LIVE STREAM – Let’s Draw Comics!

Today at 2 pm EST, join me on YouTube, Twitch, or Twitter! Feel free to lurk while I work on some pages for my webcomics!

In today’s live stream, I’m drawing pages for The Legend of Jamie Roberts, my genderqueer pirate webcomic. PLUS, I’m drawing some material for my new webcomic, Vanita and the Demon King! It’s about a demon king who crashes on the couch of a trans girl.

Vanita and the Demon King is still on Crowdfundr, by the way. Back it BEFORE JAN 31 at 11:59 pm EST to get some behind-the-scenes rewards, yo!

Thanks for tuning in.

You. Are. Awesome.

New Print Available – Be Not Apurred

be not apurred biblically accurate cat angel

And lo, the two-tailed cat gazed down upon the children of Creation, and proclaimed from its three mouths,

“BE NOT APURRED.”

I had a LOT of fun drawing this Biblically accurate cat angel, and now it’s available for you.

Now, technically this is available on RedBubble, as well, on things like T-shirts and phone cases.

That said, I wanted to make a limited run of prints for a few reasons:

  1. I just…love this design. I’m so proud of it and how it came out.
  2. I’m trying new outlets outside of RedBubble.
  3. I want to take designs like this one and make them available on things that RedBubble does not do, like keychains and pins.

So, I made a limited run of 8.5 by 11-inch prints of this design!

There are 15 of these available. Once they’re sold, they’re gone forever – I’m not doing another run of prints! The sales of these will help fund making this design into a double-sided keychain.

So if you or a buddy need a little more art in your life – or if you want to help make new keychain designs a reality – buy the print now on Ko-Fi!

That’s all for now. Thank you for your support!

You. Are. Awesome.

Coming Soon: Vanita and the Demon King

A thousand years ago, the Demon King and his armies marched across the lands, terrorizing the people who crossed their paths. Only one man stood up to the Demon King, and his name…was Richard.

vanita chuckles at richard's name

At least, this is the history Vanita grew up with her whole life.

Her story takes place in the present day. But one morning, on her usual jog in the park, she comes across the legendary Demon King himself – heavily beaten and close to exhaustion in the bushes.

And so begins this domestic story of a trans girl trying to make sense of the fabled Demon King passing out on her couch.

The Origins

This concept all started with this sketch.

concept for vanita and the demon king page 1
concept for vanita and the demon king page 2

(In the beginning, the Demon was a Golem, but the more I researched it I went, “Nah. Demon.”) So I started with this sketch and the notion of wanting to make a slice-of-life/romance story. But I made it a fantasy with a demon king because…fantasy is my MO.

(To be honest, if I have an idea for a story but it doesn’t click with me for some reason, I’ll transplant it into a fantasy setting. Then the story clicks. It works 98 percent of the time.)

The Twist

So I started scripting the story as part of the National Novel Writing Month challenge in 2021. I was a rebel that year and drew thumbnails for the script of Vanita and the Demon King.

As I scripted the story, something happened that surprised even me…

Claudia, from The Case of the Wendigo, showed up.

vanita meets claudia from The Case of the Wendigo

And that’s when I went, “Wait…is this…a spiritual sequel to The Case of the Wendigo? Is this another Charlie & Clow adventure?!”

Yes.

I know! I’m surprised, too. It only took…4 or 5 years from The Case of the Wendigo going to print to the beginning of production for Vanita and the Demon King.

The story is 90 percent scripted with an outline in mind for the very end. I only have roughly 20 pages or so left to thumb.

After That…Will There Be a Crowdfunding Campaign?

Yes!

At first, I thought I would need to pivot because of Journey of the Mystery. But thankfully that project is being handled separately. By doing that, it frees up time to focus on getting Vanita and the Demon King funded before launch.

How?

Well, I’m looking at running a campaign on either KickStarter or Crowdfundr. Both have their pros and cons, which I’ll talk about more tomorrow.

Whichever platform I pick, though, I hope to launch it soon.

The goal is to get certain back-end costs covered. A domain name for a website and website hosting are the two biggest concerns right now. Extra funding after that can help with overhead during production.

If you would like to see more development sketches – or get the first notice when the crowdfunding campaign launches – sign up for my email newsletter.

Your email is secret with me. I don’t sell it anywhere. Plus I only post once a week unless it’s a special occasion. Like if you’re Subscribed to any Clubs I run.

I hope you’re excited about Vanita and the Demon King! I know I am.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

What’s Next for Journey of the Mystery?

So I made Journey of the Mystery during the 24-hour comic day challenge. All 24 pages. Done.

What’s Next for This Comic?

I had a chat with the project organizer of the Comic Book Jamboree. And we’re figuring out the next steps to get this book to print together.

Which…is exciting!

It also means that any crowdfunding campaigns for this comic are not happening soon.

I think that’s fine for now. I had another crowdfunding campaign in mind anyway. One for another comic idea, Vanita and the Demon King. I’ll talk about that story in tomorrow’s update.

But I DID ask about one thing I wanted to do with Journey of the Mystery. And thankfully, I can move forward with this idea.

journey of the mystery, a comic coloring book by kelci d crawford (and you)

Here’s a Coloring Book download of Journey of the Mystery!

Believe it or not, I wanted this comic to do double duty from the start. I wanted a finished version and a coloring book version of this story, so that it can be told AND exist for you to make your own.

If you want to download this coloring book version, head over to my Ko-Fi shop. It’s there now for $2+, and any extra you give gets you access to behind-the-scenes things through the Digital Club for one month.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

24-Hour Comic Book Day – DONE

I DID IT. I successfully made 24 pages of comics in 24 hours!

Technically I did it in 22 hours and 11 minutes. And BOY am I still exhausted.

Here are some teaser pages of the story I made in the challenge.

journey of the mystery page 1
journey of the mystery page 2
journey of the mystery page 3
journey of the mystery page 4

And that’s just the first 4 pages!

I also streamed the process of making this comic on YouTube. As I’m writing this, an archived version is not available yet but will be soon.

What’s Next?

Well, I made this comic with the folks at Comic Book Jamboree. Right now they’re judging the entries from folks who participated in the challenge. I at least made the top 3! Check out the official page to see the other finalists. Their work is *chef’s kiss*.

No matter what, though, I have plans with this comic. I hope to get it to print soon. And maybe even…make a coloring book out of it. I mean, this coloring page on Ko-Fi was the inspiration for this story.

Stay tuned for more updates.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.