Fundraising for Gateways to Beyond

Gurukitty Studios is currently working on our 3rd anthology,Gateways to Beyond, and we have  launched a crowd funding campaign to help raise the funds needed to publish this book.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gateways-to-beyond

The campaign has many perks and donation levels where you can get digital and physical copies of our new and previous anthologies, including pre-orders ofGateways to Beyond. If you are unable to financially support the campaign, thats okay, helping us spread the word is extremely helpful, as well.

If you could spread the word on your social media sites such as twitter and facebook it will greatly increase our chances of successfully funding our campaign.

Gateways to Beyond will have 23 black and white sci-fi comics from artists all over the world.
The wrap around cover art was done by one of the contributors, Jason Hart.

Sample comic pages from the anthology will be posted periodically on tindiegogo campaign. We will also be posting concept work and sketches.

Thank you for supporting Gurukitty Studios.

Submissions Closed for Sci-Fi Anthology

Submissions for the Science Fiction Anthology are now officially closed to the public!

We did get quite a few submissions this time and I will admit, I've been at it for a couple full days now and I'm getting exhausted reading through all of them.

It's not an easy thing to judge other peoples work (although for some people maybe it's too easy) and make choices about who will be included and who will not be.

We still haven't thought of a name for this anthology, but now that we know what the bulk of the submissions are kind of about it might be easier to come up with something. Science Fiction being a huge genre with quite a few directions it can go (Space travel/aliens, science experiments, time travel,  crazy viral epidemics, robots and androids, and so on) we didn't know what to expect.

Once we have made all of our selections and come up with a name for the story will will be putting out our usual cover contest call as well.

For quick updates, like us on facebook

Sci-Fi Anthology

Hello!

A quick update to let people know, in case you haven't liked us on Facebook, The anthology submission deadline has been EXTENDED!
That's right, so if you woke up this morning all bummed because you missed out, never fear, you now have until August 31st to finish your entry and get it in to us.
So, you have a whole 'nother month to get it in.

By the way, if you haven't already liked us and follow us on Facebook, that is where these kinds of quick announcements appear first, mostly because we can do them through our phone easier than updating the blog or website.

In case you are curious, yes quite a few submissions have been rolling in, but we haven't looked at them seriously yet. Mostly just downloading the files, logging and organizing.

So, that's all we have to say, so close all your blinds to block out that horrible sunlight to make your dark little comic caves and get back to work!

VanCAF and anthologies!

If you guys didn't get a chance to go to VANCAF this year, you are missing out! It is by far our favorite Vancouver area convention, the vibe is spot on and it's full of original creators! We spend so much of the day talking with other enthusiastic creators and would-be creators and they all seem to have a good attitude and community spirit! Also because it is free to attend, you get to see new faces each time and the flow of customers for exhibitors is constantly refreshing.

If you didn't check it out this year, be sure to come next year, you wont regret it!

In other news, submissions have begun coming in for the Science Fiction Anthology. If you haven't already started, I suggest you get on with it, because the deadline is still July 31, 13.
This anthology still doesn't have a name, but we will see what the majority of the submissions are before we name it because if we name it something spacey and we get mostly biological experiment type stories, then that wouldn't make sense.

A new Season

Well, this year started off very slowly and hectically. From January until now we've been so busy that we've barely had a chance to do anything.
We moved both our home and Studio in the beginning of February (I wont even go into details about how long and hard that was and how much went wrong) and 1 week after that move, we had to help the art store we work at move.
As you can imagine, that was a thoroughly exhausting month.

We've finally settled down and got most everything unpacked and we can start being Gurukitty's again!

Top of our priority is to get the remainder of the Indiegogo mail outs done. They were delayed because of issues with the printing, and we actually only got them all a few weeks ago, mid-move. So we are getting all those prints made and envelopes labeled and books signed and we will be mailing them out as fast as we possibly can!

This new anthology was actually a huge success, I haven't crunched the number yet really, but I'm sure we've sold more of this one than we have of Ghost Tales and we haven't even launched it at a convention yet.

Speaking of conventions, we are going to be at Fanexpo Vancouver in April, as well as Calgary expo the weekend after and that's going to be the start of our convention year. We are not going to be at at many cons this year, we are taking the most successful ones of last year and only doing them. 2012 was the year we saw for ourselves what conventions work for us, and now we will be more choosy.

Our next anthology is going to be announced very very soon (hopefully today) as soon as I've edited and worked on the write up a bit more and made some final decisions.

So, that's whats been happening and whats coming up!

New Items at the GK Shop

We have added a few new items in the Gurukitty Studios online store!
Here is a quick overview of some of the new things for this fall!

Previously only available in person at Conventions, we've now added the Daqueran New Reader Pack back into the shop.
This pack includes all available issues of Daqueran (1-6) and will be updated when the last chapter becomes available.

It's a steal at $25.00 (value of all 6 comics by themselves totals $32.50)

This has been a very popular convention item so there isn't much stock available at the moment. If online interest grows we will consider carrying more volume.

Check it out in the shop

Next new addition is the Giants of Mainstreet Anthology by Cloudscape. Why is this in our shop you ask? Well, because Jayleen (Guru of Gurukitty Studios) contributed a creature for the Bestiary that was included in the book.

It is 152 Black and White pages, with art and stories contributed by Vancouver area artists.

Check it out in the shop.

Last and certainly not least, we've added a Pre-Order for Gurukitty Studios Second Anthology Once Upon a Time... Right now it is only a pre-order, books will ship when Available. When the books are in stock, this same link will become the store link for regular stock.

The pre-order is for the standard cover only, if you wanted the Variant cover, you missed your chance as that was only available in the Indiegogo campaign.

The Variant cover will be available again, someday, but only on special occasions.

Pre-Order your copy right now!
ETA: Winter 2012

See samples and more information



If we blast a little farther back you'll notice that we've added some digital comics to our online shop. Right now it's only a few Daqueran issues, which you can download and read on your Tablet.
Digital comics are not as easy to make as you might think and we've been working on Digital copies for future issues as well as getting the Anthologies available for digital download.
Soon soon. All in good time.
We've tested our digital comics on Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets.

Alright! Happy Thanksgiving Canadian Readers, and Happy fall!

OUAT Artist Interview - PATRICK MCEVOY

What is your story about?

A refugee in Ireland becomes obsessed about a mystery woman he’s dreamt about but he has to get through a dangerous threat to find her.

Where did you get your ideas and inspiration for your story?

I have Irish heritage and I find dreams fascinating so somehow the two merged into this story. I forget how I came upon this story exactly though it probably had something with me good searching(googling) Irish dream mythology. As far as how it turned into its current incarnation, I think the immigration issue is pretty relevant in many areas around the globe and thought it’d be an interesting way to make the story modern(ish).

What made you decide to do a story for Gurukitty Studios anthology project?

Also thanks to the wonderful good search/google search engine! I was looking for anthologies to submit stories to and Gurukitty popped up on the list. Gurukitty seemed cool on the site so I figured it’d be great to give it a try.

What other comics have you done? Tell us about them.

Most of my work have been short stories submitted to various anthologies, and those that haven‘t have been self-printed. The genres vary but many have been sci-fi/fantasy stories. Some recently (or scheduled to be) published stories include “Fangs”, a story about a vampire P.I.; “Streams“, about a woman finding an alien ship during a blackout; “Recovery Unit”, about a man and woman being the vampire version of an ambulance unit; “Flights”, about a teenager using a mechanical pigeon to send a note to a girl during a blackout; “Weapons”, about a couple developing a weapon to create peace but finding it may be obsolete;

Where else can people find your work? Are you included in any other publications or a website?

“Weapons” was printed in Pronto Comics’ first War anthology; “Streams” and “Flights” are both scheduled to be printed in Pronto Comics second Blackout anthology; “Fangs” was published in SlamBang; “Recovery Unit” is currently scheduled to appear in IF-X’s 2012 Halloween issue.

Prontocomics.com and pjm74.deviantart.com are sites that should feature some of my work.

 

OUAT Artist Interview - Becca Hillburn

What is your story about?

My story is a retelling of the classic Japanese fairytale, Momotaro.  In the original tale, a childless elderly couple couple desperately wish for a child.  The husband goes out fishing one day and comes across a beautiful giant peach floating down the river.  He takes it home, attempts to slice it up, and ends up slicing the little boy inside!  This child, whom they name Momotaro, bears this scar for the rest of his life, and goes on to become a man of Japanese legend.   My retelling is much simpler- an elderly couple in Occupied Japan recieve notice that their son has passed away.  The wife falls into a horrible despair, and the husband tries his best to cheer her up.  With the last of their money, he goes to a black market and happens upon a peach.  In better times, he, his wife, and their son would share peaches beneath the peach tree by their home, and he purchases it for her as a last resort.  As he returns home, the peach grows and grows, glowing in the cold moonlight, until he's doubled over with this happy burden.  His wife perks up a bit from her futon when he enters, and when he slices it, the beautiful baby inside is happily unharmed, and together they can start to make a new life.

Where did you get your ideas and inspiration for your story?

I've always loved mythology from all over the world, and I was introduced to Japanese folklore at an early age in my grandparent's copy of Childcraft.  Last December, I was fortunate enough to travel to Japan with a school group, and we were required to create an 8 page comic as part of the assignment.  This retelling was inspired directly by a trip tothe Meiji Era museum, which is full of scale models and life size replicas of Meiji Japan, so reference for this story was a snap.

What made you decide to do a story for Gurukitty Studios anthology project?
I've wanted to participate in an anthology project for awhile, and I love fairytales!


What other comics have you done?
I've done several mini comics, which are available in both digital and garage print format.  I'm working on an autobiographical series right now, as well as preparing for my Masters thesis, which is a reimagining of stories involving little people, heavily inspired by classics such as The Littles, The Borrowers, The Indian in the Cupboard series, and Gulliver's Travels.

Where else can people find your work? Are you included in any other publications or a website?
My work is online at www.nattosoup.com, and I have a process/inspiration/tutorial blog (www.nattosoup.blogspot.com)

OUAT Artist Interview -Table Flip Studios

What is your story about?

(Aileen) It’s about a very well-known fairy or forest nymph in Philippine Mythology. There are actually quite a lot of versions/stories about her and she is well-loved by many. 

(Lindsy) There were some versions where Maria was actually kidnapping men and forcing them to be her husband. We were mostly drawn to this version we used for the Anthology because it showed a little more of Philippine history.

Where did you get your ideas and inspiration for your story?

(Aileen) I first heard about this story from my great grandmother. She likes to tell me about all sorts of stories she heard from her parents when she was growing up. I don’t think it ever bore me!  

(Lindsy) Art wise, it was mostly experimental. I did look to Veral Brosgol and Emily Carroll for influence and it was fun trying to translate my usual American-manga style into something more streamlined! 

What made you decide to do a story for Gurukitty Studios anthology project?

(Aileen) The first time we did a story for Gurukitty Studios was for the Ghost Tales anthology. Lindsy saw a retweet with the info and we decided to check it out. And the rest is history! For this anthology, we felt that we should submit as well since we actually like working with them! 

(Lindsy) Ghost Tales was an enormous joy to work on and it really pushed Aileen and I to properly work as a team since it was pretty much our first proper project together. We were very determined to work with Gurukitty Studios since our last experience was amazing and we all got along so well!

What other comics have you done? Tell us about them.

(Aileen) We have an on-going webcomic series :EPOCH Files (http://epoch-files.smackjeeves.com) 

(Lindsy) Aside from our sci-fi webcomic, we’ve done work for other anthologies and have been working closely on other projects that we’re super excited about!

Where else can people find your work? Are you included in any other publications or a website?

(Aileen) My blogger, http://grimcirco.blogspot.com has all the links of my side projects, on-going & future comic projects Lindsy & I are working on. 

As for other publications, we are published on the Indie Ladies’ Comic Anthology and Ink’d Well Comics this year and Gurukitty’s Ghost Tales Anthology last year. 

(Lindsy) I’ve pretty much left a small digital footprint on a lot of sites, but I frequent more to my DeviantART (shenli.deviantart.com) and my blog (lemuinabox.blogspot.com).

How did you come up with your cover design?

(Lindsy) Unlike the previous cover I made for Ghost Tales, this cover didn’t come to me in a stroke of inspiration. I had to search and look up different book covers and come up with concepts for days. I know I wanted to give it a kind of ‘classic’ look, but had no idea where to start. Working in a library definitely played a big part. We have a lot of books that are fairy tale-esque and I remember running into a few cover designs that struck me as perfect for the anthology.

OUAT Interview - Jayleen Weaver

What is your story about?

A family of penguins who suffer a tragedy, and have to band together to make things right.

Where did you get your ideas and inspiration for your story?

From an old folk tale I think it was called “The wolf and the Seven Little Kids”. I just prefer black and white animals to ones with colour, so adapted it to an Antarctic tale.

Concept art By Jayleen Weaver

What made you decide to do a story for Gurukitty Studios anthology project?

Well, being one half of Gurukitty Studios, it seems like it’s an obligation for me to participate… However, I love doing short stories and the anthology compilations we do are really just so we can publish our short stories right away, ha!

What other comics have you done? Tell us about them.

I’ve done a story called “One Day to Live” that was a life story of a fly, I collaborated with Donut and Bevan to create the “Ghosts in the Capitol” story for the Ghost tales anthology.

I’m working on 2 comics right now, “Conflagration” – which is years away but will have some chapter as web comics and some as print only. My big focus now has been “Hello, Albertosaurus”, which is a Graphic novel Memoir of the time we went to Drumheller Alberta with our Dad. It’s 8 chapters, full colour (coloured with markers). You can actually have a cameo in it if you get one of the Indiegogo perks! Check it out!

Other anthologies I’ve been in are Ink’d Well comics “fearsome fables” and Cloudscapes “Giants of main street”

I also have a few other short comics in the midst. 

Where else can people find your work? Are you included in any other publications or a website?

Gurukitty.com

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2987832/

twitter.com/marker_guru

facebook.com/gurukittystudios

twitter.com/gurukittystudio

I participated in a childrens book called “a world of stories” as an illustrator, I did animation for several companies in Vancouver for shows like “Bobs and Lolo –get on your feet” dvd, and Class of the Titans TV series. I’ve also done other freelance animation for numerous other companies. You might also see my logo designs on a law firm and a hotdog stand in the city, as well J

OUAT Artists Interview - Michelle Silva

What is your story about?

Hi my name is Michelle Silva, I love comics!! My story is called Lindorm King, which is a love story between a dragon prince and his servant boy.

Where did you get your ideas and inspiration for your story?

The comic was inspired by the tale "The Bride of the Lindorm King" or also known as "Lindorm Prince" the story originates from the Scandinavian region. I really wanted to do something with dragons in it and I re-adapted the tale in a modern twist.

Concept art by  Michelle Silva

What made you decide to do a story for Gurukitty Studios anthology project?

Fairy tales and folklore evoke our childhood and past.  The stories have lessons, and deal with life's challenges, but as the tales are retold the meanings and details change depending on what society made them. These morals that are depicted affect us today in modern society and how we view ourselves.  Currently I'm working on a upcoming graphic novel called, Click Track Lolita which is inspired by the "once upon a time" genre. One day while I was researching,  I stumbled across Gurukitty's project.  When I saw Gurukitty Studios was going to do a Once Upon A Time Anthology, I had to submit!

What other comics have you done? Tell us about them.

The biggest project I've worked to date is a graphic novel published by Oni Press titled Love Buzz, written by Len Wallace. Love Buzz is a college romance story about finding the right one . Some published anthology projects I've participated in would be Outlaw Territory vol. 1, Negative Burn issue. 6,  The Girls Guide to Guy Stuff, Sugar Ninjas: Spicy Book 3, and Trickster: Native American Tales.  I also publish comics digitally and have multiple mini comics which are available on my website to read for free! 

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~silva039/

Where else can people find your work? Are you included in any other publications or a website?

I like post all over the internet but my main hangout would be my sketch blog where I post my latest art and happenings, which would be

www.0becomingX.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading!

OUAT Artists Interview Reetta Linjama

What is your story about?

A crooked rich guy and an arrogant monster, both getting their comeuppance from a hero they underestimate. It's a folk tale peppered with slapstick violence and a matter-of-fact take on so called monsters.

Where did you get your ideas and inspiration for your story?

"The Evil Boyar's Farmhand" is adapted from a Mari-El folk tale. Technically the Mari-El live in Russia, but their language is one of the Fenno-Ugric languages, a close relative of my native Finnish. As the starting point for the visuals I used Finnish scenery, old traditional Finnish clothing etc. I've made a few changes to the plot and characters, both for the story flow's sake and so I could draw stuff that I enjoy -- like snow. I'm also quite influenced by Eurocomics and classic gag cartoons.

What made you decide to do a story for Gurukitty Studios anthology project?

Mostly that the theme of the anthology meant I could adapt a tale rather than write a comic from scratch. I'm slowly venturing into writing my own comics, but I feel better about a gentle start. And, well, I know Guru&Kitty in real life, and I knew they're not just talk ;)

What other comics have you done? Tell us about them.

I'd been making one-page comics for my own amusement before, but my comics-making hobby really took off after joining Cloudscape Comics, when I started collaborating with writers. I'm interested in drawing all kinds of comics, but my own writing skills lean towards humour and cute gags right now, like my first self-scripted comic "Revenge of The Ghost Spider" in the 2011 Gurukitty anthology "Ghost Tales" shows.

Where else can people find your work? Are you included in any other publications or a website?

I have a website, including links to most of my profiles around social media. So far I've been in the Cloudscape anthologies "21 Journeys" and "Giants of Main Street", and Gurukitty's "Ghost Tales"

OUAT Artists Interview Jeri Weaver

What is your story about?

My story is about a winged lion who keeps a lair of bones guarded by two white ravens.
Every time he goes on a hunt, he brings the bones back to his collection.

Where did you get your ideas and inspiration for your story?

It is actually based on an African folk tale called "How the Lion Lost his Wings". I
chose it because it kind of reminded me of the man eating lions of Tsavo who were said
to keep a lair of bones from their prey.
I am drawn to African legends in general, they are always creative and get right to the
point.

What made you decide to do a story for Gurukitty Studios anthology project?

Well, I am Gurukitty studios, so it would be kind of silly if I didn't put a story into my
own anthology project. Our reason for doing anthologies is to help give fellow comic
artists a chance to get their work published. We remember a time when publishing
seemed like an impossible task and an unacheivable goal and we want people to know
that if there is a will, there is a way.
Our fairy/folk tale theme was inspired by our love of history and a book we had
growing up. It was an amazingly illustrated folk tale book, all traditionally done of
course. It is unfortunately out of print now, but we still have our original copy.


What other comics have you done?Tell us about them.

Well, I created the Daqueran series we have posted online, started in 2007.
I've also created a few other short comics for other anthologies, "Rules for
Ghosts" is in our last anthology, Ghost Tales. A short called "Spirit Bear" will be
in another anthology by ink'd well comics.
I'm currently working on a story for Cloudscape Comics for the "All Canadian
Superhero" anthology.
I also created a 4 page teaser for a graphic novel I am working on called "The
Gourd Wife". The characters and everything have changed dramatically, but the
graphic novel is still a go and in the scripting stage.

Where else can people find your work? Are you included in any other
publications or a website?
Well, most everything can be found on my website http://gurukitty.com
I've been published in the March 2009 Estonian "For Him Magazine" (random and odd, I know).
The Ink'd well Comics "Fearsome Fables" Anthology that will be released at Halcon 2012
All the GK anthologies of course.
I've also done some illustration work, most recently for "A World of Stories" for the Rotary Club.
I also do guest pages all over the place wherever and whenever I can.

OUAT Artist Interview - Bevan Thomas

What is your story about?
“The Happy Prince,” illustrated by the talented Ksenia Kozhevnikova, is about a swallow flying south who befriends a golden bejewelled statue of a prince. The swallow is so filled with love for the Prince and the Prince with love for his own city that they offer up everything of themselves, destroying themselves for love. In the end, an angel takes their souls up to Heaven so that they can be rewarded for their selflessness.

Where did you get your ideas and inspiration for your story?It’s an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s fairy tale of the same name. Oscar Wilde wrote numerous tragic tales, such as “The Angry Giant” and “The Star Child,” in which the protagonists martyr themselves for compassion and love. They’re very sad and mournful, but also very powerful and beautiful. I wanted to adapt one and “The Happy Prince” seemed the best fit for the anthology.

What made you decide to do a story for Gurukitty Studios anthology project?

I’m always interested in getting involved with local graphic novel anthologies and I really enjoyed contributing to Gurukitty Studios’ first book, “Ghost Tales.”

About the artist

What other comics have you done? Tell us about them.

I wrote “Ghosts of the Capital,” with art by Jayleen Weaver and Donut, for Gurukitty’s “Ghost Tales,” an exploration of various ghost stories and hauntings within the city of Victoria.

I’m also a frequent contributor to Cloudscape Comics’ various anthologies. For “21 Journeys,” I wrote “Flyaway,” featuring art by Reetta Linjama, which juxtaposed a woman escaping a toxic lifestyle with a swallow flying south for the winter. Then for “Giants of Main Street,” I created “Fallen Star” with Ksenia Koshevnikova, the story of “Theseus and the Minotaur” from the Minotaur’s point of view, and “My City” with Oliver McTavish-Wisden, about a man who keeps a city in a bottle. For Cloudscape’s next anthology, “Waterlogged,” I intend to create an autobiographical story about my relationship with my late maternal grandfather and also a story about a woman’s fascination with a powerful female pirate.

Oh, and I’m spearheading “All-Canadian Comics,” an anthology of Canadian superhero stories inspired by 40s Canadian comics. That’s a big personal project for me. I’m the editor and wrote three of the anthology’s stories. Basically, I like to keep busy. 

Where else can people find your work? Are you included in any other publications or a website?

A lot of my work is linked to off my portfolio at http://www.bevanthomas.ca. That’s also the location of my blog, where I post news about my professional and creative work, as well as various articles about things I find interesting. A lot of my work can also be read at http://www.cloudscapecomics.

com, the website for Cloudscape, the comics society I’m prominently involved with.
_______________________________________________________________

Once Upon a Time Atist Interview - Jason Hart

As part of our indiegogo campaign to raise funds to print our anthology, we are doing interviews with some of the artists.

First up is Jason Hart, artist of "Small Wars of Inconsequential Beings" and the cover artist for the Special Edition Variant cover, available now only through a $30 donation on the Indiegogo campaign.
______________________________________________
What is your story about?

"Small Wars Of Inconsequential Beings" is a take on an old Greek/Roman story, "Batrachomyomachia," about a war between mice and frogs (which has been speculated may have been a satire of Homer's Iliad). My take doesn't modernize it necessarily, but attempts to make the story a little more universal.

The king of the frogs invites his friend, the mouse king, to a celebration at the frog lodge. On the way there, the mouse king accidentally drowns, and a war between the two species ensues...



Where did you get your ideas and inspiration for your story?

I was looking for a tale that had what I saw as a flaw to it – so that I had somewhere I could improve it with a re-imagining. The latter part of the original tale brings in the Greek gods, which for the sake of the parody, worked at the time, but didn't really make sense from a modern perspective.

I also really try to have a theme or driving message with my stories, and the basic setup of the frogs/mice war lent to something I wanted to say about the interconnectedness of our world today – that any war or struggle, even of a very small or seemingly unimportant people, today has a very significant impact on its neighbors and on the world balance overall.


What made you decide to do a story for Gurukitty Studios anthology project?

I've been writing comic scripts for a few years now, and about 6 months ago, I just sort of hit a wall, where I had all this stuff written, but nothing published to show for it. My wife suggested I look into anthologies, and so I started hitting up any comic anthology that seemed legit and that I could find a story to develop under its theme.

I have a long love of folk tales, so Once Upon a Time... was a natural fit. It was also only my second time illustrating my own work, something I'm developing more now. (And yes, there was a reason I chose a story with very few humans in it.)


About the artist

What other comics have you done? Tell us about them.

I have upcoming short comics in Melaina Comics' Cartoonists Against Bullying and Grayhaven Comics' The Gathering: Kids Fairy Tales, with a few more pending – as well as a 7-issue circus mini-series that's been scripted and a 4-issue adventure/comedy mini-series that an artist and I are developing. Currently, I'm illustrating two new stories for anthology submissions.


Where else can people find your work? Are you included in any other publications or a website?

The two listed above haven't been published yet. Updates on my work can be found at my blog: showerstorm.tumblr.com



About the cover

How did you come up with your cover design?

Even with single-image illustrations, I really get excited if I can tell a story, or at least hint at one. The hard part was finding an image that would evoke the genre without being too specific to any one tale (while still being interesting). I came up with a scene of a young adventurer who seeks out folk tales to collect in her snake-skin cloak. She confronts a spider in its lair, who also collects tales and hoards them in its subterranean web. A sort of parallel to the idea of the anthology within.
____________________________________________________________

Raising Funds for OUAT

Well, we're nearly there! We're almost ready to print Once upon a Time...! So exciting this is! We just need some help from you! We've begun an indieGoGo Campaign to help us raise the funds to print our artists copies. The artists copies can cost us nearly 1000$ to print and ship to them, and that usually comes our of our own pockets but we're a little strapped these days, and we need help. You can help out by donating of course, but also by sharing the campaign!
If you'd like a widget like this:
 
you can copy and paste this code:
<iframe src="http://www.indiegogo.com/project/197179/widget/175406" width="224px" height="429px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Or simply use this link and tweet and share!
http://igg.me/p/197179?a=175406

Thank you so much for your continued support :D
You guys are the best!

Once Upon a Time...

For all of you interested in updates on our next Anthology, here it is.

All submissions have been accepted and announced. See list...
Cover winner announced, as well as a future variant cover. See them...
Sample pages from several stories have been posted. Have a look...

Whats left to do?

Well, a whole heck of allot actually.
Table of contents, artists information and credits, interior covers, making the covers into print format with proper spine....

lots.

We are still looking at a release date before Christmas, so fingers crossed!

Another issue is raising money to get the print copies to the participating artists.
If you want to help, Donations can be made via paypal to hello@gurukitty.com
We would very very much appreciate any help you can give. We may be doing an indigogo campaign in the near future to get enough money, but they usually end up costing a lot of money to raise money.

Thank you everyone for your continued support.

The fanart trap

It is really hard to sell an original idea. There is no doubt about that, even mainstream comic companies know that, thats why all these movies are being made of old stories and characters.

But remember Batman, Spiderman, Captain America, Iron Man and all the rest were original ideas once too.

We are sitting at minicomi, a small one day comic festival (mostly manga/anime), at our table trying to sell our original ideas, art and comics.
Across from us is a table selling 13x19 prints for $5 more than us of My Little Pony and various animes I'm unfamiliar with.
Beside us is some Princess Mononoke fanart, down the aisle is Zelda and some Adventure Time and Pokemon plushies.
Table after table is people making a profit off of other peoples ideas, hard work, and imagination.

It makes it even harder to sell an original idea, when you are surrounded by the familiar.

What we also see are some tables trying to sell their original ideas by selling fanart at the same time, this is what we call the "fanart trap".

Often these are artists that have been trying for a long time to sell their original ideas, or were fanart artists before and have a new original concept.
These people have often thought that they could gain an audience or fanbase by having familiar characters peppered in their displays. They very often have been struggling to make a profit for a long time and just sold out, or they are too afraid to jump in all the way.
Admittedly, with the right audience in the right time and the right place, this can work, but the reality is that most of the time all those ingredients just dont come together.

Once you go down that path it is hard to get out, this is why its a trap. People tend to get addicted to the sales at the end of the day and forget that their original story or characters are still ignored, hidden and lonely.

Having an original story or idea is only 1/2 the battle, most artists and business owners spend more time marketting and pushing their ideas than they do working on them. A sad fact for sure, but I asure you its true.

The only real way to get yourself known for your ideas is to make sure that your ideas and your face are what are out there. Yes, it is harder, but it is also much more rewarding down the road and you wont have to dig yourself out of the trap.

I find it very annoying to hear someone at a table with fanart and their original stuff, complaining that no one looks at their original stuff. DUH! You've distracted them with pop culture, familiarity and memories.
It's your own fault.

Im not trying to preach about the immorality and disrespect of selling fanart, what I want to convey is that its not an easy money making solution. It will make things harder for you, and its already hard enough.

For everyone who is trying to sell their original stuff, dont give up, dont sell out, and keep pushing yourself!
Your original idea today could be the next generations super fandom and immortality will be yours!

Some advice, pick your conventions wisely, research and see which ones enforce fanart rules and which dont.
Most larger corporate ones will be stricter on those policies, as they are a business. Though the corporate ones do have a lot of official mainstream stuff, stick to artists alley.
If you are in the greater Vancouver area, Vancaf was a great original artists con.
Vancouver Comiccon is surprisingly good for that as well, its small and bi-monthly, but you can earn back your table cost easy.

Minicomi is very fanart heavy, as most anime cons are because Japan is more fanart tolerant.
You can go, just remember what your competing with and dont let them sway you or discourage you to falling into "the trap".
If you have a strong anime style, obviously an anime con is where you want to be, but its going to be easier to sell a generic obvious anime image than a generic slightly anime influence image, so keep those kinds of things in mind.
In some cases it may be better to be an attendee and just hand out postcards advertising your stuff than trying to sell at a table. Make sure they are graphical and clearly show your style.

The last peice of advice is to join your local comics community. Connect with other original creators, art jam with them and form bonds.

Create on!

Summer of fun!

<p>We have two conventions coming up in July. First being July 7th at UBC, Minicomi. The next day we have Vancouver Comicon at Heritage hall!<br>
Busy weekend of fun! Hopefully we will see you at one or the other.</p>
<p>We have also added art galleries to our website (finally) and are working on getting digital comics in our shop. </p>
<p>You can see we already have 3 issues of Daqueran available for download.<br>
We are working on digital copies of Ghost Tales, but it being a much larger book its proven more difficult.</p>
<p>If anyone trys these digital books, please let us know how they work. We have tested them on Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10.1 and they worked pretty well.</p>
<p>Once Upon a Time is working pretty well, we are a bit behind schedule but that is due to thing's beyond our control.

Twitter and facebook

Vacaf is now over! This has turned out to be a pretty fantastic convention! We are so impressed with the organization and location of this convention. So fantastic. I won an auction for 2 framed comic pages by Jeff Ellis, from the exploded view anthology. Through the kindness of someone else who out bid us on 2 Jonathan Dalton Lords of death and life comic pages i have one of those pages as well. Both of these artists are friends from cloudscapecomics !  Good times!
Often times at conventions we get people asking us about how we do what we do.
We are really lucky because we have the 2 of us and we both have a different set of skills, that probably evolved from working together for so long.
So i thougt i'd give a few bits of information on how we've used twitter and facebook to our advantage. I'm not saying that what we do is the way to success, its just some things that have worked for us

TWITTER
- when you start a twitter account name it well. Simple text. That makes it easier to remember and verbally promote.
- to gain followers, follow others. We went to other comic artists that were prominant in the comic industry, and local people and followed all the people thst follow them, and that they follow. Many of them will follow ou back or at least check out your stuff.
- make sure you have a simple, descriptive bio on your account. That way when you do follow you them, they will see instantly what you do. Also that you aren't a porn bot.
- interact with people. If someone @'s you, respond to them.
- promote other peoples work. Retweet them often, and be supportive. Don't make all your social media into a ad for yourself. You'll be boring pretty quickly, and you dont really inspire people to promote you in turn.
- keep a seperate twitter for personal vs comic work.

FACEBOOK
- Set up your custom url for your facebook page. You can do that once you have 25 followers (I think). It's in the account settings.
- Make a page, rather than a group. A page is the one people can "like". People will like more freely than join.
- Be active! Post photos, works in progress, events, convention appearances, promote other artists. But dont be spammy.
- Don't beg or whine. Earn or followers, and appreciate what ones you have.
- If you have nothing going on to promote, use that time to learn about your followers. Post polls and invite them to post art or information on your page.

- for both twitter and facebook make sure you put the links on your website and business cards.

This stuff has worked for us. We're far from super famous right now but we have a few excited and eager fans and we love them. It takes a while to increase your followers and it takes work but it will work if you work at it.

Later on we will show you the awesome artwork we got at Vancaf!
Im on a train right now though haha!
Thank you so much to everyone who visited us at Vancaf!