Photo by: Caitlin O’Neill
(Kayleigh Brand at her table)
The vendor hall of Another Anime Convention in Manchester, NH is packed tight with excited nerds in costume, searching the artists’ tables for something that catches their fancy. Behind a row of original and fan art prints, independent comic artist and MCLA Class of ’14 alumna Kayleigh Brand waves to passing con-goers, looking warm and welcoming despite the special-effects makeup she’s applied to make it look like she’s recently lost a fight.
Though she’s essentially stuck behind a table for a good 8 hours, Brand is a longtime cosplayer and is in a different full costume each day of the con.
“Cosplay has always been my favorite part of conventions. I didn’t want to give that up just because I would be sitting behind a table.”
AAC is Brand’s second convention as an Artist’s Alley vendor, the first being the smaller In-CON-ceivable in Northampton back in August.
“In-CON-ceivable was a great starting point for me as an artist. Though walking into a bigger venue with more seasoned artists was a bit daunting, I have to admit I enjoyed the larger venue a lot. There was more traffic and overall more energy there that kept me going and engaged with those who stopped by my booth”
Her table lacks the grandiose displays of some more seasoned Artist Alley veterans in the expansive room, but she is content with her display.
“I may not be one of the big fish yet when it comes to convention artists, but keeping things small has allowed me to focus on promoting my own work and getting myself out into the world as an artist. I may not have a catchy slogan or flashy display, but I’m getting my name out there and it’s already started to expand my viewer base after just two cons.”
Available for sale at Brand’s booth were:
- Art prints, mainly fanart of popular media such as Steven Universe (one of the most popular series at the con) or videogame The Evil Within, and original prints of characters from herown soon-to-be-launched webcomic, Fauna.
- Buttons featuring various Pokémon and characters from the horror videogames Outlast and Five Nights At Freddy’s
- Homemade scented soaps with special secret surprises at the center of the bar
- Hats with ears on them, and fluffy fox tails that can be attached to belts.
- Commissions, where customers can request a drawing of anything they want, with varying fees depending on the level of intensity involved
Fan art tends to be what sells at convention, as many con-goers are looking for art or merchandise of their favorite characters or series. While Brand appeals to this market with her prints and buttons, her ultimate goal is to promote her own original content. “As each con passes I’m working more and more to phase out the fan content to see if I can carry my table on my own art,” she said. Ultimately I would love to be able to support a full table just on my own comics and commissions like the webcomic artists I’ve learned from.”
Brand is currently writing a webcomic (quite simply, a comic that runs online) entitled Fauna, which is due to debut online later this fall. “Fauna is a LGBTQA+ inclusive fantasy comic. It follows several different plot lines that string together in a slice-of-life style narrative.”
On Friday evening of the convention, Brand also presented a panel called “Webcomics 101: For Newbies By a Newbie” where she described the pros and cons of the webcomic medium and gave advice for aspiring and beginning comic artists like herself.
“One of the best pieces of advice I’ve gotten time and time again from other webcomic artists is to ‘just go for it,’” she said during the panel. “If you never start you’re guaranteed not to fail, but by the same token if you never start you will never have the chance to succeed.”
(An example of Brand’s art)
Brand is currently living in Concord, NH. Her work can be found at kbrandart.weebly.com, and you can also follow her on kbrandart.tumblr.com, and keep an eye out for Fauna on comic hosting site Tapastic in the coming months.