Welp, the weather’s warming up. We’re not drenched in perpetual darkness at 5 PM anymore. Flowers are starting to bloom (as are allergies).
Oh yes, it’s that time of year again: Convention season!
Chicago’s Con season kicks off with my all-time favorite convention, C2E2. My favorite thing to do is walk up and down artists alley to discover new artists and to fangirl with some of my favorites.
Here are some of the artists I geeked out about at C2E2 this year that are totally worth checking out both IRL and on the online.
. . .
– Katie Cook –
There are three things in this world I love:
1: the cute
2: the tiny
3: the nerdy
Katie Cook’s art is all of the above. I’m not ashamed to say I used my hobbit-height to wiggle my way through the massive crowd in front of her booth to check out her mad art skills and take some pictures.
– Otis Frampton –
You’ve no doubt seen those “How it Should Have Ended” (a.k.a HISHE) youtube videos, right? When I saw Otis Frampton’s booth, I noticed his art kinda looked like the HISHE art. And thus the conversation went like this:
Me: Do you illustrate for HISHE?
Otis: I am one of the illustrators there, yes!
Me: That’s awesome!
*3 more people ask*
Me: …how many times have you had to answer that today.
Otis: A lot. It’s funny too because it says it right there. I need little signs or something.
*Points to top of booth*
Me: Oh, look at that! But I’m short and it’s out of my eye range.
Otis: True.
Me: Short people discrimination!
In all realness, Mr. Frampton was a really cool dude who works on some damn cool things.
– Jeremy Bastian –
Jeremy Bastian is the kind of illustrator we just don’t see enough of nowadays. He writes comics, but because of the level of incredible, meticulous detail? They take years to complete. 
He had some stunning original prints that were stained with tea and finished in the oven, giving them this old parchment-y look and feel. If you like intricate designs with a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea feel, check out his work.
– Luke Daab –
Besides being a really friendly dude (who shares my love of dachshunds, which is always a plus), one thing that I really like about Luke Daab’s work is that it’s fanart, but has a unique look all its own.
One of my biggest pet peeves is fanart that doesn’t really do anything different or experimental. Daab’s style was unique and recognizable as his own, not to mention made for super cool superhero portraits.
And on top of that, he was the guy who did the Lady Thor design for themarysue.com, which is just a super cool design.
– Karen Hallion –
Eyyy, a Threadless artist!
It’s always awesome to meet our artists IRL, and getting to see this lady work was amazing. Her style makes me look at my own work and go, “dang, I wish I could draw like her!”
Hallion’s style and creative mashups (ex. Disney princesses and Doctor Who!) makes her fanart wholly unique, while her original illustrations just look straight-up incredible.
– Bryan Fyffe –
There was something kind of mesmerizing about Bryan Fyffe’s work. It all has this classy steampunk art meets stylized fanart meets photos you’d find in a super classy haunted house. All of it was just really beautiful, and stood out.
– Justin Orr –
Justin Orr has such a great visual texture to his art, not to mention, he covers pretty much every corner of pop-culture. Louie? Got it. Classic Godzilla? Got that too. 007 fan? Which one?
– Ben Templesmith –
How I talked to Ben Templesmith and said anything more than “as;dkjgasd” is beyond me…although I did forget to ask him to sign the copy of Dagon I bought, but y’know.
Templesmith is basically an H.P Lovecraft artist legend. Awhile ago he had a kickstarter for Dagon, and I was beyond excited to drop money on it. It’s an incredibly beautiful book, as is all of his work. Dark, twisted, stylized, beautiful.
– Madhat Creative –
Like I said, I’m not a big fan of fanart unless it’s got something different to offer – a cool crossover, a unique style, something extra. Joel Santana of Mad Hat Creative totally had that (and is a super cool dude).
Between Disney princesses getting dope tattoos, to a stunning print of Harley and the Joker that I didn’t even think twice about dropping money towards, Madhat has some really beautiful, unique work. Plus a rad logo.
– Jenny Frison –
Last but very far from least, we have Jenny Frison. She’s an incredible illustrator whose done some stunning cover work for “Spider Gwen,” Image Comics’ “Revival” series (which I recommend), and dozens more. Incredible talent and super cool person. 
