On April 15, the third annual Clemson Art Book Fair and Zine Fest took place in the Gunnin Architecture Library located in Lee Hall. The annual event provides students with the opportunity to showcase their creative work.
Works featured at the event included numerous art books, zines, posters and other materials, including additional printed and digital creations. In showcasing their creations, students also had the opportunity to sell some of their works, allowing attendees to take home original pieces and support fellow Clemson students.
Among the artists at the event presenting a variety of creative works was Liza Valero, a senior visual arts major with an emphasis in painting. Valero had numerous pieces on display, ranging from posters to prints to photocards.
Valero spoke to The Tiger at the event and explained that she currently has work in the Lee Gallery as part of her senior thesis. As for her inspiration for participating in the event, she said art has always been something she is very fond of, and that the event gave her the opportunity to showcase those feelings.
“I’ve always loved zines and prints and stickers and cards,” Valero said. “It’s the most fun ever to scan my work and then be able to sell it to a lot of people in a small forum.”
Among her various art pieces were multiple fan art drawings, featuring Snoopy from the “Peanuts” cartoons, Funtime Foxy from Five Nights at Freddy’s and Lapras from Pokemon. Valero mentioned that fan art is popular because of large fan bases, which gives her the opportunity to reach more people.
“I do have some fan art because it’s pretty marketable,” Valero said, adding that she likes drawing her favorite characters, and “a bunch of people tend to enjoy it too because they’re like, ‘oh, I know that. I know that thing.’”
Another student at the event was Michael Dutton, a junior graphic design major. Dutton’s work differed from many of the other works showcased at the event, as his creations were primarily motion picture-based.
When explaining the inspiration behind his works, Dutton said he wanted to help ease concerns some may have about the film industry, given its often high costs.
“I just wanted to share a very DIY way of developing film, because film is kind of intimidating to some people because there’s a pretty high barrier of entry,” he said. “But black and white film is actually pretty economical to develop.”
He added that he hoped the presentations of his works could help share that information with people interested in film and “get them off the fence” if those worries were holding them back.
Whether it be hand drawings, prints or digital works, students had plenty to showcase at the event. To any person in attendance, it was clear that creativity runs rampant throughout the student body.
