I last tabled there in 2010. While fan art is still prominent there were so many original comic creators (and crafters!) that it made my heart sing! At last one of my most accessible anime conventions has become more welcoming to original content creators. However I have to wait till the first week of May to register so fingers crossed!

In the mean time here is a sneak peek at a work in progress print I'm currently painting:

Also you may have noticed in the previous post that I have been tinkering with wordpress in an attempt to get a blog/portfolio site together as a main hub for my artwork. Well Wordpress has not worked out for me, but instead I've started a site using SquareSpace. I'm still working on getting my domain name attached to it but GoDaddy is not as user friendly as I would like >_> And while I have figured out how to do this in the past I'm still having trouble so please bare with me. Until then you can see my new site (with this blog attached to it!) at Francesca-rowan.squarespace.com/ I'm really loving the interface and that fact that I could import my entire blog over to it. I'm going to start experimenting with updating the blog from my website so we'll see how that goes but I might hold off so folks who have stuck to this blog so long can still enjoy my updates without missing anything. But when/if I start doing blog updates from there I'll give this blog a heads up so no one misses it.

Speaking of missing updates, if you follow me on Facebook be sure to follow these instructions so you can keep seeing updates from the pages you like (otherwise Facebook will try to corner us into paying for people to actually see our updates. I'm thinking about breathing some life into my google+ page or making a new one. Would anyone be game for that?)

So as I go on I'll be sure to share more peeks at con goodies as I make them. Stay tuned and as always, thanks for sticking with me! <3

Neko Madness!

Hey everyone! I thought I'd take a break from the hectic and downright rage-inducing day I've been having at school to drop some updates for you!

Nekocon was pretty awesome. It was a great experience, and while I didn't sell very much I learned a lot and it's not going to deter me from getting a table in the Artist Alley next year. I didn't get to go any panels but a lot of my friends visited me at my table which was great. That and my brother from another mother, El Goro of 'Talk Without Rhythm Podcast', drove down all the way from Ohio to see us :D He had promised me a long time ago that when I get my first AA table he will be there. And he was <3 I was also visited by friends from school and my friend Michelle who cosplayed as Kale from my comic book that I was selling there. I have awesome friends C:

Here is a photo of the table. We have decided that we will have bigger displays next year, and more art in general. We're also hoping to have the 'Or Maybe Not' comics printed up along with some buttons! A friend of mine offered her press for us to use so I think next year we will.


Some pictures of the merch, ganked from facebook since my original photos are on the laptop.




Kale cosplay!

She looks so good ;_; We took a cosplay photo together at the photo booth there (I was dressed as Alencia from my comic as she appears in the first issue, so sans tunic). I might scan the other photo later.

While at the table I decided to keep busy and draw. I would slip each new piece into my portfolio as I finished them. Some of them I may make little prints or buttons out of for next year.


Lil' Conqour for Ryan. Conqour is an out of work B-Movie monster and the star of some of Ryan's original short films. He has such a big personality!


There were lots of steampunks around the con so I drew this lovely lady up. I used some metalic gold gel pen to add shiny bits to her.


A chibi maid.


Chibi Cthulhu. At least he's not happy about it.
I think I'm going to do a nicer Cthulhu print next year...



Disgruntled Lolita. The quote is from 'Return of the Living Dead.' The guy saying it was talking about Punk, but I think it applies so easily to Lolita. Love it!


A gift for Michelle. After her Kale cosplay she went to a Sailor Moon meet up (casual clothing cosplay) as Chibi-moon so I drew Chibi-moon in the outfit she wore to the meet up. I'm quite proud of it, but I would like to do a different background when I get some time.


BEST COMMISSION EVAR. HANDS DOWN.
Done for Ian. He asked for Teddy Roosevelt punching sasquatch in the head. And he got it.

Some of these are going up on DA soon, but for now, I have work to do ;_;
See you later if school doesn't eat me up first!

News time!

+Internet is back!
We got our signal back last night, and all is well in the world of the internet :D

+Updates
I have personal work that I scanned and have ready to upload but it maybe a bit slow to make it here to the blog. This week is SUPER BUSY for me at school. I also have some extracurricular activities taking place this week so school work will be filling my spare time this week. I'll try to upload new work by Sunday at least.

Ten days till Nekocon! I'm excited and nervous at the same time, as I'm sure you know. I'll be able to print things soon (prints and more bookmarks, and hoping to squeeze a mini comic in there...), but I have a few illustrations to tweak before that. Next week will be packed with con preparations to insure it goes smoothly. And I really hope it does.

Kale is being printed and should ship to me on the 30th. That gives it a few days to reach me so let's hope that goes without a hitch too! I'm so excited to see the final book. I learned so much doing it, I know issue #2 is going to rock so hard because of that.

School is also kicking my butt. Welcome to senior year! :D

Full Steam Ahead!

Despite my internet being nearly non-existent (save for late at night when no one is using it) and thanks to the super helpful team at Ka-blam, my book is being printed! Everything has been approved and paid for. Next will be for the books to arrive and then off to Nekocon. They should be shipped out on the 30th. I'm buzzing with excitement 8D

Over the next two weeks I'll be working on prints and bookmarks, and con badges for me and Ryan to wear at the con. I have a laundry list of things to do but it shouldn't be too bad. I just hope I can get it all done and that everything goes smoothly. I'm still terribly excited C: But also tired. I think I'm getting sick again... trying to nip it in the butt before it gets worse :/

Neko Prep

Some photos of how things are going as far as Nekocon prep.


Progress photos of the Kale cover.


Progress photos of the bookmarks that are now done. I forgot to take a photo of it but each book mark has my contact info and website addresses on the back of them.


I also just ordered my Alencia wig :3 I'm stupidly excited.

To do for Nekocon:
Kale:
-Finish pages
-scan pages
-make sure pages fit printing template, and label them correctly!
-letter pages

OMN
-re-letter pages
-make sure pages fit printing template, and label them correctly!
-new cover? D:

Prints/Merch
-color 'Judith'

Table
-get colorful table cloth
-make price signs
-make fliers for 'Kale' to pass out

Cosplay
-finish tunic
-make up test
-sword?

Inking vigorously = Hand cramps D:

Inked and started coloring the cover to Kale issue #1 today.



My eyes hurt so I'm taking a break.

I had a bit of a scare earlier. I had been checking to see if Nekocon had billed me for the table but they hadn't yet. I looked through my spam folder and it turned out my email to them was returned to me. You have to reply within a week to confirm the table. If I had checked it later I would have lost my table. I quickly wrote them back and got an automatic reply email so I know they got it this time. PHEW! I nearly had a heart attack at the thought of loosing the table.


current music: "Farewell"- Adorned Brood/ "Vargaskall"- Falconer

SUCCESS!

I GOT THE NEKOCON AA TABLE! MY COMICS WILL BE COMING TO A CON NEAR YOU!
YYYYYEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Glad to know a year of hard work and saving money was worth it :D

Books, books, books!

Hi Everyone!

I'm back in Richmond, finishing up my Summer semester. I'm busy at work finishing things off for class. I also managed to register for Nekocon's Artist Alley today, but I have to wait 30 days to find out if I've been approved, so fingers crossed!

I'm also working on finishing Chapter 2 of Kale so I can have the first issue finished. The book will also include a 5 page mini comic staring Alencia, along with drawings and concept art for the book, and some fan art by talented artists I know. I'm really excited about it and I can't wait to hold the printed books in my hands. I also need to go through all the files for 'Or Maybe Not' and redo the lettering for some of the pages and get them ready for their own book.

I have some artwork to scan. Not a lot, and even less that I can share right now, but I will have something up soon. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend!

Bookmarks

I can be so forgetful at times.
I finished these book marks a while ago and forgot to post them. Mostly I'd like to know if anyone likes them? I planning on printing some up and laminating them for Nekocon. I was thinking of offering them for $2 or $3 (haven't settled on a final price yet) but I still have some printing/laminating tests to do. I'll most likely do those this weekend when I have my color printer back.

So here are the Kale bookmarks, featuring our baddy Xenla, our hero Kale, and our resident healer/exorcist Alencia. I'm also going to offer a free bookmark with the books I'll be selling. Buyer's choice.



I also drew up some Lolita ones but I'm not as in love with them as I am the Kale ones. I think I might just do the gothic and sweet ones but we'll see. Let me know which ones you like!


I think I'll add some text to these ones labeling what kinds of Lolita they are. Maybe add a ribbon or something on the ends of them too.
Please let me know what you guys think of them!

Also- Alencia cosplay photos to come later. My dad has to get them off of his camera, along with some reference photos I took recently, (I don't have my card reader and his is on his PC) but he said he'd get them on a disc for me soon. I also found boots for my costume which I'm really excited about. I just need to find some grey pants (decided leggings didn't quite work for me and her original design has pants anyway) or wait for the ones I saw at Target to go on sale. Also gotta work on more pouches and potion bottles.

More to come!

Prints in Progress

I've been making good progress on school work this weekend, and things have been going more smoothly, so I decided to work on fixing some of my artwork to make prints for Nekocon. Here's a sneak peek.



I've also been hatching plans for if I can't get an artist alley table, which would be awful but I still plan on going to Nekocon regardless so I'm going to have fun either way. I decided that if I can't finish the first Kale book in time then I'll print what I do have, with loads of extras like concept work, inked illustrations, and other tidbits as a preview book. I was also thinking about scrapping the cosplay idea but my room mate pointed out that cosplaying will bring attention to our table, which would be good. Also if I cant' get a table in time then I can at least enjoy the con as a cosplayer. So I've decided this summer I will start my Lina Inverse cosplay.

The only reason I'm worried about not finishing the book in time is because I've decided to take a project class this summer and it will be a lot of work. I'm also hoping to get a job this summer, and I'll be starting up a paypal account soon and I'll also be taking commissions. WORK WORK WORK ITS NEVER OVER.