Our first print run was ordered by the lovely and talented Shelby Christie. She was happy to answer our question and we’re so happy to learn more about her! You can view her works here: Art Station and Cara. Please enjoy!
1. How did you get started in creating and selling your art at events and conventions?
A friend and I (Shoutout to Kirsten!) had been going to Animaritime since we were 13 years old, along with a few other friends. She attended when it was at Mount Allison, I attended the first year it was at Crystal Palace and most years after. Both of us were pretty competitive with our art and with each other (in a good way!) but had always admired the artists we saw and bought from in the alley. It just felt like a natural progression to see if we could do the same, though she started selling a couple years before I did. I was… 16? When I first got in. We used to share a table until we outgrew it and needed our own. I looked forward to applying every year, and since we lived in different cities after going to post secondary school it became a way to meet up at least once a year! So it was nice. She doesn’t sell anymore but is an instructor at a college. Sometimes I get to meet some of her students at the conventions and have even tabled next to some of them, so in a weird way she’s still there in spirit! Haha.
2. What inspires your artwork and influences your style?
I had always been interested in art and went through some different phases here and there, but the biggest influence so far has been anime/games and drawing fan art. I used to be ashamed of it (which was a phase, thankfully) but I think a lot of us owe our love of art to anime. A lot of us share a pretty similar artist origin story and I think that’s kinda cool.
In terms of inspiration now, I’d say a lot of the popular North American cartoons in the same vein as Owl House, Steven Universe, Teen Titans, Adventure Time, etc. I love trying to simplify anything and everything I can because I see it as a challenge. I work in 2D/3D animation in games and of course the more complicated something is, the harder it is to animate and the longer it takes to animate. Which might sound lazy, but I think it had more to do with attention span than anything. I used to think I wanted to be a concept artist, painter, etc but at some point you just realize it’s not for you and that’s okay. I get more gratification from being able to do something fast and doing it well. If I had to work on the same painting for 36+ hours I think I would probably just quit. I also think there’s something really impressive about a nice, clean, simple design of a character that sticks with people. Oh, and propaganda style posters that focus on strong blocked in shapes and jarring colors. I love what people can accomplish with so little.
3. Can you describe your creative process from idea to finished print?
A lot of my ideas usually just come from finding a pose that I like or noticing a pattern in something I am watching and think about how it could be a print. For example, I’ve really been into Kaiju No.8 lately. One of the characters has purple hair and when he smiles he reminds me of Ghastly, so I drew them both together and will hopefully have that done for the next convention. The ideas might come off as obscure, but I think a lot of people like asking about it and trying to figure out how or why you did it. Some people also notice similar things and completely understand why you had the idea. It’s neat!
Oh, and a big rule I have for myself is keeping it simple! Mostly to do with what I mentioned previously about attention span, haha.
4. How do you decide which conventions to attend, and what factors do you consider?
Shorter travel times are a huge factor, and whether or not I have a free place to myself to stay in said city is also a big one. Over the years I have learned that after the vendor room is closed for the day, I need peace and quiet or to just be in a situation where I can shut my brain off till the next morning. If I room with anyone I need my own spot with a door that I can hide behind.
I have friends who usually attend the same conventions as well, so generally it depends on how many of us get in too.
5. What are some of the challenges you face as an artist selling at conventions, and how do you overcome them?
Not giving into hustle culture, doing what’s popular, etc. I think a lot of us are programmed to think that all things we do on the side as a hobby needs to be something that can be sold and marketed. If you do this as a full time job then this next part may not ring true at all, but unless it is your full time job it is absolutely not necessary. In fact, treating it like a hustle is a way to really skew how you feel about what you’re creating, about something that you would usually do to chill and wind down. I wasn’t ready to do 8 hours at a job and then come home to what was essentially a second job that I created for myself. I leaned on my art over the last 10 years to help me with debt, treat pet illnesses, etc. Time went by super fast and all of a sudden I despised it and was ready to quit. The only thing that got me back into it was relearning that art is allowed to just be enjoyed. When I create and sell things now, I try not to follow trends. I do what I like doing. I don’t see it as “oh this will sell like hotcakes”. I see it as hoping people understand an obscure reference. I see it as a way to connect with other fans, meet people who love the same thing as much or more than I do.
A friendly PSA from me to whoever is reading this: Debt is a stupid imaginary thing with real world consequences and it sucks. I don’t wish it on anyone, and if you depend on it to solve real world problems you will also blame it for real world shortcomings that are out of your control. That’s a massive mental toll to take on. Rather than have debt and a broken relationship with your art, just have the debt and try not to give in to the mindset that hustling will solve your problems. If this story sounds familiar to you, I am sorry. It will get better, you just need to give yourself the space to feel bad and the chance to get back to it.
6. Could you share some tips or advice for someone starting out in the convention artist alley scene?
Overall it’s the understanding that not everything you make is going to sell as well as you expect. Over the years I have learned to take a watch and wait approach. I try to print less of something to start, knowing full well that it could sell out and on the flipside knowing it might not. It’s sad to retire a print or a sticker that you had faith in but still have so much stock of. That’s money spent that now has to sit in a closet or in a folder somewhere. It’s baggage and a reminder of a bad decision, haha.
7. How do you market yourself and your artwork both online and at conventions?
Over the years I think this has mattered less to me, though I imagine that would be very different if I was between jobs and actively working on a portfolio. I tend to care more about other people’s online presence than my own, but will occasionally post some stuff to family and friends. I am trying to do better in that department, but decided I would not be posting anything else on any platform that uses uploaded content to train AI in solidarity with other artists. I have stuff on Artstation and Cara, though!
Networking is really important if you’re in any art industry, and so is keeping an up to date portfolio. Don’t be like me! Haha.
8. What are your best-selling prints or products, and why do you think they resonate with customers?
I have a series of Full Metal Alchemist prints that are in a war-like propaganda style. They use simple shapes, bold colors, etc. Other than FMA being a stellar series, I think people like the posters because they are simple and can sometimes pass as not being fan art. It also represents an idea that fits with the world thematically. My Major Armstrong print is one of my first “real” prints and has by far outsold anything I have ever made. I have since branched out and done other series in the same style, which have also sold well. To me that further cements the idea that simple can still be good.
For fun, I did a bunch of cute food sticker designs and had them printed with the intent to sell them in my dollar bins. It was fun coming up with them! People identify with certain foods too and it’s always interesting to see what foods people resonate with the most, whether that be the grumpy orange bell pepper or the shy daikon radish. I liked how people interacted with them so much that I started using them for my branding.
In regards to the previous point, never underestimate the power of a dollar/cheap item bin. It’s great for getting rid of old designs that you don’t feel comfortable selling at full price and a lot of the time it will attract people to your table and have them stick around for a bit while they root through trying to find something from a specific series. They do well!
9. How do you set pricing for your prints and artwork?
My friends and I discuss this a lot. For things like commissions we have a pretty good idea how much to charge just based on doing art for a living and comparing those rates. In terms of artists alley stock, we buy from other tables as well so it’s a good way to look at pricing. We also just flat out ask other people what they are doing, if they are planning on raising prices, etc.
10. What are your goals for your art business in the near future, and how do you plan to achieve them?
At the moment I don’t have any sales/numbers goals related to conventions. I do, however, have a goal for a fundraiser I have been doing for the past couple of years. It doesn’t have a name yet, but since this will it’s the 3rd year I might have to come up with something!
For anyone interested in what that is, I have been doing cartoon pet portraits in exchange for a minimum donation of 20$. 100% of the proceeds are split evenly between the PEIHS and the Miramichi SPCA, as both of those shelters are very near and dear to my heart. We’ve managed to raise around 1000$ each year and I desperately want to smash that record into oblivion this year. I’m not exactly sure how I am going to do that yet! Haha.
I compile all the images into a print and give them to the shelters when I drop off the money, just so they have something physical to associate the fundraiser with. I have included both the posters for 2022 and 2023 for your eyeballs.
