status updates – Page 17 – Kelci D Crawford

January 14, 2015

Updates on Superhero Ladies and Women Warriors

jen cho nagatana superheroine original character art — Jen Cho, aka Nagatana (click to enlarge)

The Superhero Ladies project is coming along nicely! I have 17 ladies already drawn and the month of January isn’t even over yet. Hopefully I can keep up the good work and have lots of awesome superheroines by the end of the month.

There’s a few characters in the project that I’m thinking of branching off into their own stories, or maybe even comics. So who knows?

Another project I’m working on is one I’m reviving from hiatus.

The Women Warriors Project.

I put it on hiatus for a few reasons.

At the time, there was a lot of freelance work going on and I couldn’t update it consistently.
It was hitting an artistic wall, where I felt like every piece I made for the series was getting worse.
I wanted to experiment more with tools like watercolors and acrylics, and I didn’t have the resources or time to do it at the time.

But I’m bringing it back! With a few changes.

Firstly, there will be a new finished painting every month. Acrylic, watercolor, doesn’t matter. It’ll be a painting.

As progress is made on the paintings, I’ll be posting them on the Women Warriors Project blog. The intention is to make a chronological series of posts, showing a painting from initial sketch to finished piece. Tonight I made a sketch to develop an idea for the first painting, so expect to see it on the blog soon!

Know any cool historical women warriors? Leave their names in the comments below!

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

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.

January 7, 2015January 6, 2015

The Superhero Ladies Series Returns!

A while back I wrote a post about how I wanted to do a series of illustrations showing Superhero Ladies, dressed and posed like human beings, not like…whatever comic books thinks is sexy.

While there are ladies in comic books and graphic novels that are in charge of their sexuality, and there are superhero ladies who are clothed, they seem to be the exception, rather than the rule.

Thus, I came up with the idea of the art series Superhero Ladies: a series of illustrations showing superhero ladies dressed and posed like…actual people.

sojourner superhero ladies art series — Number 1 in the series.

I put it on the back-burner, though, because I wasn’t sure how I wanted to exactly tackle this series.

But then I wrote about my Goals for 2015. And one of my goals is to make more eBooks full of sketches.

So I had the idea, “How about I make my first eBook of sketches be the Superhero Ladies series?!”

So that’s exactly what I’m doing.

This actually ties in well with another one of my goals, which is to draw two sketchbook pages a day. So I’ve been drawing quite a few superhero ladies this week already.

Here’s a peek at just one of the new ones:

mary wildfox superhero ladies art series sketch — Mary Wildfox (Click to enlarge).

I forgot to mention that the Superhero Ladies series will feature entirely original characters.

So, no, I’m not going to be doing re-designs of famous superheroines like Spider Woman, Power Girl, Captain Marvel, or anything like that. That can be addressed in a different series of sketches altogether.

Nope. This series will feature only original characters, costumes, and (hopefully) powers.

I’ll post more sketches occasionally. I don’t want to post them all online because I don’t want to spoil any surprises I have in mind for the eBook.

Speaking of books, though, Johnson & Sir have a book on pre-order. I talked about that in this post.

I’m working hard to make sure there’s new prints, books, and more for you. If you have any suggestions or ideas of what you would like to see more of, leave a comment below!

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

January 6, 2015January 5, 2015

Writing Claire’s Story

claire comic post apocalyptic zombie fighter — (Click to enlarge)

So one of my New Years Goals was to write 1000 words a day. Which sounds pretty lofty, but really I can accomplish that in about an hour. Sometimes less.

In writing 1000 words a day, I’m actually getting a LOT of writing done.

It’s not just blog posts either.

Thanks to my 1000 words written a day goal, I’ve revisited an old script of mine, and am now in the process of writing it and continuing off of it.

I’m talking about my post apocalyptic lesbian love story with zombie-killing, starring Claire and Tracy.

I finished editing Chapter 1, and I powered through Chapter 2. It’s a GREAT feeling knowing there’s progress finally being made on a project that’s been on hold for months.

I’ve been revisiting this project in my sketchbook, as well.

claire and tracy comic work in progress art sketch — A Work in Progress (click to enlarge)

claire and tracy comic work in progress art sketch of environment — Sketching out an idea of the world they explore. (Click to enlarge).

And I’ve been doing some sketching to flesh out their world bit by bit.

I’ve also been looking at this list of post-apocalyptic tropes to avoid and what hasn’t been done yet. I’m hoping to add elements of things rarely done in post-apocalyptic stories, pulling inspiration from this list.

Like bike-riding. Oh my shit there need to be more bike riders after cars become useless hunks of metal.

What are some tropes of the post apocalyptic genre you can think of? What hasn’t been done in a zombie story yet that you can think of? Leave them in the comments below. I would love to hear about them!

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

January 1, 2015

Big News for Johnson & Sir

Strap into your seats, because there’s all kinds of awesome things on the horizon for Johnson & Sir.

First, there’s a new print coming! Here’s a look at what to expect…

t-rex versus shark print johnson and sir — IT’S T-REX VS. SHARK!!

I know I want THAT on my wall!

Second, I’m closer to getting an awesome T-shirt ready. Can you guess what design will be on it?

Oh, I’ll spoil it for you:

I’m shopping around for T-shirt printers at the moment. Until then, I’ll be getting prints ready soon. Keep an eye on Storenvy.

Third, and this is the most exciting thing for me. I have been working on this goal for over six months now.

Johnson & Sir‘s first book will be going to print!

johnson and sir book cover — Here’s what the book cover will look like.

Pre-orders are going right now for $10.

If you’re interested in pre-ordering a copy, just click the PayPal button below. The price covers the book plus shipping. Be sure to give your shipping address, too!

Books will be available by January 31st, 2015.

Thank you to everybody who reads Johnson & Sir every Tuesday!

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