Smashing Studios

Smashing Studios is going to Shuto Con in Lansing this April!

We had tried to register before but were put on a waiting list, and last night a table became available for us! It’s a large table and we won’t need that much space, so we decided we are going to share half of the table with another Studio on the waiting list (the head of the Artist Alley has told us that the next studio on the waiting list is Wan-Tsunami, so it will likely be them). 

I know we said no more conventions until the summer, but Shuto Con is so close to the end of my school year that it won’t be a problem preparing for it, and it will get us off to a good start for the convention tour we plan on doing this summer! Besides that, Shuto is one of my personal favorite cons, so I was not going to miss out on an opportunity to work it!

Seeing as we’re going to have to start getting some work done STAT, I’ll be updating the blog more often, as well as making some adjustments to our website and opening our Etsy soon! So stay tuned for more news, and stay smashing!

~Kayci

Fal and I just left GoDaikoCon and we MADE OUR GOAL FOR PROFITS FOR THE WEEKEND! It was hard, and we literally only made 37 cents more than our goal in literally the last few minutes before we packed up, but we did it nonetheless! 

This weekend has been so great, thanks to anyone who stopped by and bought things and/or said hello. We’re in talks right now for doing a few other conventions in Michigan, as well as some in Ohio as well, so when we know what our next convention is we will be sure to let you know, and we’ll keep updating here, facebook, and dA until then!

Thanks to everyone at GoDaiko for an awesome weekend!

-Kayci

P.S. Falicia doesn’t have a Tumblr, but if anyone who I talked to this weekend wants to follow me on my personal tumblr, you can find me over at hulk-krogan.tumblr.com! I always follow back, so let me know you met me at the con so I can say hello!

Only one day left of GoDaikoCon! Our studio has been doing very well so far (despite a shaky start) and we’ve made tons of new acquaintances in the last few days with other artists and guests!

Tomorrow we’re going to cut down some of our prices to get rid of some of our extra stock, as well as giving the 15% discount to anyone who shows their love for our studio mascot by saying the phrase “Franklin Rules.” 

We may not be at another con in this area for a while (depending on whether we do Youmacon or not) so make sure you stop by and buy up our stuff while you can!

We’re all set up at GoDaikoCon!!! Trust me, you won’t be able to miss us if you’re looking for us- the artist alley this year is set up so that you have to walk through it to get to ANYTHING, and we’re in a perfect spot to see us! The artist alley is open ALL day- we’re talking until 4 am, so we’re going to stay as late as we can. Come by and say hi to us!

We’re currently working on our set up for GoDaikoCon this weekend! We’re already about halfway done with our entire display- then it’ll be time to pack everything up again to bring it to the con!

Remember, if you say the code words “Franklin Rules” (Franklin being our dapper narwhal mascot of course) on Sunday you will get 15% off of your total purchase!

As of today Smashing Studios has been accepted into the artist alley of Go!Daiko-con for the first weekend of August. For those of you who don’t know, Go!Daiko-con was the first convention Smashing Studios ever attended. It made me realize that SS is over a year old now, and has me reflecting on the past year. 

Smashing Studios was started by me and Jess basically on a whim- I mentioned in passing I wanted to do artist alleys at conventions someday, and since she had been considering it too, suddenly we were starting our own studio. We spent months preparing for our first convention (Go!Daiko) and were so excited at the aspect of running a table at conventions. 

This is what our table looked like at our first convention:

Yes, you are correct in thinking that it’s a fairly pathetic display. We didn’t make much that convention, and it woke us up to the fact that this was going to be way more work than we thought it would be. But as the year went by we learned from our mistakes, improved our products, and got advice from other amazing artists around the midwest. 

At our last convention, Anime Central, our booth looked like this:

I wasn’t able to attend ACen myself due to school conflicts, but when Jess sent me this picture of our table, I remember jumping up and down at how far we had come in such a short time. 

Things have obviously changed in the last year. Our products, our table… and of course Jess is no longer a part of the studio. It was a sad, but necessary decision that had to be made. It was just too hard running a studio from two different states, and if we had tried to continue the studio, and possibly even our friendship, would have suffered. But the split was clean and Jess and I are still amazing friends, and we look forward to attending conventions together under different studio names in the future.

Now of course we have Falicia as a part of the studio, and while you guys haven’t seen much of her work yet, I know you’re going to love it. In just the month since she was brought on board she has shown so much passion and enthusiasm for the studio and is so excited for her first convention. This convention wil of course be Go!Daiko… which brings us full circle.

I feel honored to have been a part of this studio for the past year. It fills me with pride that I can say I help run a business like this at only 20-years-old. I can only hope that Smashing Studios will continue to grow over the years, and I look forward to the changes in the next year. 

Thank you to all of the studio followers, and as always, Stay Smashing~

-Kayci

3 print sketches down, one more to go! Then off to color and finish them!

This print is of Stocking from Panty and Stocking w/ Garterbelt. I love her character so much, basically because she’s essentially me (well, minus a FEW certain aspects). I might do a Panty picture to accompany it eventually. 

Sketch previews of two new prints for the studio that will be available sometime before the beginning of August!

The first one is titled “Avenger Time,” which is about exactly what it sounds- The Avengers (feat. Loki, Fury, and Coulson) in an Adventure setting and style. The second one is titled “Not Sweet Enough,” and is of Princess Bubble Gum and Marceline the Vampire Queen from Adventure Time (lots of Adventure Time all up in here). 

I’ve got two more prints I need to sketch for this convention, and then I’ll get to work coloring these! 

Are you at ShutoCon? Have you visited Smashing Studios yet in the Artist Alley? Well you should, because we have dapper narwhals on our table! You know you love dapper narwhals! Come for the narwhals, leave with AWESOME!!!~