If you've been following me the last couple months, you know that I've been doing an epic amount of conventions. And by "epic" I mean "crazy". I just did a two-fer of New York Comic-Con and then GeekGirlCon back to back. But, because I'm living life on the road, I haven't been posting as much stuff here as I'd like. It's a little clunkier to post from my iPhone, plus, you know, general busy-ness.
Comicpalooza 2013 Wrap-up
This past weekend I had the pleasure of being a guest at Comicpalooza in Houston, Texas. Comicpalooza, and patron of the arts Alex Johnson, know how to treat a guy. I was met at the airport by four lovely volunteers and had a limo ride to the airport. Okay, maaaaaybe that had something to do with a quirk of timing and a lot of luggage. Still, the bar has been raised for other conventions.
I was a guest last year, and had a lot of fun. This year was no different. My friend Jesse Jackson made it up from Dallas, and Bill Williams of Lone Star Press was there for the show, too. Being able to hang out with friends I don’t see is one of the big joys of this event.
I got to meet Avery Brooks, which was a personal joy. He, for my money, is the best captain of the modern Treks, and Deep Space Nine is the best of the modern franchise. A large part of that was his portrayal of Captain Benjamin Sisko.
His line had a break in it, and I went over to him and told him how much I appreciated his work. I may have even mentioned his awesome “Where are my flying cars?” commercial from years back. He shook my hand, asked my name, and said “thank you.”
I’ve hit the point where I need very few photos with actors and less autographs. I just want that where, for one brief moment, the actors who have been so much a part of my world know that I exist. It’s not always possible. Patrick Stewart’s line was completely impenetrable. But every once in a while, I’d like to have the gush line, where you don’t have to pay anything, you just get 60 seconds to say something to the actor. Not practical, I know, but it’d be cool.
My friend Jesse had me do a new commission for his Doctor Who sketchbook. He wanted Winston Churchill as portrayed by Ian McNeice, who was at the show. I drew a picture of Winston with a sonic screwdriver in place of a cigar. Jesse went to get it signed.
When he came back, he informed me that Ian loved the drawing and wanted to meet me. Well, who am I to refuse an audience with the Holy Roman Emperor Winston Churchill? I spent a few delightful moments talking to him. That was pretty cool.
I also met Tabitha St. Germaine who was wandering the show floor. Tabitha is the voice of Rarity on My Little Pony, a show and a franchise with which I have a passing familiarity. She was incredibly sweet, and we even got a picture together.
I did a couple panels, a digital comics panel and a diversity in comics panel (I represented people of height, I suppose). Both had some pretty good discussions. And I did a piece for the charity auction. The piece was a little rushed, as I had to get to that diversity panel, but I think the speed helped give a nice sense of energy to the piece, too.
Commissions were way up at this show, too. It’s one of the very few times I’ve had to take artwork back to the room at night. It was just Friday night, but I was still up until almost three keeping current on my commission list.
It also showed a definite progression in my career. There was a point, years ago, when I could tell you everything that was on TV from 11:00pm to 2:00am. I knew which channels had what reruns, who hosted what late night show, and the names of all the late night news newscasters.
Now, I don’t.
I don’t want more work, I want better paying work. And I want to manage my time well enough that I can keep a decent sleep schedule and even take a couple hours off here and there. And if I don’t know when Fraiser reruns late at night anymore, I’m making progress.
Below are a bunch of photos from the show. Click and embiggen any (or all) of them. It was a good time, and I hope I can come back next year. But there’s no time to sit and bask in the memories… I’m at the Denver Comic Con at booth F-22 this weekend! And HeroesCon after that.
Maybe I should rethink that sleep thing.
Comicpalooza 2013 Wrap-Up
This past weekend I had the pleasure of being a guest at Comicpalooza in Houston, Texas. Comicpalooza, and patron of the arts Alex Johnson, know how to treat a guy. I was met at the airport by four lovely volunteers and had a limo ride to the airport. Okay, maaaaaybe that had something to do with a quirk of timing and a lot of luggage. Still, the bar has been raised for other conventions.
I was a guest last year, and had a lot of fun. This year was no different. My friend Jesse Jackson made it up from Dallas, and Bill Williams of Lone Star Press was there for the show, too. Being able to hang out with friends I don’t see is one of the big joys of this event.
I got to meet Avery Brooks, which was a personal joy. He, for my money, is the best captain of the modern Treks, and Deep Space Nine is the best of the modern franchise. A large part of that was his portrayal of Captain Benjamin Sisko.
His line had a break in it, and I went over to him and told him how much I appreciated his work. I may have even mentioned his awesome “Where are my flying cars?” commercial from years back. He shook my hand, asked my name, and said “thank you.”
I’ve hit the point where I need very few photos with actors and less autographs. I just want that where, for one brief moment, the actors who have been so much a part of my world know that I exist. It’s not always possible. Patrick Stewart’s line was completely impenetrable. But every once in a while, I’d like to have the gush line, where you don’t have to pay anything, you just get 60 seconds to say something to the actor. Not practical, I know, but it’d be cool.
My friend Jesse had me do a new commission for his Doctor Who sketchbook. He wanted Winston Churchill as portrayed by Ian McNeice, who was at the show. I drew a picture of Winston with a sonic screwdriver in place of a cigar. Jesse went to get it signed.
When he came back, he informed me that Ian loved the drawing and wanted to meet me. Well, who am I to refuse an audience with the Holy Roman Emperor Winston Churchill? I spent a few delightful moments talking to him. That was pretty cool.
I also met Tabitha St. Germaine who was wandering the show floor. Tabitha is the voice of Rarity on My Little Pony, a show and a franchise with which I have a passing familiarity. She was incredibly sweet, and we even got a picture together.
I did a couple panels, a digital comics panel and a diversity in comics panel (I represented people of height, I suppose). Both had some pretty good discussions. And I did a piece for the charity auction. The piece was a little rushed, as I had to get to that diversity panel, but I think the speed helped give a nice sense of energy to the piece, too.
Commissions were way up at this show, too. It’s one of the very few times I’ve had to take artwork back to the room at night. It was just Friday night, but I was still up until almost three keeping current on my commission list.
It also showed a definite progression in my career. There was a point, years ago, when I could tell you everything that was on TV from 11:00pm to 2:00am. I knew which channels had what reruns, who hosted what late night show, and the names of all the late night news newscasters.
Now, I don’t.
I don’t want more work, I want better paying work. And I want to manage my time well enough that I can keep a decent sleep schedule and even take a couple hours off here and there. And if I don’t know when Fraiser reruns late at night anymore, I’m making progress.
Below are a bunch of photos from the show. Click and embiggen any (or all) of them. It was a good time, and I hope I can come back next year. But there’s no time to sit and bask in the memories… I’m at the Denver Comic Con at booth F-22 this weekend! And HeroesCon after that.
Maybe I should rethink that sleep thing.
The Man of Steel
If breaking news hasn't changed things, I should be on WTAM-1100 radio in Cleveland on the Wills and Snyder show talking about Superman. if any of you have met me in person, you know that's a topic that's hard to get me to shut up on.
Inspired by the new trailer, I decided to do a Superman and Lois piece. Click the below image to enlarge it, or "biggimized" as the kids say.
Soarin My Little Pony Commission
I've always been impressed with how the My Little Pony cosplayers manage to graft the design of the ponies to different kinds of costumes. Here, I was hired by a Soarin cosplayer to do a commission of the person and the pony.
Also, this is a fine time to announce to all the Bronies and Pegasisters that I will be at C2E2, but I am not grouped with the Pony Artists. Amy Mebberson, Tony Fleecs, Andy Price and Katie Cook will all be in the L section. I will be at E11. (I figure I'm most identified with Love and Capes, not My Little Pony, hence the distance.) But I will have original art, commissions and all that coolness. Just six rows away.
My Little Pony Sketch Card
Last summer, I participated in the Topps' Star Wars: Galactic Files sketchcard series. As a result, I've been doing a lot of these, including this My Little Pony card. I'll be making a batch of them for my appearance at Captain Blue Hen in Newark, Delaware for Free Comic Book Day this year.
My Little Pony Sketch Covers
IDW does a lot of variant covers for their My Little Pony books. They did sketch covers and, something I haven't seen before but really dig, sketch back covers. They print them on something that's effectively bristol board, takes pencil and ink really well, and people can commission us to draw on them. Coming out of last week's My Little Pony event at Beach Ball Comics, I got a series of four covers, two fronts and two backs to draw. I'm pretty happy with how these came out. I do have some blank covers in my box of comps from my Twilight Sparkle issue, so if you're interested, drop me a line and we can talk price.
Either way, here are the covers I did. Click and embiggen!
Beach Ball Pony Party Preparations!
Tomorrow I'll be appearing at the Beach Ball My Little Pny event. I'll be doing sketches, selling books (including Love and Capes), selling original art, and best of all, meeting and talking with fans.
To prepare for it, I did a few advance My Little Pony commissions. All of these will be for sale tomorrow.
By way of explanation, these are hand-drawn and inked originals with a digital color print. I don't mass produce prints of other people's characters, so each one of these pieces is the only one. I won't print another.
Take a look at the links here, too. Click on any of them to embiggenate.
I'm looking forward to seeing all of you tomorrow.
Oh My Stars and Garters
My Composite Superman commission got me a little bit of notice and a second commission to do Beast of the X-Men in both his furry blue and original forms.
Sometimes art just comes together, and this is one of those times. The way the mask blends into his blue furry hood is just so perfect that I wish I'd thought of it before I'd started drawing. I love the pose, his flurry blue foot is one of the best feet I've drawn (almost typed "foots") and his right hand has the perfect amount of Kirby to it.
As the Beast might say, in those perfect Kelsey Grammer tones, "Click the lesser illustration to prompt a view of the larger one."
WonderCon Commissions and Other Fun
WonderCon has come and gone. I had a great time, and the show was even better than last year. Now that I have my new status as a Pony Artist, my commissions have increased (and certainly changed a bit). Here, let me share them and you can see…
The Marshal Law commission was an advance commission, where someone contacted me before the show to get on my sketch list. I certainly recommend that to make sure you get a piece from me. Hey, I'm going to be at C2E2 in Chicago at the end of the month. I bet you could do that there, too!
Also, Neo Edmund was nice enough to have me on the Kids' Comics panel, where I blathered about things and made jokes while other people said much smarter things. But people seemed to like it, so I can't complain. It was a lot of fun, and hopefully I'll be on a similar panel at Comic-Con in a couple of months.
There was lots of interesting work stuff, none of which I can share, unfortunately. Besides, it's April Fool's Day, and you wouldn't believe anything I say today anyway. The best part, as always, is seeing friends and making new ones.
Well, and having my first Easter coffee, but that's a special case here.