Youth artists in the spotlight at Petaluma’s LumaCon

When a group of Petaluma librarians, teachers and artists launched the first LumaCon comic art convention in 2015, their goal was twofold: to put on a first-class celebration of comic books, comic art and graphic novels while also elevating the student artists they invited to the level of the more famous artists they hoped might also attend.

That’s why the eighth annual LumaCon, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, will feature lots of young, local up-and-comers including Petaluma’s Loren Castillo, Tasha Garibaldi and Vita Langst alongside established artists and illustrators such as Alexis E. Fajardo (“Kid Beowulf”), illustrator Emily C. Martin, cartoonist Brian Fies, fantasy artist Matt Gaser and comic book creator Donna Almendrala.

“The youth artists were always the main motivator in LumaCon’s creation,” said Nathan Libecap, librarian at Casa Grande High School and a LumaCon founder. “To tell the truth, when we originally created LumaCon we recruited the professional artists mainly as a supplemental element just to get people in the door.”

Teaming up with other librarians from the Petaluma Regional Library and Petaluma High School, Libecap and company recognized there were many opportunities for school students to show their talents in sports, academics and service-focused activities like Scouts, but few where they could show off their artistic skills.

“So the librarians in Petaluma were motivated to create a Comic Convention-like atmosphere for Petaluma youth to have the experience of what it could be like to be a professional creative,” Libecap said.

Several years later, the formula has proven a success. LumaCon has become one of the most-anticipated and well-attended arts events of the year. After pivoting in 2022 to an online version (due to last January’s COVID-19 resurgence), followed by a memorably breezy outdoor event in March at the Petaluma Fairgrounds, LumaCon is returning this year to the Petaluma Community Center at Lucchesi Park.

There will be a cosplay contest and parade, live-action role-playing games and workshops on making comic books and stop-motion animation. Rooms will be dedicated to crafts, drawing and gaming. “Star Wars” re-enactors from Rebel Legion Endor Base and the 501st Legion will attend. And the Artists’ Alley will showcase work by dozens of student artists alongside work from some of the Bay Area’s most influential and successful comic creators.

As an artist, Langst goes by the name Le Art Squirrel. Langst participated in LumaCon for the first time in 2019 and has sold work at each event since, including the online event.

“I had been in the sixth grade and my teacher at the time, Michael Watt, suggested I get a booth” at LumaCon, Langst recalled. “I made and sold hand-painted watercolor cards. Looking back, my art has changed so much since then!”

Although Langst enjoys many art forms, she said her style is always developing.

“I mostly work in both traditional art mediums, such as drawing and painting, and digital arts,” she said. “I sell prints, candles, stickers, cards and also do commissions.” She described herself as “an exceedingly strange teen artist” and she sells her work through her website (leartsquirrel.com).

“I don’t really have a specific audience,” Langst said. “I do make traditional art, but I think it takes more of a specific type of weirdo to appreciate frog saint candles.”

Among Langst’s many off-the-wall visions are quirky fusions of famous religious art and that aforementioned frog, a constant character in her work. She said she is looking forward to this year’s LumaCon and is especially glad the event will be taking place indoors.

“I remember LumaCon last year very well,” she said. “I spent the whole time trying to hold my art down so it wouldn’t blow away.”

LumaCon has been valuable in helping her to grow as an artist, she believes.

“It has helped me figure out what people will and won’t buy, how to price things, and has helped me spread my name in the art world,” she said.

Another local artist participating this year is Castillo, who operates at the LumaCon as Ink Shark Studios.

“Ink Shark Studios consists of me and a rotating lineup of friends who like to sell our art at the convention,” explained Castillo, who lives in Petaluma and has been attending LumaCon since 2016, when they were 15 years old (Castillo uses they/them pronouns).

That first year, Castillo was not yet participating as an artist.

“I was helping out as a volunteer, decked out in cosplay,” they said. “Being in the Artist Alley wasn’t really on my mind yet. But I got to help a few artists set up. I remember helping Ellis Kim, a professional comic artist who has been tabling at the convention regularly. Talking to Ellis and seeing all their art prints, comics, pin badges, the entire setup got me thinking, ‘Why don’t I do this? This rocks.’”

The next year, Ink Shark Studios was up and running with its own table in Artists’ Alley. This year, Castillo will be participating with Arie Mendez, an art student at Sonoma State who has shared a table with Castillo at LumaCon in the past. Castillo specializes in what they call “digital character art,” viewable on Instagram at @InkSharkStudios.

“My style is like a weird little salad of influences,” they said. “It looks like if western comic books, realism, manga and a sinful pinch of the webcomic ‘Homestuck’ melted together.” Those were the kinds of art Castillo was interested in when they first started drawing as a teenager.

“I draw mostly for personal projects. The latest has been character design and scene artwork for ‘Monster of the Week,’ which is a tabletop role-play game that I run for my friends. Like ‘Dungeons and Dragons,’ but a little more ‘X-Files’ than ‘Ye Olde Fantasy.’”

Castillo recently has begun making concert flyers for local bands and musicians. Admitting they’ve never been especially focused on building the business side of their art, Castillo said they are content to let people discover Ink Shark Studios by chance.

“I make what I like, and it turns out that a surprising amount of people happen to like that, too,” they said. “That includes mostly people who like web comics, animation, video games — the things I enjoy, the things that fellow dorks go to conventions to find. Drawing those things that make me happy will always be my priority when it comes to artwork.”

That approach clearly has been working. Castillo said some regular attendees seek out the Ink Shark booth every year, sometimes commissioning special projects and even bringing gifts, as one fan did.

“I haven’t seen them lately,” Castillo said, “but it warmed my heart that someone would do something like that.”

Compared to most of the massive comic conventions, like Comic-Con in San Diego, at which better-known artists have appeared, what the Petaluma operation offers young artists is a place to practice the skills needed to participate in more expansive comic-themed conventions.

“LumaCon has been useful to me as an artist because it is an extremely good way to introduce yourself into the Artist Alley scene without diving headfirst into an intimidatingly large, $200-table-space convention,” Castillo said. “The folks that put on LumaCon are very good about helping us feel comfortable and offering communication and support.”

According to Libecap, Castillo was one of the first youth artists to participate in LumaCon and is known for their professional presentations and for helping set up the event’s first cosplay contest.

“Loren was instrumental in establishing LumaCon as a legitimate place to share and sell student original artwork through the recruitment of other youth artists,” he said.

Garibaldi, born and raised in Petaluma, attended several LumaCon gatherings as an enthusiastic cosplay participant before deciding in 2020 to set up her own table as a youth artist. She has long specialized in making whimsical characters out of perler beads, small plastic pieces also called fuse beads that can be arranged into designs and fused together with an iron. Most of Garibaldi’s designs are inspired by video games or anime characters.

“It was a success! I sold so many!” Garibaldi said of that first year participating in LumaCon. At the time, she went by her artist’s name of TashuDaCashew. This year will be Garibaldi’s third LumaCon, and having graduated from high school, her first as a professional artist. Today, she sells her creations under the name Cashew Designs.

“I spend the whole year making beads in my free time,” she said. “I like to Google what’s popular for the year and then make them out of the beads.”

“What sets Tasha apart is her work ethic,” Libecap said of Garibaldi. “She was one of the first youth artists to figure out the business side of being a professional artist, and she often made the most single-day money from selling her artwork.”

Asked to define her market, to describe who it is she makes her brightly colored creations for, Garibaldi replied, “I don’t have a particular age audience. People of all ages buy my art, so I try to make a wide variety of things that everyone will enjoy.”

Being a cosplayer, Garibaldi combines her talents for LumaCon.

“Every year I cosplay as a video game character or anime character while selling my art,” she said. “I am not too sure what I will be this year, though.”

That fusing of enthusiasms, as tightly melded as the beads she makes her creatures and characters from, is a perfect summation of what LumaCon has come to mean to Garibaldi, as an artist and as a businessperson with an appreciation for whimsy and fantasy.

“LumaCon is always a very fun experience for me,” she said. “Seeing people talk about my artwork and buy it is a dream come true. I love it when people ask me questions or put in special requests. As an artist, LumaCon has helped me meet similar artists like me. It has helped get my art out there to a bigger audience.”