If you follow our facebook page, you'll know - Gurukitty Studios is now an actual studio! We've rented a space in North Vancouver where we will be working out of now! Yay! Progress! Up until now this has been a cramped apartment buisness but as we expanded we realized our space was barely enough to live in, let alone mass produce comics and merchandise!
Keep an eye on that Facebook page if you want to see the progression of the brown dingy studio space into a real bright exciting studio! We'll be posting photos as we go! Thanks for your support that's helped us grow to this point! <3 we love you!
Monday, 19 December 2011
Monday, 28 November 2011
Ghost Tales arrived (partially) +sale
 |
| weighs so much for a little box! |
It looks great, and I was so stoked to hold that heavy box.
The rest should be arriving shortly, so we're beginning mailouts.
You'll be informed individually when your package ships for those of you with Pre-Orders and artists copies coming to you, so please be patient. It's a lot of work for us.
In the mean time, you should take advantage of our one day only Cyber Monday sale! On until midnight tonight - Everything (with some exceptions) is 25% off :)
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Vancouver ComicCon
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Call for artists
“Once Upon a Time…” is Gurukitty Studios second Anthology, and you guessed right, it’s going to be a folk/Fairy Tale themed anthology.
If you participated in the Ghost Tales anthology, be aware that things are going to be slightly different this time round, so don’t assume anything at the moment.
The Theme:The theme for “Once upon a time…” is obviously Fairy and Folk Tales. We chose this because when we did a public poll and it was one of the ones people voted most that they wanted to participate in, after ghost stories.
Here is the challenge though, we are all familiar with the mainstream typical stories such as Sleeping Beauty, Red Riding hood, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and the other popular classics. They have been done over and over again and unless you have some masterfully twisted version of the very well known stories, there is no point in doing them again.
We want you to dig into lesser known or culturally relevant folk stories from various cultures from all over the world. We want folk stories from many different countries all in one book so people can see how different cultures influence the different types of story telling. You can tell a classic if you like, but you’d better tell it in a mind blowing way noone would ever predict or it’s not getting in this book.
Please be careful of copyright infringement and be sure you are taking the essence of the story and telling it in your own words. Also make sure the story is free from copyright (over 100 years old, public domain or author-less). Because these stories are often published, and re-told and published and re-published you need to make sure you are taking it from it’s original version and not someones adaption/publication.
Example, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is very different from the original story, if you used Disneys telling as your reference point, you are going to get yourself in legal trouble and us along with you. You will be required to sign a contract stating that you have researched this point and you will take sole responsibility for any infringements.
Read more here...
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Convention Table set up
So, with Vcon past, we had the opportunity to test out how different table displays were successful or unsuccessful. Each day of the convention we changed the table display. I'll go ever each day and what worked, and what didn't.
Day 1:
Okay, here we are. as an overview, we tried to make the centre of the table the focus. Our highest priced item #3 was a one of a kind sculpture of tasirt. We put him in the middle thinking he's the focus there. but as you can see, he's totally not. in fact there IS no focus to this table layout. the main project, Daqueran comics #1 are way off to the side, and yes they have lights around them but it doesn't make them have any impact at all. Our prints #4 are in closed black books, and look like nothing. The business cards, notebooks, and mini comics blend together #5, and the sketch cards are just floating in their little folder #7. #2 and #9 are signage advertising ghost tales pre order, and sketch card commissions. those are the only things that stand out on the table, with good reason - bright colour! Same as our price signage. They're bright blue, and stand out like crazy. I've always been an advocate of clear price signage. No one is going to ask you how much something is. you have to have it displayed. They are aloof until they decide for sure they're going to buy. #10 is our rack of charms. It's stuffed in the corner with some puzzles underneath #11, but you cant even see them. they're non existent. #6 our banner, is not visible in the front of the table. not much we can do about it now. vertical banners are in our future.
So day 1: entire layout, is bad. Signage and price tags are good.
Day 2:
Day 2 did little to improve the layout. We added some canvas prints #1, moved the lights to the ghost tales display, and propped the pendants on a necklace display.Things overall looked more clean and simplified, and sales did improve quite a bit. Dopey looking Guru probably didn't help that much, HA!
Tasirt in his plastic case didn't work too well. He's still invisible. Why are the prints books still closed?! We just forgot to fuss with them.
Day 3:
day 3 was a winning day! I mean, it did have the benefit of being the most traffic day, and in general the last day of a con is the best, but we learned some valuable things.
Clarity! This table is clean, there is space between each item and each thing stands out of its own.#1 ghost tales was moved to the side, and we included a ghost tales mini comic right next to it. This made it easier to promote the Anthology. we could mention the mini comic showing them an example from the anthology, then also show them that a pre-order is available. It was great. We moved the charm rack to the centre, and put the lights on it. this worked best! The rack was black, set against the yellow wall, so it stood out, and the lights really enhanced it against the black. This is the only day of the 3 that we sold charms at all! #3 the canvas prints are together, and once we sold one we moved the sketch card sign down onto the stand from the wall. #4 the Daqueran comics are with the New reader pack instead of being separated. Same situation as the Ghost tales. It allowed us to streamline our customer interactions, thus getting better results. Last but not least #5 , the prints! finally they're folded out!the price sign was on the table above them, and just about everyone who stopped flipped through. we sold several of them as a result. We actually got compliments on our table display from several people on this day. This was clearly successful.
Sometimes talking to people it scares them off, but when you're not selling a product people know about (like fanart) and you're promoting your own work, you need to sell it verbally!
Talk to your customers, and tell them about your project. come up with a streamlined little description for each of your projects, and spew it out at everyone who stops by and shows an interest. We had a little tagline for Daqueran that was just working so well. Ya, its hard to muster the courage to talk to strangers sometimes, but it's the difference between selling your stuff, or sitting around frustrated that your stuff isn't selling.
So I hope this was a little useful for fellow con goers out there. We're getting pretty experienced at the little cons! As a side note, on the Gurukitty website now on that side ---> there is a little widget that shows our upcoming convention appearances! check it out often.
We also got the proof for the Ghost Tales comic today! you can check out some photos of it on our facebook page!
Day 1:
So day 1: entire layout, is bad. Signage and price tags are good.
Day 2:
Day 2 did little to improve the layout. We added some canvas prints #1, moved the lights to the ghost tales display, and propped the pendants on a necklace display.Things overall looked more clean and simplified, and sales did improve quite a bit. Dopey looking Guru probably didn't help that much, HA!
Tasirt in his plastic case didn't work too well. He's still invisible. Why are the prints books still closed?! We just forgot to fuss with them.
Day 3:
day 3 was a winning day! I mean, it did have the benefit of being the most traffic day, and in general the last day of a con is the best, but we learned some valuable things.
Clarity! This table is clean, there is space between each item and each thing stands out of its own.#1 ghost tales was moved to the side, and we included a ghost tales mini comic right next to it. This made it easier to promote the Anthology. we could mention the mini comic showing them an example from the anthology, then also show them that a pre-order is available. It was great. We moved the charm rack to the centre, and put the lights on it. this worked best! The rack was black, set against the yellow wall, so it stood out, and the lights really enhanced it against the black. This is the only day of the 3 that we sold charms at all! #3 the canvas prints are together, and once we sold one we moved the sketch card sign down onto the stand from the wall. #4 the Daqueran comics are with the New reader pack instead of being separated. Same situation as the Ghost tales. It allowed us to streamline our customer interactions, thus getting better results. Last but not least #5 , the prints! finally they're folded out!the price sign was on the table above them, and just about everyone who stopped flipped through. we sold several of them as a result. We actually got compliments on our table display from several people on this day. This was clearly successful.
Sometimes talking to people it scares them off, but when you're not selling a product people know about (like fanart) and you're promoting your own work, you need to sell it verbally!
Talk to your customers, and tell them about your project. come up with a streamlined little description for each of your projects, and spew it out at everyone who stops by and shows an interest. We had a little tagline for Daqueran that was just working so well. Ya, its hard to muster the courage to talk to strangers sometimes, but it's the difference between selling your stuff, or sitting around frustrated that your stuff isn't selling.
So I hope this was a little useful for fellow con goers out there. We're getting pretty experienced at the little cons! As a side note, on the Gurukitty website now on that side ---> there is a little widget that shows our upcoming convention appearances! check it out often.
We also got the proof for the Ghost Tales comic today! you can check out some photos of it on our facebook page!
Monday, 3 October 2011
Vcon Report
Well we survived Vcon which was our first 3 day convention. We think we did okay considering it was our first time in that convention, and we didn't know what the traffic and stuff was going to be like. There was some good and some bad parts of it; but in the end we pre-registered and paid for the con next year already. (So yes, We'll be at Vcon Next year September 28, 29 &30th.
So lets do a little review of Vcon for those of you thinking of taking a chance on the artist alley.
I'l going to start with the Cons so that the blog ends on a high Note.
So lets do a little review of Vcon for those of you thinking of taking a chance on the artist alley.
I'l going to start with the Cons so that the blog ends on a high Note.
- The venue was pretty easy for me to find because I had been there before, but some outdoor signage would have been a huge help!
- In the area where Vcon actually was there was absolutely no garbages! Turns out there were a couple small bins under the water service on each end, but there really should have been a big bin in the hallway somewhere. We had to keep going into the bathroom to throw garbage out.
- Most cons I've been to had major enforcement when it came to blocking walkways and doors for photos but the people in the booth beside us basically kept our aisle blocked off from people the entire weekend. I saw many people avoid the alley all together because of it. We also had people really blocking the way into the Vendor area getting photos of the GhostBusters. also not cool.
- We were against the wall in a new table set up and god it was cramped! we couldn't get out of our area without having to get everyone in the table beside us to move out of the way, and they have huge cameras blocking the path sometimes. We also were very close to the wall making everything awkward. If you can ever help it, get an outside table! We did talk to the host of Vcon about it, and she agreed and said maybe next time 2 tables per section. then people won't have the problem next year.
Now, onto the pros!
- The attention from the staff of Vcon was awesome. They'd come check on you now and then and see if everything was ok. That was Nice!
- Water service! There were 2 tubs of water with cups in the vendors room! a godsend! It was quite dry and I'm always thirsty!
- There was a hospitality room with food that was free (technically by donation). I never got to take advantage because every time I went up there was a technical issue! HAHA! Lot's of people did take advantage of it though, and it's a great service!
- In the end the traffic was worth the effort, and they gave us a bit of a discount for pre registering on the spot! That's nice too!
There was a fair amount of traffic on the Sunday, but a lot of people just wizz by the tables without looking down. If you're going to have a table at Vcon the best thing you can do is engage with your customers. explain your story to them and sell them on your idea. People who just stroll by without getting talked to, don't generally buy. We had to basically pitch Daqueran to everyone and the ones we pitched to, bought the new reader pack. If you're the type of person that just sits by and does nothing to engage with customers you'll do badly at Vcon. There were lots of cos players and lots of the vendors were dressed up in fantasy and medieval clothing. It was good, and in the future we're thinking that dressing up wouldn't hurt us at all.
As far as sales, what sold well was the New Reader pack, Prints (surprising!) and Charms (our ghosts, and tiks). Like I said though, we had to engage with any of the customers who were going to purchase anything. Stuff just doesn't sell itself there, and it's a very specific audience.
Come to a con like that prepared with a cash float. Everyone paid with $20 bills. I saw lots of my table mates struggling with trying to make change from their wallets.
Friday's traffic was so slow, we barely sold anything that day, until the last person of the day made it worth our while. Saturday was a bit better but not much and we were ready to give up on the con at that point but then sunday was the main traffic day. that was the spending day for sure!
I went around and collected the business cards of all the people that were in the artist Alley so I'll post a list of them all here! check them out! they're all great!
EchoesLight -Amanda Rose (my table neighbour!)
Albert Art - across the aisle neighbour!
Well that's about it. The next convention we'll be at is Vancouver Comic Con at heritage hall in Vancouver. November 13th!
Monday, 19 September 2011
Shop is back up!
:) The shop is back up! Please resume pre ordering Ghost tales and buying our cute stuff! If you notice any issues with something either not working, or countries not being available to ship (I have to manually add all country codes AHHHH!) please email us and let us know - hello@gurukitty.com
Thank you for your patience! We had to re install the whole shop, HA!
Monday, 5 September 2011
Ghost Tales is Complete!
Finally, after a lot of work (and a lot of patience) Ghost Tales is at the printers right now!
The results of the polls (various online and offline) for the cover was that Option #2 will be the cover!
It is a wrap around too, which is nice! We really like this cover, and we think it will serve us well!
So, Thank you L.M. Silva for this amazing cover!
Thanks also to everyone who submitted one!
So,whats going to happen next? Well we have to wait for our hardcopy proof to arrive, we will go over it, and make sure everything looks good and then we will be doing the orders for the free copies all the artists get and all pre-orders!
If you want to be first to get a copy then pre-ordering is the way to do it. Pre-ordering is actually quite important, as they help up pay for the printing costs involved.
If you'd like to pre-order, now is the time! All pre-orders will be signed by Gurukitty Studios owners Jeri and Jayleen Weaver
Pre- Order now: http://gurukitty.com/magento/ghosttales.html
The results of the polls (various online and offline) for the cover was that Option #2 will be the cover!
It is a wrap around too, which is nice! We really like this cover, and we think it will serve us well!
So, Thank you L.M. Silva for this amazing cover!
Thanks also to everyone who submitted one!
 |
| Cover Art by L.M. Silva |
So,whats going to happen next? Well we have to wait for our hardcopy proof to arrive, we will go over it, and make sure everything looks good and then we will be doing the orders for the free copies all the artists get and all pre-orders!
If you want to be first to get a copy then pre-ordering is the way to do it. Pre-ordering is actually quite important, as they help up pay for the printing costs involved.
If you'd like to pre-order, now is the time! All pre-orders will be signed by Gurukitty Studios owners Jeri and Jayleen Weaver
Pre- Order now: http://gurukitty.com/magento/ghosttales.html
Friday, 2 September 2011
Ghost Tales Cover - Public Vote
Hello!
Ghost Tales is nearing completion and so we need to decide on a cover. We have some submissions sent to us by contributing artists that we are going to allow the public to vote on.
We ask that you please vote for the one that you think would make the best cover for a Ghost Story Anthology and not just because you or your friend drew it.
This cover is going to be the face of this book for it's lifetime and it needs to be something that people will see on a convention table and want to pick up and look through and hopefully buy!
So without further ado, here are the candidates:
There is a poll at the bottom to cast your vote, please note that these poll results will be combined with other online and offline poll results.
Voting has ended, these poll results will be combined with other online poll results and offline polling. The Official Ghost Tales cover will be announced soon.
Ghost Tales is nearing completion and so we need to decide on a cover. We have some submissions sent to us by contributing artists that we are going to allow the public to vote on.
We ask that you please vote for the one that you think would make the best cover for a Ghost Story Anthology and not just because you or your friend drew it.
This cover is going to be the face of this book for it's lifetime and it needs to be something that people will see on a convention table and want to pick up and look through and hopefully buy!
So without further ado, here are the candidates:
There is a poll at the bottom to cast your vote, please note that these poll results will be combined with other online and offline poll results.
 |
| Option 1 |
 |
| Option 2 This cover has a wrap around (Back and front) |
 |
| Option 3 |
 |
| Option 4 |
Voting has ended, these poll results will be combined with other online poll results and offline polling. The Official Ghost Tales cover will be announced soon.
Sunday, 28 August 2011
Ghost Tales Pre Order special
For today only you can order a Ghost Tales Graphic Novel for a special introductory price of $10. After Today the price will go back up to the suggested retail price of $15.
Pre orders help us cover the cost of initial printing so please promote this as much as possible.
There is no purchase limit.
Order Online, or come to Heritage hall in Vancouver 11am-5pm today and purchase it in person at Comix And Stories.
Ghost Tales is a graphic novel Anthology published by Gurukitty Studios that includes comic shorts from 4 - 15 pages by comic artists all over the world.
This graphic novel contains the following artists:
def
Crystal Jayme
Christopher Cirillo
Lindsy Silva & Aileen Balucanag
Kate Hayward
Scott Smith
Timothy Sparvero
Kris Sayer
Reetta Linjama
Owen Heitmann
Liz Young & Matt Jordan
Bevan Thomas,Jayleen Weaver & Dianne Esson
Jeri Weaver
Amy Sloan
Kim Glennie
Chev Kamie
note to Contributing artists: Please don't purchase any copies through the shop here, you get copies at cost.
Thank you everyone, for your support!
Pre orders help us cover the cost of initial printing so please promote this as much as possible.
There is no purchase limit.
Order Online, or come to Heritage hall in Vancouver 11am-5pm today and purchase it in person at Comix And Stories.
Ghost Tales is a graphic novel Anthology published by Gurukitty Studios that includes comic shorts from 4 - 15 pages by comic artists all over the world.
This graphic novel contains the following artists:
def
Crystal Jayme
Christopher Cirillo
Lindsy Silva & Aileen Balucanag
Kate Hayward
Scott Smith
Timothy Sparvero
Kris Sayer
Reetta Linjama
Owen Heitmann
Liz Young & Matt Jordan
Bevan Thomas,Jayleen Weaver & Dianne Esson
Jeri Weaver
Amy Sloan
Kim Glennie
Chev Kamie
note to Contributing artists: Please don't purchase any copies through the shop here, you get copies at cost.
Thank you everyone, for your support!
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Ghost Tales Submissions Closed
We've already emailed a few people we've accepted and we'll be going over what we have left and emailing people very soon.
If you Contacted us about an extension you're still OK.
IF you DIDN'T contact us to extend your deadline, you're in trouble because we aren't granting extensions unless you've contacted us and shown us something.
submissions@gurukitty.com
If you only need a day or 2 more, this is your last chance to get an extension. if you don't email us by the end of the day today, you're hooped.
Thank you to all who submitted work! we had a great turn out! we'll do this again!
If you Contacted us about an extension you're still OK.
IF you DIDN'T contact us to extend your deadline, you're in trouble because we aren't granting extensions unless you've contacted us and shown us something.
submissions@gurukitty.com
If you only need a day or 2 more, this is your last chance to get an extension. if you don't email us by the end of the day today, you're hooped.
Thank you to all who submitted work! we had a great turn out! we'll do this again!
Monday, 8 August 2011
Bad Kitties - #2
Here's another instalment of Bad Kitties - my intermittent Blog only web comic!
This is a common scenario with our kitties. Harass and dash. Enjoy my goofy colouring.
 |
| Click to view larger version. |
Thursday, 28 July 2011
New Site!
We have just finished updating the Gurukitty.com site to a new layout and new way of doing things.
We are stuck in the 90's when it comes to web design and we thought it was time we started using a content management system and clean up some of the old useless content.
So bare with us as we clean up and add redirects on all the old pages. if you notice anything amiss please do let us know!
Also, we are raising money to get our butts to Calgary Expo! We have an indieGOGO campaign and there are lots of nifty prizes and perks for donaters.
We are stuck in the 90's when it comes to web design and we thought it was time we started using a content management system and clean up some of the old useless content.
So bare with us as we clean up and add redirects on all the old pages. if you notice anything amiss please do let us know!
Also, we are raising money to get our butts to Calgary Expo! We have an indieGOGO campaign and there are lots of nifty prizes and perks for donaters.
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Fund Raising for Calgary Expo
We are taking a big leap in our Comic Convention adventures. This time we're diving into Calgary Expo. We've heard great things from other people who've attended the Expo, and we're really excited to take our comics there! By the time the expo is here we should have ghost tales and maybe even Hello Albertosaurus at least available for Pre-order! Excite!
Now there is a small issue of funding. It costs a lot to travel these days. especially by plane and with lots of Luggage. To sell for 3 days, thats a Lot of merchandise. We need 2 plane tickets, hotels, and other costs. We live rather simple lives so we don't need much. Please take a look at our campaign below:
It would be really amazing if you could help us by donating some money, or even just promoting it for us! If you have Twitter, facebook, google+, Tumblr, blogs, or websites or anything (your dA journal for example)! if you could just promote our cause, and get the word out we'd be forever in your debt!
We have a campaign goal we're trying to meet.
Saturday, 23 July 2011
Mini Comi
Today we were at Mini Comi at UBC and it was pretty nifty!
We had a full table, and even that seems too small sometimes because we have so much stuff!
Prints and little captured ghosts were the hot items at this convention for us.
The Market was an odd mix of crafters, comic artists and cosplayers which worked well for us as we had lots of cute little trinkets.
It was disappointing, as always, to see how many people were making a profit off of other peoples characters, concepts and ideas (I'm referring to the sale of fanart), which is usually rampant to festivals with a large anime fan group, unfourtunately. Which is why we usually avoid them and stick to small press shows.
We even heard a couple girls (who kept coming back and admiring our table) say how much she loved our books but didn't buy them because she "didn't know who the characters were."
Very disappointing but gladly that wasn't the attitude of everyone as we had quite a successful venture.
I think the staff of MiniComi did a really great job putting it all together.
We are going to try and get some better ideas for displaying our stuff more upright and visual, everything laying flat sucks beans.
We had a full table, and even that seems too small sometimes because we have so much stuff!
Prints and little captured ghosts were the hot items at this convention for us.
 |
| A closer look at our table with our prints in our new portfolios and our last remaining stock of little captured ghosts. |
The Market was an odd mix of crafters, comic artists and cosplayers which worked well for us as we had lots of cute little trinkets.
It was disappointing, as always, to see how many people were making a profit off of other peoples characters, concepts and ideas (I'm referring to the sale of fanart), which is usually rampant to festivals with a large anime fan group, unfourtunately. Which is why we usually avoid them and stick to small press shows.
We even heard a couple girls (who kept coming back and admiring our table) say how much she loved our books but didn't buy them because she "didn't know who the characters were."
Very disappointing but gladly that wasn't the attitude of everyone as we had quite a successful venture.
I think the staff of MiniComi did a really great job putting it all together.
We are going to try and get some better ideas for displaying our stuff more upright and visual, everything laying flat sucks beans.
 |
| Mini Comi table Next time we're getting display boards! woo hoo! |
The next cone we have is in Heritage Hall on August 28, it's Comix and Stories, a small press convention!
We are going to test out some new display ideas!
Hope to see you there!
Hope to see you there!
Thursday, 21 July 2011
Bad Kitties - Web comic
So today is the day I'm launching a web comic! YAY!
Its called Bad Kitties, and its based around random scenarios that our kitties torment us!
So I'm not entirely set on the timing for this, but it won't be weekly I don't think. Maybe Bi-Weekly. I'll see how much interest there is (that means the more enthusiastic you are, the more you see).
I'm trying to still work on Hello, Albertosaurus, and we have many conventions and stuff so time is tight, but I'll do my best for this :D
Additionally, some days there will be 1 page, some will be 5 pages. Whatever is needed for the Gag, But each blog post with comic will be a complete gag. They'll be inked traditionally and coloured digitally, but simply! well, you'll see :)
So this is going to be Blog only content! I won't be posting these comics ANYWHERE ELSE! so it's in your best interest to follow this blog if you want my random insane kitty comics! You can follow with Google Friend Connect, or add it to an RSS feed!
So here we are, Issue one of Bad Kitties!
Its called Bad Kitties, and its based around random scenarios that our kitties torment us!
So I'm not entirely set on the timing for this, but it won't be weekly I don't think. Maybe Bi-Weekly. I'll see how much interest there is (that means the more enthusiastic you are, the more you see).
I'm trying to still work on Hello, Albertosaurus, and we have many conventions and stuff so time is tight, but I'll do my best for this :D
Additionally, some days there will be 1 page, some will be 5 pages. Whatever is needed for the Gag, But each blog post with comic will be a complete gag. They'll be inked traditionally and coloured digitally, but simply! well, you'll see :)
So this is going to be Blog only content! I won't be posting these comics ANYWHERE ELSE! so it's in your best interest to follow this blog if you want my random insane kitty comics! You can follow with Google Friend Connect, or add it to an RSS feed!
So here we are, Issue one of Bad Kitties!
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Ghost Tales Update
<p>With the Ghost Tales Deadline less than a month away the submissions are staring to march in!</p>
<p>There is still plenty of time to submit an entry. Please only small web sized pages for the review process, we will request print ready files if you are accepted.
If you are planning to submit to the antholgy we strongly reccomend you join this mailing list: http://eepurl.com/eMo1w
It will inform the artist on the behind the scenes info and releases ect. If you are just interested in the process, feel free to join as well.
We will be sending out artists agreements soon to artists who have already been accepted.
You will know you are accepted because you will recieve the email with the contract.
Saturday, 16 July 2011
Summer Fest 2011
Summer fest was better than we thought :> We did pretty well at our gigantic table! We intro'd some new items at this convention, one of them being the custom Moleskine notebooks we've been putting off making for a long while, then finally did do them!
There was tons and tons of cosplay of course, and lots of people milling around. the big hits at this one were the ghosts! Everyone loves the ghosts!
It was SO COLD! SUMMER FEST WAS FREEZING COLD... O_O
It poured rain all day, cleared up for the even kinda, then poured on the way home, but its was so damp peoples art was curling on the cork boards, and our little moleskines and comics were all wrinkly with the damp. even when we got home the damp was in everything. Not fond of that at all! But still, overall GREAT!
so here are a couple photos of the day! I didn't take many cuz I just had my phone.
There was tons and tons of cosplay of course, and lots of people milling around. the big hits at this one were the ghosts! Everyone loves the ghosts!
It was SO COLD! SUMMER FEST WAS FREEZING COLD... O_O
It poured rain all day, cleared up for the even kinda, then poured on the way home, but its was so damp peoples art was curling on the cork boards, and our little moleskines and comics were all wrinkly with the damp. even when we got home the damp was in everything. Not fond of that at all! But still, overall GREAT!
so here are a couple photos of the day! I didn't take many cuz I just had my phone.
 |
| Kitty at the table watching the books curl from the fog. |
 |
| Kitty Checking out the neighbors |
 |
| Darth Vader and sailor Moon doing that Carmella Dansen on the stage. |
 |
| Guru eye view from our table. |
Saturday, 9 July 2011
Minicomi
Tommorrow at Vancouver Comicccon we will be launching new products! Moma (The Bachelors and the Python) and Ghost (Ghost Tales) keychains! (they will also be at Summer fest and Minicomi)
Also we have a new pile of buttons for sale as well!
So cute! Here's a little production photo of the Moma charms!
it'll also be a good chance to come and talk to us about the anthology if you had questions or ideas to share with us.
We have our Table Number for Mini Comi, it is F3.
If you are interested in a floor plan for that convention you can see that in a Journal post by Nyurt.
It also shows where the other members of DeviantArt will be situated.
A more recent convention, that has tables available still if you are looking to sell some stuff is Summer Fest!
That is happening this saturday at SFU. We will hopefully be showing off our new table banner at this show.
Also we have a new pile of buttons for sale as well!
So cute! Here's a little production photo of the Moma charms!
it'll also be a good chance to come and talk to us about the anthology if you had questions or ideas to share with us.
 |
| Available as cell charms and keychains |
We have our Table Number for Mini Comi, it is F3.
If you are interested in a floor plan for that convention you can see that in a Journal post by Nyurt.
It also shows where the other members of DeviantArt will be situated.
A more recent convention, that has tables available still if you are looking to sell some stuff is Summer Fest!
That is happening this saturday at SFU. We will hopefully be showing off our new table banner at this show.
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
prepping for Con times
My Cat is flopped over my shoulder right now, HAHA!
We're Preparing for convention season! We have 3 conventions this month (check out our calendar)! We have Vancouver Comic Con this Sunday (July 10th) and Kitty will be in attendance at this one, then we have Summer Fest the following Saturday. This is the first time we're attending Summer Fest so we're not sure what to expect! You can RSVP to this event on Facebook.
Then we have the MiniComic coming up on the 27th which we are really excited for! Our friend MyntKat will be there too!
We're preparing for them all! I spent all day yesterday finding new merchandising stuff for our tables, and I think we have a much better system for displaying our little charms!
We're also going to be launching some new stuff related to Ghost Tales, and If we're really really lucky, we'll have our table banner in time for at least 2 of the cons! I don't think we'll have it for VCC.
We're also confirmed for a table at Comix and Stories! This ones August 28th! We're going to be at C&S with Donut! That should be interesting.
Well, back to work! I just wanted to drop in and say Hi, and let you know what's been going on!
We're Preparing for convention season! We have 3 conventions this month (check out our calendar)! We have Vancouver Comic Con this Sunday (July 10th) and Kitty will be in attendance at this one, then we have Summer Fest the following Saturday. This is the first time we're attending Summer Fest so we're not sure what to expect! You can RSVP to this event on Facebook.
Then we have the MiniComic coming up on the 27th which we are really excited for! Our friend MyntKat will be there too!
We're preparing for them all! I spent all day yesterday finding new merchandising stuff for our tables, and I think we have a much better system for displaying our little charms!
We're also going to be launching some new stuff related to Ghost Tales, and If we're really really lucky, we'll have our table banner in time for at least 2 of the cons! I don't think we'll have it for VCC.
We're also confirmed for a table at Comix and Stories! This ones August 28th! We're going to be at C&S with Donut! That should be interesting.
Well, back to work! I just wanted to drop in and say Hi, and let you know what's been going on!
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Monday, 13 June 2011
Confirmed Conventions
We've been really pulling it together Convention wise lately and we are registered and confirmed/paid for 4 conventions up coming, with several more looking really likely (meaning, we are waiting to send payment etc.) So here it is, the list in order by date
July 10: Vancouver Comic Con. ($4 admission or a kid friendly comic book donation)
July 16: Summer Fest at SFU
July 23: Mini Comi (Free admission!)
Sept 30 - Oct 3: Vcon
Clearly July is a busy month for us. All of these conventions are in the greater Vancouver area. We're planning on having some unique items for these conventions.
If you'll direct your attention to the top of the blog underneath the header you will see a little ribbon linking to a Calendar page. There is a google Calendar with our convention appearance Schedule. There are also direct links for you to bookmark them or even import them into your own google calendar and keep track of where we will be! Pretty swanky Eh?
Newsletter: We've got a newsletter but it only comes out every 6 months. we clearly have too much information to pack into that much time, so we're going to switch to a quarterly newsletter. Didn't know we had a newsletter?! well... go on and Sign up for our free newsletter! (its even got a mobile version)
Well, that's the news!
Hope you're excited! We sure are!
July 10: Vancouver Comic Con. ($4 admission or a kid friendly comic book donation)
July 16: Summer Fest at SFU
July 23: Mini Comi (Free admission!)
Sept 30 - Oct 3: Vcon
Clearly July is a busy month for us. All of these conventions are in the greater Vancouver area. We're planning on having some unique items for these conventions.
If you'll direct your attention to the top of the blog underneath the header you will see a little ribbon linking to a Calendar page. There is a google Calendar with our convention appearance Schedule. There are also direct links for you to bookmark them or even import them into your own google calendar and keep track of where we will be! Pretty swanky Eh?
Newsletter: We've got a newsletter but it only comes out every 6 months. we clearly have too much information to pack into that much time, so we're going to switch to a quarterly newsletter. Didn't know we had a newsletter?! well... go on and Sign up for our free newsletter! (its even got a mobile version)
Well, that's the news!
Hope you're excited! We sure are!
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Daqueran Issue 5! (special Promo)
Guess what?! we just got in our shipment of Daqueran Issue 5! This is extra awesome because that means we will have it available at Vancouver ComicCon this Sunday at Heritage hall!
Looking forward to seeing you this Sunday!
 |
| Look how they shimmer and glow! ....well they would if I used a real camera! |
As a special Promotion: If you come to our table at ComicCon and tell us you saw this blog post when you buy your copy of issue 5, you get a Free Tik Cell phone charm of your choice!
 |
| Please love me! |
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Free Comic Book Day
We are giving away comics on Gurukitty.com today because it is Free Comic Book Day! Possibly the best day of the year!
Getting your free comic is simple, just fill out a simple form! Go for it!!
Getting your free comic is simple, just fill out a simple form! Go for it!!
Monday, 18 April 2011
Close ups and Behind the scenes
Hello!
a quick note to say that we will be at Vancouver Comiccon again on May 15th and the Tiks in a bottle will be back in stock in time for that con. We ran out of them last convention which was a little embarrassing but we've been busy making tiny tik sculptures and mixing and dying resin and popping it all into tiny little bottles.
Also, Chapter 5 has just been shipped to us and if the comic faeries are with us, they might arrive in time for the May 15th Comiccon! Please note that Chapter 5 is not part of the Daqueran Clearance sale, only 1-4 are.
Also, Chapter 6 is the final Chapter of Daqueran. Sad I know, but We need to move on and get more projects on the go.
I thought I'd show you some close up shots of some panels in Daqueran. You don't really get to see all the details in the hard copy comics and especially not on the web.
So I thought this might interest some of you watercolour lovers.
Just click the image to get a larger view.
Sorry for the watermarks, but you know how the internet is...
a quick note to say that we will be at Vancouver Comiccon again on May 15th and the Tiks in a bottle will be back in stock in time for that con. We ran out of them last convention which was a little embarrassing but we've been busy making tiny tik sculptures and mixing and dying resin and popping it all into tiny little bottles.
Also, Chapter 5 has just been shipped to us and if the comic faeries are with us, they might arrive in time for the May 15th Comiccon! Please note that Chapter 5 is not part of the Daqueran Clearance sale, only 1-4 are.
Also, Chapter 6 is the final Chapter of Daqueran. Sad I know, but We need to move on and get more projects on the go.
I thought I'd show you some close up shots of some panels in Daqueran. You don't really get to see all the details in the hard copy comics and especially not on the web.
So I thought this might interest some of you watercolour lovers.
Just click the image to get a larger view.
Sorry for the watermarks, but you know how the internet is...
 |
| This is the page as a whole before it's scanned and gutters and text are added. All the panels below are part of this page. |
 |
| I put lots of time into this panel. I think it turned out pretty snazzy, it was much better after I added the pink into the whites. |
 |
| Typical Daqueran grumpy face, but he looks cute. |
 |
| Iada's a spaz. |
 |
| I likes the inking on her profile, unfourtunatly lots of it got covered when the background was added. |
Monday, 21 March 2011
Daqueran Clearance Sale
Starting right now we are having a Daqueran Clearance Sale. Some of you remember that Vancouver was all set to have a big Convention called Fan Fair Fest that cancelled a week before it was set to start! We have an excessive amount of stock as a result of preparing for that convention so now we're looking to clear out this stock. We are selling the first 4 issues of Daqueran at COST.
So we have lots of conventions coming up too!
We're going to be at Vancouver Comicon
11am to 5pm Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street, Vancouver, BC
• May 15
• July 10
• September 11
• November 13
Comix and stories
Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street, Vancouver, BC
• August 28
and The MiniComi Art Fair: http://minicomi.orangesanctuary.com/
:bulletblue:UBC Student Union Building, 2nd floor, Ballroom
• July 23rd.
This one's new!
Well, I hope you take advantage of the sale, and hope to see you at the next con!!!
This sale only lasts as long as we have stock, and the sale was a big hit at Vancouver Comiccon so get it while it lasts!
Speaking of Comicon, Yesterday Kitty sat in at Vancouver Comiccon and had a pretty successful day! We had some customers come back and tell us they loved the Tik charm they bought, and get lots of compliments on them, we sold out of Tiks in a bottle! The best part was all the compliments we got! It's really a boost to get some positive feedback! We're starting to be recognizable, and we're really excited about that!
We're going to be at Vancouver Comicon
11am to 5pm Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street, Vancouver, BC
• May 15
• July 10
• September 11
• November 13
Comix and stories
Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street, Vancouver, BC
• August 28
and The MiniComi Art Fair: http://minicomi.orangesanctuary.com/
:bulletblue:UBC Student Union Building, 2nd floor, Ballroom
• July 23rd.
This one's new!
Well, I hope you take advantage of the sale, and hope to see you at the next con!!!
Thursday, 3 March 2011
New Notebooks available in the GK shop!
We now have cute Notebooks in our Gurukitty shop! They’re 10 page notebooks with a high quality full colour cover, with sketchbook paper inside! Perfect for a back pocket sketchbook, or notebook to jot down all your ideas! We have more designs coming soon!
Each notebook is HANDMADE! Each cover is printed and cut, then the inside pages are hand cut to fit, and we saddle staple them with our neato little stapler. Then we press them flat for a while so that they aren’t so poofy. Each one also comes with a matching 1” button!
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Hello, Albertosaurus and Print Shop
Some of the inside pages of Hello, Albertosaurus are chapter dividers, and I've tried to do something kinda of cute with them so far. My dinosaur style is... a little odd... LOL!
So here is a sneek peek and the chapter 1 Chapter page:
Albertosaurus is Sad by `guruubii on deviantART
I also coloured some of it on livestream as well if you're interested in that sort of thing
So, Chapter 1 is going to be posted online for all to read, while the rest of the comic is going to be print only.
you will be able to buy it online in our shop or at our conventions.
I'm excited! The Comic is available now, the page 1 is up, it will update on Mondays!
Read and RATE Chapter 1 online at your favourite places:
smack jeeves
gurukitty
Drunk Duck
Studio news:
Kitty and I are working on getting a pretty fancy pigment printer for our studio so we're not ordering online for prints. The benefit of Pigment VS the standard dye based printer is the archival quality. Pigment is archival and has better ink stability. So we can be more assured that the prints I sell will be worth the price no matter where the purchaser puts that print. I also have access to lower cost ink refills for the printer I have in mind through my work so it makes it a rather cost effective adventure for us.
We can then print on special papers that will best reflect the medium they're create in (and will also serve to further protect the art work being printed).
Canson has created a gorgeous line of artists print papers that I've now used quite extensively and they're phenomenal. When you can and print a watercolour painting onto their arches paper, it's incredibly hard to find any difference from the original painting! On top of that, the paper (being watercolour paper and other types of artists papers) will actually allow you to continue to paint on the print itself! This is a good way for us to create a unique product to sell.
This all came about with a few print service frustrations lately.
Over at deviantART I found that half of the prints I wanted to order hadn't gone through the approval Queue, so in order to purchase the bulk quantity I needed, with a shopping cart of mixed approved and some not approved, I'd have to go through the cart twice and place 2 separate orders with 2 separate shipping charges! I angrily submitted to this and went to purchase them to find that when I went to put through my order of the un-approved batch that they had cleared from my cart. So the orders were quite big and that was a lot of wasted time. besides that, the quality control of dA prints is very low now. They used to be good, but now I get prints that have bad trim on them and on top of that there is no artists identification on the prints at all.
Other print places online have a great reputation or wonderful services but have limited payment options, or don't ship to Canada.
So our solution will have a big start up cost (at least $1000) but in the end we'll have amazing print quality, the ability to print mini posters, cards, ACEO prints, and an infinite number of other things. The quality of our notebooks/ sketchbooks (convention only product) will go up as well as our bookmarks, and comic covers (mini comics).
This change will hopefully be happening in the Summer sometime (July/ August) so watch our for Print sales, and if you want to order prints from deviantART before they're gone forever, you better get on it, because once we have our own printer it will be prints through our shop only.
So there's the news! Back I go to work on more comic Pages!
So here is a sneek peek and the chapter 1 Chapter page:
Albertosaurus is Sad by `guruubii on deviantART
I also coloured some of it on livestream as well if you're interested in that sort of thing
Watch live streaming video from guruubii at livestream.com
So, Chapter 1 is going to be posted online for all to read, while the rest of the comic is going to be print only.
you will be able to buy it online in our shop or at our conventions.
I'm excited! The Comic is available now, the page 1 is up, it will update on Mondays!
Read and RATE Chapter 1 online at your favourite places:
smack jeeves
gurukitty
Drunk Duck
Studio news:
Kitty and I are working on getting a pretty fancy pigment printer for our studio so we're not ordering online for prints. The benefit of Pigment VS the standard dye based printer is the archival quality. Pigment is archival and has better ink stability. So we can be more assured that the prints I sell will be worth the price no matter where the purchaser puts that print. I also have access to lower cost ink refills for the printer I have in mind through my work so it makes it a rather cost effective adventure for us.
We can then print on special papers that will best reflect the medium they're create in (and will also serve to further protect the art work being printed).
Canson has created a gorgeous line of artists print papers that I've now used quite extensively and they're phenomenal. When you can and print a watercolour painting onto their arches paper, it's incredibly hard to find any difference from the original painting! On top of that, the paper (being watercolour paper and other types of artists papers) will actually allow you to continue to paint on the print itself! This is a good way for us to create a unique product to sell.
This all came about with a few print service frustrations lately.
Over at deviantART I found that half of the prints I wanted to order hadn't gone through the approval Queue, so in order to purchase the bulk quantity I needed, with a shopping cart of mixed approved and some not approved, I'd have to go through the cart twice and place 2 separate orders with 2 separate shipping charges! I angrily submitted to this and went to purchase them to find that when I went to put through my order of the un-approved batch that they had cleared from my cart. So the orders were quite big and that was a lot of wasted time. besides that, the quality control of dA prints is very low now. They used to be good, but now I get prints that have bad trim on them and on top of that there is no artists identification on the prints at all.
Other print places online have a great reputation or wonderful services but have limited payment options, or don't ship to Canada.
So our solution will have a big start up cost (at least $1000) but in the end we'll have amazing print quality, the ability to print mini posters, cards, ACEO prints, and an infinite number of other things. The quality of our notebooks/ sketchbooks (convention only product) will go up as well as our bookmarks, and comic covers (mini comics).
This change will hopefully be happening in the Summer sometime (July/ August) so watch our for Print sales, and if you want to order prints from deviantART before they're gone forever, you better get on it, because once we have our own printer it will be prints through our shop only.
So there's the news! Back I go to work on more comic Pages!
Monday, 21 February 2011
Colour Tests: BATP
Did some skin colour tests for The Bachelors and the Python, even though the comic is in black and white, it’ll have a colour cover (done in watercolours of course). Also, it’ll help plan how I’m going to do the black and white in the comic, i haven’t decided on if I’m going to do greytones at all.
What do you guys think? Do you like just ink comics, or do you prefer greytones?
Would it look funny to have only a couple things in the whole comic greytoned?
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Comic Clearance sale March 20th
March 20th at Vancouver comicon we are having a liquidation sale! We want to get rid of our overstock off Daqueran issues 1-4 so while supplies last on March 20th at Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street, Vancouver, BC 11-5pm we will have a buy 2 get 2 free comic sale.
We will also have other merchandise such as buttons, notebooks, 2010 sketchbook, a free The Bachelors and the Python minicomic, sketch cards, prints and much more.
These are the other convention dates we plan to attend
• May 15
• July 10
• August 28 (Comix & Stories)
• September 11
• November 13
We will also have other merchandise such as buttons, notebooks, 2010 sketchbook, a free The Bachelors and the Python minicomic, sketch cards, prints and much more.
These are the other convention dates we plan to attend
• May 15
• July 10
• August 28 (Comix & Stories)
• September 11
• November 13
Sunday, 16 January 2011
Comic con today!
Today I'm at Vancouver Comicon! Come visit my table, say you found me from the web and I'll give you a free button :)
Also don't forget about our winter contest!
Also don't forget about our winter contest!