by Lorie Lewis Ham

It’s almost time for Ani-Me Con in Fresno again and I can hardly wait! It is a fun weekend of cosplayers, voice actors, special guests, music, food trucks, and a ton of booths filled with art, anime merchandise, and more! This year’s Con will be taking place at the Fresno Fairgrounds on March 15 and 16. Each year we interview one of the local artists with a booth at the current year’s Ani-Me Con and this year it is Fresno artist Christopher Cayco. Fun tidbit, we have been covering the Rogue Festival this past week and Christopher designed a past Rogue Festival Muse.

KRL: Are you originally from Fresno? If not, how did you end up here?

Christopher: I was born and raised in Fresno. I have moved around a lot: Santa Cruz, Chicago, Sacramento, but I always seem to find my way back.

KRL: Where did you go to school?

Christopher: Sunnyside High School, then technical school in Sacramento Universal Technical Institute.

KRL: What type of art do you do?

Christopher: The artwork I do for clients and conventions often focuses on western superheroes and anime characters. There’s a heavy emphasis on early 2000s anime in my fan art. My live-streams, which are often educational in nature, focus on studying every aspect of more traditional fundamentals.

KRL: What mediums do you work with and why?

Christopher: I am primarily a traditional artist, working with alcohol inks and brushes. But I also do a lot of digital artwork, especially with client work.

KRL: How long have you been an artist?

Christopher: 12 years.

KRL: Did you always know you wanted to be an artist?

Christopher: No. I worked as an auto mechanic for years before I started drawing at 25 years old. Even when I left the automotive field, I didn’t have art in mind. I just knew I didn’t want to work on cars forever. Becoming an artist was a slow development over time through taking small private design jobs online.

KRL: Where can people purchase your art?

Christopher: My artwork is available online (ccayco.storenvy.com) and at conventions in-person.

KRL: When did you first start selling your art?

Christopher: I started selling my artwork in person around mid-2014. For about a year before that, I was taking private commission work online which mostly consisted of custom trading card game playmats and anime artwork.

KRL: Is this your first time selling your art at Ani-Me Con in Fresno? If not, what do you like best about selling at this event?

Christopher: I’ve sold my artwork at Ani-Me many times, though I can’t recall which years. It being a local convention for me is always appealing. Every other convention, there’s always so much traveling costs involved.

KRL: What type of art will you be bringing to this year’s Ani-Me Con?

Christopher: Ani-Me Con being an anime show, I will prioritize bringing my work that focuses on that topic. Every type of show will demand different things from an artist, and bringing prints to an anime show is a safe bet. Whereas something like a comic book convention I would focus more on bringing original ink artwork to sell.

KRL: Where will your booth be located?

Christopher: I have not been given my table placement yet. It’s not uncommon for conventions, both big and small, to not give details to their vendors and artists until just a few weeks leading up to the event.

KRL: Where can people find you online?

Christopher: youtube.com/ccayco or twitch.tv/ccaycoart.

KRL: Anything you would like to add?

Christopher: I have a lot of things I want to do with my art, but most of those things I like to keep to myself. But I think the one thing I can share is that I’ve been pivoting away from anime and fan art really hard lately, and it would be an amazing goal to be able to make a living completely off of that type of work instead of what I’m doing now. Change is always good.

You can purchase tickets to this year’s Ani-Me Con on their website, and at the door. Be sure to check and support some of the local artists while you are there.

All artwork is Christopher Cayco’s and all photos provided by him as well.

Lorie Lewis Ham is our Editor-in-Chief and a contributor to various sections, coupling her journalism experience with her connection to the literary and entertainment worlds. Explore Lorie’s mystery writing at Mysteryrat’s Closet. Lorie’s latest mystery novel, One of Us, is set in the Tower District of Fresno and the world of community theatre!