Local artists, performers share talent at SLC Comic Con

Local artists, performers share talent at SLC Comic Con

(Sara Jarman)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Big name celebrities such as Carrie Fisher, Tom Felton and Christopher Lloyd traveled many miles to visit the Salt Lake Comic Con FanXperience this weekend, but they weren’t the only artists worth seeing.

Dozens of performers and artists here in Utah shared their talent with thousands of local fans. If you’re headed to Comic Con, here are a few local vendors to check out.

Spencer Douglas and Kurt Michaelson

Spencer Douglas grew up loving comic books, so he turned his hobby of reading them into a talent for sketching. Douglas has since become less interested in comics themselves, but loves drawing characters from movies and TV shows.

Regularly, Douglas takes requests from people and draws their favorite characters from stories such as Captain America, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Star Wars. Douglas sells prints based on his original artwork on his website and at Comic Con. He even takes requests on the spot at Comic Con and produces someone’s favorite character on paper within half an hour.

This is Douglas’ third Salt Lake Comic Con where he said he enjoys getting direct feedback.

Douglas also convinced his brother-in-law, artist Kurt Michaelson, to accompany him to Comic Con. Michaelson grew up “drawing dorky characters,” he said, and has used his career in graphic design to design simple characters in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. At Comic Con, he was selling sticker versions of his artwork.

Blaine Taggart

Taggart also draws characters, but his drawings come from original designs rather than existing characters. Most of his clients make up their own characters while participating in live-action role-playing or video gaming, such as Dungeons and Dragons and World of Warcraft. Taggart custom-makes drawings of what his clients’ characters look like.

Paul Draper performs magic tricks for kids at Salt Lake Comic Con. (Photo: Sara Jarman)
Paul Draper performs magic tricks for kids at Salt Lake Comic Con. (Photo: Sara Jarman)

Prior to this career, Taggart had a freelance job drawing characters for video games. Taggart said he isn’t very interested in fantasy, but his fans and clients have helped him enjoy drawing the characters. To see Taggart’s work, visit his website.

Paul Draper

Paul Draper performs as a mentalist magician all over the country, but he calls Utah home. The first two times Draper participated in Salt Lake’s Comic Con, he entertained thousands of people in his shows, but this time, he said he is here to perform magic tricks for people who look bored.

“I like to see the fireworks in people’s eyes when they see something that is impossible,” Draper said. “The moment of awe that comes over someone’s face where suddenly the universe has become a bigger place.”

Draper is involved in the Salt Lake community and has worked with high school theater students. He helped fundraise $125 million for Weber State University’s 125th anniversary and $60 million for the Browning Center’s new theater seats.

Lance Conrad

Local man Lance Conrad has been writing since middle school and has published three books through Dawn Star Press. Conrad’s “The Price and Creation” and “The Price of Nobility” are part of the same series but can be read in any order. His third book, “The Weight of Swords” is a separate story.

Conrad speaks at middle schools and high schools, motivating students to do something active instead of sitting on the couch. To learn more about Conrad’s work, visit his blog.

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Megan Marsden Christensen

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