Monday, December 29, 2014

Steampunk Asian Zodiac 2015 Calendar

I completed the Steampunk Asian Zodiac 2015 Calendar and I have a limited number on hand after shipping out the Kickstarter rewards. Closed, the calender is 8.5x10.5 inches. Open, the calendar is 10.5x17 inches. It's $18 with USA domestic shipping and $38 for international shipping respectively. I've posted some of the illustrations below, but check out the link here to see all the art from the calendar. Email me at kl at karenluk dot net, if you're interested.

Cover:

January:

February:

March:


April:

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Nanomango challenge comic

I've been posting comic layouts for the one-comic-a-day challenge for November, known as Nanomango. Here are the four pages from a single story - Not All Monsters. I'll do another post with the second story later.





Friday, October 31, 2014

Holiday Boutiques

I'm doing two holiday boutiques this month. The first one is November 1st and 2nd at Santa Teresa High School in San Jose, CA. Check out the flyer below for more information.

The second one is in Fremont, CA at the Nile's Veteran Hall and is sponsored by a local Girl Scout Troop. That's happening on November 29th. More details to follow later.


Sunday, September 21, 2014

Site maintenance

My portfolio site is undergoing maintenance/upgrade, so certain pages like the Shop are not available right now. Apologies for the inconvenience!

Wednesday, September 03, 2014

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Steam Chef

Here's the latest painting for the Steampunk Asian Zodiac 2015 Calendar: Steam Chef.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Still painting

I'm still working on the illustrations for the Steampunk Asian Zodiac 2015 Calendar. Here's the latest one: Monkey King. More to come soon!

Monday, July 21, 2014

Under 10 hours left!

My current Kickstarter, Steampunk Asian Zodiac 2015 Calendar, has less than 10 hours to go. Please check it out for my latest artwork. I'd appreciate your support!

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Upcoming Kickstarter

A preview illustration for my upcoming Steampunk Asian Zodiac 2015 Calendar Kickstarter; Flying Pig. Launching soon!

Wednesday, June 04, 2014

Upcoming calendar Kickstarter

Here's the cover for my upcoming calendar Kickstarter, featuring animals from the Asian zodiac in a steampunk style.

Friday, May 23, 2014

FanimeCon 2014!

I don’t usually do fan art, but when I do, it comes out like this. I have a limited number of prints available at FanimeCon 2014. Come by Artist Alley table #401 in the Grand Ballroom, if you want to get one! I have my comics and steampunk goodies available too.

On Sunday, I'm doing a panel on Crowdfunding 101 at 12 noon, Panels 4 room located at the Fairmont Hotel.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Fanime 2014

I have a table at FanimeCon 2014 which runs May 23rd to 26th over Memorial Day weekend. Table number 401.

In addition, I have a panel on crowdfunding. Here's the official title and description.
Crowdfunding 101: Fun & Profit
When: May 25th, Sunday, 12 to 1 pm
Location: Panels 4 at the Fairmont Hotel, FanimeCon
Want to crowdfund your next creative project? Confused about the differences between Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Patreon? Come and learn from Karen Luk who has successfully created and funded two Kickstarter projects. Find out if crowdfunding can help you make your project a reality!

Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Manga classes, ahead!

I just booked my 13th manga drawing workshop for June. Looking forward to a busy month! See the list here: 

Friday, April 11, 2014

The Sapling, page 1

Trying out a different style for my comics, so here's the first page of a new comic short.

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Steampunk Animal 2014 Calendar Kickstarter, four months later


Steampunk Animal 2014 Calendar was my second Kickstarter. The print run and the funding goal was a tenth of my previous campaign for Steampunk ABC at 100 calendars for a funding goal of $900. I completed the calendar in a two months' span, including running the Kickstarter for three weeks, a few events, and shipping 96% of the rewards. Working with a US printer also made it easier to meet the shipping deadline because the printing turnaround was days, not a couple months.

Given the limited time frame to get the calendars shipped out in December, I did not promote the campaign as heavily as the Steampunk ABC one. I was focused on finishing all the illustrations and design work. I used my social media contacts, posted on a couple steampunk forums, and shared the campaign with Steampunk ABC backers. Nearly half of the backers were from previous Steampunk ABC Kickstarter.

The campaign was funded twice over, but I lost a backer once the payments were processed, leaving a final total of $1787 with 67 backers. I ended up doing a print run of 150, instead of the proposed 100, so I could sell the calendar at holiday events. I had three international backers in Australia, United Kingdom, and Croatia respectively. The rest of the backers were in the US. With the increased print run, packaging, and postage, the total was $926. After paying that and Kickstarter fees, I netted $695 before taxes. The Kickstarter campaign pre-sold 84 calendars along with the other rewards. From various holiday sales of the calendar, I gained another $300 gross.

From the Steampunk ABC Kickstarter, I learned that doing sketches and watercolor commissions took too much time to complete. I enjoy doing them for the backers, so I scaled down similar offerings for the calendar. The short time frame to get everything done and shipped out on time was also part of that decision. All the Steampunk Animal Calendar rewards were claimed by the backers. Had I kept the original print run of 100, the funding goal of $900 would have covered all the fees and various reward expenditures. The Steampunk Animal 2014 Calendar was right on the mark for its funding goal.

If you missed out on the original Kickstarter, you can get the Steampunk Animal 2014 Calendar now at a discounted price. I have a limited supply left, so have at them!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Manga Mania Workshops

I'm currently booking Manga Mania workshops for this spring through June. Check out Instruction for more information!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Final set of RPG Class Challenge

Check out the RPG tag to see the rest of them.

26 - Dancer

27 - Politician 

28 - Engineer 

29 - Summoner 

30 - Blacksmith 

31 - Gambler 

Friday, February 07, 2014

Penultimate set of RPG Class Challenge

Here's the penultimate set of the RPG Class Challenge. One more update and that will wrap up this round.

20 - Bounty Hunter

21 - Alchemist

22 - Berserker

23 - Beast Trainer

24 - Strategist

25 - Mime

Friday, January 31, 2014

25% off sale

To celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Horse, I'm having a 25% sale off everything (prints, steampunk books, and more!) in my online shop. You'll need to sign up for my mailing list to get the discount code. Details here: http://karenluk.net/25-off-sale/

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Return of the RPG Class Challenge

I had started a second round of RPG Class Challenge, but then I launched a successful Kickstarter for Steampunk Animal 2014 Calendar. So, I'm finishing up this second round of class designs. Check out the rpg label for the rest of them.

15 - Death Mage
16 - Jack of Trades
17 - Geomancer
18 - Beast Alchemist
19 - Adventurer

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

AOD this weekend, January 25th & 26th

Here are the books I'll have at Animation On Display (AOD) this weekend. I'll be in the Grand Ballroom ABCD, table P02. I'll have a selection of prints available too. Come on by!