This friendly face belongs to artist Amanda Robinson.Emerald City ComicCon is the largest pop culture convention I have been to so far, and it's definitely a struggle to find time to fit in everything I want to do. After three years, I still kind of lose track of my plan. That is especially the case when I'm on the floor in Artist Alley. I have the attention span of your average Labrador puppy. So after missing the entire row that Amanda's booth was on, I managed to stumble across it at the very end of the first day. There, I saw a kickass Wonder Woman and Princess Leia -- which always baits me. But then I saw a whole bunch of Disney Princesses and had to rush over.
Now, right about here I should probably take the time to explain that what made the princesses so cool was that Amanda had done them Roller-derby style, each one with a derby handle and an outfit that matched the character's theme. I don't care how into Disney you are or aren't. That crap is cool.
I'm now a huge fan of Amanda. The shapes of her characters are sexy, but still convey strength and personality. I'm a huge fan of minimalist character design and Amanda pulls it off in style, using brilliant colors and strong poses and expressions. The end result is that even in a huge series, like her Derby Princesses, each character stands out unmistakably from the others.
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| Click to see bigger. My favorite: Squid Vicious. |
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| She did a Val Hallen from Dexter's Lab! Now that's an artist I can instantly love. |
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