I'm heading back to my homeland in Michigan for Motor City Comic Con this Fri 5/18 - Sun 5/20! If you're around southeastern MI, check it out - XENA's going to be there! She has a panel at 2p on Sunday. Also I'm table H-6 in Artist Alley. If you stop by my table you'll get to see my newest comic, Other Realms! Also doing sketches as usual. Another panel that looks good is Promoting your Comic Books Through Podcasts at 4p Fri. Tickets start at $25 and up. Also get there early, especially for Saturday, as traffic gets really bad in the afternoon. It's always great to exhibit at Motor City - I went to that convention as a kid and it's really changed and gotten way bigger and better! Hope to see you there!
Motor City, Voting, and Lost Shuttle Buses!
The Steffen Family!
Motor City Comic Con was even better than last year! Thank you to everyone - old friends and new fans - who visited me! My parents (above) even came by to help at my table for a bit and check out the show. I told them the convention would be crazy, but I don't think they were fully prepared for the amount of people and utter chaos of Saturday. Oh and the shuttle bus they took got lost. To alleviate traffic jams for parking, MCCC had some off-site locations to park, one of which was at a high school where people could take a shuttle bus. Good idea!... until one or more gets lost.
This sketch wins the Most Random Sketch Award for the convention! A guy was asking artists to draw elements of the periodic table. I asked if he was a fan of Neil DeGrasse Tyson, which of course he was! I got the element Caesium (pronounced "see-zee-um"). After some thought and a bit of googling, I came up with this critter. To my surprise I found out that the guy had trouble finding other artists to illustrate the other elements, probably because they just weren't sure of how to tackle the subject. But hey, I love the challenge, and sketches like this are the most fun and original!
The tally is in for the voting jars! When I have the luxury of a big table, it's fun to have something extra like this. The question was "Which candidate would be better for cartoonists?" There was much discussion from passerby about "better in terms of drawing" or "better in terms of policies," but it was open to interpretation. Even though I added a Trump jar after the initial Instagram post, and even though some people said he'll create jobs (he did win the MI primary after all), and he's better to draw (the political cartoons of this era are unrivaled), Trump still got ZIP! ZILCH! NADA! $0.00! Hillary wasn't too far behind, earning ONE CANADIAN CENT! The girl who dropped the coin in made sure to emphasize that it was Canadian. Coming in 2nd place was a QUARTER for libertarian candidate John McAfee - a very thoughtful vote! (drumrolllllllllll) And the WINNER... with a total of a whopping $6.76... was BERNIE! He had whole dollar bill$ up in there! Definitely the underdog and person for the people, Bernie has won the hearts of artists and indie peeps nationwide... but will it be enough?? Well, it's enough to buy me lunch! Thanks, Bern - I'm feelin' ya!
Come to think of it, the last time I was on a shuttle bus in Brooklyn, the driver got lost too! HOW CAN WE STOP THIS MADNESS??!!
Happy Friday the 13th!
YAY it's Friday the 13th - the luckiest day of the year! :) I'll be at the Motor City Comic Con in Artist's Alley, table H4. Swing by today and join me in celebrating my birthday :) www.motorcitycomiccon.com for more info.
Motor City Comic Con This Weekend!
I'm excited to announce that I'll be exhibiting in Motor City Comic Con this weekend, back in my home state of Michigan! Coincidentally, the convention starts on my birthday, which is also the only Friday the 13th of this year - very lucky! MCCC is Friday May 13th from 12:30P - 7P, Saturday May 14th from 10:30A - 7P, and Sunday May 15 from 10:30A - 5P. At the Suburban Collection Showplace, 46100 Grand River Ave, Novi, MI 48374. Daily passes range from $25 to $35, check their website https://motorcitycomiccon.com for more info.
There are some cool panel discussions going on too. It's so great to see how much this convention has grown over the years - they didn't even have this stuff when I was a teen! Panels of note are the "Who’s Panel with Billie Piper" and a handful of creator-themed panels like WRITE BETTER COMICS and The Art of Inking. But most exciting of all is the Holy Golden Anniversary Batman! panel on Sunday: "Marking it’s 50th anniversary, the dynamic duo and stars of Batman, Adam West and Burt Ward have dropped by The Motor City Comic Con to take your questions and discuss their infamous TV show. With the inside scoop and behind the scene stories in their utility belts, this event will leave you saying, “Holy Panel Batman!” Note: You won’t want to miss this since it’s their last year of Con appearances before hanging up their capes."
See you there!
Since entering the working world, I've always taken a day off for my birthday, and my college semesters ended in April, so I haven't had to "work" on my birthday since high school! But hey at least I'm doing what I'm great at and what I love. But if you're thinking of going to MCCC, stop by my booth in artist's alley on Friday the 13th because I'll be taking it easy!
This and That
So back when I was in Motor City Comic Con, a guy came up to my table and was like "I'll write an article about you if you draw me with a penguin." Here's the drawing, which he absolutely adored, and here's the article! http://annecarlini.com/ex_interviews.php?id=1309 Sometimes the bartering system DOES work! Interview by Russell Trunk of Exclusive Magazine.
Ah last time I blogged it was about Special Edition, which was great! My friend and fellow cartoonist Warner helped man my table when I couldn't be there on Sunday. I took a bus, then cab across town (cabs were hard to catch at the west end... maybe this is a sign I should get Uber) to draw at the annual FD Day for a few hours. FD is short for Familial Dysautonomia, and I draw a weekly comic strip for their organization. I was even drawing and eating on the cab on the way back to Pier 94 - a super busy day! But I like the excitement.
Haven't posted in awhile because the current apartment hunt has been such a time sucker! Literally every single night this month, Molly and I have been going to Brooklyn for hours. The sequel is practically writing itself. I think the end is in sight though.
MCCC was awesome, and hey it's Memorial Day Weekend!
Usually I draw people with more natural features, but upon request I can do caricatures and exaggerate them! These women loved their portraits!
It seems like I've done so much in the past 3 weeks I can't believe it! My midwest tour was pretty successful, and I'd like to do it each year! The Motor City Comic Con was awesome, and I think Russell Trunk of Exclusive Magazine reviewed it best! It was great exhibiting in my home state and seeing lots of friends I hadn't seen in ages. I snuck out from my table on Friday to see Billy Boyd's talk and laughed so much my face hurt! OMG on Saturday though it took about 45 minutes to drive like 1 mile to get into the convention because of the traffic! This was my first time driving to a comic con, but now I know to get there super crazy extra early :/
I'm not even exaggerating here. Due to fog, all the NYC flights were cancelled and all the bags went into one baggage claim carousel. I should've taken a picture.
Luckily I had family to stay with when an emergency like this left me stranded in Chicago!
And Happy Memorial Day weekend! Bar-B-Q it to the MAX!
Motor City Comic Con THIS FRI-SUN!!
If you're in Michigan this weekend, check out the Motor City Comic Con! I'm at table C-6 in the artist's alley. The map couldn't zoom in enough to see numbers so I just circled the whole row. Their panel schedule is up, and I just saw that BILLY BOYD (Pippin in Lord of the Rings) is having a panel on Friday called "Pippin Ain’t Easy". He was SO adorable in LOTR! He'll also be at table Q-1 in the Media Guest section.
Get even more of your Hobbit fix with makeup artist Daniel Phillips! Even in a world of computer technology, we still need talented special effects makeup artists like him to bring characters to life! He'll be at table 843/845 in the Exhibitors section.
Continuing the fantasy theme, stop by the Art of Kellianne Stakenas right next to me at table C-5! Kelli and I went to high school together and she still draws the most awesome dragons in the universe! It's so awesome that years later, we're both exhibiting at Motor City!
See you there!
Motor City Comic Con next week!
How appropriate for a Sponge Bob car to be at the MOTOR CITY comic con!
The next stop on my comic tour is the Motor City Comic Con next week May 15-17! This is a convention I used to go to with friends as a teen and it's changed a lot! It's in a brand new center: Suburban Collection Showplace 46100 Grand River Ave., Novi, Michigan. And it's 3 days long, bigger and better than ever! Hours are Fri 12:30p-7p, Sat 10:30a-7p, Sun 10:30a-5p.
So many super awesome things are going on there! I for one want to see the Sponge Bob car and meet the voice of Sponge Bob: Tom Kenny! Dave Aikins, an artist on the show, will also be there.
Of special note is that besides the Artist Alley, there is a separate section for "Crafters," which don't usually get a different listing in other shows. Crafters have comic themed jewelry, buttons, perler bead sprites, etc anything else artsy that isn't on paper. Next week I'll highlight other cool things and people at the show!
Seeing old toys in the basement, I wonder when was the last time I played with that huge bubble blower wand...
Women's History Month Comic
Honoring many important founding women of the RLS Foundation.
Every month I create a comic for the RLS Foundation (Restless Legs Syndrome, AKA Willis-Ekbom Disease). Sometimes the foundation will ask me for suggestions for what we should do for the comic's subject. I suggested something for Women's History Month, and some women in the foundation did research and found all the facts and picture references I needed. With our powers combined, we created an awesome and informative comic! One last hurrah for the end of Women's History Month!
Next month, a friend of mine is getting married, but it's the same weekend as C2E2. Did I post that I'm going to be exhibiting there? Well now you know! I'll be in the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo April 24-26! I'll be going "on tour" because a few weeks later I'll be in the Motor City Comic Con in Novi, MI. Very excited for this trip! Although with comic cons always being on the weekend, it's not the first time I've had to miss a wedding, and it won't be the last.