About The Artist

Rachel at Furry Weekend Atlanta 2013

1. Hello! I’m Rachel, UX Designer for Hire!

Looking for a comic artist or a UX visual designer? My name’s Rachel Keslensky and I’m a user experience (UX) specialist and comic book artist. I created the free furry comic Last Res0rt in 2006. I’ve been writing, drawing, and posting comic pages online ever since, posting them every Sunday. You can read the comic online for free, but if you want the full story, you should buy a copy of Last Res0rt, Volume One: First Against the Wall!

2. Comic Interviews and Talks I’ve Done

I love talking to people about the work I do! I’ve done some interviews in the past about how to make comics online as well as talking about Last Res0rt and furry comics. You’re more than welcome to read them!

  • This article in the New Times SLO is all about furries, and there’s a few choice quotes from me in there.  (My artwork also made the cover that week!)
  • I’ve also been mentioned in this article on MomoCon, featured in Georgia Tech’s very own Technique newspaper!
  • I managed to score a pair interviews with the TGT Webcomics Podcast as well, including Episode #200!
  • I even did a talk at Phreaknic 15 in Nashville, Tennessee about the Future of Webcomics, and they recorded a video of the talk too!
  • I’ve also appeared as a guest over at the Word of the Nerd podcast!
  • I even scored an article over at Bleeding Cool!

Are you a media reporter, journalist, convention staffer, radio personality, podcaster, blogger, or other self-declared important person on the internet? I’m always happy to do an interview, so just ask!

3. What I Do Besides Drawing Comics

In addition to posting a new page online each week, I’m a busy user experience (UX) designer looking for someplace awesome to work. Last Res0rt isn’t just a comic to me — I also use it as a testbed for some of my more innovative design work, as well as whatever innovations I can come up with, even if some of them seem unrelated. (Luckily for me, Human-Computer Interaction covers a lot of ground, especially if you can get the internet involved somewhere.)

I tend to stick to the Atlanta area for conventions (Dragon*Con, Anime Weekend Atlanta, Furry Weekend Atlanta, and MomoCon), so your best chance to find me / my table is at one of those four cons. I’ll also mention on the site if I have a table at any of those cons, which means I’ll also have commissions, buttons, prints, and a few other surprises on offer.

I also submit work to anthologies when I get the chance (which isn’t often!) — I’ve had my work appear in the Webcomics: What’s Cooking? cookbook so far!

4. When Did I Start?

Although I’d been kicking around some of the earliest pages and concepts for almost a year beforehand, Last Res0rt launched as an online comic April 1, 2007 — no, seriously, it was the first Sunday in April that year. Since then (with the exception of a few weeks’ worth of guest strips while I was assembling the first book) I’ve posted a new page of the comic every week — sometimes two pages a week!

5. How Do I Do It?

Buffer.

LOTS and LOTS of Buffer.

Buffer refers to the gap between what you’ve currently got in the pipeline vs. what’s currently being played / used. In webcomics, it refers to having a few comic pages / strips done ahead of schedule (so if something goes wrong, you can either quietly fix it before it goes live, or else use the additional slack in your schedule to compensate). I try my best to stay at least three strips ahead, but really, the more the better — especially when your “other job” is Grad School!

Having a big buffer also allows me to spend time on commissions (which nets me much-needed income — I can’t live on ads alone) and making new, cool stuff like wallpapers, updates to the Last Res0rt RPG, and other nifty things that just make the site better.

6. How You Can Follow Last Res0rt!

Want to show your support for Last Res0rt and make it even easier to catch new pages?

  • Like the Last Res0rt Page on Facebook, where I post new answers from Formspring as well as bonus artwork.
  • Follow @lastres0rt on Twitter for real-time updates of the furry comic, posts about making comics online, other interesting posts I find on the internet, and whatever else I feel like talking about.
  • Friend me on Reddit if you’re interested in keeping up with me on the site, or join the Last Res0rt Reddit community full of posts and links where I try to bring everything else to do with the comic online together!
  • Read all the lenses I’ve written about making comics, furry fandom, and video game reviews and guides on Squidoo!
  • Watch me on DeviantArt and FurAffinity to see artwork I do that isn’t Last Res0rt-related artwork, like commissions other folks have ordered from me. (Like I said, if you’re looking for a comic artist for hire…)
  • Circle me on Google+ while you’re at it! There’s a Last Res0rt page on Google+ you should circle up as well!
  • And if none of this is to your liking, you could always email me and ask whatever comes to mind. I’ll read it, even if I don’t always answer.

I love to receive feedback on the comic, particularly stuff that helps me improve the comic. (There are comment boxes underneath all of the comics. Please use them!)

7. Need a Visual Designer?

I’m always willing to take on a personal commission — you can get one in the online store.
But if you’ve got a job that just can’t wait and needs a professional comic artist touch:

  • Need a new logo?
  • Redesigning your website?
  • Putting together new flyers / postcards?
  • Tweaking your online banner ads?
  • A big custom order that sounds ridiculous on its surface and yet you’re still willing to pay handsomely to get it done?
  • OR… you’re looking for someone with brains for your next big job?

Just send me an email and we’ll hammer something out.