Zodi-ACK! Productions

Custom Art & Comics Since 2003 Open for Special Orders & Commissions!

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Time’s really flying this year, Shining Stars! It’s already Another Anime Con weekend and we’ll be at table 426 (in the waaaaaay back!) with SIX new buttons and TWO new prints! We’ll have our AIDA first chapter preview book with us as well, so definitely swing by and check us out! Say hello, share some Halloween candy with us~ ^_^

AAC is our last con for 2017. We just signed up for Queen City Kamikaze 2018 though, and of course will be at PopCult Anime Con ‘18 again as staff. <3 We think that might be it for us for 2018 though, this year has been really rough both personally and fiscally. The incredible feedback on our AIDA preview book has really reminded us that THAT is our true artistic calling and we’d like to take some time to properly focus on it. We’ll be back before you guys know it, hopefully with more than just a sketchy pilot! Stay tuned and see you tomorrow in Manchester!

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Hey there, Shining Stars!

It’s been too long since we last updated and felt it was time to let you know what’s been going on with us. Joanie’s father, Steve, suffered a sudden and severe heart attack in late January. He passed away on February 2nd, two days before his 63rd birthday. He was a teacher, a philosopher, and a loving goof. The loss of his love and laughter will be with us for a long time to come, but he would also be the first to encourage us to keep moving forward.

We are currently under commission for another book cover and have lots of ideas for new goodies to bring your way, so keep your eyes peeled. And check out Kids Con New England, our next event coming up in June! But while you’re at it, take a moment to let your loved ones know how much they mean to you; sometimes life doesn’t give us any warning. Stay bright, Shining Stars! -Joanie & Raye

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Special XL-Size Commission for Marcin Details: Two original characters in three positions: face to face in foreground, back to back with golden fire and silver ice in middle ground, and armored in background. Commissioner also requested the image be framed. Artist Touch: This entire exchange started with “So what’s seriously the largest size image you can make me?” After researching available paper types and sizes, the answer turned out to be 20″ x 30″. OC references were of existing characters so we worked with the commissioner to alter the designs and make them more his own. Metallic markers and glitter gel were used together to create the golden fire and silver ice, and a semi-opaque white ink was layered over the image to create the mist and smoke effects. The final image was sprayed with a sealant to protect the colors from fading and hold the glitter in place, and brought to a professional imaging center to be scanned. A pair of prints from the scanning session were also sent to the commissioner at no additional cost. From start to finish this image took about 4 months including drafting, material collection and framing.

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Commission for Lisa Details: Braska from Final Fantasy X “keeping his boys (Jecht and Auron) in line.” Artist Touch: The prompt left a lot for interpretation... and we really like shoopufs! 

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Commission for Kelly Details: Demyx from Kingdom Hearts, Squall from Final Fantasy 8 and Gladiolus from Final Fantasy 15 as an evil 80s leather rock band - the singer, guitarist and bassist respectively. Artist Touch: We spent a good deal of time looking at pics of 80s bands, designer instruments and fetish gear to get just the right look on everyone. XD

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Commission for Liz Details: Klavier Gavin from Ace Attorney as Rocky from the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Apollo Justice begrudgingly in a Frank N Furter outfit. Have Klavier putting makeup on Apollo, who is pouting.  Artist Touch: Glitter gel was employed to achieve both a sequined look on Apollo’s clothing and to add a hint of shimmer to Klavier’s skin. The final image was then sprayed with a sealant to keep the glitter in place. 

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Commission for Liz Details: Wander from Wander Over Yonder having a “play date” with Flowey from Undertale. Artist Touch: Image was kept very simple as a nod to both series’ minimalist tendencies.

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Hey there, Shining Stars! NorthEast Comic Con is just days away and our pre-con rush is well underway. Here’s some of the cool stuff you can expect to see at the Zodi-ACK! table this weekend~

As teased above, we are going to have a sneak peek special AIDA volume with us for anyone interested to take a flip through. It contains the thumbnails for the entire first chapter of our upcoming comic. Hype!!

We’ll be debuting three new Fairy Tail charms (Laxus, Bixlow and Evergreen) and discontinuing one (Jet, though he’s still available for online orders). Expect lots of changes in our charms section over the next few months as we get better at making them!

We will have what’s left of our limited edition Mochi America holiday ornaments with us for sale, as well as six hand-sewn Napstablooks (three with hats and three with headphones). There were no Flowey the Flower pots left after AAC so there won’t be any available at NECC like we said there might be - sorry!

One last note, we will NOT be taking commissions at NECC. Family issues behind the scenes plus the holidays being so close we would hate to mislead anyone looking for a commission into thinking their images could be done before the holiday with the high artistic quality we adhere to. Any truly interested patron is welcome to grab a business card and start talking to us online after the con - we’re always happy to draw for people! We just want to make sure it’s under the proper conditions and thank you all for your understanding.

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone there! Or wherever you might be this first weekend in December - Happy Holidays to you and yours from Zodi-ACK! Productions.

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Keycharm Commission for Quinn Details: Betelgeuse Romanee-Conti from Re:Zero, interacting with his Unseen Hands in some way. Artist Touch: Commissioner was given a choice of multiple pose sketches and the Unseen Hand’s outline was enhanced digitally during cleanup.

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Limited Edition Ninja Cookies and Shinigami-sama Cookies

Throwback Thursday~ We baked up batches of these for a great deal of conventions in 2007 and 2008, before a lot of hotels and convention centers cracked down on food sales and giveaways by artists. Armed with a special family recipe, we’re pretty sure these sugar-and-spice cookies kept quite a few congoers from completely starving! It was a pleasure to provide such a service to our community, but alas all good things have to come to an end. ❤

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Thanks AAC and Next Year’s Cons

A big Thank You to the staff and attendees of Another Anime Con 2016! We had a fantastic response to our new and limited products and were just tickled by all the enthusiastic reactions. Thanks for helping us celebrate 10 years of Artist Alleys!

Out next event is Winter Northeast Comic Con in Wilmington, MA on December 3-4! Also, the Tour de ACK! 2017 is already filling up so give our Appearances page a lookie if you haven’t in a while - we’re continuing to add brand new events for us to our schedule. Hope to see you there!

In the meantime, Happy Halloween Shining Stars! -Joanie & Raye

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Limited Edition Flowey the Dancing Flower Pots

On the first weekend of November 2006, we worked our very first Artist Alley as Zodi-ACK! Productions. To celebrate 10 years of selling our work, we made a another small run of modified figures featuring everyone’s best friend, Flowey the Flower! These solar-powered dancing flowers were expertly hand-painted, each with their own little bit of Flowey’s personality peeking through. All six were taken to good homes during Another Anime Con 2016.

Thanks for 10 years, Shining Stars! We wouldn’t be here without you! 

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These Napstablook Plushes are ready to find their forever companions at Another Anime Con next weekend!

Hmm, one of them seems a little... happier than usual? Oh yes! I wonder what lucky darling will get to take this cuddly star-to-be home! There’s only one of him so visit us fast - table 321 right beside Simply Smiles’ photography booth!

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Limited Edition Hand-Painted Hard Plastic Sea Salt Ice Cream Props

Throwback Thursday~ A small batch of 8 of these were brought to PortConMaine 2011 and sold out immediately. This is the only picture we ever got of them, and it’s technically a WIP. The finished products each had tan-colored handles and were dressed up with a fancy ribbon bow.

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Limited Edition Watercolor Dream Meltic Halloween Vocaloid Toss Game

One of a Kind - $30 (+S&H) Watercolor board on wooden frame with mesh bags on back. Bean bags for playing included.  Great for Halloween parties! Send us a message to purchase.

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“A huge thank you to the staff and attendees of------” I’ve written that line after nearly every convention we’ve attended on one piece of social media or another and while it’s always been the same words, it’s always been very heartfelt.

But it also always came very easy.

It’s been about a month since PopCult Anime Con’s debut weekend and I think I’m only just barely recovering from the experience. The usual words, or something similar, should have been posted by now but they just didn’t feel right. We needed something more. I think I can finally put them together now.

A huge thank you to the attendees of the first annual PopCult Anime Con! Your support helped to directly launch a whole new type of convention experience that will continue to develop in the years to come. To you, it was a fun new convention (and we are so thrilled to be hearing that you all had such fun!) but to the organizing staff it was a dream come true that simply couldn’t have happened without you.

A massive shout out to the artists who took the risk on our brand new convention! Joanie and I will always have a warm spot in our hearts for each of you, the first group of talents we had the pleasure of organizing for. For anyone who missed PCAC or was too caught up in the rest of our programming to swing by the Artist Alley, here’s one final list of the first annual PopCult Anime Con’s fantastic artists!

One Lovely Sin (official convention artist)

C’lay la Vie

Coventry Decor

Lollerblob

phoodledoodles

Scrumpy Illustrations

Studio at Four Oaks

Wafflebubble

To our fellow PCAC staff - you guys rock! We’re so happy to have met you and feel lucky that we’ve been brought together with such great people to put on a new type of event like this. The passion and expertise, energy and hard work we channeled as a unit created something amazing - this is a whole new sort of a bond for us. We’re still getting to know one another of course, a lot of our focus stays on our personal tasks and sometimes those even make us butt heads here and there but overall this experience has been so moving and beautiful. Let’s keep it going into next year! #DoItForHarambe

Aaaaand last one, thank you doesn’t even begin to cover what we want to say to our supreme boss, the innovative mastermind, the hilarious creator - the PCAC Convention Chair. Thank you for inviting us onto your team. For the trust, the teamwork, the laughter and tears. For sharing your dream and letting it also become ours. The trip-ups along the way only make us more excited to handle things even better next year! I can only hope you’re as proud of us as we are of you. Congratulations on a successful convention! <3

Our next show is Another Anime Convention in Manchester, NH on October 14-16! See you there, Shining Stars! -Raye (& Joanie)

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PopCult Anime Con

...is this weekend! It’s coming up fast! And we’d have made a reminder post sooner but we also happen to be the Artist Alley Coordinators. Being on convention staff is a whole new experience than the usual pre-con rush... it’s been crazy but also incredibly fulfilling.

Since this con has become so dear to our hearts, we’re really looking forward to seeing who turns out for our first year. We’ll be at the very first table in the vending room all weekend so if you get the chance between all the incredible programming to come in and say hello - please do! And stay for a spell, you won’t be disappointed! The other artists we have lined up to be there are absolutely out of this world! <3