 The application period for our San Diego Comic-Con 2020 Sponsored Artist has closed, and our Selection Committee has really got its work cut out for it.
THANK YOU to all of the artists who applied! We’ll be posting updates in the coming weeks and letting you know where we are in the selection process. Best of luck to all applicants!  WE HAVE LIFTOFF!
The search for our San Diego Comic-Con 2020 Sponsored Artist begins NOW! This will mark our 7th year in service to the art and fandom community, where we provide early-career artists a life-changing opportunity to attend and exhibit at San Diego Comic-Con International. Do you know a talented visual artist, illustrator, painter, sculptor, or videographer? Are YOU one? Inspire and be inspired -- APPLY TODAY! Click for more information and our application form: http://bit.ly/kwfsdcc2020  Dear Friends and Followers:
After an exhaustive (some would say exhaustING) evaluation process, the outcome of which was heavily-debated, we have selected our San Diego Comic Con Sponsored Artist for 2019. It is with tremendous pride and excitement that we present our Sponsored Artist, Peter "Attack Peter" Santa-Maria! From the beginning, part of the mission of the Kevin Workman Foundation has been not only to try to cultivate the best and the brightest rising-star visual artists, but also to expose work that is fresh and unusual to a much wider audience. We know you will agree that Peter’s art definitely qualifies. Peter has a unique process and style worthy of being seen by many, many more people, and Comic Con will present him with a fantastic opportunity to accomplish exactly that. Here we present a small sampling of Peter’s work, but we encourage you to visit his website to see more of his incredible art: https://www.attackpeter.com/ Congratulations to Peter and our most sincere appreciation and thanks to *everyone* who applied: it is our great honor to see so much incredible artwork and talk with some amazing artists during the selection process -- believe us when we say that we truly DO wish we could select more than one! Each winter at the Kevin Workman Foundation brings a new season of artist nominations for our Sponsored Artist program, and an ever-higher bar of talent in the application pool. Reviewing portfolios, receiving advice and mentorship from the professional artists on our review board, and chatting with nominees during interviews is a high point of my year. And as I wrapped up the selection process with KWF's board, 2018 began with a feeling of inspiration and certainty that the Foundation's decision to sponsor Micaela Dawn for 2018's San Diego Comic-Con was the right one. Micaela is a freelance illustrator with several awards under her belt, and an impressive CV. Her work has been featured in Spectrum 23, on covers of Victor Lavalle's Destroyer series and Saladin Ahmed's Abbott, and several international galleries. But Miceala didn't arrive at her bold, colorful, confident style by traveling along a clear path through placid meadows of creative inspiration. There were reversals and switchbacks as she scouted a trail through forests of uncertainty that were at times confusing and dark. Talking with Micaela, and learning about her through the story of her artistic works, I'm reminded that courage is not about how you feel, but about what you do. Let's take a look.  The Gold Within - www.micaeladawn.com Happy New Year! It's 2018 and here at the Kevin Workman Foundation we are excited to be searching for this years SDCC Sponsored Artist. For those not familiar with this unique program, each year the KWF sponsors an artist to attend San Diego Comic-Con International, one of the largest conventions of its kind in the world. KWF provides the artist with a conference badge to the sold out show, a portion of the KWF booth to showcase their portfolio, hotel accommodations, and a travel stipend. This is a one of a kind opportunity for a promising artist to display their work at San Diego Comic-Con. There are only a few days left to apply for the 2018 program, please help us spread the word and if you are an artist yourself, please do apply. REad about previous years sponsored artists SDCC experiences2017 - Kelly mckernan Read about Kelly's experience here.  2016 - Candice Broersma  The Man at Burning Man: Photo credit: Michael Holden Each year, tens of thousands of aspirants, some Bacchanalian, some serene, some creative, some banal, yet all adventurous, converge on the Black Rock Desert for the Burning Man festival. For a few days, a massive city sprawls on an ancient dry lake bed in the alkali dust, and a bunch of dirty hippies and/or cultural pilgrims gather to be very, very weird. In the process of expressing this weirdness, some incredibly majestic, technologically advanced, and downright breathtaking art is displayed. Many in the KWF community have deep connections to Burning Man. In 2017, some of us returned to the wide expanse of "the Playa" to experience the art, and be inspired. Here are some of the highlights.
It’s summer of 1987, and I’m in the sweltering heat of downtown San Diego, walking with my friend Brian to introduce him to another friend, Kevin, and it’s making me anxious. This is going to be one of those “world’s collide” kind of meetings. Brian I grew up with, and though we attended different high schools we’re still best friends thanks to our long-running game of D&D. Kevin I met through a bulletin board system (BBS), and though meeting someone “online” is perfectly normal by today’s standards, back then it was so nerdy that even nerds would sneer at its nerdiness. Yet as Brian and I walked from Comic-Con over to the Burger King, I assured him once again that Kevin was cool. Kevin was one of us. Kevin was good people. It didn’t help that when we finally spot him, Kevin’s barreling down the sidewalk, in 100 degree heat, wearing a leather trench coat that would make Harry Dresden proud. He loved to say “let your geek flag fly” and lived by that advice, even back then. Anyway, he looks, and I think wanted to project, a blend of Roland Deschain and Rick Deckard (which I’m only realizing now share the same initials). Half Gunslinger, half Blade Runner. They say dress for the job you want, and Kevin was nothing if not ahead of his time. That was the first San Diego Comic-Con where I hung out with both Kevin and Brian (who now helps run the KWF), and my anxiety over those worlds colliding were unfounded, largely due to Kevin being Kevin. The introduction went off without a hitch. Worlds didn’t collide so much as merge. That was just how Kevin was. Drop him into any conversation in the world and I have no doubt that within minutes he’d have those gathered laughing and hanging on his every word. We quickly found that we all shared a love for art and technology. These things anchored the friendship we developed that summer, and so it’s absolutely perfect that these are the cornerstones of what the Kevin Workman Foundation is trying to accomplish in my late friend’s name. I hope you’ll consider supporting their efforts.  Jason M. Hough 7/12/2017
 Harbinger, www.kellymckernan.com I like a lot of things about what I do here at KWF. But my favorite moments, by far, are those spent discovering, interviewing, and getting to know the stories of our sponsored artists. I approach this year's artist, Kelly McKernan, with great excitement. I and the rest of the KWF team give her mad props for the professional, structured, committed approach she takes towards advancing her craft. And we love the vibrant, emotive, inspired look and feel of her art. There's something elemental here in Kelly's creations. Pausing to take them in feels like connecting with another plane of existence, one waiting just an eyeblink away, a place we would've missed without her careful guidance.
Kelly's art is clearly influenced by the emotions, trials, tribulations, and triumphs of her personal life. We can follow her work, like signposts, and see the way she's journeyed through a personal and creative life on the precipice of sweeping changes. There is tremendous power in this authenticity. It whisks us to far-flung locales perched on richly surreal terrain, inhabited by the majestic, haunting, and bizarre. So read on. Let's learn more. |
AuthorKevin Workman Foundation CategoriesArchives
March 2020
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