Sunday, March 30, 2008

Travis Hanson

I wanted to post a link to my old pal Travis Hanson's work. You might already be familiar with his art as he's been doing fantasy comics on the web since way back when. He used to do a strip called 'The Bean' which has now migrated to being a series of illustrated novels.

I was fortunate enough to have the adjacent table to him at the Alternative Press Expo in SF last year. We'd me once or twice before and have known each other online for years. He mentioned to me then that he was now having much more success from producing & selling large-format full color prints as opposed to individual comics, and he was certainly doing very well with it at the show.

He recently posted in his journal at DeviantArt.com (where he has had a lot of success selling prints and building community) that he's decided to shelve all his comics work in favor of just doing prints & illustration.

The fact is that you can sell one large print for more than a whole bunch of books would go for. I've asked him to stop by and be a bit of a 'visiting wizard' and hopefully tell us a bit more about it.





10 comments:

  1. Yup, I remember him, in fact I bought two issues of "Bean's Song". Shame that he's getting out of comics entirely.

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  2. I've greatly admired Travis' work for some years now. I miss The Bean as a comic but the prose novels are very cool. I just purchased the 2nd novel and looking forward to diving right into Travis' world.

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  3. wow what an honor guys-

    prankster- i am not leaving comics entirely and if the right project comes along i will jump on it- i am just focusing on many other good projects that are more challenging to me and little less demanding. One of the things i am looking for is really the right project for me to latch on to.

    hey ap- book 2 will go tomorrow just need to sign it.

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  4. Thanks for making me feel like I suck, Travis.

    In a good way.

    ~N

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  5. nate- like i told you at s.d.cc if you remember me:) I have always enjoyed your work. you have a very unique sense of humor and the art is fantastic.:) Would love to see barry in space once though- imagine where you could go with that.

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  6. Just the thought of Barry in space makes me laugh!

    Travis, if you're still here, I have a couple of questions: are you able to making a living off the prints and stuff, or is it basically supplemental income? Where do you make you most sales, online or through actual shows?

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  7. Travis, where can we read more Star Dusters, and how can I convince you to stop using Comic Sans to letter it? I know a pretty good website for fonts. Ahem. :)

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  8. Chuck: I know huh?

    Ok to answer your questions. Make a living off of it? well if i put more effort in going to shows and pushing them - i prob could. My prints do better when i am there. I have several sizes ranging from 13x19 to the big ones. All are limited which was really important and all (which is more important) are separate (but 1) from my books and such. It opens my audience quite a bit- Especially to those not interested in my stories but are interested in my art. It's all supplemental right now, but i really don't pull into my reg income to make it happen which is nice.

    Nate: stardusters was a test that was about 3 to 4 years old- trust me i hate comic sans- one day if time permits I might drag it out and tackle it again but I am working re-hooking up with some book publishers and tackle some childrens illustrations with a comic like flare:)

    I love the blambot site as well. I am playing with a few of the fonts. I am though looking for a nice comic lettering font with lower case.

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  9. Thanks. I'm willing to bet your hand-lettering would be phenomenal. Lemme know if you ever need something custom made.

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  10. Star Dusters is fantastic. I felt a geek out moment when I thought it was still a live comic...

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