Recap: Awesome Con 2017

Curls Studio celebrated our fifth non-stop appearance at Awesome Con on June 16-18, 2017. The show has massively grown from a small section of the DC Convention Center to nearly the full building over the course of five years! It is clear that Awesome Con is a force of pop culture that the Washington, DC area has been craving. Science, cosplay, comics, crafts, geek culture, film, celebrities, and more were represented.

On Friday evening Joe navigated the "Awesome Con Short Film Fest" to a standing room only crowd. As a follow-up on Saturday evening the same filmmakers represented in-person for the "Awesome Filmmakers: Making It Happen" panel. We will be releasing the audio from the filmmakers panel this Tuesday on the Carolyn and Joe Show.

I took part on the "Kickstarter: Dos and Don'ts" panel and "The Other Side of the Table: Lessons from Creators" on Saturday. This was a day of professional development panels for me. I enjoy giving advice to upcoming creative producers. It did seem like some people in the audience are not creators and they came to the panels to discover what our lives are like as artists and writers.

A fan came to my table to have me sign an Adventure Time comic cover I illustrated. She told me she got Ryan North (creator of Dinosaur Comics) to sign it (he was on The Other Side of the Table panel and the writer of the Adventure Time comic). The next day I was able to bring my personal copies of the comic and have Ryan sign our previously unknown collaboration for me.

On Sunday morning Joe and I recorded a live podcast for the "Carolyn and Joe Show" with special guest, Karen Hallion. Karen is a phenomenal artist who has worked with Disney, DreamWorks, Cartoon Network, Her Universe, and many other top brands. We discussed her art career, how she met Gina Torres, and her upcoming project. We also celebrated our landmark 400 episode of the podcast and audio is now available for listening online here.

Later on Sunday I lead the Awesome Con Jr. event sponsored by Nickelodeon with my "Design Your Own Superhero Logo" seminar for kids. Children created a hero symbol for themselves. Some of the logos we created were for "Pizza Man" and "Sloth Man."

Awesome Con provided us with a great feeling to know we had a fun time with fans, friends, and other exhibitors. I was very exhausted after this show, but it was worth it. I am thankful we got to see a little bit of the show by going thru the "Stan Lee Museum" section and seeing many cool comic art pages, film props, and nostalgic items.

Thanks so much to Sean Causley for watching the table while we were gone at panels and thanks to the Awesome Con staff and Brute Squad for organizing a prime event in DC. In addition, thanks to everyone we talked to at the Curls Studio table -- even if you didn't buy anything and only took a promo postcard -- thank you for stopping by. We hope to see you at our next shows this fall -- Small Press Expo, Baltimore Comic-Con, and potentially more to be announced.

Curls Kickstarter Update — Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Hi everyone, 

Hope you are having a great St. Patrick's Day and are enjoying this green image of Turtle Neck. We are gaining momentum online, but still need the actual pledges to raise $1,325 within the next week (ending March 25 at 8:20 PM) to make this project happen. Thanks to all of you who have supported me monetarily -- you are good luck.

I've been making the rounds on many podcasts and doing interviews. Take a listen Liz Reed's podcast People I Think Are Cool and read this interview getting a lot of action from PREVIEWS for Women in Comics Month. Yes, the news is out! I am a woman. It's shocking.

If you're looking for even more entertainment, listen to Curls Studio plugging the Kickstarter project on The Dollar Bin podcast. You can also meet hosts Adam and Shawn this weekend at SC Comicon and look at their new Comic Stars anthology. Tell them I said hi!

Hashtag Comics named the Curls Kickstarter as their "Kickstarter of the Week" and the Comics and Coffee podcast (00:35:37) included Curls in their first-ever top Comic-Book Kickstarter Picks!

Two new pledge levels have recently been added. One includes the exclusive cover I illustrated for Cartoon Network's Adventure Time comic book and the other is an opportunity for you to have a walk-on role in the Curls comic strip (you keep the original art and more). Check them out if you are interested!

Send your friends a direct link -- http://kck.st/1EprkMX -- or use the "Share this project" button under the video to connect with your pals on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or Embed Video or Widget on your website or blog. All the backers of this project are my inspiration to push forward in our last week of the campaign.

 XOXO,
 
 
Carolyn

Recap: SPX 2014

Small Press Expo 2014 was a fun time for us! When we drove into the hotel parking lot, I noticed a Farmer's Market at the adjacent parking lot, so after setting up our table we headed over to get our food supply for the day. I purchased a chocolate croissant and and baguette with leaf shapes from Fresh Baguette and at another vendor I got two peaches and a nectarine. Even though our lunch wasn't a full meal, it felt good to not go out during the event or eat fast food. I did notice the hotel got smart and had sandwiches and salads for sale near the event registration, but we figured we'd wait until dinner.

We spent most of the time at our table and were happy to see many people year after year. One of the great additions this year were giant balloons with letters to show each island of tables so attendees can find specific vendors easier. After you go to SPX for about three years you start to see the same faces and then SPX becomes a reunion – not only of comic creators, but also readers. A pal from high school and college who we had not seen in over a decade stopped by with his wife. I also saw friends who I know from AIGA and school. Early on Saturday I was able to cruise the outer parameter of the show floor and say hi to other creators. We distributed Magic Bullet #9 and also had several bundles out on the free table – which we kept refreshing because they went fast!

Animal Chronicles: Book Two was our new product at SPX. It is a series based on the aftermath of a solar flare barely passing by Earth causing animals to fuse with objects in their vicinity during the catastrophic event. Panel Patter did a spotlight on Animal Chronicles the week before SPX to showcase new publications. 

I was able to sign my Adventure Time cover, Curls in the Team Cul de Sac book, The Legettes, and more for fans.

As always, SPX is great to discover comics you won't ordinarily see in your local comic store. I noticed many names in the program guide from people on Twitter or other online outlets – only to confirm the great influence of the internet and webcomics. 

Here is my Vine from SPX: https://vine.co/v/Oavu2BWwdpX

Thanks to everyone who visited our table! The next time you can catch us will be New York Comic Con on October 9-12, 2014 at Comic Pavilion Table 1162 on the show floor.

Recap: Baltimore Comic-Con 2014

This past weekend Curls Studio exhibited at Baltimore Comic-Con. This year the show expanded to three days. I was unable to attend Friday, but Joe was able to set up and bring Karen Michele, a model and SFX makeup artist he works with. Later on Friday evening, Joe and Karen checked up the Drink and Draw at Hooters, organized by Joe Sutliff. I had a sketch in the suction and the proceed go to Team Cul de Sac and the Michael J. Fox Foundation to raise money for Parkinson's research. 

In addition to the third day, the space also switched to a larger part of the Baltimore Convention Center. I thought it looks more updated and the lighting was much more crisp and bright. We always have a great time at Baltimore Comic-Con. For some reason this is a show I always reunite with a lot of former co-workers at as I've seen people from my past three professional jobs there. I even got to teach my co-worker's new baby to create his first high five!

I enjoyed signing these autograph cards a fan made. They got really creative with the clipping path! 

We were interviewed for the podcast Comix Gab, which you can listen to here: http://www.comixgab.com/post/97008787721/comix-gab-episode-13-the-team-goes-down-to

Oh yeah, and I made a Vine! 

Quite a few people picked up the exclusive Adventure Time cover I did for issue #29, which came out a couple months ago.

Many people also picked up Magic Bullet #9, a comic anthology composed of mostly Washington, DC creator. This issue's theme is western and I enjoyed editing it. Here is a photo of Nick Galifianakis and I. Nick created this wonderful cover art for us.

Our hope is to exhibit again at Baltimore next year (save the date for September 25-27, 2015), but in the meantime you can see us this Saturday at Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD at Table H10.

SuperNoVa Comicon is July 20

Curls Studio will be at SuperNoVa Comicon in the Leesburg Firehouse (215 Loudoun Street, SW, Leesburg, VA 20175) on Sunday, July 20 from 10 AM to 3 PM. Hope to see you there. We'll have the Adventure Time comic available!

Admission Price $4.00
Children under 12 admitted free
Show your military ID for a $2.00 admission 

Door Prize drawings will be at 11, 12:30 and 2.

From their website:

Major Announcement for the Leesburg Show! Greg LaRocque, Andy Smith, Tom Raney, Steve Conley, and Carolyn Belefski will be attending our show.  

Greg has worked on Marvel Comics and DC Comics.  His most notable work includes The Avengers, The Flash, Legions of Super-Heroes, Powerman and Iron Fist. 

Andy is an artist that has worked on Batman, X-Men Forever, and the upcoming Thanos Story with Jim Starlin and the special release weekend celebration Adventure Time 30 exclusive cover.

Tom is an artist that is known for illustrating titles such as Annihilation Conquest, Alpha Flight, Ultimate X-Men and Uncanny X-Men for Marvel Comics, DV8 and Stormwatch for Image Comics, and Outsiders for DC Comics.

​Steve has worked on Bloop, Astounding Space Thrills, Star Trek, and more.

Carolyn is the creator of the comic strip Curls. She also collaborates with writer Joe Carabeo on the comic books Kid Roxy, Black Magic Tales, and The Legettes. 

You won't want to miss them so mark your calendar.

The Making of Carolyn Belefski's Adventure Time Cover

Check it out! I did an exclusive comic cover for Cartoon Network's Adventure Time #29 published by Boom! Studios. It's a limited edition Cards, Comics, and Collectibles cover. Thank you for the opportunity.

Here is a rare glimpse at my thumbnail concept sketch. I provided five concepts to select from and they went with the underwater cover.

It feels good to say I am one of the talented Adventure Time artists. I'll have the covers at my table for Baltimore Comic-Con, SPX, and New York Comic Con (Curls Studio be at Small Press, booth 1162). See you then!