UW-Stout sophomore Mackenzie Burke, a member of the campus group Comic Creators, enjoyed not only creating Valentine’s Day cards to help raise money for the organization but also believed it encouraged her to do her best work.
Comic Creators will sell $1 and $5 cards from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 12-13, in the Memorial Student Center.
Members drew the original artworks, which were then reproduced for the cards. The $1 cards are 4½ by 5½ inches in black and white; the $5 cards are 8½ by 5½ inches on a thicker paper and in color. The club also created $20 custom cards that had to be preordered.
On a $1 card Burke drew a robot and wrote about how artificial intelligence is taking over the world, but the card buyer wants to take over the world with their valentine. “I just like robots, and I like sci-fi,” said Burke, 20, an entertainment design animation major from St. Michael, Minn.
Creating the cards helped her practice drawing, Burke said. “It pushes me to do the best I can. It is outside school, so it also adds some variety. It’s nice to draw outside of schoolwork.”
Comic Creators, which has about two dozen members, organized about five years ago. The cards have been the group’s main fundraiser for about three years.
This year is the first time they have sold cards in the student center; usually it has been in Micheels Hall atrium, said senior entertainment design major Maureen Heaster, of Sussex, who is concentrating in comics and sequential art.
“A lot of people like a cute Valentine’s Day card,” she said. “They are not just romantic cards; we also have cards for friends or people you just like. We have a variety.”
The $20 custom cards are full color and personalized, Heaster said, noting the group plans to sell cards again next year. Organization members must apply to make the custom cards.
“We want it to be beautiful and high quality,” she noted. “It will be one of a kind, just for your sweetheart or child.”
Last year Kaitlin Bruder, 22, a senior majoring in entertainment design with a comics concentration, said she created a card of a professor’s son playing soccer. “It’s so much fun for people who don’t do art. It’s personalized, and there is only one in the world,” said Bruder, of New Prague, Minn.
All the artists volunteer their time. “It’s a cool event,” Bruder said. “Members get the experiences of talking to people and pitching their work as artists. I am excited it is going to be in the (student center) because we will get more foot traffic, and more people will see our work.”
###
Photo
Black-and-white cards sell for $1 and color cards for $5.
