The Artist

Who Am I?

My Name’s Rachel Keslensky, and I write / draw Last Res0rt roughly at the rate of a page a week. I’ve been drawing the comic for four years now, and I even have a book out ( available through the online store )! Although I’m currently quite busy with grad school, I’m still working hard to post a new page of Last Res0rt each week.

I’ve done some interviews in the past, and you’re more than welcome to read them!

What Do I Do?

In addition to posting a new page online each week, I’m a busy grad student at Georgia Tech (picking up a Master’s Degree in Human-Computer Interaction) with eventual designs of working someplace exciting so people enjoy using their computers, even if they don’t look like what we normally recognize as computers. 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!

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!

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.

Looking to keep in touch?

I have some ideas…

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!)

Want Me to Work for YOU?

Typically I’ll announce when I’m open to the public for accepting conbadge commissions and other things, but if you’ve got a job that just can’t wait:

  • 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 an email and we’ll hammer something out.