Surprise!! I illustrated this lovely adventure called “I’m Going to My First Comic Convention!”, and I’m finally sitting down to talk about it!

This year has been a whirlwind with work, family, and a changing world along with a pandemic! I don’t really know how we did it but I can say I’m lucky Candy Keane asked me to be her partner in this endeavor. Together we took on this challenge to write, illustrate, and publish the whole thing ourselves. There were many roadblocks and interruptions but looking at this book in my hand is a powerful feeling of accomplishment.

Like any good story, let’s start from the beginning. Candy Keane is a local mom who’s been a professional in the cosplay scene for some time. When she reached out to me, I was flattered. I call myself an artist but i always do it with an ounce of doubt because i didn’t go the traditional route. I don’t have a degree in art- just a passion that is now split many ways due to a busy life as a working mom. I actually illustrated some books years ago, before a full time job and family occupited most of my time, but this opportunity lit a fire to get back into what I love again- illustrating.

So we met up at a bounce gym to let the kids run amuck (#momlife) while we got to planning. Candy revealed her story which follows Keelan, a little boy infatuated with the super-hero mascots for the comic convention coming to town. The big day comes and each page of the book is meant to display an exciting activity of what to expect at a convention- from buying treats in the vendor room to trying out new video game exhibits.

We began storyboarding visuals to match the pages. The subject matter was right up our alleys and our image of how this book would come together seemed to click in place.With story and ideas in hand, I got to drawing. I was given lots of artistic license to play with perspective and composition which was fun! I also loved sneaking in my personal favorite fandoms into the book Check our the book to see if you can spot them! I also loved adding guest appearances like professional artists from the Florida area which really made the book have this community representation and feel for our very fun, local scene.

With a global pandemic slowing down the world over the past year, conventions almost seem like a thing of the past, but I’m looking forward to the day to safely explore a convention again with my little one. Until that day comes, check out our book to fill that con void!

Available at Amazon at tinyurl.com/firstcomiccon