2010 What is to come

So I found out late last week that I got accepted to get table space at C2E2. It is bound to be a big show, since the folks who are running it also run New York Comic Con, which is currently the second largest convention in the U.S. I was originally going to take some time off from conventions to focus on finishing up Into the Dust. So now I have a deadline, I need to get the 160 page graphic novel done and printed by late April. I think I can pull it off, as long as I stay on task, and can somehow scrounge up the 5k to print/ship the damn thing.

On the drawing table currently, I am still working on Patrick Redford's magic book "Square", and I am also painting an album cover for my Doppelganger Jesse Rubenfeld (a singer in New York. His site is jesserubenfeld.com as I have the .net) I also have another commission piece entitled "10 faces" which is now the 3rd in a series of drawings I did about 3 years ago. I have to break out my camera and photograph it before I send it off. For now I will leave you with another page out of Square.

Magic and Quest out West

Okay enough ranting...you are probably wondering what I have been doing with myself. Well, I am working on another magic book with a friend of mine named Patrick Redford. All of the tricks are card tricks, so we decided to make the book a western. Here is the first page. I have been experimenting working at a larger scale, it gives me more freedom to add detail when I want, and I don't have as bad of hand strain working on things at such a small scale. I particularly liked doing the wallpaper pattern in the second panel. Not sure if I will work on the entire magic book at this scale, or whether I will only do them at this 11x17 scale when details permit me to.

Speaking of 11x17 scale, I also churned out a portfolio piece the other day when I had a free moment...I have this short Jonny Quest story in my head, figured I should get it down on paper...I think the story will be about 6 pages all together. So this is simply the first page. As opposed to painting I went back to Photoshop for the coloring, haven't digitally colored anything in quite a few years...feel pretty rusty at it. Into the Dust is on the drawing table as well, but the magic book has to get done first.

Comic Con Soapbox

So, I want to take a moment out of my busy week to get on a soap box and talk to you all about the potential future downfall of the comic industry. For quite a few years now, I have had table space at quite a few different comic conventions. And for many years prior, I have shelled out

the big bucks to travel to and attend these shows. If we go back in time, say 15 years and look at the biggest 3 comic conventions they would have been the following:

1. The San Diego Comic Con

2. The Chicago Comic Con

3. The Motor City Comic Con

San Diego was still huge, although movie stars like Arnold, Angelina, and Patterson paid the event little to no mind. The show was huge because of the quality and quantity of talent it brought in. If you were in comics, you were there. They even had an artist alley area, for indie and up and coming talent. You had to submit your work for review, but if you had a shred of talent and a book to show, chances are they would find a small spot for you and not charge you a thing for it to boot.

Chicago was a little convention that had exploded into something huge. Recently purchased by Wizard but still run by most of the original convention planners, they still had the same personal sensibilities that a small show would have. If you had money, you had a table. No need to submit a portfolio for a review, just send a check, and the space would be waiting for you. This allowed for many indie and up and coming talent to showcase their work to the big boys of DC and Marvel who also set up at the show.

Motor City was the smallest of the 3 shows, but still had quite a following. Run by a local comic shop, they built up quite a following in the 90s and when they were going full steam ahead they managed to get DC and Marvel to attend their show as well. Their tables were dirt cheap, so it didn’t take much money for all of the “up and comers” to get a table.

Today the convention scene has changed drastically, and not for the better.

Here is my list of faults with the way things are done today with many of the larger conventions.

1. Comics are taking a back seat to media guests. This was a kiss of death for Motor City Comic Con, every year more and more “celebrities” show up. This changes the kind of people who go to the conventions, attracting the kind of tourists who would go on a tour of Hollywood actor’s neighborhoods, just to get a glimpse of Bob Saget grilling burgers. Not to mention that instead of buying comics, more people are saving money to get an autograph from celebrities like the Stormtrooper who hit his head in A New Hope. This sort of Hollywood convention usually makes the big comic companies of Marvel and DC go away.

2. Event planning companies suck. Now with the number 2 and number 3 spots of big conventions being taken up by shows like New York Comic Con, C2E2, and Fan Expo Canada, the little man is out and big companies are in. They are in it to make money, and bring in what they feel are the big names. So instead of letting all the “up and comers” get tables, everyone’s work is juried and only those “worthy” of table space get in. Oh, and unlike the portfolio reviews of San Diego, if you do get in, you still have to pay a hefty table fee…which leads me to reason #3…

3. Price gouging. We all understand that rent needs to be paid for the convention space. In the past 10 years though table prices have doubled or more at nearly every convention…as has the ticket price to get in the door. For attendees, more money spent getting in, means less money spent at the convention. For the guests, more money spent getting the table, means more money that needs to be made in order to make a profit. Kind of a double edged sword; less money all around.

With the top 4 conventions now requiring a portfolio review to get a table, and limiting the number of tables they give out to indie comic artists/writers, who knows what talent these big event companies are turning away…so many big artists today got discovered at conventions like these like Art Baltazar, or David Petersen. Can DC or Marvel afford to let their new talent pool be regulated by Reed Exhibitions or Hobbystar Marketing?

So I have an idea that I hope can be spread around. DC and Marvel, and their parent companies of Time Warner and Disney have tons of money and resources at their disposal. It’s time for a convention that is run by the industry itself. Collaborate with each other….throw in Dark Horse and Image, and Oni and other companies…If the big 4 pubs ran the show, they could get all of their star talent to show up, and they could make an artist alley for up and coming talent that they haven’t tapped yet. It would be cutting out the middle man of comic conventions. Diamond Distributions could even get in on the deal…they do supply almost the entire product to the dealers that set up at the shows.

Just something to think about.

Things

So I just finished up some commission pieces for my good friend Judy Wiliston. She is writing a book, and I have so far done 15 spot illustrations for it. Just thought you guys might like to see a few of them.

I am also still refining my airbrush skills. So this week,

continuing with the theme from Toronto's drawings, I painted this Supergirl Image. This image pushed my airbrush rendering skills, and helped me cross over into a more traditional comic book style. I plan on doing some sample pages for my portfolio soon, in a variety of styles to make myself more marketable to the bigger companies. I already think I am doing a 1 or 2 page batmite/mxyzptlk story in a more kid friendly style. My

work is usually done at comic page scale (6x9) but I think I might do these sample pages at full linework size (11x17). Anyway,

I'm sure you guys are thinking "quit talking about it

and just do it already!" Will that be my next post? Tune in next week, Same bat-time, Same bat channel! Or whenever I get to it...:P

Fan Expo Canada

Fan Expo Canada was last weekend, and it was a blast! Was fortunate enough to be placed between Ivan Reis who is currently working on DC's Blackest Night, and Doug Sneyd legendary Playboy cartoonist. Ivan does not speak great English, but the conversations we did have over the weekend makes me appreciate his art even more than I already did. At the end of the weekend he even gave Amber and I a drawing that he didn't get to complete at the show, and said that I should finish it. By day one of the convention Doug was influencing me...something about staring at the beautiful pinups all weekend just makes you want to draw some of your own. I did a few at the show, and they were quite fun...I am planning on doing quite a few more and perhaps doing some sort of sketchbook of them in the future. I'm only showing you 2 of the more successful ones done while I was at the table...
This convention completes my conventions for the year. In fact, I have decided that these conventions have been slowing me down from the thing I was trying to do in the first place...my book. Thus, I have decided to stop doing conventions until Into The Dust is complete. Hopefully this wont be much of a break and I will be back to the cons in a year or so...but its time to get things done! Expect artsy updates soon here though...I will still be making art!

What I have been doing for the past few months

Sorry for the lack of updates on the site, things were busy earlier this summer. The chaos began at Adventure Con in Tennessee in early June. The show was wonderful, and I hope to be invited back again next year. Seeing my Knoxville friends was great, and I miss them terribly. When Amber and I got back from the con, our lives began getting real hectic. On June the 27th, we got married. It was a wonderful event filled with all of our family and friends, I could go on and on for days about how great that day was, but to shorten the day up into one sentence, here we go. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful, loving wife. After the wedding, we barely had a chance to breathe, because one week later, we moved. We now live in a house on the other side of town, and we live here rent and utility free. The house is connected to a storage business, which we manage (thus no rent)
Since the move, we have been slowly unpacking, and enjoying life as newlyweds. But enough mushy life stuff, on to the art!
Wizard World Chicago starts this Thursday! For any of you who are going to be at the show, my table number is 4502, come by and say hi! I have been working on a few new pieces of artwork for the con, here are two of the masterpieces. The first, was per request from Amber, who Just loves the Twilight books and movie(s) We shall see how it fairs at Chicago, the second piece continues my series of Art about Art, and is entitled "Liberty Leading the Doctor" based on Delecroix's "La Liberté guidant le peuple" Yes, that is the cover of the Coldplay album Viva la Vita...but it was painted in 1830, so go soak up some culture! Both of these will be for sale at the convention, both prints and the originals. After Chicago is Fan Expo Canada on August 28-30, I just got my contract today, so it's official! Sorry for the lack of updates again, things are calm again now, so expect plenty of updates!

The late Motor City Post 2009

I never seem to get these post in on time...So, Motor City Comic Con was last weekend, and it was a wonderful start to the new convention season! I had not one, but three new mini-prints for the show...in continuation of my love of my childhood, I did a Fraggle Rock triptych. Here they are in all of their glory. I still have some left, which I will bring to the next convention in Knoxville, Adventure Con. So here is a rundown of the con.
Friday: Slow. Friday's are always slow, but it seemed moreso this year...people are always working, or having better things to do on a Friday than run around a convention all day. I saw all my old friends, was set up next to my buddy Ken Kreckler, had a great chat with Mark Sparacio, and generally had a good time. Amber went off to go Star gazing...Aaron Douglas and Michael Hogan of Battlestar Galactica were there, both of which were extremely nice guys...Amber did find out that Aaron was quite a comic fan, and quickly gave him a copy of my book....he was quite excited, and later asked me for the next chapter...I guess he liked it...Amber managed to snap a photo of him in his geeky glee. We were set up across from the General Lee....which I thought was going to be quite a pain, but it drove traffic to our section of the convention center quite a bit....it helped that Bo Duke himself, John Schnider was signing autographs there all weekend as well...On Friday he walked by my table and laughed at my Last Mupper and gave me a thumbs up, so it is now unofficially endorsed by Pa Kent himself! My friend Peter stopped by to keep us company for a bit, he had his heart set on buying some Wolverine Claws that day.
Saturday: Talk about busy! I have never seen a more crowded Saturday! It more than made up for Friday's lack of traffic. Amber was stuck at my folks house for our second bridal shower, so I brought Dad along to be my part time "booth babe"...personally I think Amber is sexier. Aarom stopped by briefly to say hi on the way to his table, he was leaving mid-way through the day, and he asked me to stop by if I had the chance. Sadly I did not, It was a steady stream all day. Costumes are always fun to see on Saturdays at conventions...and this was no exception. There seems to be a large ensurgence of Steampunk cosplayers in the past year...at least 2 airship pirate crews were there, and they really took their time on their costumes. Dad seemed to have a good time there...he picked up a few books from old students of his, but not much else. My buddy Jason stopped by, as did my friends Joe and Kamron.
Sunday:Everybody was tired and it was starting to show. Traffic was slower, but no where near as slow as Friday. I had a chance to walk around a bit, which doesn't always happen at these conventions. I talked again with Mark, who said he did very well this convention, and I gave him a print for being such an inspiration for my work ethic this past year. He gave me his cell number and email address and told me to call him whenever I needed to chat. That put me in a great mood for the rest of the con.
One last Image to discuss before I end this post. Last Summer I did a convention in Toronto called Paradise Con...Sadly it is not happening this year (but I am doing Fan Expo Canada!) Anyway, I was set up next to Brian Evinou, who is an animator based in the Toronto Area...I did a pinup for him of his character Lucy Legacy, and he said he was going to return the favor...only took him about a year, but he finally did it. I will be seeing him at Fan Expo Canada in August...can't wait!