My #NYCC 2016 Schedule

I'll be at New York Comic Con this week. I'll be at C12 in Artist Alley the whole show, excepting… Thursday 3:00-4:00pm: Signing at the IDW booth

Friday 12:30-1:30pm: I’m doing a teaching workshop  Family HQ – 1E16

Also, my "Captain Kirk and His Ladies" piece will be auctioned at the NYCC charity auction. The original and a giclee print (24x6, full color) are a package. This is the only place you can get the green wrap shirt Kirk.

I'll have two giclee prints with gold shirt Kirk for $75 at my table. And then a more in the smaller 18x5 size, the same as my Doctors Who print at the table for $15.

Also at the table I'll have Love and Capes, Long Distance, My Little Pony and more, including original art, sketchcards and more. I'll be sketching all weekend long, and being a mildly amusing conversationalist, too!

Artwork for Rancho Obi-Wan

I was lucky enough to visit Rancho Obi-Wan a couple years ago, and it was a great time. I can't recommend visiting that place enough. I even managed to impress Steve Sansweet by knowing some Star Wars toy trivia that had eluded all his other tour takers.[image src="http://thomz.com/blogall/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/swladies.png" align="left" border="image_border" link="http://thomz.com/blogall/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/swladies.jpg" alt="" title="Rebellious Ladies" lightbox="false" ] They're having a fundraising auction to help keep the place going, and I was honored to be able to do a piece for it. It's 12x9 and drawn in ink and colored with Dr. Martin's watercolor dyes. Read more about the auction here.

Awesome Con DC Wrap-up

This past weekend I was a guest at AwesomeCon DC. It was my first time at the show, and it was a lot of fun. I did a couple of panels on Saturday, including a great My Little Pony panel, an interesting Comics in Libraries panel and then on Sunday a fantastic What Inspired You panel hosted by my friend Bob Greenberger. I also got to see and spend time with some friends, which is always the best part of these shows. It was great to see Lora Innes, John Gallagher, Jamar Nicholas, Tony Fleecs, Robert Deans and Steve Conley along with the host of others I'm sure I'm forgetting.

More than some other shows, I got to walk around the city a lot, too. Getting to see new places is one of the best things about doing conventions. I haven't been to DC in fifteen years, so a lot had changed.

But, just in case you hear any rumors that I and some people stole the Declaration of Independence because there was a treasure map on the back, well, I can't talk about that. Sorry.

Small Business Saturday Sale

I'm running a Small Business Saturday sale, all the way through Cyber Monday. You can check it out here!

Akron Comicon 2014

This past weekend was the Akron Comicon. They were gracious enough to have me as a guest for a second year, and man I just really like that how. It's a smaller show, vaguely reminiscent of the old Mid-Ohio-Con from it's hotel days. But it manages a killer guest list (including Gerry Conway, Graham Nolan, Tom Batiuk and more) in an environment where everyone is still accessible. It's so engaging that I actually went to a panel I wasn't on, the Gerry Conway one. I can't remember the last time I actually attended a panel. Traffic was good, attendees were awesome, and the show really takes care of its guests. The Quaker Square area of Akron is a lot of fun to hang out in, too.

Among the many things that happened there this show was that I got to see someone take a commission I did of Spike playing guitar from a show last year and put it on their actual base guitar. There were an amazing number of costumed attendees for a smaller show. And I got to reconnect with old friends, like some of the crew of the U.S.S. Lagrange, as well as spend more time with greats like José Delbo, who taught at Kubert. Sadly, I never had José as a teacher, but it was so cool discussing tools and techniques with him.

And I got to spend the show next to Paul Storrie, who I don't get to see enough of. I'm glad he made it out for the show. It's something you should think about doing next year, too!

Big Damn Hero Six

I'm looking forward to checking out Big Hero Six. I hear great things about it, and it's a great way to blend Disney and Marvel. Every commercial so far has looked great. Amy pointed out a tweet from Nicole Campos reading: I'm not the only one who keeps saying "Big Damn Hero 6" by mistake, right?  Then Amy said, "You should totally make that happen." And she was right.

So, I present to you Big Damn Hero Six. One of these days I might make a print of it.

Disney Art Drop Wrap-Up

I did my last Disney art drops on Sunday. I'd had a couple days where I didn't get to place any, so I released my Jack Skellington, Up, and Frozen pieces all on Sunday. I found a particularly good hiding space for the Frozen one, behind the Nikon Picture Spot sign by the carousel in Fantasy Land. I was actually afraid no one would find it. In one of those moments of utter perfection, a young girl did right before she got to meet Anna and Elsa. Her mother emailed me about it (since I helpfully included my email and Twitter on the note inside) and it was just the sweetest thing ever. I'm so glad the art went to someone who so perfectly was the target audience.

It's the only feedback I've received, so far, but I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Doing these were so much fun and, whenever I can, I'll continue to do so. It just makes the Disney experience so much more, well, Disney.

New York Comic-Con Wrap-up

New York Comic-Con was last weekend and it remains one of my favorite shows. The separate artist alley works really well for me (your mileage may vary, of course) so sales were good and I got to meet a lot of fans old and new. I think NYC might be my biggest sketching/original art show. Of course, at four days long, that may skew some results. I think I also did the most "networking", for lack of a better term. I had more discussions that could result in actual work than I've had in a while. Not that any of them will materialize, it's very much throwing stones in a pond and watching the ripples. But not every show has such a pond.

I did a kids' drawing panel on Saturday that went really well. I like that NYCC remembers to have stuff for the younger set. I didn't see any panels and barely got onto the main floor. Things were really rocking in the Artist Alley.

The best part, as usual, is hanging out with friends. In particular, I got to spend a ton of time chatting with Andy Price, Pony artist, Trek fan and fellow Kubie. After four days, we didn't kill each other, so I consider that a friendship made.

Plus, I just love New York. There's so much to the city and you can have exactly the experience you'd like. It scales to your expectations. I really have to go visit one of these non-con times.

I have to shout out to Mike Negin and his con crew. They're aces, and take really good care of us artists.

If you'd like to hear more about this, New York Comic-Con was the subject of the latest episode of Comics, Assembled! as well.

Backlog: The Cincinnati Comic Expo

I've got a brief break between conventions where I can catch up on my adventures at other conventions. A few weeks back, I was at the Cincinnati Comic Expo. I've been lucky enough to have been a guest of this show from the start, and it's great to see a show grow so well and so right. From a one day show to a three day event, it built slowly rather than having it's reach exceed its grasp. I got the chance to spend lots of time with my good friend Paul Storrie, have a fantastic dinner with Marv Wolfman, and hang out with friends old and new. Sales were good, which always makes things better, and the show took great care of me.