My husband and I have grown a pretty extensive collection of prints purchased at Comic Con International in San Diego over the years. Every Comic-Con has been followed by an equally-exhausting-but-considerably-less-fun trip to the craft store to find frames in every odd size necessary to fit all of our new art. And then comes the question of which wall would feel least overwhelmed by yet another exciting artistic rendition of our favorite pop culture icons. (Answer: Walls can be coerced. Don’t let the wall win.)
If you want to have similar problems—more art is always a good problem to have—here’s a handful of artists I’ve discovered at SDCC this year and their respective online shops so you can get the full SDCC art hoarding experience from the comfort of your home.
Karen Krajenbrink is an associate art director at a game company and a freelance artist who has worked in TV, games, movies, and all manners of story telling, but she also has some awesome illustrations of her own. I personally can’t stop smiling at these gaming-inspired botanical prints. To see more of Karen’s available work, visit her shop, Fox and Boots.
Mike Manomivibul is a freelance illustrator with a degree in fine arts, with notable clients such as IDW, Tor Books, and Scholastic. As you can see from the samples here, his work ranges from wonderfully mysterious to delightfully creepy. To see more of Mike’s available work, visit his shop.
Tea geeks rejoice! Melissa Pagluica is an illustrator and a tea lover. But if tea isn’t your thing, she has plenty of other fantasy-inspired illustrations. Melissa also has a web comic, Above the Clouds, which “tells two intertwining stories—the adventures of a hero who must save a dying world, and a girl who must convince an author to finish what he has started.” To see more of Melissa’s available work, visit her shop, Teacup Bee.
Brianna Garcia has a degree in animation and visual development and has worked for Disney Imagineering and Warner Bros Animation. Her toned paper Disney princesses series is gorgeous, but if you’re not a Disney geek, she’s got more to offer too. To see more of Brianna’s available work, visit her shop.
Penelope R. Gaylord is a freelance artist who has worked on a number of comic books published by Boom Studios and IDW, just to name-drop a couple. She’s a huge Disney fan so expect to find a lot of fun interpretation on Disney characters in her personal portfolio. To see more of Penelope’s available work, visit her shop, PengPengArt.
Mauricio Abril is a molecular biologist turned concept artist. He’s found success in this creative field, with work experience at Disney Imagineering, Ubisoft, Hasbro, and more. His personal portfolio takes a humorous spin on all your usual geeky pop culture favorites. I may or may not have spent all my money at his booth…because, man, can that guy tell a story in just one image or what! To see more of Mauricio’s available work, visit his shop.
Autumn Frederickson is a fantasy illustrator with experience in children’s media. She has two popular series of illustrations—”Keepers” features migratory hooved animals portrayed as Keepers Of Waters, Skies, or Lands, while the “Pocket Pandas” series is all the adorable cuteness you can expect from pandas. To see more of Autumn’s available work, visit her shop, Pocket Panda Art.
Have you spotted any new-to-you artists at recent cons? I’ll love to hear about it in the comments!
I did visual development and has worked for Disney Imagineering and Warner Bros Animation