Shari Chankhamma

Hello Fellow Utilikiltarians!

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The sketch that Shari did of me in one of my Utilikilts was just featured in this month’s anti-catalogue newsletter!

Here’s the relevant excerpt, off of page four, which also shows off some sketches done of fellow kilted photographer Joe Hunt, a.k.a. Photognome:

Next up, we have a certain Mr. Michael Hanscom, a ponytailed (but maybe not for long!) Seattle resident with a penchant for Star Trek. Michael’s most recent contact with us included an idea for a custom Utilikilt* (one which unfortunately, due to a number of reasons, didn’t get off the ground). After chatting for a bit back and forth, he shared the following sketch that he commissioned of himself (Artwork by Shari Chankhamma.)

(Sketch redacted because, well, it is plastered all over this website…)

His only requirement for the sketch was that he be wearing his Utilikilt*. What a fabulous piece of art!

Michael was in attendance at the recent Norwescon here in Seattle, and you can see his pictures and read more about his adventures here.

Nice! I’d originally dropped Jenneviere a line via Facebook to let her know about the sketch, and we ended up having a nice little chat. Apparently she’s been keeping tabs on me since then, as evidenced by the mentions of Norwescon (of which I’m still processing photographs from, but you can see what’s up so far in a few sets in my Cons and Conventions collection) and the soon-to-be-disappearing ponytail. ;)

If there’s anyone stopping by thanks to the mention in the Anti-Catalogue…howdy! Some of you local to the Seattle area may have seen me around from time to time, and if you’re hosting photographs on Flickr, you may have had me bug you to contribute photos to the Utilikilts fans Flickr group, which I’ve been moderating for a couple years now.

Good to (virtually) “meet” all of you, and thanks to Jenneviere and the rest of the crew at Utilikilts for the kind mention and the awesome clothing!

The New Me

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Last week sometime, I was brainstorming with ways to personalize the design of my site a bit while still working within my limited artistic and design sensibilities. On a whim, I emailed Shari, a comic artist whose blog I’ve been reading and whose artwork I enjoy, to see if she might be willing to sketch a version of me that I’d be able to work into the design somehow.

Shari was kind enough to agree, and since I didn’t have a particular image or pose in mind beyond knowing that I wanted to be wearing a Utilikilt, I directed her to my Narcissism set on Flickr and let her go to town.

A day or so later, Shari sent me a first set of preliminary sketches. There were a number of versions of ‘me’ that looked very promising, but down in the middle of the page was a funny little very anime-style version that she’d dubbed the ‘Valiant Camera Warrior’ which I got a big kick out of. When I wrote back to confirm that I liked the direction she was heading with the sketches, I also mentioned how much I enjoyed the Valiant Camera Warrior.

A couple days later she sent me the final artwork…and I was floored! Not only has Shari come up with an incredible comic version of ‘me,’ but she went ahead and inked the Valiant Camera Warrior as a bonus! I’ve worked the artwork into a few different places into the site design now, but under the cut are larger versions of her work.

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