What She Does: If you visited Artist Alley at Comicpalooza earlier this year then you can't have missed the amazing and oft-times adorable artwork of Jamie Kinosian. She shows up all over the place, wherever she can set up a spot to work, and crafts some really unbelievably cute watercolor commissions at the drop of a hat. Subjects span all across geekdom, from Star Trek: The Next Generation's Data with Spot to Link from The Legend of Zelda. If you need the perfect bit of pop-culture art, then Kinosian can make that happen.
She's also moving into developing her own comics. We can look forward to a new mini-series drawn by Kinosian and written by Meredith Nudo called Face the Music. It's an eight-issue miniseries about superhero gang warfare that mainly focuses on an awkward, depressed, and aimless man who joins up with this woman he's been pining for and winds up in a boundary dispute with another gang. "Things fall apart," said Nudo when asked about the series via email. "There's also an underlying story about a dead superheroine who used to help everyone maintain cover and how everyone is creeping closer to exposure now that she's dead. But it's told via offhand, not-very-detailed comments and background imagery. A little narrative treat for sharp-eyed fans."
Kinosian got her start doing art at a very early age. She surrounded herself with a small group of friends that also drew, and they all encouraged each other to get better and better. She found the idea that you could take something in your head and recreate it on paper very powerful. It became a constant obsession that kept her up through the night, and she's been doing it ever since.
Why She Likes It: "Being able to transfer my emotions into imagery to share and connect with others with it is very liberating to me. It's my way of showing how I feel about something and letting others understand. The social aspect is also exhilarating. I love connecting with other people that are so passionate about what they do."
What Inspires Her: It's not surprising from someone that spends so much of her artistic time connecting with people at conventions about what they would like, but Kinosian is as fascinated by the relationships between people. Her work is heavily centered on the ways people change and influence each other. Concept art from Japanese RPG video games has also been a big inspiration to her as far as the exact style she uses. Among artists she favors: Amanda Conner, Karl Kerschl, and Mike Wieringo, not to mention the growing number of local comic artists here in Houston that serve as a support group.
If Not This, Than What: "Astrophysicist. Most creative types I knew hated math growing up, but they were always my favorite classes other than art. It was the only other thing I could fathom continuing to study. Then I took Astronomy in college, and it was the most inspiring and influential class I took. Afterwards I knew that it was what I would do if I wasn't so persistent in being an artist."
If Not Here, Then Where: Kinosian loves Houston and Texas in general, but she has a legitimate complaint... it's really big, No really, if you want to leave the state it can literally take more than a day's drive. This sometimes severely limits the options she has in attending conventions and other geek get-togethers some times. If she left Houston, it would be for the Northwest or Northeast because of the tighter clusters of cities.
What's Next: ". In addition to Face the Music Kinosian is also developing a webcomic of her own, Gods in New York, featuring the nymph of Central Park, Alex, and her good friend Kara. You can find teasers and the comic when it launches here.
More Creatives for 2013 (In order of most recently published; click here for the full page). Paris F. Jomadiao, mixed-media artist and stop motion animator Shanon Adams, dancer James Glassman, Houstorian historian and artist Lou Vest, photographer Sara Gaston, stage and screen star Rachael Pavlik, a writer mom Ana Villaronga-Roman, Katy Contemporary Arts Museum director Erin Wasmund, actor, singer and dancer Karim Al-Zand, composer Jan Burandt, paper conservator for The Menil Collection Deke Anderson, actor Craig Cohen, hockey fan and host of Houston Matters Mauro Luna, Poe-Inspired photographer Trond Saeverud, Galveston Symphony Orchestra music director and conductor Khrystyna Balushka, paper flower child Christina Carfora, visual artist and world traveler Sara Kumar, artistic director for Shunya Theatre Kiki Maroon, burlesque clown Gin Martini, fashion designer Lacey Crawford, painter and sculptor Homer Starkey, novelist Jenn Fox, mixed media Shohei Iwahama, dancer Erica DelGardo, metalsmith Bob Clark, executive director Houston Family Arts Center Kerrelyn Sparks, bestselling romance author Lindsay Halpin, punk rock mad hatter Drake Simpson, actor Shelby Carter, Playboy model turned photographer David Matranga, actor Crystal Belcher, pole dancer Daniel Kramer, photographer Blue 130, pin-up explosion art Nina Godiwalla, author and TED speaker David Wilhem, light painter Tom Abrahams, author and newscaster Browncoat, pin-up pop artist Kris Becker, Nu-Classical composer and pianist Vincent Fink, science fashion Stephanie Saint Sanchez, Senorita Cinema founder Ned Gayle, thrift store painting defacer Sameera Faridi, fashion designer Greg Ruhe, The Human Puppet Sophia L. Torres, founder and co-artistic director of Psophonia Dance Company Maggie Lasher, dance professor and artistic director Jordan Jaffe, founder of Black Lab Theatre Outspoken Bean, performance poet Barry Moore, architect Josh Montoute, mobile gaming specialist Ty Doran, young actor Gwen Zepeda, Houston's first Poet Laureate Joseph Walsh, principal dancer at Houston Ballet Justin Garcia, artist Buck Ross, dilettante and director of Moores Opera Center Patrick Renner, sculptor of the abstract and the esoteric Tomas Glass, abstract artist and True Blood musician Ashley Stoker, painter, photographer and Tumblr muse Amy Llanes, artistic airector of Rednerrus Feil Dance Company Bevin Bering Dubrowski, executive director at the Houston Center for Photography Lydia Hance, founder and director of Frame Dance Productions Piyali Sen Dasgupta, mixed media artist and nature lover Dean James, New York Times bestselling mystery novelist Nicola Parente, abstract painter and photographer Cheryl Schulke, handmade leather pursemaker Anthony Rathbun, Alternative Lifestyle Photographer David Salinas, computer-less analog photographer Danielle Burns, art curator Alicia DiRago, Whimseybox founder Katia Zavistovski, contemporary art curator Ashley Horn, choreographer, filmmaker Amanda Stevens, scary book author Peter Lucas, film and video curator, music lover and self-described culture-slinger Ana MarÃa Otamendi, collaborative pianist and vocal coach Billy D. Washington, comedian Michele Brangwen, choreographer and dancer Kristin Warren, actress and choreographer Kelly Sears, animator and film maker Colton Berry, Bayou City Theatrics' artistic director jhon r. stronks,dance-maker Joe Grisaffi, actor, director, writer, cinematographer
